Chapter Text
It didn’t take long for Cat Grant to discover how to motivate her new, startlingly competent young assistant. Kara, or Kiera as she was apt to call her, was almost infuriatingly good at her job, though sometimes Cat, appreciative of the girl as she was, found herself at a loss without any excuse to vent her anger on her assistant. After all, that, coffee and managing her schedule were the very reasons she had an assistant in the first place.
She soon learned though, that this particular assistant was much more amusing and useful to Cat with her reactions to what she did right, instead of the rare things she did wrong. When she did make a mistake, Cat of course scolded her, and the girl would shrink back with an expression resembling a kicked puppy and scramble around the rest of the day, making even more mistakes in her embarrassment. The pout that would grace her features was irritating to Cat and she found herself genuinely wanting to avoid having to see it.
No, it was Kara’s response to praise that made her such a good assistant. It started by Cat noticing a few small things, namely the blindingly sunny smiles whenever she acknowledged her mild satisfaction upon the delivery of an adequately hot latte. An idle ‘good job Kiera’ from Cat one day resulted in a light blush over Kara’s cheeks that spread all the way to the tips of her ears, and a smile that lit up her bright blue eyes. She was especially attentive the rest of the day and went above and beyond, seemingly trying to earn another bit of Cat’s attention. Cat, of course, cataloged the reaction and paid slightly more attention from then on, wanting to see if it was a one off.
It wasn’t. Kara, it seemed, lived for the small praises and acknowledgments she would get from Cat, which was amusing to Cat and if it made her assistant that much better at her job, then so be it. Cat hadn’t gotten so far into her career without learning how to read people and take advantage of that knowledge. For quite some time, it was nothing more than that.
The first time Cat used her real name, it was a mistake. She was hungover that morning, and wore her dark sunglasses as a shield when she walked into her office, collapsing behind her desk with much less grace than normal. Before she could call for her, Kara was there at her side with a glass of water, 2 Advil, and a container full of M&Ms being set on her desk for later. She grunted her acknowledgment, not quite ready to make conversation, and Kara had turned to walk away when Cat remembered something she would need fixed in her schedule, sooner rather than later.
‘Wait! Kara...’ Cat’s voice came out husky with disuse, so much so that she had to clear her throat before conveying the rest of the instructions. Had she not been so noise sensitive that morning she would have missed Kara’s small gasp at hearing her name, her correct name, but it did not go unnoticed. Neither did the way she froze immediately at Cat’s instructions, nor the way her mouth was still slightly open when she turned around to face Cat. Kara’s eyes were wide and dark, dilated pupils and the spreading dark blush from her face to her neck giving away just how affected she was by hearing Cat say her name correctly, and in that tone.
Cat had to use all of her acting chops to pretend to ignore the reaction, and to keep the stony faced expression while she instructed her assistant and shoo’d her from the office. She knew if she took off her glasses and looked in the mirror she would see a similar reaction from her own eyes, and that would not do. Yes, she had entertained thoughts of her assistant now and again, but she didn’t get where she was in life by indulging every whim. No, Kara was much too young and her assistant to boot and so Cat stopped her train of thoughts, not willing to even go there. She simply could not afford to think about how far that blush might spread, if Kara would be quite so eager and willing to please in another sort of situation, or just how attractive she would look on her knees.
Everything was fine until a few weeks later, when Kara presented her with notes for her next meeting, organized and arranged with color coded tabs which would make her job so much easier, and Cat replied, without thinking, by saying ‘Good girl.’ Kara blushed, stuttering and adjusting her glasses as she scurried from the office, Cat in a sort of daze as she was assaulted with images and fantasies from her own careless words. She couldn’t help but imagine saying them in a very different context.
Cat had impeccable self control, and was quite apt at denying herself things she wanted. She had quit smoking once upon a time, cold turkey, and this would have to be the same. Cat knew herself well enough to know that now that she had seen that reaction, thought about it like she had, and said those words, even unconsciously, she wouldn’t be able to get the images out of her head.
She would remove the temptation, and as Kara was such a good assistant, she was absolutely not willing to fire her like she would if Kara was any less competent at her job. She would have to find another way to reward Kara, to motivate her without being directly involved, or ending up having to watch Kara pout after being denied affection. She needed something else, some other way.
All of a sudden it came to her. She was not blind to Kara’s almost unbelievable appetite and child-like eating habits, knew the way her face lit up whenever it was someone’s birthday and cake ended at the office. So she filled a drawer with various king sized candy bars, and whenever Kara accomplished a particularly difficult task or pleased Cat in some other way, she would silently slide one across her desk. Kara’s smiles were still as bright and beaming, but directed towards the candy, without the additional layers or temptations Cat now associated with seeing Kara receive verbal praise. It was perfect, Kara was happy with her candy and Cat could acknowledge a job well done without having dirty fantasies about her assistant. A win-win situation, in Cat’s mind.
Kara running off to become Supergirl almost changed everything. The realization that her assistant was the girl of steel further tested Cat’s resolve, almost to the breaking point. The knowledge that submissive, eager to please Kara, was actually the larger than life superhero was almost too much to bear. Her decision to fire Kara so she could be Supergirl full time came more from her inability to resist thinking about Kara inappropriately than her guilt over Kara being there when she could be protecting the city.
She regretted her decision when she saw how hurt Kara was. She didn’t know how Kara managed it, with being in two places at once, but Cat simply pretended to believe it and gave her her job back. She would just have to stay in better control of herself.
After Cat promoted Kara and sent her off into the world of reporting, she was reluctant to let the ritual die. She knew how much Kara looked forward to her little snacks, and so she made it a habit to keep the drawer stocked and a candy bar sent to Kara’s new desk whenever she received a less angry than usual report from Snapper.
When it came time for her to dive and she left Catco in James Olsen’s questionably capable hands, one of the only instructions she left to him was that Kara was to retain unfettered access to her office, and that the drawer was to remain unlocked and fully stocked with candy. She personally delivered a candy bar to Kara’s office before she left, instructing her in a note that they would remain in the same spot, for her to take, but only when she had earned them. She had no doubt that Kara would follow the rules she had set.
James Olsen hadn’t been expecting Cat Grant to up and leave Catco in his hands, and he certainly had not been expecting to have so much autonomy. Cat had always been a perfectionist, a control freak, and her leaving her precious company without more than a page of instructions was out of character at the very least.
Her office had been mostly cleared and the desk emptied, save for one drawer filled with candy bars that he was firmly instructed to keep stocked with a detailed list of various chocolates and sweets. He shrugged it off as a Cat Grant-ism, and it wasn’t until later when he realized they were for Kara.
He walked into his office one day to find Kara behind the desk, a smile on her face as she rummaged through the candy drawer. He watched for a minute as she bit her lip, staring for a moment before choosing one, closing the drawer and looking up before startling slightly at James’ quizzical expression.
‘James! Hi...I…Snapper ok’d my article about the hospital fundraiser.
Kara spoke as if that was an explanation, and James just raised an eyebrow at his quirky friend.
‘Ms. Grant, she… I…. I get candy when I’ve been good.’
James chuckled and shook his head. Kara and Cat had always had quite the unusual dynamic between them. For awhile he had wondered if there had been something more than a boss-employee relationship, but this explained it partly. No wonder Kara had always been so eager to please Cat, he had never met anyone more food motivated than Kara Danvers.
‘When you’ve been good? What does that even mean? Kara, you could come in here and get candy anytime, you know? She told me to keep the drawer full. There’s nothing stopping you.’
Kara looked scandalized at the very thought.
‘Oh no...no no I could never do that. Ms. Grant trusts me to only take them when I deserve it.’
James laughed again at how very serious Kara was, but still said offhandedly, ‘I won’t tell her, Kara. What would she do, anyways, punish you? It’s just candy Kara.’
Kara turned beet red and left the room, stuttering excuses about Snapper and needing to make copies of something. James let her go, and didn’t give it another thought.
Lena could tell that switching from being CEO of L Corp to running Catco would be quite the adjustment, but she was more than up for the challenge. Even with the slightly frosty reception from James Olsen, and a tough few first days, she was looking forward to it.
She had been hoping, originally, that buying Catco would help her to be closer with Kara. Their rocky start and Kara’s evasiveness had worried her, but Kara had apologized and Lena hoped they would be able to figure out their new dynamic of being both best friends, and boss and employee. She, of course, wished that they could be more, but with Kara being her only friend in a very long time, she was reluctant to do anything that could ruin their friendship. Sure, she suspected sometimes that her feelings were returned, and she flirted subtly with Kara, but she wouldn’t make a move until she was absolutely certain the feelings were mutual. She didn’t want to risk scaring Kara off.
It was late and James had left for the night. She looked around the office with forced nonchalance, seeing that no one was paying her any attention, before making her way over to the elevator to go to James’ office to have a peek around. He was just slightly too defensive, too territorial, and Lena couldn’t help but want to know if he had anything to hide.
When the elevator doors opened, though, the floor wasn’t empty. She watched as Kara walked in to James’ office, opened a drawer in a desk, plucked out what looked to be a Twix bar, before absolutely beaming to herself, and walking out, looking up from her candy and noticing Lena.
‘Really, Kara? Surely they pay you enough to buy your own candy.’ Lena meant to just make fun of her friend, she wasn’t actually accusing Kara of stealing, but Kara didn’t seem to understand that as she turned bright red and stammered out a reply.
‘No, uh, Lena, it’s sort of mine. The candy, I mean. I’m not, I would never steal anything!’
Lena quirked an eyebrow at how flustered Kara looked, but let her friend off the hook, deciding to let it be, and changed the subject. She couldn’t help but appreciate how cute Kara looked blushing like that, but reminded herself that they were friends. Just friends.
Her and James’ relationship got better over time and a few weeks later she was sitting in his office with him when she remembered the incident with Kara.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask, but why does Kara Danvers keep candy in your desk when she has her own office?’
James laughed, thinking about Kara’s weird little behaviors, before explaining it to Lena.
‘You caught that, huh? It’s a funny story, actually. When Cat left, one of the only instructions she gave me was that I was to keep that drawer filled with candy. I didn’t realize why until I saw Kara taking a piece one day. I asked her about it and I guess her and Cat had some sort of reward system. Said Cat gave her candy whenever she had ‘been good’’.
Lena laughed along with the story, but something about it gave her pause. The way James had put it, the words he used hinted something to her subconscious. That Kara got candy whenever she had been good. There was something just slightly odd, slightly off with that phrasing.
It wasn’t until later when she was at home that she remembered a particular tidbit of information she had learned about Cat Grant a few years back, when she had run into the woman at an exclusive club in Metropolis. They hadn’t spoken, and hadn’t acknowledged that the other was there, as was the nature of such a discreet, exclusive venue. She hadn’t been shocked to see Cat there, but she hadn’t at all expected to see her there with a woman. Lena had been under the impression that Cat Grant was straight, though the woman did control a media empire so she supposed it wouldn’t have been too difficult to keep that particular detail under wraps.
Lena’s head spun as she pondered the implications. She had been under the impression that Kara adored Cat, but in a more mentor/hero worship type of way. Cat rewarding Kara when Kara had been good, could, under other circumstances, mean nothing more, but with her knowledge of Cat’s preferences, Lena assumed there was more to the story, at least on Cat’s end.
Was Kara really not straight, as Lena had often suspected? Was it possible that Cat’s relationship with Kara had been more, that it had been sexual or romantic in some way? Was it over, now? If there had been something, was Kara over Cat? Kara was always so eager, so willing to please, but Lena hadn’t allowed herself to really imagine Kara, like that. Was it possible those behaviors extended to the bedroom?
Lena couldn’t help but to want to test it, just a little bit. To try her luck, to see if Kara would respond to her that way, they way she now suspected she might.
The next day she dressed slightly nicer than usual. Louboutins, a tight black skirt, a white blouse with one too many buttons undone for it to be entirely work appropriate. She stood just a little bit taller when she saw Kara, walked over with just a little bit more sway to her hips than normal, let more confidence, more authority radiate from her presence. She had always made herself smaller, less intimidating with Kara. Wanting to draw her in, to gain her trust, to earn her friendship. But now, faced with the idea, the hope that Kara just might be attracted to the confidence, the power, Lena turned it up to the max.
And oh did Kara respond.
Lena sat on Kara’s desk, leaned down just a bit, flashing a toothy, slightly dangerous grin while allowing Kara an ideal view down her shirt. Kara shrunk into her chair, blushing, making herself smaller but at the same time somehow so open.
‘Hi, Lena.’ Kara’s eyes wandered, restless, unable to stay in one place as Lena’s gaze roamed shamelessly over her body. Her fingers tangled in her lap as she squirmed, and Lena’s grin widened impossibly at the gesture.
‘Kara.’ Lena drew out her name slightly longer, for effect, letting her voice drop into a lower register than normal. Kara’s hair was partially down, the top part pulled back but the rest allowed to curl naturally down to her shoulders. Lena reached out and grabbed a piece of Kara’s hair, watching as she froze, wide eyed at Lena’s touch.
‘I like when you wear your hair like this. It looks especially nice with this sort of neckline.’ She could visibly see Kara swallow as she traced one perfectly manicured finger across an exposed collarbone in front of her.
‘Thanks...’ Kara giggled awkwardly and looked down at her hands.
Lena decided then to ask Kara to have lunch with her, a relatively normal happening with their relationship, but normally Lena would hedge around it, and ask if Kara would maybe like to have lunch with her, but only if she had time, or didn’t have any other plans, and she totally understands if Kara has work to do. Lena tried something different.
‘Kara, I’d like for you to have lunch with me today. I trust you can work me into your schedule?’
Kara practically fell over in her eagerness to reply. ‘Yeah, I mean yes. Of course, Lena. I’d love to. To have lunch with you.’
Lena got up off of Kara’s desk and walked purposefully away, pausing after a few paces and looking back at Kara, who was, as expected, staring after her.
‘12:30, don’t be late.’
Kara nodded so hard her glasses slipped partially off her nose.