30. Everyone Needs a Win(n)

Winslow Schott Jr, grew up alone for the most part. 

His father had been his idol until the day he was arrested and sentenced to serve at least four life sentences before Winn even turned seven. His mother had always been quiet and soft-spoken but she retreated even further into herself following the revelations regarding her own husband. Winn, equally, shrank in on himself, the loud boisterous child that would once run around the garden with the action figures his father had lovingly crafted for him had disappeared in a matter of months to be replaced by a shy child who sought comfort from heroes found in the pages of comic books and on the silver screen. 

Winn’s eventual transition to videogames to find even more heroes was what helped him to discover his interest in programming. Creating mods for his favourite games so that he and many others could play as their favourite superheroes or becoming so frustrated with minor glitches and errors that he learnt how to patch the base code to eliminate them. Winn’s interest in science and the opportunities it allowed him increased alongside his coding capabilities. He’d finally found something he could be good at, something that people were proud of and that could maybe one day help people , something that made Winn finally feel free of his father’s shadow.

It didn’t matter to Winn that he didn’t have friends.

It didn’t matter to Winn that the majority of his heroes were fictional.

It didn’t matter to Winn that he learned it was easier to be bullied for being nerdy than it was for being the son of a serial killer.

It didn’t matter to Winn that he hid behind quotes and trivia to avoid letting anyone see how alone he felt.

It didn’t matter to Winn because he had a dream.

He had a purpose.

He was going to make a difference.

CatCo Media was supposed to be a stop-gap until the right project came along. It was supposed to merely be the prologue to Winn’s epic masterpiece that would hopefully culminate in him saving the world one day (Winn hadn’t decided if this was through some sort of ‘War Games-esque’ scenario where he stopped an AI from causing nuclear annihilation or through the use of an Iron Man suit that he would create for himself once he was as successful as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs combined).

6 months at the most, at least that was the plan.

6 months in the IT department repeatedly asking if people had tried turning their computer off and on again, and trying to get rid of the latest virus that was running rampant through the office via an email chain claiming to link to a celebrities’ sex tape (Winn may or may not have also fallen for that one…).

The job was alright. 

It paid the bills and Winn could often get away with watching Netflix for an hour here or there without being disrupted. His work colleagues were pleasant but dull. They obviously cared about their work which Winn appreciated as it was key to giving him work satisfaction whenever he helped a writer get back to writing. The issue was, however, that they, like Winn, lacked enthusiasm. Making a difference in the world should have been fun, life-affirming… it should make you feel like a superhero but everyone just nodded along and quietly just did what was required.

Winn met James a year into working at CatCo, the budding photographer was professional and proper but his restrained business-like persona would always ease off in the presence of Winn. He was kind and attentive, he sought out Winn’s guidance and help beyond the mundane technical issues that everyone else used him for. Winn appreciated this, his finances now so tightly wrapped up in getting a consistent paycheck that the pipe dream of moving onto something worthwhile was starting to vanish and he was thankful for anything that broke through the regular mundanity. 

Winn and James became work friends over quick breaks and snatched conversations in the elevator upto the office, it was the closest thing Winn had ever had to a real friend in a long time and the fear of leaving CatCo and losing it was another reason why he remained put. Unfortunately, this new work friendship meant Winn, now with a personal stake in James’ wellbeing, had to watch in dejected silence as the flicker of passion that James had held for his craft was steadily stripped away as James’ ambition to move up the work ladder slowly eclipsed everything else. 

It was into this environment that Kara arrived. 

Dead-eyed, dutiful writers fulfilling each task and barely pausing to simply enjoy how they had made a difference. Management set on hitting deadlines rather than putting out the top-tier quality that they could. James steadily becoming robotic and purely ambitious for the sake of saying that he had progressed rather than actually wanting to be the next level up. And Winn still bored and as unenthused as ever.

To say Kara changed everything would be putting it lightly.

Even years later Winn couldn’t believe how easily Kara had breathed life into CatCo.  

Actually he could - Kara breathed life into every room she entered. 

What he couldn’t believe was Kara’s inability to notice. 

Winn had read nearly every superhero comic out there. He was without a doubt an expert. And therefore he could say, with absolute certainty and full expertise, that Kara had a superpower.

A superpower so powerful and great that it was truly astonishing that Kara never realised she had it.

Kara inspired people.

“Hello?” A timid yet cheery voice called out at the door to Winn’s office (storage closet, more like) that was simply a tiny room he had shoved a desk into which was surrounded by towers of computer parts that were constantly on the edge of collapse. 

Winn jolted in his seat, he had been starting to doze off whilst re-watching ‘The Office’ for the twelfth time; he quickly minimised Netflix and spun round in his chair to see a shy young woman waiting for him to notice her in the doorway. She had long blonde hair that was pulled up into a professional ponytail, thick glasses that hid curious blue eyes and a warm burgeoning smile that lit up her face.

If Winn had to use one word to describe her it would be hopeful.

Winn let out a regretful sigh and mentally gave her two months before that hope and enthusiasm was inevitably driven out of her. 

“How can I help?” Winn asked, because even after two years he still liked to pretend that he was helping in some way even if was just directing the newbie to the women’s toilets that were hidden around the corner from his office.

The smile on the blonde’s face blossomed immediately, and her eyes twinkled at Winn’s offer as if it was the kindest thing anyone had ever said to her.

“Umm… well,” The blonde began excitedly, fidgeting with her glasses as she stepped further into the cramped space, “I’ve just been given my first… real… piece of investigative journalism and I… I want to do it well…”

Winn tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow in confusion, “Do you need me to show you how to use Word?”

The young woman faltered at the suggestion and rapidly shook her head, “No, no, no, nothing like that.” The woman blushed in embarrassment, “I know how to use Word. I’m actually very good with it… less so Excel-”

“You need help with Excel?” Winn cut in, trying to get to the point as quickly as he could, instantly able to tell that this girl was someone who tended to go off on tangents if not stopped and he was rather keen to get back to counting down the minutes until work was over. 

The blonde deflated and shook her head, “No, I… I was wondering if… uh… if…” She stammered clearly thrown off her game by the number of interruptions.

Winn hoped that this girl wasn’t doing any interviews for CatCo because she would surely take years to get through a single conversation. 

“If?” Winn prompted, slightly bored now.

She took a deep breath, drew herself up to her full height and looked Winn in the eye with piercing blue eyes. “If you could help me with my research?” Winn blinked dumbly in reply, having never been asked to do anything like that. “I’ve got an interview lined up with a senior engineer at OpticTech who was heavily involved in their new security eye scanners that they’ve just started releasing. I’ve heard rumours that the eye scanners can cause retinal damage but I need some help understanding the finer points of the technology so I know how to direct the interview and which reports to give credence to.”

Winn sat there mouth slightly agape and eyebrows somewhere close to his hairline.

She looked at him expectantly, her assertive attitude and confidence steadily draining away the longer Winn maintained his dumb silence. “Um… so?” She inquired, her feet shuffling awkwardly.

“So?” Winn repeated his brain still not in the right gear.

“Do you think you could help?” The blonde asked with a hopeful quirk of the head.

“I don’t…” Winn muttered glancing around at the little area he had made his own. His gaze froze on the empty screen next to him, Netflix minimised and very little of substance saved in his personal folders. “Why me?” Winn murmured, his shoulders caving protectively around himself.

The blonde didn’t reply immediately and Winn could feel her intense blue eyes studying him closely. “Why not you?”

Winn’s head jerked round at the question, his mind throwing out answers such as ‘I haven’t helped anyone’ or ‘my father’ or… 

None of the answers Winn realised however, suitably excluded him from being able to help now . He had the capability and he had the desire to do so.

Why not him?

“Oh… yeah… I can help.” Winn replied, straightening up in his seat and forcing a smile as he scooted his chair over to one side, making room for the newbie reporter in his little alcove. “I’ve been following OpticTech on the news and to be honest, I think you could be right, there is a potential for it to cause damage.”

Winn’s fingers instantly started dancing over the keyboard, his right hand flicking over to the mouse intermittently as he got up the relevant reports and announcements that had caught his eye last week with regard to OpticTech.

“Awesome.” The blonde cheered as she pushed a chair into the available space next to Winn. “That you can help that is…” She quickly rushed to clarify when Winn raised an eyebrow at her, an embarrassed blush cascading down her face. “Not the making people blind thing…”

“Right.” Winn chuckled with an amused shake of the head.

“I’m Kara, by the way.” The blonde introduced, holding out a hand in the small space between them, a warm smile lighting up her features. “Kara Danvers.”

“Winslow Schott.” Winn responded, shaking Kara’s hand eagerly, “Though everyone just calls me Winn.” Winn didn’t add that ‘everyone’ only consisted of his mother and James.

Kara pursed her lips thoughtfully and a small crease appeared between her brows as she hummed, “Hmm… makes sense.”

“It does?” Winn asked, his brow furrowing in perplexion, slightly afraid Kara had immediately worked out who his father was.

“Yeah…” Kara nodded definitively, blue eyes bright and twinkling. “Everyone needs a Winn in their life.”

Winn and Kara spent the rest of the afternoon holed up in the small closet, pretending to be an office, gathering information and following leads. Kara listened attentively to all of Winn’s suggestions and ideas, noting everything he suggested down and asking for his opinion on how she should structure her interview to get the most out of her interviewee.

It was, without a doubt, the best day Winn had at work since he started. He felt useful and like he was making a difference. He even ended up staying late, and not because he felt like he had to but because he and Kara had gotten so swept up in their research that they lost track of time. It was James knocking on the doorway, having noticed the light still on and wanting to check that Winn was okay, that jolted them to realise how late it had gotten.

Kara thanked him profusely and shot James a dazzling smile before departing, leaving James and Winn mildly stunned.

Winn expected it to be a one-time thing. 

Expected work to regress back to the monotony that had become routine.

It did not.

Kara kept coming back. 

Sometimes for help, sometimes just for his opinions (even on pieces that didn’t have a technological element) and sometimes just to talk. They became friends quickly, not just work friends, real friends. Everytime Kara stopped by and asked for help she invited him and eventually James out for drinks where they were introduced to Kara’s gruff yet secretly sweet sister Alex.

In the space of three months, Winn’s life was dramatically different to what it once was. Firstly, he had friends, good friends that he would meet up with regularly. Secondly, he looked forward to work.

Winn didn’t know if other people merely saw that Kara had been coming to him for help or if she was telling everyone personally about it but soon Kara wasn’t the only one stopping by his office for assistance with their articles. Winn’s interactions with his co-workers shifted away from the singular question ‘have you tried turning it off and on again’ to ‘have you considered this’ and ‘I can look into that for you’. 

As Winn became more invested in CatCo, his interest in trying to make things better re-ignited, he went from passively waiting for people to seek him out with things he could help with to actively looking for things he could improve. The website was the main thing that caught his attention; he had thousands of ideas that he wanted to implement to make the site more attractive and user friendly. Winn, however, was hesitant to overstep in his role but Kara was there to encourage him the second he mentioned in passing his wish to get involved in improving the website. Kara gave him a motivational talk and sat by his side to work on a presentation that he could present to Cat Grant to get her buy in.

With Kara’s support and reassurance, Winn got the go ahead to bring CatCo into the twenty-first century. It wasn’t much later that Winn moved out of the storage closet and into the same pod of desks as James and Kara. The three of them forming a consistent team and strong friendship.

Finally, Winn was doing something he found worthwhile.

It wasn’t just his life, however, that Kara brought positive change to.

Kara re-ignited James’ passion for his photography by regularly sending him friendly challenges that pushed his skills to the limit. James’ interest in moving up the ladder appeared to go on pause as he started to simply enjoy the job he had rather than coveting the next one along. Kara quickly came to view James as a useful sounding board and voice of guidance and reason, he settled easily into the mentor role and team leader position Kara bequeathed him. It was this experience of supporting his little team (lovingly called the CatCo Trio) which caused James to re-evaluate his desire to become an editor. He found more concrete and personal reasons to want to move up which seemed to impress Cat Grant, who in turn took James under her wing with the obvious intent of grooming him for a future leadership role. 

The rest of CatCo also changed for the positive with Kara’s presence. Kara would cheer and congratulate all of her co-workers whenever they completed a particularly fantastic piece of work. She would commiserate with them when a lead went cold or when they had been beaten to the punch by another media site. Kara’s attitude was infectious and within a year, it was hard to find a reporter at CatCo that didn’t have a spring in their step or didn’t seem genuinely excited about their work and what they had accomplished.

Even Snapper had changed (not that many people probably noticed). Previously, Snapper was blunt, quick to cut down everything sent his way, nothing ever measuring up to his impossible standards.

Now?

Snapper was blunt, quick to cut down everything sent his way, nothing ever measuring up to his impossible standards... except for Kara. 

Kara, who took the criticism in her stride. 

Kara, who always managed to find a kernel of positivity in Snapper’s harsh evaluation. 

Kara, who was resilient beyond measure.

Kara, who never realised that she was Snapper’s favourite even if everyone else did.

All the reporters vied desperately to have their article reviewed after any of Kara’s because they knew an article from Kara put Snapper in a good mood (or at least a good mood by Snapper’s standards). Everyone at CatCo knew that Snapper whilst he blustered and grumbled, had on more than one occasion told Cat Grant that if Kara ever got a job offer from a different media site they should do everything in their power to match it because if anyone was going to win a pulitzer it was going to be Kara.

If no one believed the qualitative improvements Kara had made to people’s attitudes and general demeanours, Winn had plenty of quantitative data to back up Kara’s impact. CatCo’s subscriptions and general readership had been in heavy decline over the last few years, the lack of social media presence and irregularly utilised website certainly hadn’t helped matters. The struggle to keep up when they were being regularly lambasted by LYNX and rapidly growing blogs had resulted in reduced quality of content in the rush to try and keep up.

Kara changed that through the thousand and one ways that she had inspired the rest of CatCo. 

It wasn’t quick by any means and they were nowhere near the heights CatCo had reached back in the heyday but their rate of speedy decline began to slow and eventually halt before starting to steadily crawl back upwards. And Winn, through his love of statistics, charted the hits on the website, the number of subscriptions and the number of individual magazines that were bought and felt pretty confident identifying the date of when things started to turn around as the month Kara started working there.

By the time the once in a lifetime trip to Theonia came around, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind (apart from the blonde herself) that Kara had more than earned her spot. 

This was the trip that was going to cement Kara’s meteoric rise to becoming one of the greats. 

This was Cat Grant showing off the cream of the crop to the rest of the world. 

This was the culmination of all of Kara’s hard work. 

This was Kara finally getting to achieve her dream.

And Winn? Winn was beyond thrilled just to be along for the ride.

They didn’t talk about their dark pasts too much.

It turned out that Kara had known who Winn’s father was the second he had introduced himself, she’d remembered the news stories from when she was younger, her mother had been a prosecutor and had followed the case with interest for her own edification. It still surprised Winn to this day how quickly Kara had seen through his walls built of geeky references and quick one-line jabs, but then again he had seen through hers far quicker than most due to their similar defence mechanisms. 

They had spoken about their childhoods a few times over drinks when James and Alex had retreated to playing pool far more competitively than Kara or Winn could keep up with. Winn’s heart had bled for Kara, the girl with a smile that was far too big to be real and optimism that the world was too undeserving of.

Winn had hoped in those early days that he could be the one to make the happy facade a real one, that he would be the one to swoop in like the superheroes he aspired to be and carry the girl off into the sunset. Those hopes steadily diminished but Winn wasn’t sad about that, he had found himself the best friend he’d always dreamed of having when he was younger. Someone who was always on his side but wasn’t afraid to call him out when he went too far. Someone who encouraged him to try and consoled him when it didn’t work out.

Whilst Winn settled into, and happily accepted, the role of best friend, he still secretly wished than someone would come along and help patch up the hidden away tears and cracks that covered Kara’s heart. Brian, Kara’s high school boyfriend, from the stories Winn had heard at least, sounded like he had tried to be supportive but he had utterly failed to even detect that Kara’s warm smile might be anything other than real. Adam Grant, though he was a good guy when you got to the root of him, didn’t even try to be anything more to Kara than a quick whirlwind that would fly by every couple of weeks before leaving without another word. He was fun but non-committal and Winn knew enough about Kara to know that she wouldn’t open herself up unless she was absolutely certain the other person would be there to catch her.

Winn, in all honesty, began to believe that maybe there was no one out there good enough for Kara - James and Alex had said much the same in their own way over the years.

Then it happened and Winn couldn’t believe his eyes.

Kara smiled.

She smiled so wide and so beautifully, Winn would normally have said it was fake (not that anyone else would realise) but this time... there was absolutely nothing false or fraudulent about it. 

It was the morning after they had landed in Theonia.

Kara was lost in her thoughts, which anyone who was even remotely friendly with Kara knew to be a regular occurrence. This, though, Winn could instantly tell was different. Kara’s normally glazed over eyes and blank expression wasn’t there, instead Kara’s blue eyes were unfocused but bright and her expression was positively beaming.

Winn prodded gently at the cause but Kara either didn’t notice his subtle inquiries or was diverting the topic far more expertly than she usually did. Winn dropped the subject but remained on high-alert; something had changed and Winn was beyond curious to know the cause.

Kara’s exceptionally good mood lasted until the statue shattered.

Winn cringed in sympathy for Kara but he and James had a bet going about when Kara’s first disaster would be and he was now up fifty dollars so that took the sting somewhat out of it. James had bet she would make it at least four days before putting someone in the hospital or breaking something priceless. Winn, far less optimistic, didn’t think she would make it more than three days (in all honesty, he had predicted that Kara wouldn’t even make it to their first destination after getting off the plane before causing an international incident).

Kara seemed to bounce back from breaking the statue rather quickly with the successful interview with M’gann that followed but nosedived significantly after being taken away by a royal staffer - Winn presumed to be reprimanded. After that Kara’s fake smiles were firmly back in place and whatever good change had taken place was not only lost but seemed to have now taken a turn for the worse. Winn, though, was proud and impressed as always by Kara’s resilience as she devoted herself to doing the best she could.

Winn watched the mood shifts that would be indiscernible to most people and took careful note of the strange hushed comments from Sam and the rather over-qualified Captain Dunn with interest but didn’t put it all together until the tour of the Skylark stadium.

Everything clicked into place the second Winn saw the way the Queen looked at Kara when she thought no one else was looking. 

She looked at Kara like she was the first sunrise she’d ever seen. 

She looked at Kara like she was everything she ever wanted but never thought she could have.

And Kara, in turn, looked at the Queen with the exact same level of adoration and awe.

Winn watched on in gleeful delight for the rest of the trip. He’d never really understood or appreciated romantic comedies until one started playing out right in front of him with his best friend cast in the lead role. 

He smirked knowingly whenever the Queen attempted to secretly do something sweet for Kara. 

He cheered internally whenever he got to see the two women interact. 

He winced whenever Kara accidentally caused an awkward moment.

His heart fell in response to Kara’s own heartbreak when the two women were faced with all the problems being together would cause. 

He tried to console and support Kara when needed and encourage her as un-suspiciously as he could. On the night of the farewell ball, Winn heard the telltale creak of the floorboard outside his room that meant Kara was undertaking her usual nightly excursions to visit the Queen. Winn would normally be woken by her return at around one in the morning, but that night he didn’t hear her return until he had been awake for a couple of hours. 

He hoped that her delayed return meant that Kara and the Queen had finally figured it out, finally realised the depths of their feelings for one another and decided to take, what Winn knew to be a small, risk and be together.

His hopes were dashed the second he saw Kara’s hollowed out and dead-eyed expression.

The Kara that came back from Theonia was neither the one woman that had arrived nor the woman that had fallen in love. 

Winn’s stomach twisted uneasily as he watched Kara sink into her work and hide her true emotions even more than she used to. He stayed late at work alongside her, claiming to be working on a new design concept for the CatCo website when really he was just making sure she was eating regularly and distracting her with jokes and general ‘what if’ scenarios to ensure she was taking breaks. He considered approaching Alex during this time and letting her know what had happened but he didn’t want to go behind Kara’s back. By playing dumb Winn could look out for Kara without her thinking too deeply as to his reasons why, if he told Alex and Kara found out all it might do is make her keep Winn at a distance and then he wouldn’t be able to help her at all. 

Winn liked to think of this time as him being able to repay Kara in at least some small way for all the good changes Kara had brought into his life without even realising it.

Winn hoped that Kara would steadily improve over time but as the weeks slowly ticked by, his hopes were dashed. If anything she was deteriorating further, steadily being drained of the exorbitant energy she needed to appear constantly positive and cheery. Winn had just justified to himself drafting Alex in for a long overdue intervention when he arrived at the CatCo office on Monday morning to discover that Kara had taken a last minute holiday.

Winn knew, even though he had no reason to think so, that Kara had returned to Theonia. That she had, like every superhero or romantic lead, gone and got the girl, just like she deserved. Winn may or may not have whooped loudly in victory at the news earning him glares from around the office and a rather bewildered James staring at him like he had grown two heads.

When Kara came back, apologising for disappearing on such short notice (Winn ignored the tell tale blush which confirmed his earlier assumption), Winn merely pulled her into a tight hug and murmured in her ear that she deserved it - Kara presumed he meant the holiday, and he let her.

  The next six months passed by at breakneck speed and for the first time Winn truly understood what people meant about how time flies when you’re having fun. Winn was now working day in and day out with his two best friends. He had shifted over to video editor, him and Kara now working in tandem to make the science and technology part of CatCo media the best around. James was a great manager, providing direction and support where needed but also allowing them time to develop their own side projects. 

Kara was happier than she’d ever been and when Kara was happy, she shared that joy with everyone in return. She was supportive of new employees, mentoring them through their first few pieces, she actively sought out small acts of kindness she could carry out to make someone’s day better, she went on courses about mental health and instilled a culture where people felt comfortable talking about their problems without fear of backlash. 

Winn loved every minute of the last six months, he’d finally found a role that suited him and that he was truly proud of.

Unfortunately, Winn knew that for Kara, who had equally found herself in her dream job with the dream girl, it couldn’t last. 

He knew that something would have to give sooner or later. 

He did his best to maximize the amount of time before it happened, he set up search filters on nearly every social media network around to keep an eye on Kara and the Queen to ensure there was no rumours going around about them. 

Winn hadn’t fully realised it but he’d been holding his breath for the last six months, primed for the inevitable other shoe to drop. 

He thought it nearly happened the day before the Metropolis tech conference, when an alert on his computer brought his attention to a photo on twitter of a family of tourists eating at a local diner. In the background of the photo was Kara and a dark haired woman that could be easily identified as the Theonian Queen. Winn had sprung into action, afraid that someone might recognise the Queen and have the photo trending within the hour. Pushing down the guilt and unscrupulousness of the act, Winn had hacked the Twitter account and swapped the photo out with one where he had made minor adjustments to the two women in the background so they weren’t as easily identifiable. Relieved that a disaster had been averted Winn had headed to the tech conference with his guard down, thankful that the day hadn’t yet come where he would have to step up to support Kara through what would be the toughest decision of her life.

He knew the day would come eventually where he would have to be there for Kara like she had been there for so many others over the years. 

Winn just hoped he would be ready.  

The elevator doors opened with a light ding and Winn stepped out into the darkened, empty offices of CatCo. It was late on Friday, a couple of days after the Tech conference, and Kara had bailed out of their usual after work drinks claiming that she had to finish up a piece of work that night. 

The other shoe had finally dropped.

Winn had spotted Kara sneaking away from the conference, guided by Captain Dunn, almost immediately and he had quickly fixed his gaze forwards to avoid diverting people’s attention to Kara’s departure. The short excusatory text he received in explanation of her vanishing act was vague and unconvincing but he gave the impression he believed it without question.  

He presumed that Kara was merely sneaking away to enjoy a few hours in the company of her girlfriend and would turn up in the morning unbelievably bubbly and excitable like she tended to do whenever she snuck away for a long weekend to Theonia. 

The next morning, however, Kara was quiet. 

She wasn’t smiling and she barely spoke a word to anyone. Tension and pain palpably waved off of her to such a degree that everyone in the office picked up on it. 

James fretted like a mother hen over the blonde who used the minimal number of syllables possible to respond to his concerns. Various co-workers, concerned about everyone’s favourite reporter, dropped off a wide array of baked goods and treats to Kara’s desk in the hope of cheering her up. All of it remained untouched which only panicked everyone further. Even Snapper was worried enough to tread softly around his protege, leaving more positive statements than negative ones on the reviews of Kara’s most recent reports.

Winn though chose to remain quiet over the next two days, choosing to give Kara the time and space she needed to try and work through whatever was happening on her own. That intent, however, went out the window the moment he caught Kara coming back from the bathroom red-eyed and unable to focus on anything. 

Winn would have spoken to her then but the sheer number of people who were keeping an eye on Kara meant that they would have struggled for privacy. He vowed to speak to her that night, planning on getting some time alone with her when they went for drinks. As such, when he had received the text from Kara stating that she was too busy that night when he was only a block away from the bar, he had immediately changed direction putting on a light jog in the direction of CatCo.

There was a single pinpoint of light illuminating the back corner of the office. The desk lamp on Kara’s desk was on and revealing Winn’s best friend to be hunched over, head in her hands and muttering inanely as she stared down at a messily scribbled on piece of paper.

Winn approached quietly, afraid of startling the blonde and having to return to the emergency room with another broken nose.

“Kara?” Winn called out softly from a couple of feet away.

Kara spun round immediately, hands coming up in a protective manner that Alex would have been proud of. “W-Winn?” Kara said surprised at her friend’s presence, hands dropping away to rub at the faded tear tracks littering her cheeks. “Oh… hey… I didn’t realise that anyone else was still here.” Kara explained with a shrug, a forced smile appearing on her face and twisting her features. “I must have lost track of time.”

Winn bit his lip and sighed, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it up next to the blonde’s. “Kara, are you okay?”

Kara’s expression faltered for a second at the question but she pushed past the hesitation, replying cheerily and with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m fine. Just tired.” She jerked her thumb towards her darkened computer screen, unaware that it had switched to sleep mode. “I need to finish this article… Crunch time and all that…”

“Right…”, Winn muttered slowly, tapping his fingers against the edge of Kara’s desk before taking a deep breath and asking bluntly, “Are you sure this has nothing to do with Her Majesty?”

Kara desperately tried to cover up the shocked gasp with something in between a cough and laugh of disbelief. “I’m sorry… what did you just say?”

“I asked if this had anything to do with your girlfriend?” Winn repeated calmly, adding helpfully, “You know… Queen Lena of Theonia?”

Immediately, Kara was fidgeting, arms flying in every direction, head shaking faster than a bobble-head and shifting uncomfortably in her seat, “I don’t… that’s… pfft… me and the Queen ?” Kara practically squeaked, her voice jumping several octaves in a failed bid to brush the suggestion aside without actually denying it. “Come on.”

Winn paused, taking in Kara’s scared wide eyes and red face, slowly he reached out and placed a comforting hand on Kara’s forearm, encouraging her to breathe easy and settle her erratic movements. “Kara. It’s okay.” Winn soothed gently, “I know. I’ve known for a while.”

“I… I…” Kara stammered before deflating in acceptance. “You have?” Kara asked, and Winn nodded once in confirmation. Kara pursed her lips, blue eyes studying him intensely with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. “How long?”

“Since the tour of the Skylark stadium.” Winn stated plainly.

Kara blinked rapidly at the answer, her head already shaking in disagreement, “We weren’t… we weren’t dating then… nothing had happened yet…”

“Oh, Kara…”, Winn chuckled knowingly with a roll of his eyes, “everything had happened by then.” Kara’s brow furrowed, clearly thinking back to those early days with a fresh perspective. Winn gave her time to think it over before offering kindly, “You want to talk about it?”

“No…”, Kara said shakily before ducking her head and whispering, “Yes.” Winn squeezed her arm encouragingly, biting his urge to push her into speaking. “I… I love her so much , Winn.” Kara confessed, lifting her head to reveal bright but watery blue eyes. “More than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. And she…” Kara swallowed thickly, “She loves me too, and… she’s wonderful… kind, intelligent, romantic, funny and…”

“She loves you more than you thought it was possible to be loved by someone?” Winn guessed, smiling warmly at his best friend who lit up the second she spoke about Lena.

“Yeah…”, Kara breathed.

“Then what’s with the tears?” Winn prompted, using his free hand to wipe away a particularly stubborn teardrop that was hanging on Kara’s cheek.

“She’s a Queen, Winn.” Kara murmured weakly as if that answered all questions.

Winn raised an eyebrow and replied drily, “Yeah, I know, the crown kind of gave it away. Did you not see it? Do we need to up your prescription?” Winn questioned, lightly tapping the side of Kara’s glasses.

“Shut up.” Kara huffed, a light laugh escaping as she playfully swatted away Winn’s hand.

“Got you to laugh though…”, Winn teased as he pulled his hand back out of the danger zone. “So, she’s a Queen…”

“And I’m me .” Kara declared, patting her chest as if to make sure Winn didn’t somehow confuse her with someone else. “If… if... we move things forward then I’ll be…” Kara’s voice trailed off and her eyes glazed over fearfully.

“A princess? That’s how that works right?” Winn said, finishing off Kara’s line.

“Of an entire country, that people live in. Like actual people…” Kara spluttered, the panicked edge to her tone ratcheting up noticeably.

“As opposed to those fake people that live everywhere else…?” Winn muttered, earning himself a dark glare from the blonde. “Sorry…”

The tell tale crease appeared between Kara’s eyebrows and she ran her free hand through her hair (a nervous habit she’d picked up from her sister). “People will expect things of me, people will look up to me and I don’t… I’m not…” Kara looked at Winn pleadingly, desperate for him to understand. “Winn, I’m just me …”

“Yeah, you’re you.” Winn affirmed easily and sincerely. “You’re Kara Danvers. You’re a superhero.”

Kara cocked her head to the side, taken aback by the declaration, “Winn…”

“Let me explain.” Winn requested, holding a hand up beseechingly. “You’re a superhero, Kara. You always have been but have never noticed.” Kara scoffed at that but remained quiet as requested. “Do you know what CatCo was like before you arrived?”

“The same as ever?” Kara guessed.

“No. It was…”, Winn looked round the darkened office space, even now late at night and with only a single light on, the entire place felt warmer than it ever had before Kara started working there. “It had lost its spark.” Winn explained, “It was hollow and insincere. People came in, did their job and then left. There was no enthusiasm or joy at doing the right thing.” Winn ducked his head feeling a minor flush of shame at not appreciating the impact he could have had all those years ago if he had tried. “You changed that, Kara.” He declared, lifting his gaze to meet Kara’s in the hope that she would see the sincerity of his words. “You brought back the spark.”

“I don’t understand…”, Kara muttered, and Winn smiled sadly at her wishing (not for the first time) that Kara could see herself through the eyes of those that loved her. She would understand then just how incredible she truly was.

Winn straightened up in his chair and raised his chin, “Then let me paint you a picture…” 

Winn decided that until he could create a technology that allowed him to show Kara the impact she had made, he would have to settle for telling her. 

He told her everything he could. He told her about being disinterested in his job. He told her about James’ shallow ambition. He told her about the low morale of the office. He told her every little detail that he could about how miserable everything had been until she’d arrived on the scene.

Then he told her how it had all changed.

Because of her. 

“If you decide not to do this because you don’t want to…”, Winn surmised, bringing the conversation full circle back to Kara’s dilemma, “Then that’s fine, that’s absolutely fine.” Winn reassured, studying Kara’s uncertain expression carefully for any sign of what she was truly thinking. “And I will support you every step of the way. But if you decide not to do this because you don’t think you can …”, Winn squeezed Kara’s arm, encouraging scared blue eyes to meet his determined and loyal ones. “Then, Kara, I will do everything in my power to convince you otherwise. You can do this. In fact, I genuinely believe you would be the best person in the whole world to do this. If anyone can win over an entire country of actual people… you can.” 

Winn fell silent, his throat scratchy from the amount he had spoken over the last ten minutes or so.

Kara’s jaw moved up and down slightly as she struggled to find the correct response, “I know you think because of CatCo-”

“No, I don’t.” Winn cut in quickly, not wanting Kara to get the wrong end of the stick. “That’s part of it, yes… but... The exact moment I knew you could do wonders for that country, that you could make a real difference?” Winn explained, “When we went to that mining museum and you sat and listened to that woman talk about her husband for hours without complaint.” 

Kara blinked in surprise and her mouth moved to form a question that Winn answered without her needing to voice it. 

“You were patient, empathetic and kind beyond measure.” It was such a small moment, a blink and you miss it event in the grand scheme of their trip to Theonia but it was a moment that summed up Kara and everything she was capable of. “You would make an incredible princess for that country, I have no doubt. You are Kara Danvers and you can do anything you put your mind to.” Winn stated, emphasising every word so much it felt like his voice was echoing around the empty offices. 

Kara’s jaw twitched and she let out a shaky breath as she tried to push down a sob, without hesitation she reached out and pulled Winn into a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder and murmuring a grateful ‘thank you’ in his ear. Winn squeezed her tightly back in return, holding onto his best friend until she had managed to de-tense in his arms and work through whatever emotions had risen to the surface.

Eventually, Kara pulled back and gave Winn one of her genuine, beaming grins that warmed him to his very soul.

“So…” Winn prompted, “do you want to do this? Because that’s the only real question left…”

Kara glanced down at the scribbled on piece of paper resting on the desk by her elbow, which Winn now realised to be a very messy pros and cons list. “I love this job. I love working with you and James.”

“I know.” Winn said.

“I love this city.”

“I know.”

“I love Theonia too, though.” Kara mumbled, her cheeks perfusing with colour at the admittance. “I know it probably sounds strange to say but… I remember when we were driving to the Palace that very first time and looking at the green trees and the people and… everything… and I just remember thinking I could live here. I could be happy here.” Kara looked over at Winn, beseeching him to understand, “And everytime I’ve gone back since, I felt a little bit more at home each time. Theonia feels more like home than here now…” Kara confessed and Winn wanted to soothe the misplaced guilt that was apparent in Kara’s expression. “And yes, that has a lot to do with Lena but it also has a lot to do with the country itself.” Kara adjusted her glasses shyly, “I love the history there-”

“I know, I still have the Theonian thesis you wrote taking up half my hard drive.” Winn joked trying to alleviate some of Kara’s nerves with humour. His attempt was successful when Kara let out a heavy breath of amusement in response. Reassured by her reaction, Winn prompted her to continue, “So, you could live there, massive tick in the column.”

“I have friends there too so I wouldn’t be lonely.” Kara added after thinking about it for a few seconds. “Though, they would never replace you or James.” Kara assured, grabbing Winn’s hand as if afraid he would up and leave that instant.

“No one could replace us. We’re the CatCo trio.” Winn promised, though he tightened his hold on Kara’s hand, aware that if Kara did decide what he thought she should and would, there time together would sharply decrease. “What about being a reporter?”

Kara gnawed her bottom lip as she slowly turned her head from side to side taking in every detail of their empty workplace. “This is my dream job.”

“You know when I was younger,” Winn said thoughtfully, “my dream was to work for a tech company, writing programs that would change the world. With the much bigger dream of becoming Iron Man one day…”

“You never told me that.” Kara replied curiously.

“Well, I met you and… my dream changed.” Winn explained with an easygoing shrug that made light of all those years of feeling lost and without purpose, “You helped me find a new dream. I now get to help write the articles and features that inspired me when I was a kid.” 

Winn’s chest automatically puffed up as he imagined what a younger version of him would think of him now. Younger him would be proud and excited about his future, though marginally disappointed that he wasn’t Iron Man. 

“I’m literally in a job that would have directly influenced me when I was little. I am the person that made me love science, that made me want to learn and grow and help people.” Winn boasted gleefully, blushing slightly when he caught the pleased expression Kara had on her face which she always got whenever her friends were happy or had accomplished something. “You helped me see that.” Winn murmured gratefully, “Dreams can change Kara, if we want them to or we can simply realise that we can achieve them in a different way.” Winn tilted his head to the side expectantly, and asked, “Why is this your dream job, Kara?”

Kara’s gaze became distant and reflective, and when she spoke it was with a steady voice that grew in certainty, “Because… I get to bring light to things people would normally overlook, I can give the forgotten or ignored a voice, I can meet people from all walks of life…”, Kara breathed deeply and summed up her reason with a simple statement, “I can make a difference...”

“Hmmm…” Winn hummed, smirking knowingly, “I don’t know about you but I think that sounds like something a princess might be able to do too… don’t you think?”

“I…” Kara began, on the precipice of arguing but cutting herself off as she realised that she didn’t have a counterargument, “I hadn’t thought about it like that.” Kara admitted.

“Does that change things?” Winn questioned.

“No,” Kara said with a shake of her head, and for a second Winn thought maybe he was wrong about what Kara would decide, “it just makes things a lot clearer…” Kara asserted, a flash of steely determination appearing in her eyes that signalled to Winn that she had made her choice. “Though it does still leave one issue…”

“Which is?” Winn asked raising a curious eyebrow.

“Alex.” Kara murmured sadly.

Winn nodded in agreement; Kara needed to speak with Alex on her own and Winn knew better than to try and insert himself into that precious relationship. Winn clapped his hands together, and made to stand, “Then I guess I have done all I can. I think you need to talk to your sister now.”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Kara replied, her brow already furrowing as she thought through how that particular conversation would go. 

“I’m here if you need me, okay?” Winn reminded her as he got to his feet.

“Yeah…” With Kara’s verbal confirmation Winn turned on his heel and made to leave, “Hey, Winn?” Kara called out after him causing Winn to look back and find Kara had gotten to her feet too.

“Hmm…?”

Kara approached him confidently, and reached out to cup his cheek tenderly, making sure he could see the sincerity in her blue eyes. “I was right the first day that we met…” Winn raised an expectant eyebrow and Kara beamed at him in response as she said, “Everyone needs a Winn in their life. I don’t want to know what my life would be like without you in it.”

Winn blinked rapidly to dispel the tears building in the corners of his eyes, “Same, Kara. Same.”