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Kara doesn’t bother looking up from the box in front of her as she grabs her ringing phone. “I know, I’ll be there in like 5 minutes.”
She’s running late and she knows it, late enough that even super speed can only do so much. She was supposed to have the entire day to get her closet and personal items packed up for the movers Cat hired. Instead, a miscommunication with the research department had her stuck at CatCo for half the day. Now she's scrambling to catch up.
"Sorry, Supergirl," Vasquez's familiar voice on the phone says, causing Kara to freeze. "You're needed at the desert base."
Pushing down a flash of anger and frustration, Kara goes back to packing her things. "I'm not on call today."
At least Vasquez sounds apologetic when she continues. "I know, but it's an all hands on deck kind of situation. We'll brief you when you get here."
With that, the call ends, leaving Kara staring at her half-packed apartment in dismay. This is the third time she's tried to pack up so she could move her things to Cat's apartment. And this is the third time she's had to cancel for some world-ending emergency.
If she hadn't seen just how difficult the last two attacks had been to deal with, she'd have thought Alex was messing with her. Or trying to keep her from moving in with Cat. Things between her sister and her girlfriend (Cat hated the term, but neither of them had quite gotten up the courage to make things more official than that, so Kara kept using it at least in her head) had thawed quite a bit, but there was still some tension.
It didn't help that they were both too stubborn to relax in each other's presence and actually get to know each other, no matter how hard Kara tried. But they were making progress. All of which meant that it wasn't likely Alex was pulling the strings behind the delays.
Whatever the reason, and at this point Kara's starting to wonder if the universe itself is behind the coincidences, she's needed. That means that for the third time, she has to call Cat and let her know to cancel the movers.
Spinning into her suit and heading for the window for a quick takeoff, Kara hits the button on her communicator that lets her call Cat directly. That had been the first sign of Alex's gradual thawing, that she was willing to add the line to Supergirl's official kit.
Of course, Kara'd sneakily had Vasquez and Winn look at it to make sure it was truly a private line, but hey. She knows how overprotective Alex can be, so Kara wouldn't put it past her to have some monitoring on the line, even if it wasn't live monitoring. But there are some things a sister shouldn't hear, and some things that were just too private to share.
"I hear wind," Cat says when the line connects, sounding resigned but not surprised. "Let me guess, you're called in for an emergency despite not being on call tonight."
"I'm sorry," Kara apologizes, knowing how frustrating her superhero activities must be for Cat. "Vasquez couldn't even brief me over the phone, so I think it'll be a late night."
Cat sighs, and Kara can picture her in her home office, leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed in the same frustration Kara's still feeling. "Of course it will be. I'll leave the balcony door unlocked for you, just come in when you finish. You should still try to get a little sleep after saving the world again."
"I don't want to wake you," Kara protests. "And I wore the last of my clothes last time I was over, remember? I didn't bring extras because I was supposed to be moving everything today anyway."
Silence from the other end of the call isn't very reassuring, so Kara keeps talking to fill the void. Which might have been a mistake, as her fears start to spill out in a way that only happens when she talks to Cat or Alex, but these fears are supposed to be completely private, not something to burden either of them with.
"Maybe it's a sign," she says before she can reconsider the words. "Maybe the universe has some objection to me moving in with you. Maybe it's too much of a risk."
"Kara Zor-El Danvers, the universe is not plotting to keep you in a tiny apartment halfway across town," Cat says, cutting Kara off before she can confess more of that particular worry. "No more than it was plotting to make me miss our anniversary dinner when CatCo's satellite office in Metropolis was hit with collateral damage from another one of Superman's bumbling rescues."
That earns a smile, knowing that Cat actually does respect her cousin doesn't make hearing her criticisms less amusing. Cat was very proud of the fact she'd landed the 'Better Super" and didn't waste any chance to make that fact known.
"That was one time, though," Kara says as she reaches the city limits and heads out over the desert towards the base there. "This was supposed to be third time's the charm."
"As someone who's been married five times, I put no stock in that particular saying."
"Well, it wasn't true this time, anyway," Kara points out. "So maybe you have a point. But I'm almost at the base now, Cat. I'll send you a text when I'm done so you know I'm safe. I love you."
"I love you too, Kara."
That's all the time they have before Kara has to hang up, landing in front of the bunker door and nodding to the guard on sentry duty there.
Time to get whatever this is over with. The faster she can appease the universe, the faster she can go back to wishing her love life could be simple for once.
xXx
It's late by the time they wrap up the threat, and Kara briefly considers flying to Cat's apartment before she looks down at her suit. She's a mess, covered with dirt and who knows what, and there's no way she'd step foot in Cat's house looking like this without something to change into. She'll just have to send that text and hopefully see Cat tomorrow.
Assuming the universe is still willing to allow them that much.
She's so tired and frustrated with yet another delay that it takes her a moment to realize her apartment is empty when she lands. Well, not empty. The furniture is still there, which was why she hadn't noticed immediately no matter how tired she is. But the boxes she'd had scattered about, the half-packed clothing and painting supplies, all her pictures and other personal items were gone.
Pushing down her panic, Kara does a sweep of the apartment with her x-ray vision, stopping when she sees a note taped to the inside of her front door.
Crossing the room to it, she recognizes Cat's delicate handwriting before the words can really register.
'The universe might not be against us, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need a little push' the note says, and Kara feels a surge of warmth and love rise to replace all her earlier frustrations. Of course Cat had still managed to make her moving day happen. Kara had said the universe might be against them, and Cat stood up to it without question.
Well, that meant her only hesitation with heading for Cat's house was officially a moot point. She’d spotted a lone pair of sleep clothes folded carefully on the end of her bed if she wanted to stay at her apartment, but if she had clothes at Cat’s place, she’d much rather be there. It honestly wasn’t even a competition between the two. Give her the chance to sleep in Cat’s ridiculously luxurious bed, especially when Cat was in it with her, and Kara was sold.
Cat’s asleep when Kara lands, so she heads directly for the shower to clean herself up. Then it’s a quick stop in Cat’s closet, now with Kara’s clothes hanging cheerfully in their own space, and before long she’s climbing into bed next to Cat.
“Mm, you came,” Cat says sleepily when Kara curls up behind her.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Cat yawns, turning over to face Kara. “I’m glad you did. Means I can kiss you goodnight.”
Taking the hint, Kara leans forward to press a gentle kiss against Cat’s lips. It’s a greeting and an expression of love and thanks all in one, and it wakes Cat up a little more than Kara’d intended.
When she pulls back and sees Cat looking at her with much clearer eyes, Kara decides she doesn’t want to wait til morning to thank Cat. “You moved all my stuff,” she starts, only for Cat to repeat her earlier move and lean forward to kiss her.
“You don’t think I was going to let the universe win, did you?” she asks after a minute, lips still brushing against Kara’s as she talks. “Even if I don’t think the universe was trying to warn you away.”
Kara smiles, leaning her forehead against Cat’s. “You don’t, huh?”
“I don’t. I think it was telling us that we’d forgotten one of the most important things.” Cat’s voice is strangely serious for the late hour, and Kara pulls back just enough to meet Cat’s eyes, shining in the faint light shining in from the balcony. “We’ve learned it time and time again, but somehow with this move, we forgot that we work best together. You’ve picked Carter up when the Board kept me late, you’ve flown all the way to Metropolis to pick me up my favorite lunch on days when I want to fire an entire department. So on a night when you have to save the world, why wouldn’t I help you?”
Kara thinks about it for all of two seconds before agreeing with Cat. She’d been so caught up in disappointment about their plans being derailed again that she hadn’t even tried to come up with alternatives. She’d just been disappointed and let a single setback interfere with her life. Three different times.
“I like that idea better than thinking the universe doesn’t want us together,” is all she says.
Cat scoffs, but Kara can see a smile fighting to break through her control. “As if it would matter if it did. You’re Supergirl and I’m the Queen of All Media. If anyone can make our own destiny, it’s us.”
“Together,” Kara adds.
“Together.”