Curing More than Cancer

Chapter 13

Kara can't seem to get her breathing under control as she rushes out of Lena's penthouse. She bends over, grasping her knees, as she heaves and heaves for oxygen. She can't believe that she just ran away from Lena again. She can't believe that the doctor who was merely supposed to confirm her results has had to hold her hand through so much. Kara gets lost in her train of thought that she shouldn't have gotten Lena so involved in her life. She should have just kept on keeping on as she had been before she found out the cancer was gone. Because, who knows? In the blink of an eye, it could be back. It could be back, and it could kill her still.

By the time she can pull herself out of her funk, she's running late to work. Kara flags down a cab just as Lena struts out the main door of her building. Kara sees the puffy redness under those enigmatic green eyes. She curses herself internally because she knows that she is cause. She practically forced the woman to be her sole emotional support. Just as she hops into the back of the cab and shuts the door, they make direct eye contact.

Lena's breath hitches as she sees Kara looking at her with a forlorn expression written across her face. She lets out a quiet 'fuck' as she realizes that Kara didn't have a ride to work. She should have offered her a ride or gotten a driver for her. She should have been on top of that. She watches, frozen in her steps, as the cab pulls out into traffic. She watches until she can't see it anymore. The doctor lets out a shuddering breath before she pulls her purse closer and heads to the garage. Even after the internal lecture that she needs to loosen her ties with the blonde, she can't help her immediate reaction to try to care for the woman. She really needs to get to her lab.

Kara slowly turns back to face forward in the back of the cab. Silent tears fall down her face. She doesn't have time for this breakdown. She can't. She needs to prepare herself for the onslaught that she will suffer at the hands of Andrea Rojas. And then she has to worry about game night... which is tomorrow. Kara puts her head between her knees and ignores that glances from the driver. She hasn't had to use this technique in ages to put her panic attack at bay. Before she wants it to, the cab pulls up in front off Catco. She takes a moment to gather herself as best as possible before paying the driver and booking it into the building. Despite cursing internally at the speed of the driver, she is thankful that she has a few spare moments to lock herself in her office and change into backup clothes. Just as she finishes tucking her button up into her slacks, a bellow breaks the quiet chatter in the office space.

"Kara Danvers! If you are not in my office in the next 60 seconds, you are FIRED!"

Kara freezes like a deer in headlights. After a few moments of not breathing, not moving, Kara kicks it into high gear and sprints to Andrea's office.

"Ms. Rojas, I am here."

"Oh, look who graced us all with her presence," Andrea says, dripping with sarcasm and faux delight.

Kara's demeanor absolutely hardened. Her jaw clenched, and her shoulders creeped up to her ears. Nearly every muscle is tensed at the tone her boss is using.

"Now, I'm dangerously close to calling down for an HR rep and security to serve you termination papers. You have missed over half of the staff meetings in the past three months. You've missed deadlines. You haven't been at the office. The number of articles you have turned in has declined drastically. And don't even get me started on the qual..."

Kara takes a sharp breath in. She's heard enough. She cuts her boss off, which is a dangerous and not well thought out move. "If you are going to fire me, just fire me. Get it over with. I don't need the third degree if I'm no longer going to be an employee here anymore."

Andrea looks at her timid reporter, stunned. Her mouth ajar, she can't seem to get anything to come out.

Kara bulldozes on, emboldened by the lack of response from her boss. "Yes, I've missed meetings. Yes, I haven't been as present. Maybe you are right that my quality of work has gone down, but I still earned awards. People read Catco because my name is on the byline. I am a journalist that National City trusts. So, yeah fire me. You'll lose a star reporter. You treat your employees like trash. You beat and bludgeon us down. You care more about clicks than hard pressing stories. You know, maybe I should save you the trouble of firing me. Maybe I should just walk out that door and quit. It would save the both of us a headache, wouldn't it?" Kara is panting as she continues to unleash her word vomit. She gets so wrapped up in her monologue, that she accidentally reveals more than she intended. "I didn't survive cancer just to be berated by a boss that couldn't give two shits about her employees."