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Kara doesn’t exactly mean to fly halfway across the country, but that one big shot of Aldebaran rum had been the Kryptonian equivalent of Dutch courage. What made the Dutch so brave anyway? The windmills? Pfft.
Okay, so maybe Kara was a little tipsy. Still not a good enough reason to have hurled herself from National City to Opal City in a matter of minutes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to go see Barry and Iris, or try and flag down Sara for a ride to a different time period. One where Kara wasn’t supposed to be getting married at the weekend.
The hotel suite door loomed in front of Kara, and she might well have fled without knocking if it hadn’t opened at that very moment. Cat stood stock still, keys in her hand, gaping at Kara like she’d never seen her before.
“How…”
“I always know where you are, Cat. Not in like, a stalker way. It’s just your heartbeat is louder than just about anyone else’s. It jumps out at me even when I’m not looking.”
“Is this something I need to speak to my cardiologist about?” Cat’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Because honestly I’ve been blah blah to all of Barbra’s campaigns about women and heart disease so–”
“You’re fine. Better than, as always.” Kara felt her first genuine smile for months tugging at her lips. This was why she came. This was the way to feel better. “I sent you an invitation but you haven’t responded. I came to get my answer in person.”
“Well, I’m staying here for a few weeks because–”
“I know. I didn’t come to talk about him. Why didn’t you respond to my invitations, Cat? Skip the wedding, sure, but the bachelorette party? That really hurts.”
“Come in,” Cat said, shoving the keys back in her purse. “If we must finally do this, let’s keep the witnesses to a minimum. TMZ never rests, even in Opal City.”
“Do what?” Kara asked, even though she knew deep in her bones what Cat was referring to.
The suite was as opulent as Kara would have expected, though some of the touches she’s arranged as Cat’s assistant weren’t in evidence. Bananas in the fruit bowl, no extra cushions on the couch. Someone had been slacking.
“Talk about why you would invite me, of all people, to your wedding?” Cat lingered by the bar in the corner, but didn’t pour herself a drink. She seemed to need it as more of a physical barrier between her and Kara. “When was the last time I saw you, Kara?”
“It’s been a while.”
“And you were crying over another boy. One you admitted wasn’t worthy of you, but there you were anyway, throwing your life away on him. I only hope this one is an upgrade, although I doubt it when you couldn’t even make it work with James.”
“Hey! William is a good guy. He–”
“Let me assure you that I couldn’t care less. I know who he is, or at least the cloning factory he came from. His shirts are always pressed, and his hair is always styled, but not fussy, oh no. He’ll have manners, sure, and everyone who knows him would use words like ‘decent’ or ‘standup guy’. Am I close?”
“Oh, so not being an asshole is a type now?” Kara felt guilty cursing, but somehow around Cat it felt right. It felt daring. “Excuse me for not wanting to make my life even more complicated. When a nice guy who loves you wants to get married and give you a nice, normal life, who doesn’t say yes to that?”
“Now try saying it without looking like you want to throw up.” Cat poured a drink then. She didn’t offer one to Kara. “He doesn’t even know, does he? About… the cape.”
Cat popped the ‘p’ in cape in that way she had, the way that made Kara stare at those pouty lips.
“For… for his safety! And so I can have a normal life.”
“Marriage based on lies has the shelf life of sushi left out on a warm day.”
“You would know. Four and counting, right?”
Cat set her glass down just long enough to break out in sarcastic applause. “Kara Danvers grows a backbone. There’s a CatCo exclusive.”
“How would you know?” Kara advanced on Cat then, her temper well and truly up. “You walked out on CatCo just like you walked out on…”
“…you?” Cat finished for her. “What are you doing, Kara? You should be getting past this preoccupation with me, not seeking me out when you’re getting married to someone else.”
“How could I not? Here I am again, trapped in another relationship that’s fine, almost good even. And all I can think about is you, and how much I still miss you. And how no matter what we went through together, I never got so much as a chance to kiss you.”
“We all have our crosses to bear, Supergirl. You said four and counting? Not much chance. I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”
Kara felt whatever had been holding her back for years dissolve in that moment. Cat had finally admitted it. Their spark, their connection: she felt it too. If Kara had learned one thing in the past few years, it was the importance of being brave when the moment presented itself. She closed the remaining distance between them in two steps.
“You wouldn’t have to pretend, if you’d just kiss me.”
“Kara–”
“I’m leaving him. I’m calling it all off tonight, I promise. It won’t be easy, or all that fair to William, but I am so tired of never, ever getting what I want. I have given everything I have to give, Cat.”
“I can’t be all you deserve, Kara.” Cat reached out at last, caressing Kara’s cheek with her thumb. “You can’t give up real shots at happiness just for me.”
“But you’re all I want,” Kara said, the tears threatening. “So please? Can’t I just have what I want?”
Cat answered her with a kiss, slow and tender and full of all the same yearning Kara had been pushing down for years. It felt better than flying ever had, than any kiss had ever come close to. They fit, somehow, as though the kiss had just been waiting for them both to fall into it. Kara didn’t ever want it to end.
“Mmm.” Cat finally pulled away, eyes still closed. “Damn. I knew once it happened I’d be screwed.”
“Not yet…”
“Kara! Danvers! Did you just lower the tone? Fascinating. And here I thought I’d be practically teaching you.”
“I’m not some blushing virgin, Ms. Grant. But I’m happy to let you lead. Tonight, though…”
“You have to go do the right thing. And you are blushing. I’ll be back in National City in two days. Can you wait?”
Kara looked towards the suite’s very prominent bedroom, heaving a little sigh of frustration. “Yes? I mean, we’ve waited this long.”
“There’s that self-denial again.” Cat kissed her, hot and heavy this time. Kara’s resolve weakened by the second.
“You know, since I can fly and all, what if I just did the breaking up and came right back here?”
“Now you’re talking,” Cat replied. “I have a dinner, but let’s say… three hours?”
Kara nodded, moving toward the suite’s balcony for a speedy exit. The prospect of ending another relationship weighed heavily on her, not least how she’d explain to Eliza about calling off the wedding, but there was no denying that things felt right for the first time in too long.
She took off her engagement ring and slipped it into the pocket of her super suit. Blowing a kiss back at Cat, Kara took off into the night skies of Opal City.