Chapter Text
Sneaking back in after a Supergirl call, Kara straightens her cardigan and takes a quick check in the nearest reflective surface she can find to make sure she doesn't have soot or anything else incriminating to make it obvious where she'd been. That had only happened once, and thankfully James had spotted her before anyone else. Since then she's been a lot more cautious, not willing to risk her secret identity in a bullpen full of journalists.
Check complete, Kara gives a quick scan around her to see if there's anyone she'd missed who might notice her if she appears suddenly out of seemingly nowhere. If there is, she'll have to super speed back into the office and pretend she was in the break room or something. Not ideal, but doable, especially because this latest call didn't take very long to get under control.
But as she scans the office she notices Cat's heart rate, normally steady and controlled in all but the most serious of situations, is pounding far faster than it should be.
Discretion taking a backseat (she's fairly sure no one is watching, but if something is wrong with Cat she'll deal with anyone who is later) Kara walks at what is almost a human pace back towards her desk so she can see what's going on. When she sees Cat sitting at her own desk staring intently down at something there, her worry starts to edge towards confusion. Cat's slashed hundreds of articles to death with a red pen and not even a blink of an eye, from the way her heart is racing Kara'd expected to find Livewire in the office or something.
But no, everything looks calm. Normal. The bullpen is bustline behind her, with phones ringing and coworkers chatting. The televisions (tuned as always to CatCo networks) give reports on the local news, most of them covering her latest superhero activities. No matter how minor it might be, CatCo had standing orders to feature Supergirl whenever the opportunity arose.
Kara's used to it by now.
Mostly.
Everything seems normal, which makes the situation that much stranger to her. If nothing is happening, then what's going on? Is it a medical emergency? Surely if it was, Cat wouldn't be looking so calm, right? Even humans can tell when their heart is racing for no reason, and Cat has been particularly careful about her heart health for as long as Kara's known her. No, there's no way it's a health emergency if Cat isn't already signaling for her to call an ambulance. Or more likely, a private car equipped with semi-legal emergency lights. Kara can't honestly see Cat taking a public ambulance when she bought an entire building to avoid using a public elevator.
"About time you got back," Winn says with a pointed look up at the screens. "You know how suspicious Miss Grant gets when there are Supergirl sightings and you aren't at your desk."
Swallowing down her nerves, Kara takes a seat at her desk to avoid drawing attention to herself. "Did she notice anything this time?"
They'd fooled her with J'onn working as a body-double the last time Cat suspected, but Kara knows that's not enough of a safety net to protect her if Cat starts thinking too hard about things again. That's another reason she tries to be more cautious around the building. The rest of the bullpen sees her as Sunny Danvers, a buffer between Cat Grant and the rest of them. Inconspicuous. Gifted with only the ability to survive Cat's worst moods.
But Cat? She worked directly with Kara for more hours than either of them can count. Sure, it's all work related, but if anyone at the office would figure her out, it'd be Cat. And she almost had once before. No reason to give her more chances to start questioning things.
Winn shakes his head, turning back to his monitors. "No, she made some comment about you never finishing a task without a dozen calendar reminders and took the stack of mail you'd opened back to her desk to review. Said there was an important letter in there, and if you'd decided they were safe she'd take care of the sorting herself."
Kara nods her understanding, then freezes. The pile of mail she'd opened? The pile of mail with one particular bit of postage that was not meant for Cat, or anyone else for that matter? The bit of postage that Kara shipped to CatCo instead of her apartment specifically to avoid the chance of anyone else (like her nosy big sister) seeing it?
Turning frantically to where she'd sat the pile of mail when she'd needed to rush out and take care of her Supergirl duties, Kara frantically searches her desk for the leather bound album she'd placed beneath the rest of Cat's correspondences. But her desk is clean, as scrupulously neat as always, and there's no album to be seen.
Looking up into Cat's office once more, Kara tilts her glasses down to focus on what Cat's looking at. She'd usually never invade Cat's privacy this way, but she needs to know. And if it is what she thinks it is, then it's not Cat's privacy at stake right now.
Just as she confirms the worst, that Cat is indeed looking at the first page of the album, Cat finally looks up and makes eye contact with her.
The shock of surprise is enough to make Kara jump in her seat, enough that she can hear the base creak with the strain. Cat's heart rate spikes even further, and Kara's not sure what to do with that information. With any of this information.
What in Rao's name is she supposed to do in this situation anyway?
Cat doesn't seem to know either, swallowing a few times before clearing her throat and giving a pointed look towards her balcony. It's an unsubtle request, but somehow Kara knows it's exactly that. A request. Kara's used to Cat ordering her into her office a dozen times a day, sometimes even out to the balcony, but this feels different. An invite, not an order.
Kara, of course, is petrified to accept. But she's equally petrified of what a refusal would mean.
Oh, she's sure Cat would do her best to pretend everything is normal and this never happened, but they'd both know. And with the way Kara's been a little in love with the woman from a distance for the past year or more, there's no way she's going to be normal about it on her end either. Not if they don't at least talk about it.