ONE
One.
When Myriad is activated, Kara finds only two humans in the entire city not under its control – Maxwell Lord and Cat Grant.
Carter is somewhere in the rabble, and Cat doesn’t know where he is, and is outwardly more angry than anything, though maybe that’s for her benefit because Maxwell Lord is constantly trying to undermine her. Kara doesn’t know what Myriad is going to make the people of National City do to each other, but she knows that its implementation was one of the last things Astra did before her death.
When she eventually does defeat Non and Myriad, with her uncle dead at her feet, Kara discovers she’s blown out her powers, and not in a good way. The people of National City surround her as she bleeds and does not heal, and then she it on her knees, and then her side, because her hip is dislocated and it burns and feels wrong and is tight in all the wrong places.
“Help me,” she croaks, and then people are rushing forwards, someone bringing a gurney to put her on. She lets out a wretched whimper at the movement, but lets them as more medical professionals come over, unable to get ambulances or other help. A hoard of first-aid kits are brought over, and they have to use scissors on her suit to get to the deep cuts and gashes and burns, and she lets out something of a scream, but is more a sharp, tearing cry that travels through the wind because she has never felt pain like that. She has no tolerance to anything past scrapes and bruises from her early childhood, can’t process pain the same way anymore.
Someone ties her hair up out of the way.
Someone takes a picture.
Less than a week later, Kara Danvers is labelled Supergirl, and she hides out in the DEO until she gets her powers back, wincing at the texts she gets from Cat asking where the hell her assistant was despite it all. When she goes back to CatCo, using super-speed to avoid the fans and general populace, and the stairs at CatCo instead of the elevator, people in the office look at her in awe and she is brought to tears as people thank her for saving their lives, and for being the amazing person she is, over and over and over again.
Then Cat calls her into her office.
“So, Keira, where the hell have you been? Because I’ve been trying to coordinate one of the biggest story’s in media history and-” And Kara can’t help it, because after it all, after all of this mess, she is still Cat Grant, still Cat, and she is treating her like nothing is wrong, like nothing has happened, like Kara’s just her assistant and is only a daisy in a field of flowers rather than Supergirl and everything humanity looks to.
She kisses her, and Cat kisses back.
“Don’t let this get to your head,” is what Cat whispers when they part. “You’re still my assistant, Keira.”
And Kara laughs, “I know.”
When Barry next came through for a visit alongside Thea Queen, and they made a tag-team with Kara to defeat an experiment gone wrong that came through after them and got loose in National City. Once they were done, Kara invited them home.
“Pizza?” Barry questioned, but to his disappointment, Kara shook her head.
“Sorry, but pizza got banned after I left thirty pizza-boxes out on the countertops while we were away for the weekend three years ago and stunk up out entire penthouse.”
“Penthouse?” Thea questioned with a raise of her eyebrow, Barry suddenly grinning.
“Oh, so you’re finally admitting it – and you moved in!”
Kara rolled her eyes before coming over to Thea, “Here, I’ll fly you.” Thea nodded, before letting her take her into her arms. “Barry, wanna follow behind me?”
“Sure,” he nodded, before pulling on his mask. Kara shot up into the air, making sure to slow down so Thea didn’t get windburn, but Thea seemed to have a handle on it, covering her face with her large hood. Flying to Cat’s apartment balcony, she greeted the awaiting Carter with a tight hug and a kiss on his hair before grinning at the toddling Lara behind him, swinging the two year old up into her arms.
“How’s my baby girl, huh?” She rubbed their noses together, causing her to giggle. Thea stared, eyebrow raised.
“You have a kid?”
“Three,” Carter corrected, “technically four, but Adam’s like, only ten years younger than her, so three. I’m Carter, Carter Grant. Who are you?” He questioned, not even looking at Barry, who had sped up the side of the building to join them.
“Thea Queen, otherwise known as Speedy,” Thea introduced herself cautiously, glancing at Barry, to whom Kara was telling a story about being stuck in an elevator. Carter looked Thea up and down quickly, blushing slightly, hoping she hadn’t noticed.
By the raised eyebrows and smirk, she had. Carter blushed darker, curling in on himself slightly, hands still at his sides as he reverted to behaviours that Kara had been helping him lose.
“What did you do now, Carter Cry-baby?” Came Astra’s voice. Carter looked behind him to see his little sister – all six years of her – standing with her hands in fists on her hips, legs splayed. She looked just like her mother, red hair withstanding. She glared at Thea. “What did you do? Only I get to be mean to Carter.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Thea defended herself, frowning. Kara looked over from where she stood with Barry.
“Astra Eliza Grant, don’t be so protective over Carter – he’s twenty-one, he can look after himself.”
“Then why’d he come home for the weekend?” Astra narrowed her eyes, before crossing her arms. Kara looked to Barry, holding up little blonde Lara.
“Wanna hold her?”
Barry smiled widely, “You wanna bet? Come to Uncle Barry!” Kara giggled at the same time as Lara, making Barry’s already impossibly-wide grin stretch further, before he took her reverently, holding her solidly yet gently against his chest.
Once seeing they were okay, Kara turned to the trio, coming over to crouch in front of Astra, who stared defiantly.
“Astra, I know you don’t like it how your Mom is so happy to see Carter, and we’re still paying a lot of attention to Lara because she’s little, but you’ve got to be better than this. Taking your anger out on everyone you speak to isn’t nice – it’s really, really mean, and Carter isn’t a cry-baby. Now Lara – that’s a cry-baby, and your cousin’s Katie and Mickey.”
“But they’re actual babies. Carter’s twenty-one, he shouldn’t be crying,” Astra pointed out.
Thea chimed in, “She does have a point. It’s odd for grown men to cry and for people to actually know about it, at least in my world.”
Kara gave her a look, “Not helping, Thea.” She looked back at Astra. “I’ve been talking to your mother recently about your behaviour. We’ll be talking more tonight, with you there. Lara’s going over to Aunty Alex’s to have a sleepover with Mickey.”
Astra glared, before stamping her foot, causing cracks to appear in the tile. Immediately her eyes widened, anger draining.
“Mama, I didn’t mean to-”
“I know, I’m right here, I saw,” but Kara sighed anyway, picking her daughter up and swinging her over her shoulders onto her back. “Everyone, get inside. Carter, your mom home?”
“Making lasagnes,” he replied quietly as they walked into the penthouse, Kara not even bothering to drop Astra as she went over to the other side of the open-plan kitchen living dining room, kissing Cat on the cheek and sneakily stealing some remains of the cream sauce from the empty pan with a finger.
“I saw that – and that,” she gave Astra a piercing glare as she licked her hand, which was covered in dregs of the white substance. “I see we have guests. I know who the Blur is,” she sent another glare over towards Barry, “and he had better not drop my daughter – but I don’t know who that is.” She looked to Thea, before shooing Kara away, opening up the oven and steadily taking lasagne after lasagne out, until five steaming trays were on view.
“That’s a lot of food,” Thea muttered, “and I’m Thea Queen. I’m from Barry’s universe, Starling City though, rather than Central City.”
“Starling City, Central City, National City – it seems that average American’s lack creativity in every universe,” Cat replied drolly, before a shriek echoed through the penthouse, the front door slamming open.
“AUNTY CAT! DADDY SAID YOU WERE MEAN TO HIM! I DON’T BELIEVE HIM!” Thea and Barry turned to look at the small person who slid into the kitchen on their heels, pale skin colouring green even as they bounded up to hug Kara, who had stepped away from the cooker. “Hi Aunty Kara!”
“Hello Katie, where’s your mom?”
“Mommy’s right here,” came Alex’s dry voice as she entered, setting a baby-carrier on the end of the counter, far from the waiting food. She glanced at Barry and Thea in their superhero outfits, “Mr Allen, I’ve heard about you.”
Barry paused, before looking between her and Kara, “Oh, oh – oh! You’re Alex! I used your crime lab last time I was here!”
“That you did, and thanks for cleaning up afterwards,” Alex nodded diplomatically, before looking to Thea, holding out a hand. “Alex Henshaw nee Danvers. I’m Kara’s foster-sister.”
Thea shook, “Thea Queen. How many more people are coming?”
“Just my partner – J’onn J’onzz, or Hank Henshaw. He’s an alien in hiding, so things get mixed up.”
Cat started to get plates out, “I hope you didn’t make another hole in my wall, Kara T’ania J’onzz.”
Katie shook her head rapidly, bouncing up and down, “Nope. Can I go and play with Astra now?” Kara let Astra down as Cat answered, holding out plates.
“No, you will set the table for nine, with the special high chair for Lara beside your mother.”
The two groaned, but a sharp order from Alex to do as Cat said and to add another place for their Uncle Max had them hurrying about, using their alien powers to speed everything up until Kara told them to ‘pretend to be human for one minute’, despite Katie clearly being in her alien skin.
“I’d have never seen myself where I am now ten years ago,” Cat murmured as Alex showed Barry and Thea baby Mickey, otherwise known as Maxime K’hym J’onzz, who slept soundly throughout the proceedings. Kara nodded, arms wrapping around her waist as Cat leant into her, shutting her eyes. “How old am I now?”
“Older than you were ten years ago, but just as beautiful,” Kara said in reply, kissing her head. “A much better cook though.” They stood there for a minute, before J’onn appeared with Max over his shoulder, grumbling as he was uncuffed. As the man greeted his pseudo-nieces, Cat pulled away, directing Kara to bring the lasagne to the table, setting them on hot-plates with their own serving utensils.
“Okay, humans get first choice,” Cat said, before Kara pulled out her chair for her. “Thank-you, sweetheart.”
“My pleasure,” Kara leant over, capturing her lips in a tender kiss. Across the table, Astra and Katie made sounds of revulsion, calling them gross. Kara just smiled, before settling down for lasagne.
Thank Rao I never tried to start anything with James.