Work Text:
Kara stepped into the CatCo elevator and hit the button for the bullpen, her mind on the day ahead; she had an article to rewrite, a staff meeting to attend, and a half dozen candy cane hot chocolate packets left to assemble for her coworkers. It was all set to be an easy day until she stepped off the elevator and saw the bullpen in chaos. Kara spotted James as he rushed by.
“James!”
James skidded to a halt. “Kara! Sorry, I don’t have time to stop right now but if you walk with me—”
Kara fell into step with him. “What’s going on?”
“Cat is on her way into the office.”
Kara gasped. “She is? Why? When?!” She hadn’t seen Cat in months and couldn’t help feeling butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing her again.
“She’s here for a board meeting and should be here in,” James paused, looking at his watch. “Less than a half hour! Crap, Kara I still have to go move my computer out of her office!”
“Okay, see you later!” Kara called after him.
Cat’s arrival changed things. Her plan to ship Cat the present she’d been working on for weeks could be presented in person. Kara looked at her watch; if she rushed, she could be back before Cat was done with her meeting. Turning on her heel, Kara headed back for the elevator.
The flight back to her apartment was quick and Kara let herself back inside, tossing her purse onto her table. She made her way to the corner of the apartment where she kept her paints and grabbed Cat’s gift from where it was done drying on the shelf. Kara grabbed the box she’d planned on shipping it in and carefully nestled it in with as much tissue paper as she could to stabilize it. It was ready to box up; all she needed was to include a card.
Kara shifted through the generic holiday cards she had bought from Target, wishing she had time to pick up a more sophisticated card before she settled on a snowman print card. She grabbed a pen, opened the Christmas card, and carefully wrote out Cat’s name at the top. Kara moved her pen to start the message, letting her words flow with things she wished she could say out loud.
The familiar ding of her personal elevator announced Cat’s return to CatCo. The doors slid open and a flutter of activity appeared around her, filling Cat with a sense of satisfaction that had been missing for the past three months. She was in her element once again.
Her hand extended instinctively, as if she was expecting Kara to appear at her elbow with a latte and one of her ridiculous smiles but there was only Eve Tessmaucher with a nervous smile and wild eyes. Cat disguised her reaching hand as a dismissive wave.
“Cat!” James Olsen came to greet her. “You’re back!”
“Don't worry, James. I'm only here until we select another board member to replace the one we lost.” It was always a shame to lose the non-plotting members of her board.
James laughed. “Cat, I’m not worried about how long you’re here for. I’m just saying welcome back. You’ve been missed.”
Cat rolled her eyes to cover the sentiment. “Yes, well, I’ve definitely missed it here, too.” No reason to mention that she missed any particular employees more than others. “I had assumed Kara would have been here by now.” Cat hoped it seemed like the idea of seeing Kara wasn’t a big deal.
“She’s probably out getting another quote from Lena Luthor. Her latest article had something to do with the decoy missile that L Corp supplied that Cadmus group,” a voice from behind them said. Cat turned, spotting Snapper slinking towards them. “I’m making her rewrite it.”
Cat bristled. She’d seen all of Kara’s articles, had proudly collected every article with a byline by Kara Danvers, and had noticed every time Kara had mentioned National City’s newest high powered CEO. “No one’s told her yet that you can’t just keep running back to the same source?”
“Hey, you try prying those two apart. See how that goes.” Snapper shrugged.
“Did you need something, Snapper?” James asked.
“I wanted to run this photo in the next issue; I have Nelson writing a blurb for it.” Snapper handed James a photo.
James coughed. “Um, well. I don’t really see what you can get from this.”
Snapper rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Olsen. That is a photo of Supergirl and Lena Luthor at L Corp looking completely cozy!”
“What?” Cat asked, snatching the photo from James. It was, indeed, a photo of Supergirl and Lena Luthor. The two of them were on the balcony of the L Corp office and Lena had her arm outstretched, lightly touching Supergirl’s arm.
“There are almost too many angles,” Snapper continued. “Is L Corp in cahoots with an alien despite the Luthor’s anti-alien leanings? Are they an item? Supergirl has been seen at more attacks at L Corp than at CatCo in the last few months. How does Lena Luthor feel about her mother now that Supergirl’s had her thrown in jail?”
Cat ground her teeth. She wasn’t jealous—she wasn’t—but it stung that Kara had found another balcony to land on in her absence. Cat looked at the familiar way Lena Luthor gazed at the hero. The adoration was clear in her eyes, a look of familiarity there that Cat knew all too well. Did Ms. Luthor know the truth of who was behind the cape? The idea that Kara may have trusted Lena Luthor of all people with her secret started a white hot rage building in Cat’s gut.
Cat thrust the photo back at Snapper. “I thought I hired you to raise the level of journalistic integrity of this magazine, not to pander to the celebrity gossip crowd. Cut the blurb; I don’t want to see that photo even if it was printed on a roll of toilet paper.” Cat nodded to James. “I have to go, my meeting has started.” She walked away leaving the two of them in the bullpen.
“Ms. Grant! Welcome back!” Kara strolled into the office, and felt that familiar flutter at seeing Cat back where she belonged—seated regally at her desk, glasses on, typing furiously away at her computer while the screens behind her flashed with the local headlines.
“Yes, for the time being.” Cat gave her a tight lipped smile. “Did you need something?”
“I just wanted to stop by and give this to you.” She held up the box she had freshly wrapped in silver Christmas wrapping paper. “It’s actually really good that you’re here.” Kara turned the box over in her hands, her nerves increasing. She’d planned on doing this earlier, when she first found out that she was no longer Cat’s assistant, but then Clark had shown up and Cat had left so suddenly after that. “Saves me from having to mail it. It’s kind of fragile—”
“Well, I’m glad I could save you the postage,” Cat snapped, not bothering to take the box from Kara. “Just leave it on the desk; I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually.”
Kara set the gift down on the edge of the desk. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m busy, that’s what’s wrong.” Cat returned to her work. “Carter is waiting for me, so if you don’t mind…” Cat waved her hand, dismissing her.
“Why—” Kara shut her mouth when Cat’s head snapped up from her desk, glaring daggers at her.
“Why what?” Cat’s voice was low and dangerous.
Whatever Kara had expected out of her reunion with Cat, it certainly wasn’t this. Before, Kara might have backed off, dropped the issue and retreated. But that was before she and Cat had saved the world together. Before Cat unseated herself as the head of CatCo to go out and change the world. Before they were friends. Despite Kara’s desire to be more than that, she needed Cat to know that she was still here for her.
“Why are you being...like this?” Kara debated on what word would best describe how Cat was acting.
“I'm not being ‘like’ anything,” Cat said sardonically.
“Just-just don’t be…cold, not with me.” She crossed behind the desk to stand beside Cat’s chair. “Whatever is wrong, I can help.”
“There is nothing wrong,” Cat snapped. “I’m here for a meeting, nothing more.” Cat stood, invading her space and forcing Kara back a step.
“Cat,” she started. Cat crossed to her filing cabinet and Kara trailed behind her. She’d fix whatever was happening and then Cat would stop looking right through her. “Can you just talk to me? Please?”
“There’s nothing for you to fix,” Cat said coolly. “No one to try and fool with that sunny personality. In fact, my being here has nothing to do with you, Kiera.” Cat twisted the moniker into a sneer. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to wrap this up so that I can get back to my son. We’re spending his vacation together and I don’t want to have to spend any more time here than is necessary.”
Kara felt as if some superpowered alien had punched her in the stomach. She had no idea why Cat was shutting her out. The phone rang and Cat left Kara standing by the cabinet while she picked up the reliever and jumped into a conversation with whoever was on the other line—she was dismissed. Kara bit her lip to keep it from trembling and left the office.
Cat watched Kara leave, gripping the phone so tightly in her hand that she could hear her bones creak. She had no idea what the person on the line was going on about but she was done pretending to pay attention. “Just take care of it!” she said finally, hanging up on them.
Cat sighed, kneading her temples with her fingertips. It had been a mistake to come back. The company was running just fine without her; James’ installation as the boss had lowered the budget considerably since he was more likely to keep employees rather than firing someone for their first offence; and Kara had obviously moved on just fine without her.
A buzzing in her pocket brought Cat to the present and she looked fondly at her phone to see a text from Carter.
Your two hours are up, mom! We are on our way to pick you up! — Carter
Cat slipped her phone into her pocket and began gathering her things. She’d promised Carter that today would be the day they decorated their Christmas tree before she’d gotten the call that they had an emergency board meeting she needed to attend. The board had agreed to have a list of candidates by the New Year, Cat’s emails were answered—it was time to return to her leave of absence.
“Mom!” Carter was stepping out of her elevator.
Cat stood, grabbing her purse as Carter ran up to her, giving her a quick hug. “Carter, you didn’t have to ride along. I would have come home like I promised.” She’d expected him to be at home, organizing all of their decorations.
“It’s not just that.” Carter shrugged, smiling shyly. “I kind of missed this place and I wanted to say hi to Kara.” He looked around and frowned when he saw Eve at Kara’s desk. “Where is she?”
“She doesn’t work for me directly anymore, remember?” Cat gently reminded him.
“Can we say goodbye before we go?” Carter asked eagerly.
“Actually, Carter, I think she’s out on an assignment. So we’ll have to drop in on her another time.” She forced a smile for the benefit of any employees who happened to be listening. “Now, let’s go.” She started towards the door.
“Hey! Don’t forget your present!” Carter had spotted the gift Kara had left for her. “Who’s it from?”
Cat had forgotten all about it. Knowing Kara, it was probably something sweet—all of her previous gifts to Cat had been edible. “It’s nothing, just a present from an employee—probably sweets—just leave it.”
“Mom,” Carter chided her. “You can’t just leave it here. We’re taking it.” He tucked the box under his arm. “Oof, it’s heavy. I wonder what it is. Maybe chocolate!” He led the way out of the office.
Cat sighed—Carter was always telling her to be nicer to people. “Fine, let’s go.”
They were in the car when Carter broached the subject of the present again.
“Hey, mom,” he said. “Can I open this?”
“Go ahead.”
Cat stared resolutely out the window while Carter went to town, tearing the delicate silver paper off. She was going to warn him not to ruin his dinner when he continued. “Huh, it’s not food.”
“What?” Cat turned towards her son.
Carter lifted the gift gently out of the box—it was a crystal dome that sat on a metal stand. “Oh, but it’s cool! I think it’s supposed to be a paperweight!”
“Let me see.” She took the glass from him, turning it over in her hands. Cat had no idea how Kara managed it, but there was a miniature painting of outer space that followed the curve of the dome, giving the painting depth and dimension unlike anything Cat had ever seen.
“Mom, there’s a card.” Carter held out a small envelope.
Cat handed the object back to Carter and took the envelope in exchange. Carefully, she took the card out of the envelope. There was a picture of a snowman on the cover and inside Cat spotted Kara’s tidy scrawl. The words on it took her breath away.
Cat,
There have been a lot of things I wish I could say but I could never quite be as forthcoming as I wanted. You deserve much more—the truth for one thing—but, instead, I decided to give you this. So that you can see my home as I remember it.
Kara
Cat spotted a smaller card inside the envelope.
Designation: NGC 7331.5
50 million light years away from Earth
Krypton and her sun, Rao
“What does it say?” Carter asked.
Cat had to swallow against the sudden tightness in her throat in order to answer him. “It’s from Kara. She made it.” She tucked the cards in her purse to keep the revelation from Carter.
“Oh, cool! I wonder how she did it!” Carter chattered away, carefully turning the paperweight over in his hands, examining it for any indication of how it was accomplished.
Cat was barely listening, too stunned to focus on anything but the implications of the gift. In one fell swoop, Kara had given Cat something that had confirmed all of her suspicions, told her that she’d earned the truth, and entrusted her with a piece of her personal history that Cat assumed she only told to those closest to her. And Cat had kicked her out of the office without any even looking her in the eyes.
Cat felt her eyes sting with tears but blinked them back. “Let me put it back into the box until we get home.”
“Here.” Carter handed it back and Cat tenderly tucked it away.
She spent the remainder of the car ride trying to think of a way to respond to the gift and coming up blank. In the end, it wasn’t until much later when they were home and Carter was tucked into bed that Cat sat down in her study, pulled out her phone, and finally dialed Kara’s number.
The phone rang three times, Cat wondered if Kara was going to let her call go to voicemail, and then…
“Hello?”
Cat released the breath she was holding. “Kara.”
There was a beat of silence and then. “Did you open it?”
“I did.” Cat glanced at the spot on her bookshelf where she had decided to display Kara’s gift. “It’s incredible.” This next part would be harder. “I'm sorry. For how I treated you.”
“No, Cat. I should have trusted you a long time ago. Because, maybe then…”
Cat’s pulse quickened. “Maybe, what?” Maybe Kara was having some of the same feelings that had propelled her to go? Maybe they could have worked out a way to stay in touch while Cat had gone searching for her next adventure?
“I-I don’t know,” Kara said after a while. “Maybe things just would have been different.”
Cat sighed, disappointment creeping up. She shouldn’t have done this over the phone; Kara’s emotions were always so easy to read when Cat could see her. “We should talk, face to face.”
“I’d like that.” Kara’s voice was soft but Cat could hear the longing in it.
Cat glanced at the clock. It was after ten but it wasn’t too late yet. “Is tonight too soon? I’ll leave my balcony door unlocked.”
Kara laughed and the sound was like a salve for her wounded pride. “I’ll be over as fast as I can,” Kara replied.
They had a lot to discuss—her leaving, the radio silence they maintained in her absence, her overreaction about Lena Luthor—but if they could just clear the air, then maybe there was a chance at something more. Cat spotted the spacescape, thinking about the talent and care that Kara had put into it crafting it.
She smiled. ”Hurry, Supergirl.”
When Kara landed on Cat’s balcony, cape fluttering in the wind, Cat sighed in relief. She’d left CatCo thinking that she needed to get away from Kara to refocus her priorities or find her new adventure but all she’d been feeling since leaving was lost. But seeing Kara here now, Cat realized she’d been wrong.
“Hi.” Kara’s posture was tense, unsure of where they stood.
“Oh, screw it.” Cat closed the distance between them in three purposeful strides and, without stopping to think, reached up cup Kara’s face with her hands and brought their lips together.
Kara was still for a moment before she relaxed into the kiss, her own sigh of contentment reaching Cat’s ears. And, oh. Cat realized how idiotic she’d been trying to avoid this; Kara was never just an employee, and she’d always been more than a friend. Kara wrapped her arms around Cat’s back, pulling her closer, and Cat finally understood.
They’d been heading for this for years, maybe even since that first meeting at 10:15. One thing or another kept them separated—lately it had been work or the secret of who was really behind the cape—but now there was nothing stopping them, and Cat was content, for once, to let herself be swept up into the unknown.