#caseyverse

It was only her quick reflexes, the same ones Kara and Alex have been helping her hone, that kept her from falling out of the tree along with the branch. She was able to tighten her grip on the branch above her, and using every scrap of upper-body strength she had, she was able to pull herself up onto it. That meant she wasn’t going to fall out of the tree, and ironically also brought her right up to the cat she’d intended to rescue.

Unfortunately, there were now no other branches beneath her that were close enough for her to climb down to, meaning that she was stuck.

Yeah. Definitely a mistake.

Miserably, Casey pulled her phone out of her pocket. She looked through her contacts, briefly debating who to call, before finally deciding on Kara. It would be embarrassing for anyone to see her like this, but she trusted Kara not to tease her about it, and she also trusted her not to tell anyone else. It was the best option Casey had.

can u help? she texted. stuck in a tree. can send address if you need it.

A moment later, Kara flew down in front of her, apparently not needing the address at all. “How did you end up stuck in a tree?”

“I was trying to rescue a cat,” Casey replied, looking down and trying valiantly not to blush. “Then the branch broke.”

For a moment, Casey thought she saw a flicker of a smile on Kara’s face, but it was gone when she looked again. “Alright, you grab the cat and I’ll grab you, how’s that?”

Casey reached out for the cat, who only hesitated a moment before jumping into her arms. “Okay.”

“Hey,” Kara added, “this may not have worked out the way you wanted it to, but you tried to help, and I’m proud of you for that.”

Casey tried not to blush again, but for different reasons this time. “Can you just get me out of this tree?”

Kara bursts through the ceiling and takes out everyone in the room in a rage-fueled whirlwind, scooping up Casey and flying away with her before anyone else even knows what’s happened. Casey sobs something unintelligible against her shoulder, and Kara is almost positive she hears the word “mom,” but she’s not sure. She thinks of Casey as her daughter, after all, but Casey has never called her Mom. Kara doesn’t mind. She’s sure that Casey’s feelings towards her must be similar to her feelings towards Eliza; a mother figure, but not quite a mother, because she already has one of those. Kara is perfectly content with that.

But if Casey did call her Mom, it’s not like Kara would protest.

When they’ve gotten a safe distance away, Kara lands on a rooftop, gently setting Casey down. “Sweetheart? Are you okay?”

Casey reaches forward, gripping Kara’s cape tightly with one hand. The other, Kara sees, looks mangled, and if she squints a little, she can see that a lot of the bones seem to be broken. Rage threatens to choke her, but Kara manages to shove it down. That’s not what Casey needs right now.

“Casey? Honey, can you talk to me?”

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Casey finally says, her voice so hoarse it’s barely there. “I didn’t answer their questions.”

“Honey, that’s not what I’m worried about. Are you okay? I can see that your hand is hurt. Did they hurt you anywhere else?”

Casey shakes her head, still clinging to Kara’s cape. “Can we go home?”

“I think you need to go to a hospital,” Kara says. “But then we can go home, I promise.”

Casey nods, and she doesn’t fight when Kara scoops her up and cradles her in her arms to fly off again. She’s shaking, just a little, and Kara wrestles down the urge to go back to that Cadmus facility and wreak vengeance. That’s not what Casey needs right now, and Kara needs to focus on what Casey needs.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” she promises as she takes off. “I’ve got you, and I’m never going to let you go.”

Casey just clings to Kara’s cape and lets her carry her off into the night.

When she finally can bring Casey home, she has Alex pick them up in a borrowed car, since Kara doesn’t drive and she’s not sure Casey will be up to flying back. She sits in the back with Casey, who is silent through the whole ride. She’s barely said a word about what happened to her, and as much as Kara thinks she should probably talk about it, she doesn’t want to push.

“Alright,” Alex says when they pull up in front of Kara’s apartment. “I went and got you guys some food before I picked you up from the hospital, so you’ve got a bunch of ice cream and some other stuff I thought you might like. It’s mostly ice cream, to be honest.”

“Thanks, Alex,” Kara says. She turns to Casey. “You ready to get out, honey?”

Casey nods and shuffles out of the car, sticking close to Kara’s side. They head up to the apartment, thankfully not running into anyone else along the way, and when Kara sits down on the couch, Casey immediately cuddles up next to her.

“Sweetie,” Kara says gently, running a hand through Casey’s hair, “do you want to talk about what happened?”

Casey buries her face in Kara’s side and says, her voice muffled, “They asked me questions. They wanted to know about you. I didn’t tell them anything.”

“You were brave,” Alex says, sitting down across from them.

“They hit me with a hammer when I didn’t answer,” Casey says tremulously. “My hand-”

“Oh, baby,” Kara whispers, kissing the top of her head.

“The doctors said you should heal,” Alex reassures her gently. “You’ll be okay.”

“I dreamed about it last night,” Casey admits. “I don’t want to dream about it again.”

“I’ll stay with you all night,” Kara promises. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Casey buries her face deeper into Kara’s side, her whole body shaking, and Kara feels it as she begins to cry. She wants to cry herself, honestly, and looks up at Alex to see the same helplessness she feels reflected in her sister’s eyes.

“We’ll keep you safe,” Kara promises again. “No one will ever touch you again.”

“I’ll be right there,” Kara promises, already getting up from her desk. “Thank you for calling me, I’ll be there in a few minutes-”

“She’ll be in my office,” the nurse replies. “She’s not badly sick, don’t worry. I think it’s probably just the stomach bug that’s been going around the school.”

Kara thinks about how Casey picked at her breakfast that morning and seemed a little more down than usual. She’s kicking herself for not realizing Casey was sick, but to be entirely fair, Kara’s only gotten sick on a handful of occasions in her entire life, so she thinks it’s fair that she didn’t immediately catch the symptoms.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Kara tells the nurse again, then she hangs up and runs to Andrea’s office. “My daughter is sick,” she tell her in a rush of words, “can I please have the rest of the day off to pick her up and take her home, I promise I’ll work on stuff at home, I just-”

“Of course,” Andrea says, looking shocked at Kara’s begging. “Kara, I know we don’t always get along, but I’m not going to prevent you from picking up your sick daughter at school. Just let me know as soon as possible whether you’ll be able to meet the deadline on your articles or not. Someone else can pick them up if you can’t.”

“Oh. Uh, thank you,” Kara says, although part of her is still waiting for the catch. She stares at Andrea for a moment, until Andrea pointedly looks at her watch.

“Shouldn’t you go pick up your daughter?”

“Right!” Kara blurts out. “Thanks!”

She runs downstairs as quickly as she can while still appearing human, then throws herself into the car she bought around the same time she adopted Casey. The drive to the school is quick, only partially because Kara goes a little bit faster than the posted speed limit, and once she’s there, Kara practically flings herself out of the car and through the doors.

“Um, I’m Kara Danvers? I got a call from the nurse that my daughter Casey was sick-”

“She’d be in the nurse’s office, then,” the secretary says, pointing down the hall. “Second right.”

“Thanks,” Kara says, then she hurtles down the hall and into the second door on the right.

“Miss Danvers, I assume?” a vaguely familiar voice asks. It must be the nurse who called her, Kara realizes after a moment, but she’s much more focused on the pale, wan figure sitting on a chair behind her.

“Casey? Honey, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?”

Casey pulls her shoulders in, looking uncomfortable, and Kara drags her attention back to the nurse. “I mean, uh, yes, I’m Miss Danvers. Kara Danvers. You’re the nurse?”

“I’m the nurse,” the nurse replies with a small smile. “Casey should be okay soon, I think she’s just got the twenty-four hour bug that’s going around the school. She’s kept down a few saltines and some ginger ale, but I wouldn’t suggest anything more adventurous than that until she’s feeling better. She should probably stay home tomorrow and then come back in on Thursday, if that’ll work for your schedule.”

“It’ll work,” Kara promises, and if it doesn’t, she’ll find a way to make it work. “Casey, hon, let’s go. Thank you so much for taking care of her.”

“It’s my job,” the nurse replies with a smile. “Bye, Casey I hope you feel better soon.”

Kara leads Casey out of the school and into her car, and she doesn’t push her to say a word. She has the feeling this might be something they ought to talk about, but she’s not going to push while Casey isn’t feeling well. They’ll talk about it later, when Casey is feeling better.