Chapter Text
Taking Advantage
Cat Grant decided that she liked Lucy Lane much better when she was working for her rather than ordering her around like one of her agency's lower-ranked peons.
She hadn't even seen the woman in over a month and had forgotten that despite her diminutive size, she could be as intimidating as a pit bull. Especially when she was in full uniform instead of jeans and a sweater with pizza in one hand and a Pictionary card in the other like at the last game night Kara had insisted she attend.
Decidedly un-casual looking Major Lane was currently in her office because over the weekend, Supergirl had been involved in a very lengthy and surprisingly bloody fight with a Fort Rozz alien just off-shore from Cat's beach house. The alien had first attacked the house, which naturally Kara had not taken kindly to, and then the fight had escalated and kryptonite blades had been revealed.
It was nothing that the DEO and Supergirl hadn't handled before, but Cat had been petrified when Kara had flown back to the beach and proceeded to collapse in a heap, blood soaking into the sand and being washed out with the frothing tide. Kara might have been lying when she told Cat that it was nothing she hadn't handled before. When Alex and a squad of agents had arrived to whisk her away for repairs, Cat had refused to let go of her and had insisted on climbing into the helicopter with her, pushing everyone else out of the way. It wasn't exactly standard protocol for being introduced to the DEO headquarters, but Alex had been perhaps slightly worried about Kara and a lot shocked at Cat's demeanor, and so the Queen of All Media had gotten an impromptu tour of her lover's side-job offices.
Major Lucy Lane had not been pleased.
So now, two days later, she was standing in CatCo, one hand on her hip and the other thrust forward with a stack of very official looking forms clenched in her fingers.
"I assume those are for me to sign while placing one hand on a Bible and swearing never to reveal anything I saw on Saturday?" Cat said dryly.
"Good guess," Lucy replied, walking forward and dropping the papers onto Cat's desk.
Before Cat had a chance to make an acerbic comeback comment, the glass office door swung open with slightly more force than necessary, and Kara walked in carrying pages of layouts and a steaming latte.
"Ca - Ms Gra - Cat," she stuttered, knowing the rule about no first names around other people in the office, but also seeing that the unexpected "other person" was Lucy who already knew about their status as a couple.
"I'm sure you didn't barge in to quiz me on my name," Cat said with an exasperated sigh.
"No, um, no," Kara replied, eyes darting from her friend to her girlfriend-slash-boss before settling on the latter. "I have the article about Supergirl's latest fight all finished, and I even managed to interview five people for a human interest-type sidebar," she said, sounding pleased and shy at the same time.
"Yes, well if it hadn't happened three days ago, that would be more impressive, but it should be able to make it into tomorrow's edition," Cat said, reaching for the layouts, seeming to forget that Kara had only been released from the DEO medical wing that very morning.
Kara's cheerful expression dimmed somewhat, and she placed the drink on Cat's desk beside the papers Lucy had dropped there earlier.
"Right, true," she muttered, half to herself. "Um, I picked you up a latte on my way back. Still hot."
"Thank you," Cat said without any enthusiasm. "I'll need it just to finish out the afternoon."
"Okay, well, I'll get back to my office," Kara said, cheery smile still on her face though it no longer reached her eyes. "Good to see you, Lucy. Tell Alex I'll stop by after work."
"Will do, Kara. Take care of yourself."
Lucy watched Kara go, before rounding on Cat.
"You know, you really are bitchy sometimes."
"Excuse me?"
"You saw how happy she was. How excited to have done something extra for you. And you just stomped all over it as if was nothing and then criticized her for not doing something else."
"Pffft. She's not as sensitive as you assume. She knows it's just work. Outside the office is different. We've already discussed it. So if you're done with the relationship advice?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the phone. You've discussed it?"
Cat rolled her eyes.
"Yes, we've discussed it. She took one of my office tirades a little too personally once and when I saw how upset she was when I got home, I told her that it was just business and that she needed to toughen up. She's Supergirl. I'm fairly certain she can handle it.
Lucy just shook her head.
"Wow. You aren't just bitchy. You are a full-on first-rate bitch."
"Are you hard of hearing? Did you not understand what I just told you?"
"Oh, I understood it all right. Your girlfriend, who just happens to be the most powerful woman in the world, gets treated like crap by you every day. And when she dares to let it bother her, you brush her off and tell her to deal with it. Heaven forbid you change your ways to make her happy. You know, the way she rearranges her entire life to make you happy."
"As usual, you don't know what you're talking about," Cat scoffed, although inside, the niggling seed of doubt was planted.
"So you say."
"Yes, I do."
"Fine, but don't be surprised if one day she decides she's had enough of your "just work" attitude and decides to quit. And then you'd better hope it really is different at home, or she'll start second guessing her place there too."
"Are you sure you didn't come in here to give me relationship advice in addition to some pointless non-disclosure agreement about your not-so-secret government agency?"
"You know what? No, I didn't. Look it over that paperwork and send it back to me via Kara before the end of the day, or you can forget ever being allowed back to the DEO when your girlfriend is injured saving your ungrateful ass. And don't forget what I said or that might not even be an issue for much longer."