Vigilante

Cat pulled the 1998 Cutlass up a couple blocks from the very building she had been at the night before. The one where she had started tailing Nicko. Her car was dark colored and would easily blend into the shadows. Of course, it wasn’t her everyday Mercedes. She had bought and registered the car under an alias and kept it parked anonymously in an alley a few blocks from her house. It wasn’t worthy of notice and that made it perfect for the task she bought it for. Not being noticed.

She parked the car and took a look around. It was dark and passed midnight. When she was sure no one was outside to see her, she quickly exited the vehicle and slipped into the alley way on the same side of the street as the building she was trying to get to.

She slipped along the shadows, her black clothing making her practically invisible. Within a couple minutes, she had her back against the side of the old warehouse. She knew there would still be at least a couple of orders left waiting for pick up, which meant someone would be there to guard it. Whoever was guarding it had information she needed.

Cat was just about to duck out of the shadows to have a peek through one of the windows when a car pulled up. She stayed put as her heart began to race. She hadn’t been caught yet and she had to stay cool if she was going to keep it that way.

She inched to the edge of the wall and just barely stole a glance toward the car. A tall man with blond hair got out. He looked about mid forties. Cat recognized him. His name was John Bossey. Cat couldn’t believe her luck. He was a lieutenant to the king of this whole operation. Cat’s ultimate target. The one from the video she had been watching earlier.

She made a conscious effort to control her breathing. She needed to think about how to play this. She could tail him to wherever he was making his delivery. That’s how she had been able to take down the other three. She followed them, knocked them unconscious, sometimes with ease, sometimes it took a little scuffle. Then she loaded them into the trunk of her car and dropped them close to an NCPD station with a note telling the police where to find more like him. Then she called in the location with a burner phone.

But those were lower end guys. John Bossey would surely be making one of the larger deliveries, and that meant there would be people waiting for him. People with guns. No, she couldn’t risk running into that. She needed to do it here.

The storm front that had settled over the city went to work again. A soft rain began to fall. Cat waited until Bossey went inside, then she came up along the side of the warehouse. She ducked outside a window and looked in. He was talking to a younger man. Cat noticed the hand gun tucked into his waist band. Bossey would also surely have one. After they talked, they both turned to the corner where the orders had been stacked. They began picking up bags to take back to the car.

Cat went back to her hiding place in the shadows behind the wall. It took three trips for them to get all the bags of cocaine for the order. The longer it took, the more emotion Cat felt. She hated them and their disgusting business. She could hear the leather of her gloves scrunching as she clenched her fists. She kept thinking of Kari and Carter. She closed her eyes and forced the feelings away. She needed to stay focused.

Bossey finally came back out and headed to his car. It was time. Cat unclipped the staves from her belt. She gripped them tight and came out of the shadows. The special noise dampening material on the bottom her boots made her footsteps undetectable as she crept up behind him.

When she was only a couple feet behind him, Cat lifted both staves up and to the side and brought them down hard across Bossey’s back! He cried out and immediately hit his knees. He reached a hand to his back. Cat pushed the end of one of the staves to the back of his head, knowing he would mistake it for the barrel of a gun.

He did. And he froze. “What do you want?” His voice was hard.

“Where can I find your boss?” Cat asked him, her own voice hard.

Bossey laughed. “I don’t know who you are, or what the hell you think you’re doing, but you can’t possibly believe I’m just going to give you any information you want.”

“If you want to stay out of prison, unlike your friends, you should tell me what I want to know,” Cat spoke slowly, pushing the stave a little harder against his head.

But before he could answer, the door to the warehouse was thrown open. The younger man walked quickly toward them, gun pointed right at Cat. He shouted to her, “You back the fuck up, right now, bitch, or I swear to God-,”

He was cut off when Cat accurately threw one stave at him, hitting his hands hard, making him drop the gun! She had practiced for months for that kind of precision and force. Bossey took the split second opportunity and got to his feet. He lunged himself at Cat!

In a swift movement, she turned and thrust her hip into him, grabbing his arm. She used his own forward moment and flipped him over her hip. He fell to the ground on his already bruised back. She quickly brought the other stave down hard on his chest, using her entire body and dropping to a knee to follow the movement through making the blow twice as hard. He tried to breath through cracked ribs.

Cat saw the younger man fumbling in the dark trying to find the gun. She quickly moved up behind him. Slipping again to one knee with one smooth move she snatched her second stave from the ground and smashed it against the lower part of his legs in a clothesline movement, sweeping his feet out from under him! He fell backwards, hitting the back of his head on the concrete as he fell, immediately going unconscious.

Cat was on her feet in a instant. With practiced ease, she flicked her wrists, extending the staves to their full length then quickly screwed the two together, making a long pole. As she walked back over to Bossey, she simultaneously twirled the pole over her head, bringing it down on the hand that she was sure would be going for a gun. It was. The gun flew several feet away. She thrust the pole against his throat, keeping her distance.

Cat breathed deeply, watching him, willing her rage to subside. She asked again, more forcefully this time, “Where can I find your boss?”

Bossey was struggling to breath. He choked out, “Fuck you.”

Cat could see that she wasn’t going to get anywhere. She pulled the pole back and then shoved it into his chin, hard, knocking his head against the ground. He was out.

Cat slowly stood up tall, closing her eyes and turning her face toward the sky. She let the light rain cool her. She focused on taking deep breathes and calming herself. The rain was helping. When she had regained her composure, she looked around. Both men were unconscious on the ground. She had gotten no information and there was no way she could get both in her car.

“Shit,” she whispered under her breath. What a waste of time. This was the first time she had tried talking to one of them instead of the usual apprehend and deliver. It didn’t go so well. She was counting on getting information before turning Bossey in.

She made a decision. She would leave them. Bossey needed to stay in play. He was close to her target. If she could pick him up again later, she could follow him up the chain. She hated to do it, though.

Then she looked to the car. The least she could do was destroy their product. She slowly made her way into the warehouse, weapons at the ready. She checked the first floor. It was clear. She looked over the area, hoping to find a tidbit of something she could use. On one of the tables lay a notebook.

Cat clipped the staves back to her belt and picked up the notebook. She began flipping through it. A smile crossed her face. It hadn’t been a waste of time. In the notebook were orders and buyers going back for months. She folded up the notebook and tucked it inside her jacket. Then she turned her attention to the rest of the bags in the corner.

Several minutes later, Cat had pulled all the bags outside into the middle of the street. She popped Bossey’s trunk and pulled those bags out, adding them to the pile in the street. She walked back to her Cutlass and opened the trunk, pulling out some fuel and a small propane torch. She doused the bags with the fuel, then lit it up. At least these orders wouldn’t be filled. And it would disrupt their whole operation. It was something.

She got inside her car and started the drive home. She sighed deeply. She needed sleep. And she had to be at CatCo in a few short hours.

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Kara was waiting for Cat, as usual. She kept glancing up to the door of the private elevator. Cat was late. Not late, late, but late for her. The board meeting was in less than an hour. Just as Kara picked up her phone to call her, her super hearing picked up the sound of the elevator coming up.

She picked up Cat’s latte and pulled the top off, discreetly heating the liquid with her heat vision. Standing, she walked around her desk with her tablet. When the elevator dinged, the doors opened. Kara expected to see Cat’s lithe form stalking out onto the floor, confident as always.

But it took a full five seconds before Cat appeared. And when she did, she looked exhausted. Even with the cloudy weather, Cat had her sunglasses on. Her shoulders were slumped and she was walking slowly. No one seemed to notice the change in her demeanor besides Kara.

Cat had come in before with a slight hangover and Kara assumed that accounted for Cat’s appearance today. She reached across her desk to pick up the bottle of Advil. She handed Cat the latte when she walked passed her and into the office. Kara followed her. When she sat down behind the desk, Cat finally slipped her sunglasses off.

Kara’s face immediately donned a compassionate expression. She’d never seen Cat look so tired. Her eyes were hooded and dark. There wasn’t as much color in her cheeks. She was staring at her desk.

“Ms. Grant.” Cat’s eyes snapped up at hearing Kara’s voice. Kara held out the bottle of Advil. Cat took it gratefully.

“Thank you,” she said, popping a couple of the pills in her mouth. She sighed. Kara could tell she was having problems focusing. “I need a copy of the itinerary for the board meeting, please, Kiera.”

Kara furrowed her brows. Cat never said ‘please.’ She leaned forward and tapped a piece of paper that she had already left on Cat’s desk. It was the itinerary.

Cat sighed again. “Thank you, again.” She began reading the page. Kara turned to leave when she heard, “Kiera.” Kara turned back. Cat looked so troubled. She hesitated before saying, “I’m going to need your help a little more than usual today keeping me on task.”

Kara just nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need. I’ll come get you when it’s time for the meeting.” Cat nodded and Kara turned to leave.

Cat dropped her face into her hands. She was so tired. And her mind kept drifting back to the night before. During her drive home, she had become unsure whether she made the right move. But it didn’t matter now. It was done. She just hoped it didn’t put her two steps behind. She had worked so hard to get to this point.

She shook her head. She couldn’t think about that now. It was time to focus on CatCo. She picked up the itinerary and opened her laptop, ready to get to work.

Outside the office, Kara was sitting at her desk, watching Cat. She had noticed Cat’s increasing distraction over the last few months. It had started with Kari, Carter’s girlfriend. His first girlfriend. Cat had been so proud of him for reaching out to her. Cat said she was kind and sweet. But then she was gone. Four months ago, Kari had been killed, shot, and the killer was never found. It had effected Carter profoundly, and subsequently, it had effected Cat as well. She was heartbroken for Carter. Cat used to talk about Carter to Kara often, but after Kari, she barely mentioned him anymore. It was too sad.

Kara looked toward the board room. Most of the members had filtered in. They were looking over their itineraries and making notes. Kara would give Cat a few more minutes. She glanced back to Cat’s desk and continued watching over her.

At five minutes until the meeting, Kara knocked at the door to Cat’s office, getting her attention. Cat looked up. Kara pointed to the board room and Cat nodded. She rose from her chair and took a breath, readying herself.

When she walked out of the office, she absentmindedly brushed her hand against Kara’s arm. She hadn’t meant to, but she didn’t mind it. Kara hadn’t pulled away, and she knew Kara didn’t mind it either. Even the small touch was rejuvenating to Cat. She was ready to get this meeting over with. She held her head up as she walked through the door.

Kara continued her work for the next couple hours, occasionally glancing up at the board room. Cat looked like she was doing well. She was walking around the room, her confident swagger in place. She smiled when she needed to and laughed at jokes when she was supposed to. She effortlessly guided the meeting until every item on the itinerary was covered.

When the meeting was over, Cat leaned against the door, holding it open while she shook each board member’s hand and offered a smile and a goodbye to all of them. After they had all gone, Kara saw as she physically released her shoulders and leaned back against the door again, closing her eyes.

She came back over to her office and stopped in front of Kara’s desk. She asked, “What’s next?”

With one click on her computer, Kara brought up Cat’s schedule. “No meetings until after lunch,” she looked up at Cat. “Maybe you should take a break. You seem tired, Ms. Grant.”

Cat rolled her eyes at Kara’s observation. “If I take a break, I’m going go fall asleep.” Cat just walked back into her office and sat down behind the desk, picking up the phone to make some calls.

After some time, Kara looked up to see the office empty. She glanced around, looking for Cat. She was suddenly aware of how protective she’d become of Cat. She needed to know the other woman was okay. She stood up and walked into the office to check the first place she knew Cat would go for a break.

She looked through the windows and onto the balcony. There she was. Kara stopped and took her in. She knew she would do anything within all her power to make Cat feel better. She couldn’t help herself. Her feet moved toward the balcony.

She slowly came out the door. Cat was leaning forward with her forearms on the edge of the balcony railing. The storm front was still over the city and it was a little chilly outside. The wind was blowing Cat’s blond hair. Kara wanted so much to touch her. Instead, she walked up and mirrored Cat’s position a few feet away from her.

They stayed there for a moment, then Kara dared to ask, “How’s Carter?”

Cat didn’t answer immediately. Kara was the only person she trusted to ask her about Carter. When she did answer, she was quiet, “He’s okay. He’s still sad.” She looked at Kara and her lips quirked up. “But he did let me play a video game with him last night.”

Kara let out a small laugh. The thought of Cat trying to play a video game was hilarious. But she knew Cat would do anything to make Carter happy.

Cat smiled at Kara’s laugh. “He laughed a lot. It was nice to hear.”

“That’s good,” Kara said. After another minute, Kara asked, “Ms. Grant, what’s going on? I know that Carter has been going through a lot with losing Kari, but there’s something going on. Something with you.”

Cat just looked at her. She changed her position so that her back was leaning against the edge of the balcony. She looked at the ground. Her hair fell around her face. Kara could only think about how beautiful she was.

Cat struggled with how to answer. A year ago, she would have dismissed Kara’s question by telling her that it was inappropriate for her to ask Cat something so personal. But they had been through a lot together. They trusted each other. Secretly, Cat loved that Kara could tell something was wrong. Though Cat always wondered why Kara didn’t trust her with her biggest secret. But she figured Kara had her reasons and as much as she respected Kara and Supergirl, she would respect that she wanted her secret to remain a secret.

She looked over to Kara. “I’m tired,” was all she managed to say. It seemed like the right answer. She wasn’t just physically tired. She was mentally spent. She was emotionally at her wit’s end. The truth was that the deeper she dove into National City’s underbelly, the more she felt the darkness creeping in. And it was almost more than she could take. She didn’t think it would be like this.

Kara saw the conflict on Cat’s face and took a step closer. Cat looked up at her again and Kara saw tears in her eyes. They didn’t spill over onto her cheeks. Cat would never let that happen. Kara stepped even closer.

Cat turned to face her. When she spoke, it was barely audible. “Maybe you could just...,” she trailed off, her eyes pleading with Kara.

Kara knew exactly what she was asking for. She took the last couple steps and was standing in front of Cat. Their eyes were glued to each other. Then Cat’s eyes slipped closed and she let her head drop to Kara’s shoulder. Kara closed her eyes and lifted her arms to encircle Cat and pull her close. Cat turned her face toward Kara’s neck and settled her hands on Kara’s hips.

She melted into Kara and let herself be pulled impossibly close. It felt so good. She breathed out and finally relaxed. Cat couldn’t remember the last time someone had just held her. Kara put her cheek against Cat’s forehead and Cat wrapped her arms around Kara. Cat thought about how well her small body fit against Kara. Kara thought about how soft Cat’s hair felt against her fingers.

Neither wanted to break the contact. So they didn’t. Kara traced small circles on the back of Cat’s shoulder and Cat ran one hand up and down Kara’s back slowly. It felt amazing and it was only a hug.

Finally, Cat sighed against Kara’s chest. She pulled back, feeling a little vulnerable. But when she looked at Kara’s face, there was only care looking back at her. She smiled a little at Kara, tilting her head, considering her. How did this happen? How had she let herself fall for Kara Danvers? With all of her precautions and all her defenses in place. Kara had managed to break through every wall.

Kara blinked and the split second loss of eye contact was just enough to bring Cat back down to earth. She cleared her throat and stepped out of Kara’s arms. But she was still smiling. She broke the tension with a teasing threat.

“If you tell anyone about this moment, I’ll kill you.” She held a finger up, indicating that she was serious, but Kara caught the light tone in her voice. She just smiled at Cat and held her hands up in concession.

Kara’s expression grew serious. “I just want to help. However I can.” She opened her mouth to say something else, then stopped herself.

Cat had the same idea. She wanted so much to tell Kara everything. Everything she was feeling, everything she was doing. Surely, Supergirl’s help would make all the difference. But it wasn’t her place to ask Supergirl for help. The hero had enough on her plate. And this was Cat’s vendetta. Really, though, she just wanted to have a meaningful conversation with Kara.

Cat didn’t mean to say it. It wasn’t the right time. But she was so tired and she just wanted to stay with Kara. The invitation escaped her mouth before she could stop it. “We should get drinks sometime.”

As soon as the words were out, she glanced away and closed her eyes. Stupid, she thought. She glanced back to Kara’s face. Her expression was hesitant. She knew Cat didn’t mean to say it. But she also knew that Cat wouldn’t have suggested it if she didn’t want to. She gave a simple answer. It was open ended and would leave Cat an out if she wanted one. “I would like that.”

With one last smile at each other, Cat slowly walked passed Kara and back into the office. Kara followed.

No sooner had Cat sat back down in her chair, when there was a knock on the office door. It was the head of the Crime Department. Cat waved him in as Kara walked out.

“Danny, what can I do for you?” Cat asked him.

“Ms. Grant, you told me to get facts on that drug dealer case. The dealers that were turned in to the police,” he reminded her.

Cat’s heart rate suddenly elevated. She kept her composure and nodded, trying to keep her expression passive.

“Well, I got facts,” Danny said, holding his hands out, clearly happy with his progress.

Cat turned on her dismissive attitude. “Well, don’t just stand there with a satisfied smirk. Tell me the facts.”

Danny came up to her desk and pulled out his phone. “I’ve got surveillance footage.” He turned his phone toward Cat and tapped the play button of a video.

It was a grainy black and white feed. But it was clear. It was a wide shot of a street in the warehouse district. There was car parked in the street. Cat watched as a man walked toward the car. Then she watched a dark figure come up behind him with some kind of weapon and slammed it into the man’s back.

Cat’s breathing became shallow. She could feel sweat forming on her forehead. The video showed her entire encounter with John Bossey and the other man the previous night. How could this have happened? Cat cursed in her head. She had checked a dozen time for cameras on that street. She always did recon on all the spots she went to. She purposely avoided any kind of detection. She knew there were no cameras around the area.

Danny put his phone away and looked at Cat expectantly. She cleared her throat, hoping he hadn’t noticed her dismay.

“Where,” she began and paused. “Um, where did you get this?” She pointed toward his phone.

He had been waiting for her to ask and answered quickly. “The guy that owns the warehouse across the street heard there was some shady things going on in the area. Apparently he keeps some valuable things in his property and got the cameras installed yesterday morning.” Danny threw up his hands. “Can you believe it? Yesterday morning!”

Cat fake smiled at him and slowly shook her head, truthfully stating, “I can’t believe it.” Well, shit, she thought. It was a story now.

Danny went on. “I have a contact at the PD and he leaked me the footage. This is the person that’s been taking these guys down. We have to find out who this is,” he said excitedly, holding up his phone. “Not to mention why they didn’t turn these guys in. What did they burn in the street? There’s a lot here, Ms. Grant.”

She didn’t have a choice. It would be too suspicious if she killed the story now. She asked him, “Have you gotten stills from the video for print?”

“James Olsen is working on it now.”

Cat just nodded. “Okay, Danny. Write it. Bring me a draft.”

“Thanks, Ms. Grant.” With that, he walked out quickly, ready to get to work.

Cat sat back in her chair. She brought her fingers up to cover her lips and closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t believe it. In one moment, it seemed like all the work she had done for months would be undone. Not only that, but she could be discovered. Cat Grant, Queen of all Media by day, vigilante by night.

No, this couldn’t happen. She saw Carter’s face in her mind. She saw Kari’s parents at her funeral. The police had done nothing. A twelve year old girl, murdered in the street and no one seemed to care. Not in her city. And now, when she was so close to not only proving who had pulled the trigger, but being able to bring him and his operation down, it was all about to unravel.

She felt herself panicking. She turned so that the back of her chair faced the bullpen. She breathed deeply. Then she thought.

The video had been pretty low quality. They might be able to tell it was a woman, but no one would ever realize it was her. If nothing else, this video coming into the light might throw the man she was seeking off balance. He might make a mistake she could capitalize on.

She turned her chair back around. This could end up being the break she needed. Just then, her cell phone dinged with a text message alert. She picked it up. It was from Carter. She smiled instantly and opened it.

‘Hey, mom. I know it’s a school night, but there’s this movie that just came out that I really want to see. All the kids are talking about it. Can we see it tonight?’

It was a no brainer. Anything that would get him interacting with the other kids again. She quickly texted back, ‘Absolutely!’

She needed to lay low for a couple days anyway. She checked the clock. It was almost the end of the day. She turned back to her computer as Kara walked in with some files.

“Ms. Grant,” she looked at Cat with a smile. “Here are layouts for you to look at.” She set the stack down on the table.

“Thank you, Kiera.” Kara turned to leave. Cat quickly stood, not wanting her to go. “About those drinks,” she called after her. Kara stopped in her tracks. She turned back, her lips pressed together. Cat knew she was trying not to smile too much.

“Yes,” she asked.

Cat shrugged. “What about tomorrow night?” Her face was hopeful.

Kara gave her a shy smile, looking away for a minute. That made Cat smile. She’s so adorable, Cat thought.

“Tomorrow night, on one condition,” Kara said and Cat tilted her head in curiosity. “You have to call me by my real name.”

Cat dipped her head down. That was fair. She looked back up and nodded. Just then Kara’s phone made a loud alert noise in her hand. It startled her and she jumped. She glanced down sharply, not wanting to take her eyes off Cat. The message was from Alex.

‘Need you to come in. Trouble in the city.’

She looked back to Cat apologetically. “I have to go.” She was already taking a slow step backwards.

Cat just said softly, “I’m sure it’s very important.” Kara nodded and turned to leave.

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Only a short time later, Kara came into the DEO decked out in her Supergirl apparel. She stood tall and her jaw was set. Her hair fell around her shoulders and bounced a little as she entered the bullpen.

Alex grinned toward her as she came in. “Hey, sis.”

Kara smiled back. “Hey.” She squeezed Alex’s arm as she came up along side her. “So what’s up?”

“Have you seen this?” Alex asked the question at the same time as she pushed play, starting a video on one of the large screens.

It was surveillance video. Kara recognized the area as a largely abandoned part of the warehouse district. There was a car parked in the shot. After a moment, a man stepped into the shot toward the car. Then a figure in black stepped up quickly behind him.

Kara narrowed her eyes and watched as the figure cleanly took him down. She watched as it looked like the they were talking to the man. Next, another man came out of a door with a gun pointed at the figure in black. The figure threw one of their weapons, knocking away the gun.

Then Kara watched as the first man attacked the smaller figure, but they easily tossed him to the ground and smashed his rib cage in a fluid motion.

Kara let out a loud, “Ohh,” like she was watching a fight scene from a movie.

Alex said, “Just wait.”

Kara continued watching as the black figure quickly stalked over to the other man, who was looking for his gun. With impressive speed, they grabbed their second weapon from where it had fallen and swept his feet out from under him. Watching his head hit the ground, Kara hissed, “Oww.”

Then, she watched as the figure attached the two separate weapons to make one long weapon. She lifted her eye brows as she watched them spin the weapon overhead while walking back to the first man, still on the ground. The spin put the weapon in just the right position to slam the gun out of his hand.

“Wow,” Kara said. “They look like they might be as good as you in a fight.”

Alex huffed and glared at her sister. As they continued watching, it looked like the figure was trying to talk to the first man again. Then they knocked him out as well. After some time inside the building, the figure dragged several large duffel bags into the street and lit them on fire.

Alex stopped the video and looked at Kara. Kara still has her eye brows up, impressed by the figure. She answered Alex’s original question, “No, I haven’t seen it. But one of the reporters at CatCo has been bugging Ms. Grant about running a story on someone turning three drug dealers in to the police.”

“Has she run the story?”

“No. She says there isn’t enough to print a good story.” Kara paused and pointed to the screen. “Do you think this is that person?”

Alex shrugged. “We don’t know. We just got this footage a couple hours ago. So this person has turned in three dealers and the police haven’t moved on any of their known associates?”

“Yeah,” Kara nodded, “And the department head at CatCo says they’ve even left notes with the dealers telling the police who to look at and where to find them.”

Alex shook her head slowly. Drugs had become an increasing problem in National City. Though the DEO didn’t really get involved with local law enforcement matters, Alex was thinking about making an exception.

“Play it again,” she heard Kara say. Alex hit the play button again. The entire altercation lasted less than a minute.

“Wait,” Kara said quietly. “Sorry, can you play it again?”

Alex furrowed her brow. “Yeah. You see something?”

“Maybe,” Kara answered. She watched again. Her expression became confused. “No,” she whispered, disbelieving. She snatched the remote from Alex and rewound, then hit play again. She tilted her head to the side.

The sway in the hips. The way the figure let their hands fall to their sides and looked up to the sky when both men were down. The angle of the shoulders. They way they walked around lightly on their feet. The nonchalant movements of the hands when they were lighting up the bags. That hair.

Kara let out an audible gasp and covered her open mouth with her hand.

Alex quickly asked, “What is it?”

Kara reached out and lightly touched a finger to the figure on the screen. She turned to Alex and quietly, but firmly, said, “That’s Cat Grant.”