Title comes from "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross (because I couldn't resist).

In many ways, Kate knows she was lucky when she came out. She has a supportive father, and she has enough money that she can do what she wants without having to worry about keeping quiet or keeping her job. She's still gone through shit - because she'd defy you to point to a queer person who hasn't gone through any shit - but in the grand scheme of things, she was lucky.

Not everyone is.

And so, after she talks with Parker, after Parker tells her how much it meant for Batwoman to be "someone like her"… Well, Kate picks up her phone, and she makes a call.

"Kate?" Kara asks when she picks up. "Is everything okay? Do you need help?"

"Not that sort of help," Kate replies, knowing where Kara's mind has probably gone. "No, uh, superhero problems. Well, it's sort of a superhero problem, but not that kind of superhero problem."

Kara is silent for a moment, then she says, "I'm confused."

"Yeah, that's fair," Kate agrees. "Look, I called because… Would Kara Danvers like an exclusive with Batwoman?"

"An exclusive with Batwoman?" Kara repeats. "You want to do an interview?"

"Yeah," Kate replies, even though a large part of her would not like to do that at all. She's never liked interviews, and she's never been a fan of the media, but she trusts Kara, and she wants to get the truth out there. "What do you say?"

Kate can almost hear the smile before Kara even starts talking. "I'll be right over."

Kara is as good as her word, showing up a bare fifteen minutes later. "Sorry it took me so long," she apologizes, as if it's even humanly possible to get from National City to Gotham in fifteen minutes. "I had to talk with my editor before I could leave work. She's very excited about the juicy exclusive CatCo is about to get."

"It's a pretty juicy one," Kate admits. "I want to come out."

Kara gapes at her. "Wait, you want to come out as Batwoman, or-"

"No," Kate corrects, "I want Batwoman to come out as gay."

"Oh! Oh. Yeah, that makes more sense." Kara nods. "Is it because of the Slam Bradley thing?"

Kate groans. "You guys have heard about that in National City?"

"No, it's mostly stuck to Gotham, but I've been keeping an eye on any news about you or Barry," Kara replies. "Side note, why does the media care so much more about who you and I might be dating than they ever cared about Barry or Oliver?"

"We both know the answer to that one," Kate replies. "And it's sort of related to the Slam Bradley thing, but that's not the whole reason."

Kara pulls out a little recorder. "Are you ready to go on the record?"

"Can you turn that off if I want something to be off the record?" Kate counters.

"Absolutely," Kara promises. "You call the shots here. Tell me what you want people to know, and I'll write it down for them. But you can trust me, Kate. I won't try to screw you over."

"I know you won't," Kate agrees. She nods at the recorder. "I'm ready."

Kara turns on the recorder and sets it on the table between them. "So, Batwoman," she says, "on the record, why did you ask for this interview?"

Kate briefly wonders if she should be using her voice modulator, but decides against it. "I asked for an interview for the same reason everyone else does, Miss Danvers," she replies. "I've got something I want to tell the public."

A hint of a smile plays at the corner of Kara's lips. "And that something is?"

Kate takes a deep breath. This is it. Once she says this, on the record, it's as good as public. Of course, if she chickens out, she could ask Kara not to write the article and delete the recording, and she's sure Kara would, but Kate doesn't think she's going to let herself do that. She's come out a thousand times as Kate Kane, to a thousand people. It's not like coming out is a process that ever really stops, after all. How hard can it be to come out as Batwoman?

"That something is," Kate says, "that I'm a lesbian."

Kara beams at her so brightly it's like a miniature sun, but her voice sounds totally normal as she says, "Thank you for telling me."

"I want to tell the whole world," Kara adds. "There are a lot of things I can't tell the world about myself, but I don't want this to be one of them."

"Why did you choose to come out now?" Kara asks. When Kate hesitates, she leans over and turns off the tape recorder and adds, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"Maybe we could do it half on the record and half off?" Kate suggests. "There's some stuff about it that I can talk about in an interview, and some other stuff that shouldn't be public."

"Which first?" Kara asks without skipping a beat.

Kate thinks about it for a moment. "On the record first."

Wordlessly, Kara turns the recorder back on.

"Like I said," Kate says, trying to choose her words carefully to give Kara some good quotes, "there are a lot of things I have to hide to be a superhero. I can't tell people who I am without putting myself and everyone I love in danger. But none of that means I'm ashamed of who I am. I'm not ashamed of any of it, least of all that I'm a lesbian. The reason I never came out as Batwoman was because it never came up before. But now that there's speculation about who I'm dating, I want people to know the truth. Honestly, I also want people to stop speculating about who I'm dating, but if you're going to do it, at least do it with the right gender."

Kara laughs. "I'm sure Officer Bradley will be disappointed."

"Officer Bradley can feel however he wants, it's not my problem," Kate replies. She looks down at the recorder and asks, "Can we go off the record now?"

Kara leans forward and turns off the recorder. "I'm guessing there's more to the story, then?"

"Yeah," Kate agrees. "Did you see anything about what's been happening in Gotham the past few days?"

"The hacker?" Kara asks. "Is this related to them?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Kate replies. "The hacker was a teenage girl. She threatened the train because she was on it, and she wanted her parents to worry about her. She asked for money because she's pretty sure she's about to be kicked out of her home."

Kara is silent, even though Kate's pretty sure she's already figured out where this is going. She lets Kate keep talking without interruption, though, which Kate is realizing she really needs to do.

"She's gay. And when I talked to her as Batwoman, she didn't think I could possibly understand what she was going through. She thought it would never get better, and I knew she wouldn't trust me if I tried to tell her that it would. And then Alice got her, and she threatened to kill her unless I revealed my identity. And the look on the girl's face when she realized who I was, the look on her face when she realized I'm someone like her…" Kate sighs. "She needed that support. She needed to know that it really would get better. Honestly, I think she needed Kate Kane the successful lesbian as much as she needed Batwoman the superhero. Knowing that I really did get it meant a lot to her. And I figured, it if meant a lot to her…" Kate shrugs. "Who else out there would it mean a lot to?"

"That's really brave," Kara says quietly. "To come out like this, to the whole world."

Kate grins. "Paragon of Courage, remember? It's kind of my thing."

Kara laughs. "I guess so." She reaches for her recorder. "Ready to go back on the record?"

"I think so," Kate agrees, and Kara turns the recorder back on.

"So," Kara says, "I think we both know there might be some backlash from this, as awful as that is to even consider. Are you worried about that at all?"

"Not particularly," Kate replies, which is only partially a lie. "I know there might be some backlash, but I've been facing backlash all along. And besides, I'm a superhero. I don't think most people are going to be too picky when I'm saving their lives."

"I hope not," Kara agrees. "Do you have any other messages you want to share?"

"Well," Kate admits, "I've been spending most of this interview trying to come up with a good quote for you, so give me a sec to make sure I have this the way I want it, and then I'll share it."

Kara laughs. "Take all the time you need."

Kate thinks for another moment, then she nods. "Alright, ready."

"Go ahead."

"We all wear a mask of some kind," Kate says, being sure to choose just the right words. "A cowl, a husband, wife, denial, anger. We all need our shield to protect us from the world, but for people like us, it's not always about stopping a runaway train or disarming a bomb. Sometimes, the best way to save someone is to be yourself." She looks over at Kara. "What do you think, is that a good quote?"

"That's a great quote," Kara replies, smiling at her softly. "It'll be perfect for the article."

"Do you need anything else?"

"I assume you don't want to go into your romantic history?"

"There's no reason Gotham needs to hear about that, and I don't want to say anything that might compromise my secret identity."

"Then I think I have everything I need," Kara replies. She leans forward and turns off the recorder, then she waggles her eyebrows. "Will you give me the scoop on your romantic history off the record?"

"Don't you have an article to write?"

Kara grins. "I'll get right on it. Do you want to read it before I publish it?"

"That would be nice, yeah."

"Then I'll write it here, unless you want me to go," Kara says, pulling her laptop out of her bag. "Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine," Kate replies. "Want something to eat? There's a great Asian restaurant a few blocks away that makes really good potstickers."

"I can literally eat my weight in potstickers," Kara replies, very seriously. "I did it once, Alex checked."

"Your metabolism is insane," Kate says. "Potstickers it is."

Kara beams at Kate before opening her laptop and starting to type. Kate shrugs on a jacket, getting ready to go down to the restaurant, but before she does, she turns back to Kara.

"Hey, Kara?"

Kara looks up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For all of this."

Kara smiles at her again, this one softer and somehow impossibly kinder.

"Of course, Kate. Any time."