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Kara could read Cat’s moods pretty well by now. Some were subtler than others and she prided herself in seeing behind the bluster, the tough outer shell. But Cat’s current mood was the kind anyone could decipher—it might as well be skywritten at this point. There was a tension in the air, even after they came home to the penthouse. An irritability that extended well into the evening, no matter what Kara did or said. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly surprising. The temptation to fire that junior reporter was really becoming too much for her girlfriend.
Cat dropped her handbag unceremoniously on the kitchen counter, slid out of her heels and went straight to the mini bar she had set up.
“I’m serious, Kara,” she said.
“I know you are,” Kara sighed, settling onto one of the stools. She leaned her arms on the counter, resisting the urge to rest her head.
“Either I fire him. Or I fly him to some desolated rocky outcrop and leave him there.”
“Cat…”
Cat took a sip of her scotch, staring at Kara pointedly.
“Choose which, Kara.”
“You know it’s not all his fault. It’s the editor’s job to—“
“I can’t fire Snapper,” Cat mused. “Maybe some line editor a few rungs down. Why? Do you know who oversaw that unfortunate misprint?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Kara sighed, trying to call up some kind of sunny feeling, some optimism to use as a weapon against Cat’s annoyance.
“It’s not that bad a name.”
“How bad it is isn’t the point!” Cat snapped. “It’s mine.”
“You named me.”
“Yes, but I’m the CEO of Catco. Not some pathetic junior dabbler, just out of diapers.”
“Still….”
Cat deflated a little then, looking at Kara with a different kind of frown.
“You hated being called Supergirl,” the apology in her tone was obvious, even though she wouldn’t say the words.
“It’s grown on me,’ Kara shrugged. “Whirlwind will grow on you.”
“Ugh,” Cat winced. “Whirlwind. What am I? Some Kate Bush wannabee, standing in the windswept moors screaming for Heathcliff?”
“Um…”
“I had a whole list!” Cat said. “I even narrowed it down to a shortlist of five.”
“You could always insist that it isn’t your name. Force an interview with the CEO of Catco…”
“Oh, shut up,” Cat muttered, smiling a little. “I will not interview myself.”
“It’s probably safer. You have a certain…way about you. It’s pretty recognizable when you speak.”
“I did a number of extra-curricular drama programs in my day. I think I can fool some middling Tribune staffer.”
“Sure.”
“There’d be no point anyway. Surely you know this by now, Kara. When things hit critical mass it’s very hard to rebrand. It’s a fight, at the very least. That ridiculous moniker has been spread from here to Iceland. You can’t unring a bell.”
“I think you secretly like the name.”
“Hardly. I just would rather focus on more important things.”
“Like firing those responsible?”
“Well, it would give me a certain amount of satisfaction.”
“You know what J’onn thinks about that.”
“I don’t work for him.”
“Um…No. You do.”
“Fine. But I’m a freelancer, not an employee of the DEO. Neither are you, by the way.”
“You can’t…” Kara sighed. “Cat, you know there are different rules. Issues of safety. I’ve made enough stupid mistakes with the secret identity thing.”
“Yes, I remember them well.”
“Cat.”
Cat rolled her eyes and sighed.
“I know what you’re saying, darling. I know when I’m being irrational.”
“You just hate giving up control.”
Cat glared at her, but it didn’t have any heat to it.
“Whirlwind,” Cat muttered, going back to her bar for a refill. “Of all the stupid names to be given.”
“Could be worse,” Kara said. “You could be called Supergirl.”
Kara felt a cushion smack her in the face. She laughed. Cat hadn’t even looked up from her drink and the couch was several feet away from them both.
“Smooth, Whirlwind.”
“Oh don’t even start me, Supergirl. I’m not above throwing another.”
“Yeah, but I’ll duck next time.”
“I’m demoting him,” Cat said then.
“Cat.”
“If I can’t fire him, I’ll demote his ass to fetching coffee. Or perhaps he’ll enjoy organizing a decade’s worth of old filing.”
“Are you sure that’s—”
“Honestly, Kara. Use your head. It’d be more suspicious if I didn’t do something. Can you imagine me taking this well, regardless of who the new superhero happened to be? Can you imagine me not trying to brand her?”
Kara had to give her that.
“Fair point.”
“Agent Henshaw doesn’t know me as well as he thinks,” Cat said. “I’ll stay out of the daily running of his X-Files if he stays clear of how I conduct Catco business.”
Kara stifled a snort and Cat raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“It’s just…you went off on a tangent about weapons management when we were there the other day…”
“They let anyone wander about in that new venue! How am I the only one to notice how lax their security has become? You’d think they’d be more careful inside the city than out in that godforsaken desert.”
Kara merely nodded and let her rant, until Cat ran out of steam and shot her a glare.
“Ok, I see,” Cat said. “You have a point. But I won’t apologize for caring.”
“I’m sure J’onn will say the same.”
Cat rolled her eyes.
“You’re both insufferable.”
“I love you too.”
Cat let out a sigh. Kara stood then and made her way around the kitchen counter. Cat abandoned her drink to pull her into a kiss. Her hands bunching the material of Kara’s shirt. She pulled away to give Kara a sidelong glance.
“I love you, darling. But if you call me Whirlwind again, you’re sleeping on the couch.”