Work Text:
Kara opened the container of pot stickers, capturing one with her chopsticks before she even sat down on her couch. She inhaled the dumpling as she brushed aside her cape so she could turn on her tv and find something to watch until her sister arrived. She flipped through the channels at an inhuman speed as she polished off the container of pot stickers. “So good.”
She mumbled the phrase again, smiling when she found a show she recognized. Kara jumped up to get another container, her grin growing when her phone rang. She answered the call, speeding over to her kitchen to grab another thing of pot stickers and something that had beef. “Alex, I told you to leave already. You need to get here soon before I eat all the pot stickers, I’m already on my second container.”
“What was that sound? You better not, Kara.” Alex could have sworn she heard Kara opening a plastic container. “I was just calling to let you know that I was leaving now.”
Kara waited until she was finished chewing to answer. “Better hurry, I’m pretty hungry. I was out chasing bad guys.”
“I do not want to have to bring you into the DEO again because you ate your food too damn fast.”
“That was one time!” Kara popped another pot sticker in her mouth and sat back down on the couch. “So yummy. It’s like they were made just for me.”
Alex sighed, not even bothering to tell Kara to stop being gross and talking with her mouth full. “I would prefer not to trade my limited amount of favors, when you can just eat like a normal human and not give yourself indigestion.”
Kara let out a giggle, picking up on the sounds of her sister rushing out of the DEO compound. “Just for that I’m eating the sesame chicken too.”
“Kara, there better be food left when I get to your apartment, or I swear, you’re going to see a very pissed off agent the next time we’re in the Kryptonite ring!”
“Love you too!” Kara hung up and tossed her phone on the table. She turned the volume up on the tv and set the pot stickers aside so she could try the beef dish. Alex preferred the chicken dishes, and she did plan on eating all the pot stickers she could, so she had to work on the food Alex wouldn’t eat.
Kara moaned after taking a bite of what turned out to be beef teriyaki, making a mental note to order it the next time she went back to the restaurant. She got through half the container before she went back to eating the pot stickers, occasionally laughing at the television show.
A sharp knock on the door almost made her jump, knowing it couldn’t be Alex. Kara used her x-ray vision to check, hopping up when she saw it was her boss. Kara hurried to get the door before Cat had to knock again. “Is everything okay?” Pot stickers in hand, she stepped back enough so her boss could enter, wondering if something had happened at work, or maybe something with Carter.
Cat raised her eyebrow at the sight of Kara in the Supergirl costume. She brushed past the younger woman, making her way into the room. “So you worried about me telling the world your secret identity, but you open the door dressed like that?” Cat glanced around the apartment, but blinked when she saw that every available surface of the cramped kitchen was piled with to go boxes that nearly reached the ceiling.
Kara hastily closed the door, stammering a little at the comment. “No, I just got back from stopping a hold up.” She moved to smooth her hands over her hair and realized she still had her pot stickers in one hand. “I was actually out picking up dinner for Alex and I when-” Kara noticed Cat staring at the containers of take out, so she stopped talking, not even sure her boss would want to hear the story.
“Is your sister an alien, or do I need to start worrying about you passing out at work since you can eat this much?” Cat frowned at the thought of Kara trying to eat amounts that were acceptable to humans. “Really, Kara, that Lexa isn’t even here. If you need to eat more or often at work, just do so. It doesn’t do anyone any good if you pass out taking proofs to the art department.”
“Uh,” Kara was partially touched at the concern, and giddy at Cat having said her name correctly. “Her name is Alex, and no. The owners gave all the food to me to show their gratitude. No one really wanted to stick around after having a gun waved at them,” Kara realized she was getting off track because of her crush. “Was there something you needed? An emergency?”
Cat snapped out of her daze, having turned her attention to Kara at some point during the girl’s babbling. She was dismayed to realize she had forgotten her reason for coming to Kara’s, not that she would admit so. No one could blame her for being amazed at the sight of all of the food in the apartment. “Enjoy your night with Anna. It can handle it on my own tonight.”
Kara set aside her food and walked over to her boss, unsure of what to do. “You wouldn’t have come over unless it was important. Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Kara was a hundred percent sure now that the situation had nothing to do with Carter. Just because she sometimes watched the boy, didn’t mean that Cat would come to her for help with him.
“It’s fine, Kiera.” Cat strode back towards the door, covering for her embarrassment at having forgotten her reason to be at Kara’s apartment. She realized the futility of leaving rather quickly though since there was nowhere to go with Kara blocking her path to the door.
Kara ignored the misnaming and crossed her arms over her chest. “If everything is fine, then why are you here?” She swallowed nervously, wanting nothing more than to invite Cat to stay so she could find out what was wrong.
Cat momentarily debated her options, doubting that she could get by the girl without Kara allowing so, and she refused to look foolish trying to out maneuver a superhero. “Go back to your food. I need to go home anyway and make sure Carter goes to bed on time.”
Kara hesitantly unfolded her arms; however, when Cat tried to pass her, she gently reached out and held the older woman’s arm. “You can stay. I have more than enough food for one more. I could even go,” Kara raises her free hand and moves it through the air. “Get Carter.”
Distraught that the idea almost made her smile, and confused why she even cared at all, Cat shook her head. The whole night was out of character for her, and she didn’t understand it, and she probably wouldn’t without a few glasses of wine and a good night’s rest. “And what would I tell Carter when his favorite superhero shows up? Use you common sense, Kiera.”
Kara reluctantly let go when Cat pulled away. She wanted to use her speed to get to the door before her boss, though she kept herself in check. “I try to use my common sense, but it seems to disappear faster than I can when it comes to you.”
Cat froze, her muscles refusing to move because of the muttered words. She slowly turned around, positive that she had misheard or misunderstood. Maybe she had taken one too many of her pills. “What?” Cat absently rubbed at her chest, her heart beginning to pound, as Kara slowly faced her, a frightened expression on the younger woman’s face.
“Just, just that, I,” Kara gave up on explaining herself, knowing she had screwed up. Alex would never let her live this down. She would have to get a new job, and that was only if Cat didn’t print her story. Kara could only imagine the daily teasing working alongside Alex at the DEO because the alternative of, that she wouldn’t see Cat any more was too much for her to take at the moment.
Cat stared at Kara for a minute, trying to work out her feelings before she could revert to her go to of yelling. She had never thought about Kara in a romantic context, or maybe she hadn’t figured out that she did until recently. She still couldn’t remember why she had come over in the first place. “No, if you are going to ask me out, then you need to actually use your words. And Carter won’t be coming along. You should know me better than that.”
Kara was more than a little shocked at the unexpected words. She weakly nodded, her mind still trying to come to terms that Cat might say yes if she asked her out. Before she could speak up, Cat left her apartment without another word. “Oh boy.” Kara grabbed her pot stickers and the chopsticks, letting herself float in midair, sitting indian style as she pensively considered if a good thing or a bad thing had just happened.
Cat pressed the button for the ground floor as the elevator doors closed, wondering why she had come to her assistant’s apartment, why she had told Kara to ask her out. At the time she had left CatCo, she had legitimately thought she needed Kara’s help. Cat sighed, unsure why she had pushed for a scenario she wasn’t entirely aware that she had even wanted. Kara was cute, a superhero, and always there for her as the girl had proven not five minutes ago.
Cat felt the elevator stop, shaken from her thoughts all too soon. She stepped out, instantly reminded that she had sent her driver away. Before she could reach for her phone, it started to ring. “What?” Cat immediately regretted her somewhat harsh tone, pulling her phone back to see if it was her son on the line. Kara. “Hello?”
Kara hurriedly swallowed the last of her pot sticker, still hovering in the middle of her living room to distract herself. “I told Alex I’d fly some of the Chinese to her apartment. Cat, would you like to have some free Chinese with me and watch Casablanca?”
Cat was surprised by the invitation that didn’t sound like a completely horrible night. No one could blame her for feeling at least a little desirable that Kara hadn’t even waited five minutes to ask her out. Still, she hadn’t really begun to sort out her newly identified feelings for her assistant. “I do not Netflix and chill on the first date, Kara.”
“Netflix and what?” Kara flew over to her window to see if her boss had left the building. She would have to ask Winn what Cat meant, there was no way she could call Alex again. “I don’t know what that means, but I own the dvd? It’s the third copy I’ve owned because it’s one of my favorites. I have other movies if that makes a difference?”
Cat softly chuckled, amused at Kara’s innocent questions. “I’ll explain what it means if we make it to a third date.” Turning back to call the elevator, Cat smiled. Her earlier questions about her feelings cleared up a little due to Kara’s concern, the girl’s sweet nature. “I’m getting back in the elevator. I expect you to be out of that silly suit by the time I knock on your door.”
“I’ll be ready, Cat. I mean, yeah, Cat.” Kara hung up quickly, hoping her face wouldn’t be red by the time Cat knocked on the door. She didn’t know what Netflix and chill was, but she did know about third dates.
****