Set the Kindling
Kara is so prepared for this interview.
She spent every waking second of the weekend pouring over article after article by and about one Cat Grant. She's watched videos of the older woman on the news, of her accepting awards, her being followed by the paparazzi. Kara finds blog posts written by angry former employees and keeps a running list of all the horrible words used to describe Miss Grant.
So far she has:
Despicable
vile
cut-throat soul eater
evil, and - Kara's personal favorite - Demonic she-beast from another planet.
Cat Grant is definitely an interesting woman, and Kara is thrilled to meet her face-to-face. She's played the secretary role before and always found it boring, but those roles were never under someone as controversial as Cat Grant. Kara is nothing if not a professional when it comes to her acting and the opportunity to stretch her creative muscle and really dedicate herself to a mission is so exciting. This is going to possibly be her hardest role yet.
She arrives twenty minutes early to allow her a little time to scope out the office and take note of any weak points. Her mission is to find out what Cat Grant knows, but it's also vital she keep her safe.
Kiera.
That’s her name on this mission.
Kiera Shaw, recent college graduate with a double major in Journalism and Business Management. She’s from Washington, moved to National City after graduating college. She interned at her collegiate newspaper for the last two years of her degree and holds four different journalist awards and recognitions.
None of this actually happened, of course, but its all on record in case anyone checks her background. Winn spent hours on his computers building a perfect history for Kara, going so far as to create fake elementary school records for her. Three days ago, Kiera Shaw didn’t exist. Today, she’s interviewing for a job at CatCo.
What a time to be alive.
Kara approaches the front desk in the lobby, confident and prepared.
“Hi! My name is Kiera Shaw. I'm here for an interview with Miss Grant."
The front desk worker glances at the clock and clicks her tongue.
“For the assistant spot? You’re late."
Kara frowns. She double checks her phone to make sure she isn't crazy.
"I'm 20 minutes early."
The worker just hums quietly and hands her a visitors pass.
"Elevator is to the right. Floor 18."
Kara forces herself to refocus on the elevator ride up. She’s fine, she’s early and everything is fine. She arrives at her floor and walks out to find a large bullpen full of desks and workers running around. Kara canvases the room, taking in all the faces. She makes a mental note to run background checks on all of them. One familiar face jumps out at her, though, and she walks up to see Winn seated at a desk of his own. His IT job has already started.
“Excuse me, sir, do you know where I could find Cat Grant?” Her face is neutral but he can hear the smile in her voice. He shoots her an affectionate look before pointing hesitantly at the giant glass office near him. Of course, Cat Grant would have nothing less.
“Be careful,” he whispers through a forced smile, his voice so low no normal human could detect it. “She’s a lot.” Kara nods, takes a deep breath, and approaches the office. She knocks gently on the glass wall and the woman inside waves a hand at her to come in.
“Hi, I’m Kier-”
“You’re late,” she cuts off before Kara can finish the thought.
The woman doesn’t even look up at her. Kara falters for just a moment, glancing at her watch again.
“I’m… 20 minutes early?” Her questioning tone seems to anger the older woman, whose head snaps up immediately.
“I know you’re fresh and new to the big bad world of employment, but here at CatCo I expect my employees to be at least thirty minutes early for their shifts which means by my standards you are late. Now sit down.”
Kara sits nervously on the couch. She fidgets, adjusting her skirt, and then wonders when she suddenly started fidgeting. That’s not part of her role. She needs to calm down. She’s an elite agent in an intergalactic paramilitary organization. She can handle an interview for an entry level job.
“So Kiera,” Miss Grant drawls, still looking at her computer with little interest for the girl she’s interviewing, “this is the part where you tell me all the reasons you think you somehow deserve to work for me. Go.”
Kara takes a breath to relax and then allows herself to fall into her new role. She’s got this.
“You’re lying.”
Okay, so maybe she doesn't got this.
Miss Grant had sat unmoving while Kara smoothly laid out her skills and experience, why she was by far the most qualified human being on Earth to work this job, and why really Cat Grant would be missing out if she didn’t hire her. She talked for almost ten minutes, smiling and charming, without Miss Grant even glancing at her once. And now, at the end of her carefully mapped out spiel, the only thing Miss Grant can say is you’re lying? Shit.
“I… I’m sorry?”
Miss Grant rolls her eyes and speaks slowly, as if Kara is too dim to catch words at a normal pace.
“Do you know what it's like to be powerful, Kiera?”
Kara immediately thinks of the time she breathed in dust and sneezed, resulting in the shattering of every glass object in a ten foot radius.
“I can't say I do, Miss Grant.”
Cat hums.
“Power breeds inauthenticity. Every person that meets someone with power tries to adapt and lie and twist their way into their good graces. Believe me, it’s exhausting to deal with.” She wrinkles her nose. “You’re doing that right now and quite frankly you're doing a terrible job at it.”
This didn’t make sense. Kara has spent years of her life studying acting, she’s played hundreds of distinct roles in her career with the DEO. She has taken on the personality of every type of person on this planet and no one has ever, not once, caught her in the act.
“Leave,” Cat says with a wave. “You are not what I’m looking for.”
Kara stares at her, mouth hanging open, before slowly turning and walking to the door. What the hell just happened? It didn’t make sense. She did everything right, she researched and compiled every piece of data she could find on Cat Grant. She said all the right things. How did she not get the job? Holy shit, she didn’t get the job.
Panic sets in.
she has to get this job. It’s vital that she’s on the premises over the next few months to protect it from any potential terrorist attacks, and there’s no way she could come in and work as some janitor or secretary here without Miss Grant noticing her straight away. The only option she has is to get this job.
She whips around and marches herself back into the glass office, steeling herself emotionally. Miss Grant huffs, “Oh please, am I going to have to call security on you?”
“I need this job, Miss Grant!”
She says it almost at a yell, which surprises both of them, and she makes an effort to adjust her volume.
“I need this job. W-what do I need to do to get it?” and dammit, she’s stuttering for the first time in seven years. It’s like she’s a teenager again trying to figure out what it means to act human. Standing in front of this woman feels like unraveling her carefully built identity piece-by-piece back to her core self.
(She’s not a big fan of her core self)
“Tell me the truth without the charade. Why do you deserve this job over anyone else?”
“I want to be stronger.”
That is definitely not what she meant to say, and she can tell its not what Miss Grant expected. Still, she pushes on in a fast, rushed voice,
“I have never met anyone like you, you… you’re so mean and y-you’re so rude and you say exactly what you think whenever you think it!” Fire ignites in Miss Grant’s eyes, and Kara pushes on quickly, “And you’re so successful and powerful because of it, and I don’t,” Kara stutters - where are these words coming from? - “I didn’t know that kind of thing was possible.”
And it’s the truth. Kara didn’t know it was possible to be so genuine all the time, especially when that genuine self was so abrasive. Cat Grant is like no one Kara has ever met before.
Miss Grant just stares at her, saying nothing. Her face is unreadable. Kara continues.
“I want this job because I want to make a difference, and working for someone like you could be that difference.” And it’s not a lie; she wants to make a difference by stopping a terrorist attack on the largest media corporation in the region. She wants to protect this harsh woman.
“I want to learn to be like you. I want-,” her face is so red now, she can feel it, and her hands are shaking. She really feels like a teenager again, “I want to be stronger, and I will work hard for you every single day to do it.”
She’s never felt so raw before; it’s exhilarating. She hasn’t felt this terrified in so long (she’s almost forgotten what it feels like to be scared). Being super strong physically can make a lot of things less scary, but no amount of physical prowess can get her out of this situation. Kara herself, the girl inside the indestructible body, has to do that. It’s terrifying, and she’s never felt more alive.
Miss Grant scans her entire body with her eyes, slowly, calculating, and Kara tries to control her twitching. Finally, she speaks.
“I am not an easy person to work for.” It’s stated as a fact, no apology in her voice.
“I c-can handle it.” She stutters, but her voice is strong. There’s a charge in the room, they can both feel it, and Kara isn’t sure how to interpret it because all she can focus on is the unreadable depth of Cat Grant’s eyes sizing her up. She’s never felt so small, so powerless, in all her time on Earth, but she’s not afraid of the challenge there. She kind of likes the feeling.
“You start tomorrow at 7:30. I trust you can figure out how to be here on time. If you can’t then please, don’t bother showing up at all.”
Kara lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and beams at Cat, a genuine smile she hasn’t given anyone in a long time. Cat rolls her eyes and dismisses her with a wave.
Kara tries her best not to skip on her way to the elevator.
Kara has successfully completed over 325 operations in her 9 years with the DEO. She's stormed terrorist outposts, gone head-to-head with intergalactic genocidal creatures. Kara once had a Kryptonite knife pressing toward her throat in the middle of a battle and she was still able to calmly disarm and detain her opponent with only a few scratches. Kara Danvers is a warrior, a career soldier, and she's faced threats the average person couldn't even dream of.
And yet no one has ever terrified her as intensely as Cat Grant. Nor worked her as hard.
Within the first hour of her first day at the office Kara has fielded seven phone calls, met a third of the building through awkward confrontational requests [Um, hi, I’m Miss Grant’s new assistant and she told me to tell you to, uh, have the report ready by 10 or she would u-um… castrate you? Sorry it was really nice to meet you!!] , and she’s been screamed at no less than eighty two times by Miss Grant. The shrill cry of “KIERA” echoes constantly through the hallways and Kara barely has time to breathe let alone think. By noon she’s pretty sure she’s going to die from anxiety alone.
“Kiera!” Winn calls as she sprints by his desk for the thirtieth time, “Have you eaten lunch?”
Kara responds with a pained moan but doesn’t stop moving. She can’t stop, not when Miss Grant has 213 more things on her first day To Do List. All Kara can do is go go go.
She races back down the hallway to pass off two more papers and make her way back to Miss Grant’s office and she thanks all the gods of Krypton and Earth when she sees Winn standing in the hall with an unwrapped granola bar in his hand. She can’t stop so he just holds it up to her mouth for her to grab with her teeth without slowing down a second. He accepts a garbled “I love you” as thanks and makes a mental note to bring a bunch of small, portable snack foods for Kara in the future. She devours the bar before she even reaches the end of the hall.
Her nine hour work day feels like forty, and Kara has never been more thankful for a day to end. She manages to stay standing tall long enough for Miss Grant’s exit. The older woman glances up from her phone briefly to say, “You survived day one. Congratulations,” before continuing on without another word. The second her elevator doors close Kara collapses at her desk with a groan.
Winn rolls next to her in his chair.
“How ya feeling, champ?”
All she can manage is a small whimpering sound and he pats her head sympathetically.
“Are you sure we can’t just let the terrorists get her?” she mumbles, defeat and exhaustion in her voice. He laughs.
“Sadly no, we can’t let the terrorists get her.”
“Damn. That means I have to come to work tomorrow.”
Slowly, things get better.
It never stops being terrifying, of course. That anxious thrill of insecurity never really goes away. All of her notes on Kiera Shaw are scrapped that first day and Kara is left with a blank slate. She has a role to fill but no character to play; Miss Grant sees through every one of her lies every single time. Honesty is the only option, and it’s terrifying.
But things do get better.
Kara learns how to balance her thousands of tasks and expectations. Spies are taught to observe everything, to read the room and think on their feet. Slowly the insanity that is Cat Grant becomes more readable. Kara starts to see the patterns.
On Wednesdays Miss Grant always arrives thirty minutes late with no explanation, but she’s always in a better mood than usual. Wednesdays are Kara’s favorite days and Kara makes sure to plan the particularly rough meetings then. Thursdays tend to be bad mood days, so she keeps the schedule light and as positive as she can.
When something important is coming up Miss Grant always prefers a lighter lunch; meaty lunches when she’s feeling victorious. She learns this after watching Miss Grant dominate a meeting and nearly make one of their executive board members cry. Immediately afterwards she wanted a prime rib for lunch. Kara had to admit the gleam in Miss Grant’s eyes as she shredded the arrogant man made her feel an excitement she usually only feels in the middle of battle. Watching Miss Grant work is like watching an elite soldier go to war. Kara ignores the other feelings the sight gives her. She needs to be a professional, after all.
They fall into a rhythm.
Kara learns to anticipate anything Miss Grant might need every day and have it ready before she even asks. At night Kara sits in her bedroom making lists of scenarios that may happen and what she will need to do to help the most. Her attention to detail makes everything run so smoothly that one day Miss Grant even compliments her for it (well, as much as “if you focused on your wardrobe as intensely as you do my schedule you might actually look presentable” is a compliment).
Her days stop feeling so chaotic and bad.
She kind of likes working at CatCo, and really she’s just happy she didn’t get stuck with Alex’s job.
Infiltrating and destroying terrorist organizations has always been so fun in the past, but this Eco-Now situation is a nightmare. Alex had managed to make contact with the right people and has slowly been worming her way up the ranks, but everything is kept absolutely secret. No one knows where they are going until they are on the way. Alex’s Eco-Now handlers pick her up from her apartment in the mornings and drive her to whatever protest or meeting they have. She never knows where she’s going, who she will meet, or what they will do. So far they haven’t made her do anything illegal (they seem to be testing her willingness) but it’s getting more and more obvious that they are planning something big. Eventually.
They have no choice but to keep working at CatCo until further notice. What should have been a few weeks to months mission is starting to drag on and on. Soon it starts to seem less like a mission and more like a day job. Sometimes Kara forgets she isn’t really Miss Grant’s assistant, she forgets that this job will come to an end. She starts to appreciate the familiarity of Miss Grant’s quirks, even if they are harsh and dramatic. There’s a charm to them and honestly Kara appreciates the sincerity of it all.
Each month flows into the next and time continues marching on.
There is something off about her assistant.
It’s not just that she’s lasted for more than a month without having any sort of public meltdown, although that is definitely an unusual turn of events. Honestly she didn’t expect the girl to last a week, let alone five. She is so twitchy and nervous around Cat it’s shocking she can even function, let alone function so damn well.
No, there is definitely something deeper to her assistant than what meets the eye.
Cat watches her every day from afar, watches how she moves and talks and exists. How she acts around others is vastly different than how she acts around her. The twitches go away, the stuttering. She’s all silky smooth charm and smiles that everyone just eats up, and Cat can tell that every word she says is a lie.
What tipped her off to it she has no idea, but she can’t unsee it. There’s just something so practiced about her movements, like everything about her is hyper rehearsed. It’s like she’s an actor in her own life. It’s fascinating to watch.
Cat called her out on it immediately, of course, and she had delighted in watching the girl squirm. Without her bullshit protecting her the younger girl was really a mess, but she was a functioning mess who knew how to follow orders so Cat decided to give her a shot.
You can say a lot of things about Cat Grant, but you can’t say she isn’t charitable.
Still, even breaking down the act there is still something more there. Sometimes Kiera will stop working and just gaze at a wall, eyes clouded over, and in those moments she doesn’t look like a freshly graduated 20-something. No, she looks like someone who has seen so much more than her years should have allowed. There’s a weariness in her eyes, one Cat hasn’t seen much in this city. It intrigues her, and maybe that’s why she keeps her around.
It’s definitely not her ridiculous smile, though. That Cat absolutely loathes. Every single day Kiera comes in with that damn cheerful smile, rain or shine, and no matter what terribleness Cat throws at her it never goes away. The worst part is that it happens even amongst her twitching and stuttering - it’s not part of the act she performs for everyone else. She really is just a happy person. Cat hates that. Definitely hates it.
And if sometimes she instinctively smiles softly at the sight of that unashamed happiness it’s an accident. She would rather die than let a subordinate know her smile was contagious. Especially not a subordinate who dresses like a kindergarten teacher on steroids. Honestly, how could one person own so many cardigans in every color except an acceptable one? Sometimes she gets a headache from the glare of Kiera’s neon attire. There’s definitely nothing cute about it. Nothing.
Because she’s Cat Grant, for goodness sake. Cat Grant doesn’t find anything cute, let alone her bumbling lying mess of an assistant (who is half your age, she mentally adds). Oh no, the girl is definitely not cute and any feelings that may bubble up inside her at the sight of the younger girl are to be completely disregarded.
She’s able to ignore them completely, in fact, until the damn girl meets Carter.
Kara meets Carter four months into her job.
The young boy is so much like Kara once was that it frightens her. Watching him is like watching herself during those first few years on Earth: gawky and awkward and socially confused. He stutters, shuffles, avoids eye contact and turns beet red if you stare too long. Holding a conversation for more than two sentences is painful. Physical contact is not an option.
Honestly, it’s like a male version of her teenage self.
Perhaps it is their shared teen discomfort that draws Carter to her (and, okay, maybe it’s a little obvious he think she’s pretty) but she quickly becomes the only person at the office he will talk to other than his mother. Whenever Cat is off saving the world through journalism Carter sits with Kara at her desk and plays on his gameboy while she works. They talk a bit but mostly enjoy a comfortable silence. She gets it; she gets him. She knows what it feels like to be a fish out of water in your own life.
Chess is his theater she discovers one day while he’s visiting her desk. When she was his age all she could think or talk or dream about was this play or that musical, and it was that single-minded passion for something that allowed her to even function daily. Without it she would have gone crazy dealing with all of her problems every day. For Carter, his release is chess. If you want to get him talking, ask him about what’s happening in his school’s chess club and just watch his face light up.
Kara uses that exact technique to distract him now.
It’s a chaotic day, which is why Carter is even still at the office in the first place. Usually he comes for a few minutes while his mom finishes working and hangs out with Kara, and then the two go off for their weekly dinner and movie night. Work is crazy, though, so Cat and Kara diligently try to wrap up everything. Cat sits at her desk, typing away, while Kara works on her tablet on the couch with Carter, who seems oblivious to the two women’s concentration. He just rambles away.
“-And since their coach was a professional player everyone thinks we can’t beat ‘em, but I know we can! It’s going to be our biggest competition ever!” he looks back and forth between the two working women. Miss Grant makes a small noise of acknowledgement and Kara flashes him a quick smile.
“That’s awesome, buddy,” she doesn’t take her eyes off the tablet, “When is this competition?”
“It’s Saturday! You’re gonna be there, right mom?” He turns to his mother, who finally stops working to give him full attention. Her automatic smile falters.
“Oh, honey, one of the corporate big shots is flying into town that day for meetings. It’s probably going to be an all day affair.”
Instantly Carter deflates, crumbling back into the couch. Kara cringes but tries not to look. Seeing that familiar look is too painful; she remembers the many times she invited people from the foster home to see her performances. Alex was always the only one who showed up, and even then it wasn’t every time. It hurts, and she hurts for him.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” there’s such sadness in her voice, “I promise I’ll make it to the next one.”
Carter’s mumbled this is the last one is just quiet enough for Miss Grant to miss, but Kara catches it. That look of utter dejection seals the deal for her heart. She can’t just watch someone suffer the way she did, not when she could help it.
Which is why that Saturday she finds herself sitting in the mostly empty bleachers of the high school gymnasium holding a sign that says, “GO CARTER GO”.
Sure, her day job at CatCo doesn’t include going to her boss’ son’s chess competition, and maybe this is crossing the line between professional and personal, but she can’t just let a sweet kid like Carter be alone on his big day. She’s spent too many big days alone in her life. It hurts, and she doesn’t want that for Carter. Besides, there is little work to do at the DEO these days. Eco-Now has been extremely quiet and Alex thinks they might be backing down. Hank would have a conniption if he knew she was doing this, tell her she’s outside of her mission parameters, order her to come train. She can’t train though, she knows she’d never be able to concentrate knowing Carter was here alone. What Hank doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
There are less than a dozen other people in the stands with her so when the contestants all file in Carter spots her immediately. She lets out a low whistle and cheer, holding her sign up, and she can see his face and neck turn bright red from the attention. But he’s smiling - a huge, unabashed smile - and that’s enough for her to know she’s doing the right thing. He throws her a timid little wave before turning his eyes to his chess board.
Kara has no idea what is happening so she just focuses on Carter’s face. Every time he does a little smile or smug Grant smirk (this child looks so much like his mother) Kara lets out a cheer, only to be shushed by one of the attending moderators. Carter’s face turns a slightly darker shade of red every time she does, but his smile beams and he sits a little straighter and if the price for making him smile is her getting kicked out of a high school chess competition she’ll pay it gladly.
She’s so focused on watching Carter that she doesn’t realize someone has slipped into the seat next to her until they’re touching her arm. She jumps a little and turns, only to find Cat Grant sitting next to her looking at her quizzically.
“What are you doing here?” There’s no hostility in her voice, just surprise. Kara shrugs sheepishly and gestures towards Carter.
“I know what its like to have no one in the stands for you. I didn’t want Carter to have to go through it.”
Miss Grant is staring at her with those damn unreadable eyes and Kara feels a blush start to creep up under the scrutiny. It’s amazing, this whole blushing thing. It’s been happening more and more around since that first interview. Before that she rarely blushed, almost always in control of her emotions while on a mission. What is it about this woman that can instantly destroy all those years of training? Why does she make Kara turn into a wet noodle at just a glance?
Thankfully Miss Grant shifts her focus away at last, turning instead to look at her son. He’s so concentrated on his game he hasn’t noticed her arrival. They’re reaching the end of the competition, and they can see the sweat on Carter’s face, his eyes bright and shining even under the dull gymnasium lights. He is fully in his zone and Cat has never seen her son look more engaged.
He makes a move and very quietly says, ‘checkmate’. Kara may not know much about chess, but she knows what that means and she can’t help but erupt in a loud cheer, waving her sign in the air until the moderator once again shushes her [Ma’am, I’m not gonna tell you again. This is an eighth grade chess competition. Please don’t make me call security on you.’]
Carter beams at her, holding his fists in the air in response, and his smile only brightens when he sees his mom sitting next to her. Miss Grant claps along with Kara’s cheer and glances between her ecstatic son and her ecstatic assistant and Kara can practically hear her thinking “how the hell did this happen?”
Carter insists Kara comes to lunch with them to celebrate. Kara sends a panicked look to Miss Grant, whose face remains as unreadable as ever. After a moment’s pause she says, “Only if Kiera wants to,” and really, could Kara possibly say no to Carter’s puppy dog eyes? He could give her a run for her money.
And that’s how she finds herself sitting somewhat awkwardly in a restaurant far out of her budget with an eager teenager and her boss. Luckily Carter fills in the silence with his excitement [-Can you believe that blunder? I thought I’d never recover! And did you see the look on his face?? -] and while she is proficient in many things chess is not one of them so Kara does her best to respond with the appropriate emotion at the appropriate time and try not to pay attention to the way her boss is staring at her.
From the second they sat down in the restaurant she’s been staring at her with that same expressionless gaze, the one thing about Cat Grant Kara can never quite decipher. She can read her walk, she can read the anger in her stance, and she can tell by her tone just what it is she wants. But her eyes? Those are a mystery to her, and Kara wishes she had had teachers like Miss Grant during her theatrical training. Maintaining that much composure at all times would be such a gift.
After lunch Miss Grant insists on buying them treats to really celebrate Carter’s total domination of his foes and they wait outside while she’s inside the store. She comes out with a freshly baked cookie for Carter, a latte for herself, and most surprising of all Kara’s exact coffee order she gets herself every morning, down to the cinnamon she sprinkles on top. Kara is amazed and alarmed.
“How d-did you know my coffee order?” she tries not to stutter, but it’s hard not to when someone sees something real for her. How does she keep doing things like this?
“I’m more observant than you realize, Kiera.”
And there’s that feeling again, that charge that builds like static energy when they are together. They linger there, eyes locked. Something unspoken passes between them, something neither is willing to acknowledge or address.
They’re so frozen in their owned shared moment they don’t notice the van approaching until its already screeching to a stop next to them, and before Kara’s super speed can kick in the door is flung up and a masked figure inside the van is grabbing Carter and dragging him inside.
Carter’s scream is enough to throw her into action, and without even thinking she’s leapt into the back of the van after them. She can hear Miss Grant screaming outside, beating on the van door as it starts to peel away from the curb, but all she can focus on is prying the masked assailant’s hands off of Carter.
She uses a little more force than necessary to shove the attacker to the back of the van and he hits the metal side with a loud THUD (she hopes it hurt). She immediately turns her focus to the driver, who is now careening down a side street. Kara grabs the driver’s shoulder and is about to punch them when they slam on the breaks, throwing them all forward. They skid to a stop, and Kara makes eye contact with the masked driver in the mirror. Even under the ski mask she knows; she would know those eyes anywhere.
It all happens so quickly.
“Alex,” she breathes out, and her sister gives the smallest nod of acknowledgement. Her eyes dart from Kara’s to just above the rearview mirror, and Kara immediately recognizes the small flashing light of a camera. She looks back at Alex. The woman gives another tiny nod and moves as if she is going to strike her. Taking as much care as she can to be gentle, Kara punches her sister in the face. Alex reels forward and hits the steering wheel, dazed.
Kara doesn’t waste any time, grabbing Carter’s hand (his face is tear stained and he looks so afraid, so small) and she drags him out of the van.
“Run, Carter!” she yells, dragging him behind her. She wants so desperately to fly but she can’t, not now, not like this, and so instead she runs as slowly as she can with Carter tripping and stumbling behind her.
Looks like things were picking up with Eco-Now after all.