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multiverseforger · 3 years

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Hank Henshaw first appeared as a crew member on board the doomed NASA Space Shuttle Excalibur in Superman (vol. 2) #42, and Henshaw and the other crew members were next seen in Adventures of Superman #465.[4][5]

Hank and the other three members of the Excalibur crew, including his wife Terri, are part of a radiation experiment designed by LexCorp that is affected by a solar flare, causing their shuttle to crash.[1] As a result of their radiation exposure, the human bodies of two crew members were destroyed. However, their minds survived and they were able to construct new bodies out of cosmic radiation and bits of earth and wreckage from the shuttle, respectively. Initially, Henshaw and his wife suffer no ill effects from the radiation (though Hank's hair turns white), and the crew travels to Metropolis in the hopes of using LexCorp facilities to cure their mutated crewmates. During a brief battle with Superman, one crew member, now composed of radiation, becomes unhinged and flies into the Sun, destroying himself. By this time, Henshaw's body has started to rapidly decay, while his wife is beginning to phase into an alternate dimension. With Superman's help, Henshaw is able to use the LexCorp facilities to save Terri. The remaining member of the shuttle crew commits suicide, using an MRI booth to tear apart the metallic components of his body.[6]

Though Henshaw's physical body expired, he was able to transfer his consciousness into the LexCorp mainframe. Now able to control technology, Henshaw appears to his wife in a robotic body. The shock of this bizarre rebirth is too much for Terri to bear and in a fit of insanity, she jumps to her death. By this point, Henshaw's electronic consciousness has begun to disrupt Earth's communications networks. Using NASA communications equipment, Henshaw beams his mind into the birthing matrix which had carried Superman from Krypton to Earth as an infant.[1] He creates a small exploration craft from the birthing matrix and departs into outer space alone.[7]

Henshaw spends some time traveling between planets, bonding with local lifeforms to learn about the culture and history of various worlds. Henshaw comes to believe that Superman was responsible for the tragedy of the Excalibur after learning that around the time of the accident, the Man of Steel had thrown a rogue Kryptonian artificial intelligence (the Eradicator) into the Sun. Henshaw believes that this created the solar flare that resulted in the Excalibur crew's transformations (although Superman had shared this concern with Terri after he had saved her life and she had confirmed that the flares would have been triggered before Superman disposed of the Eradicator).[8] Over time, Henshaw becomes delusional and paranoid, believing that the Man of Steel had intentionally caused the deaths of himself, his wife, and his crew, then driven him from Earth. Arriving on a planet controlled by alien overlord and Superman foe Mongul, Henshaw learns of Warworld and forcibly recruits Mongul as part of a plan for revenge against Superman.[9]

Reign of the SupermenEdit

Main article: The Death of Superman

Cover of Superman (vol. 2) #79. Art by Dan Jurgens.

With Superman apparently dead after his battle with Doomsday, Henshaw decides to pose as him in order to destroy his reputation. To that end, the Cyborg claims to be Superman reborn, the result of the hero's body being pieced together and revived with technology. The Cyborg then uses knowledge obtained from Superman's birthing matrix to construct a body that is genetically identical to Superman's.[9] When analyzed closely by Professor Hamilton, the Cyborg passes for the real thing, due to components within himself that include Kryptonian alloys, combined with the fact that the replaced body parts correspond with those parts of the original Superman's body that were most severely injured in his fight with Doomsday.[10]

After destroying a Superman memorial plaque in front of the Daily Planet, the Cyborg exiles Doomsday into space, prevents a nuclear meltdown, and saves the President of the United States from an assassination attempt. The White House then endorses the Cyborg as the 'true' Superman.[11][12] When confronted by Lois Lane, the Cyborg claims his memory is "blurry", but he can see a "spaceship on a farm and the name Kent", suggesting that Henshaw may be aware of Superman's secret identity.[10]

Henshaw's arrival as Superman is simultaneous with that of three others: John Henry Irons (the self-styled Man of Steel), the Eradicator (the self-styled Last Son of Krypton), and the modern Superboy.[11] The endorsement of the President ensures that the Cyborg eclipses the rest of the heroes claiming to be Superman's heir. During this time, two cults spring up in anticipation of Superman's return from the dead: one that deifies the Eradicator and another that venerates the Cyborg. Supporters of both eventually come to blows over which is the real Superman.

Destroying Coast CityEdit

When an alien ship appears over Coast City, the Cyborg attacks and severely injures the Eradicator, allowing Mongul's craft to destroy the city. The Cyborg also murders an entire family of vacationers trying to find a way out of the devastated area.[13] The Cyborg was then able to convince the White House and the public that the Eradicator was responsible.[14] After tricking and defeating Superboy, Henshaw prepares to launch a nuclear warhead intended to convert Metropolis into a second Engine City.[14][15]

Superboy is able to escape and warn John Henry Irons, Supergirl, and the resurrected (but powerless) original Superman of the Cyborg's plans.[9][16] The quartet travels to the site of the former Coast City, and Superman (whose powers are slowly returning), Supergirl, and Steel confront Mongul and the Cyborg, while Superboy stops the missile from hitting Metropolis.[17] While Green Lantern defeats Mongul, the Cyborg lures Superman and the Eradicator to the Engine City main reactor and attempts to kill Superman with the kryptonite that powers the engine. When Henshaw tries to kill Superman with a concentrated blast of kryptonite radiation, the Eradicator intercepts the blast at the expense of his own life. As the kryptonite energy passes through the Eradicator, the radiation is altered and acts to fully restore Superman's powers. Superman is then able to easily defeat the already weakened Cyborg by sticking his arm through Henshaw's chest, killing him and shattering his body. When Henshaw panics and states that he will "somehow" find a way to come back, a doubting Superman simply says that if Henshaw does, he will be waiting.[18]

It was later revealed that Henshaw chose to attack Coast City first because he and his late wife were former residents. This was part of an effort to erase his former life.[19]

ReturnEdit

Hank Henshaw in Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #1, drawn by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding

Before exiling Doomsday into space, Henshaw had installed a device on the monster to allow him to detect if Doomsday were to ever escape. After the destruction of his Cyborg Superman form, Henshaw transfers his consciousness into this device as Doomsday is "the safest place in the galaxy" for the Cyborg to hide. Doomsday is brought on board a space cruiser and, despite frantic efforts of the crew to jettison him, kills the crew, and upon landing on Apokolips, proceeds to pillage the planet.

When Superman, his power now boosted by being repowered by "purple kryptonite", arrives; Henshaw emerges by reconfiguring an armored Apokoliptian trooper, brutally murdered by Doomsday, into a new body (which, by all accounts, had its DNA overwritten with the Kryptonian DNA Henshaw had obtained while in Superman's birthing matrix, and thus still retains a portion of Superman's abilities and still looks the way the Cyborg Superman looked, except for a change in the color of the Cyborg's metallic components) and proceeds to lay siege to the planet alongside Doomsday. The Cyborg successfully takes over most of Apokolips but is captured by Darkseid's Omega Beams during a battle with Superman.[20]

Apokolips and beyondEdit

Darkseid did not kill the Cyborg; rather, the Omega Effect captured Henshaw in a small orb, with Darkseid planning to use the Cyborg against Superman at a later date.[21] Darkseid eventually frees Henshaw with the understanding that Henshaw is to leave Apokolips and never return.

The Cyborg eventually aligns himself with an intergalactic Tribunal which is seeking to bring Superman to trial for the crimes of his ancestors. Henshaw assists the Tribunal in capturing the Eradicator, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, and Alpha Centurion, who had intended to rescue Superman. However, the Cyborg betrayed the Tribunal and attempted to conquer their planet for conversion into a new Warworld. Superman and his allies stop the Cyborg's plan and, when Henshaw's involvement in the destruction of Coast City is brought to the attention of the Tribunal, they find him guilty of genocide and sentence him to death. As an electronic consciousness, Henshaw cannot be killed by normal means and is transported beyond the event horizon of a black hole, where not even light can escape from the gravity.

Rather than being destroyed, the Cyborg is transported (unknowingly by another villain, Thanos) to a Marvel Multiverse dimension designated as 616, as seen at the beginning of the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances crossover one-shot issue. The Cyborg destroys a planet in another attempt to recreate Warworld, attracting the attention of the Silver Surfer. Their short battle is interrupted by the arrival of Parallax, who has been tracking the Cyborg for some time, seeking vengeance for the destruction of Coast City. In the confusion, Henshaw escapes and is returned to the DC Universe. Parallax undoes the destruction of the planet that Henshaw had caused using power donated from the Silver Surfer.

Henshaw in his later, less Superman-based configuration. Art by Doug Mahnke

The Cyborg encounters Hal Jordan again at the Source Wall,[22] a nexus of statues that channels vital energy to preserve the Fourth World. Parallax uses his powers to generate representations of the victims of Coast City, which tear the Cyborg's body apart. Jordan then disperses Henshaw's consciousness, and the Cyborg is seemingly destroyed once again.[1]

During a crisis involving the Godwave, Superman (wearing his blue energy costume at the time) travels to New Genesis and encounters Henshaw again. Henshaw has taken part of the Source Wall's structure and crafted a small world made up of his memories, which he uses to taunt Superman before being defeated again. Unknown to Superman, the Cyborg stored his own consciousness in Superman's high-tech containment suit. After Superman returns to Earth, Henshaw escapes and constructs a new body, this time posing as an art teacher at a high school in an attempt to start over. He is a popular teacher and befriends the blind Ashbury Armstrong (daughter of Dirk Armstrong), but ultimately his rage towards Superman causes him to reveal his true identity and his new body is lost in a fight with Superman. To escape detection, Henshaw stores his consciousness in a clay statue. This statue is later stolen by the Toyman and the two villains join forces to kill Superman. To this end, the Cyborg designs a machine that will break Superman's energy form down into multiple components and beam them to different points in the galaxy, preventing Superman from reforming. A malfunction in the machine causes Superman to split into Superman Blue and Superman Red, the latter of whom eventually defeats and recaptures the Cyborg.

The Cyborg later attempts to take over Kandor, but fails when he is defeated by Superman and sent to the Phantom Zone. Shortly after the Superman Y2K story, Henshaw escapes the Zone and attacks Superman, who was suffering from Kryptonite poisoning. Henshaw is defeated with the help of the Kandorians and sent back to the Phantom Zone, swearing revenge. However, he is not encountered on subsequent visits to the Zone.

ManhuntersEdit

Henshaw returns in a form similar to his original body, when he is revealed to be the Manhunters' new Grandmaster.[23] With his influence, the Manhunters have been upgraded with organic material, most notably with blood. On the Manhunter home world of Biot, in sector 3601, Henshaw is holding captive several assumed-to-be-dead Green Lanterns, most of whom appeared to die during the Emerald Twilight saga.

Henshaw has also used Kryptonian technology to upgrade the Manhunters. During the Green Lantern story arc No Fear,[24] Kryptonian robots are seen servicing the Manhunters. Henshaw, the Grandmaster, allowed the Green Lantern Corps to rebuild for unspecified reasons as a part of his master plan. While Henshaw explains that he first encountered the Manhunters around the time he was imprisoned in the Source Wall by Parallax, it has yet to be revealed how the Cyborg was able to escape the Phantom Zone and take control of Biot. Henshaw is defeated when Biot explodes, destroying most of his body aside from his head.

Henshaw's head is then brought by a Guardian back to Oa so that they can learn of how he was able to take control of Biot, what he has learned from the Manhunters and to learn about "the 52"[25] (referring to the 51 alternate Earths created during the second Crisis as well as their own reality). It is also revealed that the Cyborg knows of the 52, though exactly how he came by this knowledge is not made completely clear. It is stated that he has explored "The Bleed"; the space between dimensions, which could have occurred either when he was imprisoned there, when he was imprisoned in the Source Wall, or in his past exploration of the Marvel Universe.

Sinestro CorpsEdit

Cover art for Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman #1, by Ethan Van Sciver.

Henshaw's head is taken by the Sinestro Corps after their invasion of Oa to Qward. Henshaw is later seen as a herald of the newly returned Anti-Monitor. He reconstructs his cyborg body and replaces the S-symbol on his chest with the symbol of the Sinestro Corps. He now wields ten Qwardian power rings.[26] It is revealed that Henshaw has joined the Sinestro Corps so that the Anti-Monitor can later kill him and allow him to rest in peace.[27]

Henshaw was the focus of the Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg Superman one-shot that was released on October 3, 2007.[8][28][29] In this book, Henshaw and his Manhunters head to Earth to assist the Sinestro Corps in their attack. En route, Henshaw stops leading the Manhunters which continue to their preprogrammed destinations. As he watches them go, he remembers everything that has happened to him, from their dreadful shuttle accident to his wife's suicide when she sees him in his robot form. He finishes this journey down memory lane by going to his wife's grave. He digs her corpse out and rips it into two, shouting that all he wants is not to be with her, but for these memories to fade.[8]

Meanwhile, the Manhunters begin an assault on the JLA satellite. Hawkgirl, Black Lightning, and Red Arrow retaliate; however, all three are neutralized when Henshaw assists in the attack and he successfully tampers with the mechanics of the satellite core. As the satellite is thrown out of orbit, Superman appears and engages Henshaw in battle. Their fight continues on Earth, while Sinestro transports his crew and his ship from the anti-matter universe. At first Superman seems to have the upper hand; however after two punches, Henshaw strikes with great power and rage, punching him through the Statue of Liberty. By the end, Henshaw has Superman in a choke hold, thinking that the victory is near.[8]

He is later seen briefly in Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime, having presumably been beaten back by the combined strength of Superman, Supergirl, and Power Girl.[30]

When the Green Lantern Corps decide to detonate New Warworld and the central power battery of the Sinestro Corps to destroy the Anti-Monitor, Henshaw allows himself to be trapped behind a shield and exposed to the massive explosion. Before he is destroyed, however, he thanks the Green Lantern Corps.[31]

Most of Henshaw's body survived the explosion, but it took further damage when Superman-Prime hurled the Anti-Monitor into space. The upper part of his skull was retrieved by the android Manhunters. Unable to detect any life signs and confused without his leadership, the Manhunters reanimated the brain of the Cyborg Superman. He shed a tear when he realized he was still alive.[31]

Death and retrievalEdit

In the Brightest Day crossover, Henshaw would eventually return and work with the Alpha Lanterns as they attempted to augment every Green Lantern, including Ganthet, into an Alpha.[32][33] This was apparently at the suggestion of the robed figure holding Ion and Parallax, who told him that Ganthet held the knowledge to destroy him permanently, after Henshaw's attempts to provoke Nekron into killing him during the Blackest Night failed because he lacked a heart to attract Nekron's interest.[34] By threatening to make the Alpha Lanterns kill themselves if Ganthet does not cooperate, Henshaw forces Ganthet to work on reversing the augments that turned the Green Lanterns into Alpha Lanterns, hoping that he can use the resulting information to restore his original mortal body.[35]

Henshaw was seemingly killed when his lifeforce was finally separated from his nearly indestructible body by the combined full powered blasts of several Lanterns and Ganthet, and appeared on the mental plane of Alpha-Lantern Boodikka in an attempt to take her bio-mechanical body over, where both beings were their original, un-powered selves. Her essence, gifted with her innate, formidable combat skills, engaged his in one-on-one combat, and she quickly overpowered and killed his astral form.

Afterwards, however, Ganthet noted immediately that there was something different about her. Boodikka claims this is because Ganthet's newly discovered emotions allowed him to see her as she is (Boodikka's true self, now in control of her body again), not by what she is (an Alpha Lantern).[36]

In the Reign of Doomsday crossover, Boodikka was attacked by Doomsday while investigating the remains of New Krypton, and Henshaw was revealed to still be alive inside her, forming a new body out of her internal circuitry to fight Doomsday while Batman and Supergirl were trying to repair Boodikka.[37] Henshaw uses his abilities to take control of the JLA Watchtower and uses the satellite's defenses in an attempt to kill Doomsday, reasoning that if he could manage to destroy the creature that killed Superman, it would prove once and for all that he is superior to Superman. After the creature is violently dismembered by Henshaw, it somehow absorbs the nanotechnology from Henshaw's body and repairs itself, becoming a new being dubbed Cyborg Doomsday. Cyborg Doomsday somehow manages to negate Henshaw's ability to repair himself, which leads Henshaw to believe that he might finally meet his demise. Supergirl bursts onto the scene and attempts to stop Doomsday herself, but Henshaw fires an energy blast at her, stating that he would not allow her to defeat the creature that had humiliatingly beaten him only moments before. With Supergirl distracted, Cyborg Doomsday knocks her out and then tears one of Henshaw's arms off before departing with both of his unconscious captives.[38] Trapped in a satellite with the other Supermen, the heroes conclude that Henshaw has been trapped with them to keep them disorganized due to the tensions caused by his presence, prompting Henshaw to depart and search the satellite himself. After Superman arrives to rescue his comrades, Henshaw reveals that the Doomsdays that fought them were actually all clones of the original created by Lex Luthor.[39] Henshaw tries to fight them, but Superman rips his central node off, knowing that they would not survive a confrontation with the Doomsdays.[40] After the Doomsday clones are sent to another dimension, Henshaw is in custody of S.T.A.R. Labs.[41]

The New 52 and DC RebirthEdit

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, a fully human Henshaw appears as a doctor working for the Advanced Prosthetic Research Centre and colleague of Caitlin Fairchild. He is tasked into reactivating the android Spartan.[42]

While in space and after saving a planet called I'noxia, Supergirl discovers an amnesiac Cyborg Superman living there. This version is revealed to be Zor-El, who survives Krypton's destruction and is reconfigured as a half-human half-machine by Brainiac to be his scout looking for stronger species in the universe. His heart was switched with that of a human to remove his ability to be affected by kryptonite.[43]

When the human Henshaw is sent into space on the Excalibur on a long-term mission, he is monitored by the Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the pre-Flashpoint universe, who were trapped in the New 52 world following the Convergence, with Superman seeking to prevent the rise of some of his former adversaries in this world. When the Excalibur crashes after returning from a ten-year journey to Jupiter and back, Superman saves the ship, but is puzzled to see that Henshaw is the only person on board.[44] Taking Henshaw to a base he has established in the Arctic regions to better assess if this Henshaw is a threat or not, Superman is briefly forced to face both Henshaw and a new foe called Blanque, who possesses powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities and was also kept in the fortress, but once Blanque is focused on fighting Superman, Henshaw helps Superman defeat this new foe with the weapons of a spaceship that was also kept in the fortress. It is later revealed that Henshaw acquired part of an object known as 'the Oblivion Stone' on Jupiter, with Superman forced to face an alien warrior seeking both Henshaw's part of the stone and another part kept in the fortress, but Superman drives her off, Henshaw claiming when questioned that he had no memory of anything that happened on the Excalibur or between it landing and him being discovered.[45]

After the reality disruption caused by Mister Mxyzptlk caused the histories of the pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Superman to merge during the DC Rebirth reboot, Henshaw's memories of his past as the Cyborg Superman were restored. With this knowledge, he set out to assemble various old foes of Superman like Metallo, the Eradicator, Blanque, and his old 'ally' Mongul to form the Superman Revenge Squad before using the Oblivion Stone to restore his body to its Cyborg Superman state. He even expressed interest into recruiting General Zod to his group.[46] The new Superman Revenge Squad then set out for Kal-El's Fortress of Solitude to obtain the Phantom Zone Projector, still in need of Zod's Kryptonian army to defeat the Superman family. What the Cyborg did not realize was that Zod was using the Squad to achieve his own ends. After finding his family trapped within the Zone's confines, Zod betrayed them, leaving Henshaw trapped within the Phantom Zone.[47]

He would soon be released by his hated enemy, Superman, on account of an epiphany Clark had while on a time traveling excursion with Booster Gold. To keep the maddened bionic menace docile while he came up with a more humane means of detaining him, Superman gave Henshaw a Kryptonian memory crystal that would pacify the Cyborg Superman's rage by letting him relive his happiest memories in an fantasy world fabricated by his own mind.[48] This self-imposed incarceration would not last, however, as the demented machine man found another means of escape. While he was trapped, a part of his mind escaped into the universe, where he sought to manipulate the Guardians and their appointed intergalactic law enforcement bureau, the Green Lantern Corps, to facilitate his escape.[49]

Even trapped within Superman's Kryptonian dwelling, Henshaw was able to influence the Central Power Battery back on Oa a universe away. From within his cell, he orchestrated a mystery surrounding the death of a Guardian to find a powerful weapon, the Phantom Ring.[50] After hacking into the Lantern ring network, Henshaw used the unsuspecting Corpsmen Simon Baz, to break the Cyborg out of the Fortress of Solitude and deliver him the Phantom Ring.[50] Though Henshaw was able to capture the Green Lanterns as his hacking into their main central Power Battery rendered their rings useless,[51] however due to John Stewart and Simon Baz using the Kryptonian weapons that Simon borrowed from the Fortress, along with the fact that any Green Lantern who had not recharged their rings prior to Henshaw hacking into the main battery (such as Hal Jordan and Kilowog) were immune, allowing them to fight back.[52] In retaliation, Henshaw retreated to Earth with the intention to recreate the disaster of destroying Coast City with the power of the Phantom Ring. With the help of other Green Lantern Corpsmen (such as Sodam Yat), Henshaw was defeated and forced to retreat with the Phantom Ring

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scandalsavagefanfic · 5 years

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What about a Lex/Jason where Lex finds Jason wandering around brain dead in Gotham instead of Talia and fixes him up using Superman's DNA? Thoughts? Does he make Jay into his Secretary? Have him trained as a body guard? Adopt him? All of the above?

You asked about this forever ago. Lex definitely wouldn’t waste a super-anything as a secretary and he definitely doesn’t want a kid. He would absolutely brainwash him and train him as a bodyguard. Carefully keeping him publicly visible but in the background just as a fuck you to Bruce.I wrote a little smutty fic for this. More ‘bodyguard training’ than actually bodyguarding. But that’s because I wanted some Conner/Jason and Lex creeping on them ;)

Lost and Found - Read on AO3

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Uh, kind of incesty? Depending on how you lean with like… gene tampering…

Words: 1508

[under the cut because of the maybe-pseudo-incesty stuff]

As a rule, Lex makes every trip to Gotham as short as possible.The city is a dumpster fire, no matter how much money Wayne pours into it. Lexhas tried to give the man some pointers, Metropolis is gleaming beacon of lightand despite what the shameless propaganda would have one believe, that’s mostlydue to Lex Luthor and not Superman. But the elitist bastard won’t listenand that’s on him.

Old money always turns it’s nose up at daring entrepreneurswho have managed to surpass it.

Which is why he almost misses the opportunity of a lifetime.

He’s been in Gotham for three days already and that’s twodays and twelve hours too long. So, Lex is in a hurry to get out of town as heleaves Wayne Enterprises out the alley exit to avoid the press. He’s not in themood to answer any questions about why Bruce Wayne won’t accept the franklyastoundingly generous terms Lex has laid out for a partnership. He isdefinitely in the mood to be snide and may end up alluding to Wayne’s… twilightextracurriculars.

And as with most information, the value is higher the fewerpeople know.

But it explains his frame of mind when he all but trips oversome homeless kid and nearly ignores him completely. Fortunately, he spares theboy a look of disgust before making his way down the alley.

For a lesser man, that would have been the end of it. Butone of Lex’s many, many… many, useful skills is never forgetting a face.

He stops in his tracks, just before his limo, door held openby one of his guards, and turns slowly. Cocking his head, he makes his way backdown the grungy path and crouches in front of the boy.

The kid is caked in grime, hair matted like a dog, and hesmells worse than one. He flinches away when Lex gets near, but he won’t lookup from the spot on the concrete he’s staring at, let alone meet Lex’s gaze.

Except when they flick to the hand Lex moves to rest across the$2000 silk slacks covering his knee. The flash of aquamarine is enough toconvince him.

Lex had only ever met Jason Todd twice. Once at a charityevent in Metropolis, and once at a Christmas gala at Wayne manor. But he won’tpretend he never noticed the boy, pretty in a brash, wild way with his dark,untamed curls, nicely shaped lips, and bright, mischievous eyes.

He’s supposed to be six feet under in the Wayne family plot.

The kid is skittish and it’s clear, even ignoring theexcessive amount of older (definitely fatal) injuries, that Jason has been in anumber of fights more recently. Not to mention the extensive brain damage thatseems to have occurred which isn’t surprising considering the history ofphysical trauma written like ink across his skin.

“Take him with you,” Lex orders the guards who will be inthe SUV following the limousine.

It’s a testament to Lex’s power that his men don’t evenquestion the order to abduct a homeless kid.

The sound of a tussle has Lex turning around again. Just tofind his men—his hulking, special forces trained, incredibly expensive men—allgroaning on their bellies in the alley muck while the boy has tucked himselfinto a corner, face as placid as though nothing had happened.

Slowly, Lex approaches the teen and kneels in front of him.

“I don’t know if you’re in there, if you remember me ornot,” he starts, “but I’m Lex Luthor. We’ve met once or twice. Years ago, now.If you’d like, I’m offering you a place to stay. One with a roof and walls, abed even. A shower, meals. Desperately needed medical attention.”

Lex holds out his hand, inwardly running calculations forseveral of his current projects to maintain his patience. He waits, secondsstretching into minutes. The boy is coming with them whether he likes it ornot. But the most expedient way, is for him to come willingly.

Just as the billionaire is about to give up and call his menover, Jason Todd takes his hand.

“Good boy,” he praises with a grin.

——————————————————————————————

It takes a couple years.

None of the conventional medical procedures had any effectso Lex had to get creative.

Fortunately, he has no lack of imagination.

In the end, the same thing that gave Lex his own son, savedwhat was left of Wayne’s. Bound Jason and Conner by blood even if the original wouldn’tsee it that way.

Superman’s Kryptonian DNA fused with Jason’s own, made himstronger, faster, more resilient. Not up to Superman’s level or even Conner’sbut better than a super-soldier.

And just like Conner, a little tampering while they had allof Jason’s body and mind to themselves left the boy just as suggestible.

Lex watches as they spar. His boys. Both raven haired withsharp pale eyes; Jason’s blue, Conner’s the same shade of green as Lex’s own.

They wear only shorts. Lex enjoys watching the hard musclesripple under their skin. Neither sweat which is unfortunate. It’d be nice ifthey glistened while they beat the hell out of each other.

It’s not exactly a fair fight. Jason always loses. No matterwhat he does, Conner is fully half-Kryptonian and Jason is… just a mutation.But the boy also learned how to fight from one of the greatest fighters in theworld. These sessions aren’t for Jason. He’s the best he’ll ever be. They’refor Conner. Actually, knowing how to move will be more than his other fatherknows and may give him an edge.

They’re also for Lex.

He waits until Conner crawls off Jason again. They’re bothgrinning and laughing as they move to their separate corners to reset.

They know he watches but they don’t know he’s been watching.So, they both startle on the other side of the glass when he hits the combutton.

“Final round.”

Jason scowls and huffs. But Conner’s grin sharpens intosomething Lex recognizes from the mirror. They both know what that means.

Winner takes all.

Including the loser.

The final round never lasts as long as the ones before. Inthe lead up, Conner knows he’s supposed to be learning. But now, he can just letloose.

Not that Jason just gives it to him. The boy is still themore skilled fighter; accustomed to going up against bigger and badder men thanhimself. And with his new abilities, he’s not easy prey. Even for a super.

Eventually though, as expected, Conner comes out on top.

He pins Jason to the floor, jerking the kid’s arms up tohold both wrists in one hand, pressing them down between his shoulder blades. Withthe other, Conner rips Jason’s shorts at the seam.

Lex allows the resultant yelp to wash over him, even whilehe sighs. His boys seem to prefer to tear each other’s clothes off instead ofjust removing them like normal people.

They go through a lot of athletic wear.

It looks pretty vicious from where Lex sits. Conner jams twofingers into Jason (who long ago learned to come to their sessions slick andready) and works them in with enthusiastic force, spreading them wide as heleans sits on his heels to look. But Jason just moans and cants back to meet eachrough jab.

Obviously the super… boy? is working over Jason’s prostatejudging by the way the kid starts to shudder and pant.

After several long minutes—right as Lex is starting to getbored and reaches for the com—Jason turns and smirks drunkenly back at Conner.

“You waiting for permission, or somethin’?”

Conner’s grin widens. “You know I just like to get you allworked up and frustrated first, big brother.”

Jason growls at the epithet. Only for the noise to be chokedoff as Conner spears him open on his cock, sinking to the hilt in one smoothmovement.

Idly, Lex wonders what the reverse would look like. IfConner would flush pink the way Jason does; whine as prettily; look as thoroughlydebauched with Jason’s dirty fingers in his mouth as Jason does sucking onConner’s. Would Conner cry out, like Jason, or bite his lip when Jason twistshis fist into those dark strands and yanks?

Maybe he’ll introduce some Kryptonite into the training regimen.His boys should learn how to wield and fight anything they may face.

Following that train of thought into its darkest corners,Lex tries to imagine what Conner would do to Jason if Lex managed to procuresome red Kryponite. Or purple.

He lets his fantasies run away with him as his boys finishup. Pictures Jason bloodied, covered in and leaking Conner’s come. Sees his handsroving over Conner’s body as the super gasps and pleads; powerless with hislimbs restrained to the posts of Lex’s bed.

Yes. Definitely, time to up stakes.

#Lost and Found #my fic #conner/jason #lex/jason/conner #lemon?#grapefruit?#mind the tags #mind the warnings

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kryptcnborntbd · 4 years

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LUTHOR-DANVERS CHILDREN: 001 What lies in the future.(Part 1)

The following children respectfully belong to LUTHCRBORN & KRYPTCNBORN. They are strictly from our heads for OUR canon only. DO NOT STEAL ! ! ! THESE HEADCANONS WERE THOROUGHLY THOUGHT OUT AND TOOK A LOT OF TIME.

KYAH ELLE LUTHOR-DANVERS; Kyah was the result of Lena playing around with the idea of having a child with her wife. It had been what she calls ‘a silly thought’ A human female and an alien female having a child together. Impossible. However, Lena never believed in the impossible at first it was a task she hadn’t taken serious. Simply fiddling with the project when ever she had free. The more she indulged in it the more excited she had gotten with the idea of having a child who was part her and part her wife which lead a lot of her focus to be on project ‘little star’

Lena and Kara decided they wanted this little life to have a normal life, as normal as possible. So while attempting to merge both Alien and human DNA, a proven difficult task as Kryptonian DNA is rather intricate and complex to deal with, Lena began to separate the parts of Alien DNA that produced powers and abilities. Isolating them from the mix of both woman’s DNA in order to allow their daughter to grow up without having to worry about hiding who she was from the world.

Finally after what seemed like a life time, the process of merging DNA to make an embryo worked and Lena had gotten a few viable embryos, they where implanted within her own uterus. Extremely excited that the couple would be starting a family they spared no expense and planned everything out for their little girl, they had picked out a name and with much excitement told everyone they cared about. The pregnancy come and gone with a breeze, normal pregnancy symptoms for what seemed to be a normal healthy baby developing. However one day they discovered their little girl’s heart stopped beating. Upon further research it seemed isolating the Kryptonian DNA so much almost as to playing ‘god’ caused the fetus to be weak and under develop. The human DNA attacking the Alien DNA. At seven months, the couple had lost their little star.

The loss took a heavy toll on both mothers, set them off from even trying for another. They pushed the thought out of their head and gave away what they had prepared for their daughter. The only thing that remained besides the memory of the first SuperLuthor had been what she had worn on the induced day, and her blanket.

LOGAN ASTRA LUTHOR-DANVERS; Logan is the first successful child born with human and Alien DNA of two females. After about three years from the first attempt, Lena had learned that sometimes too much science is a bad thing. Finally allowing herself to return to the project, not allowing their dream to die project little star continued however was renamed ‘project s’. Lena decided to allow both DNA strands to do their own thing within an egg, not producing a clone DNA of both woman but a completely new set of DNA sequence to create a whole new person.

It hadn’t taken as long as it first had to produce a viable embryo, however it took a while for Lena to actually implant it. Hesitant at the thought of carrying another child she might loose. Gaining support and confidence from Kara had her finally decide to carry the embryo. This time excitement had dwindled to almost nonexistent. Telling no one of pregnancy, they acted as though there was no child to talk or worry about, however when it became more difficult to hide the fact they where expecting the excitement grew.

Now with just a little over two months before their daughter would be born they began preparing for the Super Luthor. Logan was picked out to keep that L tradition alive after already having a daughter whose name began with a K. It was a name Lena fell in love with upon shuffling through children names, not only because it was an Irish name but because she felt it to be different for a girl to hold the name. To honor Kara’s aunt she was given Astra as a way to remind them of the lost Kryptonian yet also to remember that wither their daughter develops those abilities or not being Kryptonian is who she is, not even playing with DNA could stop that and who better then to name her after the woman who gave her life for a cause she believed would safe her home world. When she was born she proved that to be true.

The first year and half with Logan proved to be difficult for the new parents but also quiet enjoyable. With the pregnancy a secret for so long it was kept out of the media’s eyes even after she was born the miracle half alien was kept away from the limelight as Lena doesn’t deal with social media personally and finds it much safer to keep her away from public eyes.

LYONEL JACK & KALYN LILY LUTHOR-DANVERS; The twins where a scientific mistake of fusing Kara and Lena’s DNA with a male human DNA to create a male. As neither Kara or Lena carry a y chromosome to create a boy, which is what they wanted. Between the two of them, there was only one person they could trust to be the donor for their boy and that was no one other then Winslow Schott, who however remains known as donor xy in all the research and medical files. This was a major risk and test that Lena was unsure of how to accomplish as she hadn’t messed with the DNA to much on their daughter yet with their future son it had to be messed with quite a bit, specifically Winn’s DNA. The third party DNA was specifically for the y chromosome however that wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Having to leave fifteen percent of Winn’s DNA meant Lena had to put forty two point five percent of each of their own DNA into an embryo. Unsure of this was going to work and much like the both of pregnancies a few embryos where created before being implanted, this time in Kara.

When the embryos where created and implanted, Logan the first born had been four years old. This had given them time to get use to having a child and making sure they where prepared for a second. This pregnancy was different then the one with Logan, two of the embryos began developing. Unexpected twins. This caused Kara to suffer from severe morning sickness and exhaustion, this came from being unable to sustain enough radiation that came from the yellow sun for three.

Finding out that they where expecting twins, a girl and a boy when it came to naming them it has proven to be slightly difficult going through names that would go together and even ones that didn’t. They finally landed on giving their son a true Kryptonian name, Ly-El however as he is of earth they gave him a Luthor name, naming him after Lena’s father Lionel with keeping his Kryptonian name with in it. It was easy to pick enough to pick his middle name Jack, honoring the man who Lena carried for greatly. Kalyn proved to be slightly more difficult in naming, unsure how to go about her name they finally decided to pay a homage to the man of steel, Kara’s cousin Kal-El. Her middle name Lily also honor Lena’s mother Lillian, who she later learns to actually cares for her gaining a rather close relationship with her.

During Kara’s pregnancy she hardly showed simple just a little bump rather then a extended pregnant belly so it had been rather simple to go out as Supergirl, with the dangers that come with being a hero eventually she had to be benched, a time in which was called Supergirl going dark. This lasted the remaining of the pregnancy and shortly after, as it came to an end with what they remembered from their first daughter they knew it wasn’t going to be easy however they what they didn’t expect was complications or problems with the twins development. Kalyn was born deaf and Lyonel with sensitive hearing, however Lyonel’s hearing was above average for a baby but nothing abnormal to begin with.

The first year went pretty easy, despite worrying about Kalyn constantly as she is unable to hear herself or others. Lyonel was pretty attached to Kara, wanting her scent around him constantly. A little under a year Kalyn had gotten her cochlear implant the same time Lyonel has began developing Kryptonian abilities even more. Proven that Lyonel had developed more of the Kryptonian DNA nearly stealing them all from his twin, where as she has no powers. Hyperactive abilities had Lyonel’s hearing extremely sensitive, hearing everything around him. His strength coming through causing Lena to develop a red sun emulating bracelet to suppress his abilities. As much as it suppress, his ears still catch a lot more then they should causing occasional panic attacks and anxiety in such a small little boy. With Kalyn’s Cochlear implants she learns both sign language and how to speak. Signing is the first thing she begins learning however both Lena and Kara help and encourage her to work on her speech to help improve her communication skills. Kalyn has proven to have her mother’s smarts when it comes to her brains and skills.

KIERAN ADAM LUTHOR-DANVERS; The last Luthor-Danvers child, Kieran is the one of the last embryos Lena had frozen and after the whole ordeal with the twins it wasn’t one she had saw herself ever using just keeping stored away. Much like his brother and sister, he has part of donor xy’s DNA in him. After a few years having settled into a routine with the three children they already have both came to a decision that they wouldn’t mind the adventure of another baby however they waited much longer to make this baby happen.

A full eight years before deciding this had been the best time for both themselves the other children. With Logan, at fifteen training to use and understand her powers aiding in small missions with the DEO and Lyonel at ten continue to learn to control his strength and other abilities along with being able to trust him at home without his bracelet it was safe to bring a small child into the home.Seeing as Kara is quite invested in the children’s life and not needing for Supergirl to go dark again it only seemed appropriate that Lena was to carry the baby. While getting ready for this last child the couple made sure that the other children where stable and not forgotten about. It had become apparent that was important for nothing to change for them besides the addition of another sibling.

The first few months went as expected, however the more normal this pregnancy seemed to go the more worry ran through Lena’s being. She had never experienced a normal pregnancy especially considering how Logan had drained her and how Lyonel had drained Kara the fact that a pregnancy with a half alien baby was easy caused worry for both mothers. As the pregnancy slowly came to an end the couple became stumped on a name for the little boy simple opting to call him baby Danvers when referring to him. After a while it was finally decided that the boy would pay homage to Lena’s birth mother, giving him her family name Kieran. Reminding her and the boy that he is not just of Luthor blood but of Kieran, having pure heart and soul unlike the tainted line of Luthor. To fit with his first name he was given Adam to honor and remember the man who had helped Lena learn from her mistakes. Hurt from the loss of her first human trail it felt right to have her son hold a name that has changed her for the better.

Kieran is a pretty easy going baby, he was born perfectly healthy with no problems. A normal child and despite the Kryptonian DNA that runs in him he is more human. It seemed as if the couple had finally gotten a break. Having a completely calm and healthy child to grow up and live a normal life as they had once thought and dreamt of when the idea crossed their mind of starting a family. Kieran is the last piece of the house of Luthor-Danvers that they could of never have seen their life without.

#( headcanon ) / ❝ 🇳🇴🇹 🇦 🇹🇦🇧🇱🇴🇮🇩 🇼🇪 🇫🇪🇦🇹🇺🇷🇪 🇫🇦🇨🇹🇸 .#( kyah ) / ❝ 🇱🇮🇹🇹🇱🇪 🇸🇹🇦🇷 🇾🇴🇺🇷 🇱🇮🇬🇭🇹 🇼🇦🇸 🇹🇴🇴 🇧🇷🇮🇬🇭🇹 🇫🇴🇷 🇹🇭🇮🇸 🇼🇴🇷🇱🇩.#( logan ) / ❝ 🇳🇪🇻🇪🇷 🇹🇭🇴🇺🇬🇭🇹 🇹🇭🇷🇴🇺🇬🇭 🇱🇴🇻🇪 🇼🇪·🇩 🇲🇦🇰🇪 🇴🇳🇪 🇦🇸 🇱🇴🇻🇪🇱🇾 🇦🇸 🇸🇭🇪.#( lyonel ) / ❝ 🇱🇮🇸🇹🇪🇳 🇹🇴 🇲🇾 🇻🇴🇮🇨🇪 🇦🇳🇩 🇨🇴🇺🇳🇹 🇹🇴 🇹🇭🇷🇪🇪 ━ 🇮 🇬🇴🇹 🇾🇴🇺.#( kalyn ) / ❝ 🇾🇴🇺 🇩🇴🇳·🇹 🇳🇪🇪🇩 🇵🇴🇼🇪🇷🇸 🇹🇴 🇧🇪 🇸🇺🇵🇪🇷.#( kieran ) / ❝ 🇱🇮🇹🇹🇱🇪 🇮🇷🇮🇸🇭 🇧🇴🇾━ 🇾🇴🇺 🇦🇷🇪 🇹🇭🇪 🇧🇪🇸🇹 🇴🇫 🇺🇸.

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luthcrbornarchive · 4 years

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LUTHOR-DANVERS CHILDREN: 001 What lies in the future.(Part 1)

The following children respectfully belong to luthcrborn & Kryptcnborn. They are strictly from our heads for OUR canon only.

#stillborn; tw #stillborn; trigger warning #death; trigger warning #death; tw #loss; tw #loss; trigger warning #child loss; trigger warning #child loss; tw #Head canon #⊰*•°✘Bᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴘꜱᴛɪᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴘʀᴇᴀᴅꜱʜᴇᴇᴛꜱ » Hᴇᴀᴅ Cᴀɴᴏɴ°•*⊱#long post

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superkaralovesfanfiction · 7 years

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ESP, Extranormal Soulmate Partnerships, by Cat Grant

ESP, EXTRANORMAL SOULMATE PARTNERSHIPS, A SOULMATE FINDING AGENCY, BY CATHERINE JANE GRANT.

This spiralled out of control very quickly, and honestly, I love the outcome. I hope you do too. Let’s just say, Cat has… well, no. I don’t wanna spoil it, enjoy.

Rating: T+, I know, I didn’t start this expecting that…

——-

Kara had seen this a few times now. Odd little notes or envelopes, always with Cat’s eloquent handwriting of a name or sometimes more than one, always with her own signature in the corner. Cat had made it a point to not get involved unless Cat so asked of her, to deliver one or retrieve another, and didn’t mess in whatever ESP was. It was Cat’s, clearly an important project. And while Kara certainly was curious, and knew for a fact that it didn’t have anything to do with Catco Magazine, this had been going on for months, she didn’t but in. But now, seeing the name Supergirl beautifully written on the envelope… well. It gave Kara pause, just as anything regarding Supergirl did.

Kara looked it over, somehow it had landed on her desk in it’s way, no doubt, to Cat’s office. Kara wanted to look inside. Really, she did. But she knew how suspicious that would look. So she put it in her stack of mail for Cat, among folders and files and emails and similar info, and went back to her job proofreading an interview piece with a celebrity Cat had been to two days ago. That envelope was none of her business. Well, no. Technically, it was. It was Supergirl’s business. But Kara had to maintain her secret, and therefore, ignored the fat Manila envelope. That was harder said than done, but Kara didn’t touch it again.

Kara was half way through said interview proofread when Cat came out of her fishbowl office and asked if anyone had seen her ESP envelope. Kara found it odd that Cat would ask about it so casually, but lifted it from her stack and handed it over immediately, barely looking up as she did so. “Here you are Ms. Grant. It landed on my desk and I was just going to finish this interview reading before I brought your files in so you’d have them all at once.”

“Well, thank you, Keira, you may continue.” Cat said curtly and took the envelope, sashaying back into her office. Kara wanted to ignore it, really, it was none of her business to be peeking into Cat’s private projects. But then again… Supergirl was written on it… so… technically… Kara looked over, pretending to look at a notebook she had open on her desk, and peeked up from under her lashes, using her X-ray vision on the envelope quickly, just to peek at it, too see the inside contents as Cat carefully flickered through them with deft fingertips.

Pictures.

Kara spun back to her laptop quickly, gasping just a bit, and adjusted her glasses out of habit, focusing back on her reading. Cat had a stack of pictures, of her as Supergirl, smiling, fighting, posing. Holy fuck.

“What’s going on?” Winn asked gently, more than aware of her when she acted like this. “I thought you weren’t going to do that X-ray peeking through Cat’s desk anymore…”

“I never did that!” Kara defended with a shake of her head, her cheeks flaming, which told Winn she had done exactly that in the past and she knew it. Winn also knew why, but wouldn’t elaborate. It was Kara’s business if she occasionally xray visioned Cat when she came in wearing a prime suit that was buttoned with no shirt beneath and no bra. Kara’s thing.

“I… she has pictures. Of me.”

“Naked?” Winn asked, and Kara glared at him. He smiled and focused back on his computer screen, messing with her.

“Winn! No, as Supergirl. Fighting. Flying. Posing. What the hell do those mail packets mean?” Kara whispered.“how did she get Supergirl pictures?”

“How many have you seen now?”

“5. She… I’ve seen names. Big names. Alien superhero names. I didn’t think, it’s Cat’s thing. Her private project. I have no point messing in it. But now it’s me. I just need to know what ESP means.”

“Erotic superhero portraits?” Winn muttered… and then shrugged it off, laughing.

“What did you drink last night?”

“Nothing you need to know of. But whatever Cat is doing, it’s not linked to Catco, though, so I can’t assist. Can’t hack it outside the company, that’s Cat’s private work at home. I could get arrested for that.”

“I… I need to come back after Cat leaves. Find it. Figure it out.”

—-

Kara did come back. She came back after midnight to an empty office, telling the doorman that she had forgotten a file and showing her keycard, and headed up quickly, to Cat’s office. It wasn’t that unusual, considering how closely Kara worked with Cat, and she often did return for files in the evening. He just smiled and let her up. Easy as pie. And besides, she brought Angus coffee so he knew her well. He was the sweetest doorman in the universe.

Kara slipped into Cat’s office and placed her bag on Cat’s cream sofa, slipping in behind her desk on weightless feet, and slipped open the bottom left drawer of her desk, where Cat kept all her most important things, her lexapro, her spare fountain pens, expensive jewellery, and a picture of Carter, delicately framed. But no envelope. Hmm. Maybe she’d taken it home?

Kara spent the next five minutes searching the office for it, even xray visioning the desk to no avail, and was about to leave in defeat when she noticed the bottom drawer of Cat’s white bar counter just sticking out a bit. Barely, unnoticeable to human vision. Thankfully Kara wasn’t human. Though Kara had this nagging feeling that if Supergirl were human, she wouldn’t be written on that envelope.

Kara crouched down and pulled the drawer out, gasping when she found the envelope on top of 4 others, all the same, all perfectly written, all perfectly aligned. Kara sat down cross legged on the floor and pulled out the one with her name, and carefully opened the edge, sliding photos and notes into her palm, wondering what all this was for.

Kara looked over the photos, reading the notes, some Kryptonian symbols littered here and there. Hmm. It had to be connected.

All this was still okay though. So Cat had a curiosity in Supergirl. Who didn’t? That was all fine. What frightened Kara was the incredibly detailed astral star charts neatly folded with it, the detail, and accuracy of pinpointing Krypton, and it’s neighbouring worlds, and the insanely detailed DNA threads of what Kara could only assume was her own DNA and some others beside it, though all except hers were crossed over with a red pen.

Kara folded everything back as it was, slipping it back into its place, and pulled out another, thinner one, finding much the same. After an hour of careful perusal, checking hers multiple times, Kara finally left and decided this required Alex’s help.

—-

“She has the what now?” Alex asked curiously, her brows furrowing with the news.

“Star charts. They look DEO quality, Alex. And DNA. How could she get fragments of my DNA?”

“Okay, relax.” Alex said, pasting a panicked Supergirl on the shoulder as she stood from her own seat. “DNA is everywhere, in a nailbed, in a strand of hair, in an errant skin cell. I don’t know how she could have gotten it, but she did. It doesn’t make this any more of a panic though. Even if she has your DNA, there’s nothing there that can lead her to you, and she has no reason to suspect you anyhow, does she? I mean, I realize your panic, but she can’t do anything to out you with the info she has. I just wish I knew why she’s collecting the info. Just 4 envelopes?”

“So far, just the 4, and this afternoon, mine came along. There’s Superman, me, Barry Allen, which is weird in and of it’s own self, and then a Bruce Wayne, somebody. There’s a bunch of names on each, and multiple DNA strands that she’s crossed out, and others with question marks, and the Bruce Wayne one has one with a check mark on a strand in that folder. I need to know what they are, and why she’s cancelling out so many. She’s looking for something…”

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Kar. She’s obviously got a hobby of some sort here. It’s not on the mark anywhere, there’s nothing linked to her name that’s curious, in this way. It’s a private thing, so it seems. Go home. If we find anything, we’ll let you know.”

Kara stared in silence as Alex walked away, not looking back, and then turned to look at Hank, who just shook his head and turned to follow Alex, saying nothing. What?

———

“She knows.”

The text came late, but it had Cat smiling still. Alex Danvers, agent mulder as well, both confirming that Kara suspected something about that envelope, and that she had in fact snuck in to check them in detail. Cat sat and thought about it for a moment, a long time really, and sighed when she tapped out her return message. Yes. It was time to reveal this. She suspected certain things about what would happen, but then again, Kara’s Birthday, or, her Kryptonian birthday, was in two days. And her Earth Birthday was in 3. This would be a perfect gift. Cat just hoped that her vision of what Kara really wanted was accurate. Her Stars claimed it was, despite being from different worlds, and Cat hoped that all these calculations were true.

The tests she’d done on everyone else, as proof, and with permission, said yes, these numbers were telling the truth. Superman had a mark with Lois Lane, much to their relief and happiness, and so did all the others she’d done these proof tests on, 3 in total. Then she’d tried Supergirl, with an errant hair strand she’d managed to rummage off Kara’s desk one evening, and had found her star cycle and everything else, and been set.

Then she’d done as suspected, she felt things pointing towards this, and tested herself. And surely enough, her stars and Kara’s were a match. Which meant, in any universe, that Kara was her soulmate.

“Deal with the others. This agency is a good thing, even if I started it mostly to find out Kara’s star alignment. There are soulmates who deserve to be found, and all that. It’s good for you guys too, as an alien assistance tech. I’ll deal with Kara. It’s time she ran into the Cat Grant folder, and I’ll see if she’s brave enough to ask about it. If not, I’ll drop by the party tomorrow. I’ll give her the ultimate gift.”

“Everything is in placement for you. We’ll keep her in the dark for now, she seems calm about it, if edgy. How are you dealing, realizing that she really is your one?”

“I’m pleased. It’s gonna be odd. But I feel her constant presence to me. I guess I always suspected, it’s nice to have it confirmed. Let’s go forth as we are. Just keep her calm, and if I don’t text you tomorrow, by 7, then set up the party as planned, in secret, for her.”

“Will do.”

———–

And nothing happens. Kara seems curious, but she hands over the fat Manila envelope and walks away like it’s nothing new, and truthfully it isn’t. But Cat catches the glance. Towards the drawer.

Cat waits patiently for Kara to ask, Cat can sense she wants to, but the day runs it’s course and nothing.

Naive girl, she’s way too soft and sweet, and naturally Cat should be disgusted with that, such a sweetheart demeanour. Cat suspects on anyone else she would be. But on Kara, because Kara is her soulmate, Cat loves it. Because Cat has loved Kara for a long time, forever, perhaps, and Kara might be exactly the softness she needs against the hard sharp outer shell Cat has built for herself. Maybe Kara is the balm for this, and that makes Cat one happy person, indeed.

When Cat drops by the next day, happy to find Kara in her suit for this whole party, clearly she just came back from some crime fighting, she has smudges of dirt on her forehead and cheeks, but she looks… beautiful. It’s Kara’s stare at Cat in her doorway that has Cat nearly laughing.

Her pure shock, the look in her eyes, the way she’s staring blatantly, unsure what to say because she’s just been caught and has no escape, and Cat has to step forward and gently bring her hands to Kara’s, pulling Kara’s messy dirty fingers into hers and holding on tightly as she speaks softly. “It’s okay, I know it all.”

——–

“What?” Kara asked in shock, still scared, shaking, looking at everyone around her as if they knew something. And of course, they all did. Even Winn, James, even Maggie, they all had planned this.

Cat smiled and released Kara’s hand, and pulled something out of her bag, a thin pale blue Catco envelope, and handed it to Kara, who took it with shaking fingers.

“Happy Earth Birthday, Kara. This gift you’ve deserved for years, I think it’s time.”

“What?” Kara asked again, her voice incredulous as she looked around again, then back to the envelope. “How do you…?”

“You’re sister helped me out with something a few weeks ago, and we started planning this. She told me everything, young Kryptonian girl. Open it already.”

Kara stared for a moment, her eyes flitting suspiciously to Alex, mouthing her name, and then focused back on the envelope before finally slipping the edge open and slipping her fingers beneath, pulling out a barely there two sheets of paper. “Is this my…? Cat?”

Kara pulled out her resume, her Catco resume, and stares blatantly at the bright red written over it in Cat’s handwriting. Reporter. Kara stares for a long minute, staring blatantly, and Cat would swear she was trying to X-ray the paper.

“You deserve this, Kara. I knew you would be a reporter from the second you walked in, and so I hired you on the spot, gave you the position you wanted. I saw something familiar inside you even then, something I recognized.”

“What?” Kara asked, meeting Cat’s eyes with her own, happy tears threatening to fall.

“Me.”

For a minute Cat wondered if Kara would faint, hoping not, because there was another envelope to be opened. I smaller, fatter one. Cat hoped she wouldn’t faint when Kara opened it.

“And there’s something more. Now I hope you’re okay with this, but I kinda looked through your horoscope and Stars. I hope that’s alright, I didn’t mean to pry, but I was too curious to see my suspicions come true.”

“Suspicions?” Kara asked, taking the envelope softly when Cat handed it over, and slipped the edge open after a long moment, recognizing the fat envelope immediately, watching as Cat pulled out the one with her own name, and opened it as well.

Cat pulled out her black chart, thanks to Winn, and her DNA strand print out, and watched as Kara pulled hers out, staring curiously, and gave hers over to Kara as well, smiling.

Kara stared at them both for a while, unsure of what she was seeing, and then the star graphs, and the double streaks crossed through them with Cat’s signature red fountain pen, and the fact that they were the same.

“Kara. Our DNA is a match, it’s the same, except for your Kryptonian parts, and we’re a complete identical match. Our stars are the same, the same stars were rising and falling when both of us were born, regardless of what world it was on. Kara, we’re soulmates.”

“Cat… how?” Kara asked, staring at the papers, and Cat smiled, pulling Kara into a tight hug, one Kara eased into immediately, smiling brightly, still unable to believe it fully. But then again, she’d always felt something, she’d just ignored it.

“I sensed it. It’s what ESP is. It’s a dating agency, Kara. For soulmates. I’ve helped dozens of aliens in this city. Forgive my curiousity, but I had to see your results, and then I couldn’t resist testing myself. Kara, if you don’t like it…”

“I love it.” Kara said after a shake of her head, leaning in to hug Cat again, smiling and crying at the same time. “I love it, Cat. I always suspected, I could feel it, but I never dared to hope for it.”

For a long few minutes, everything was silent, and the party went on, Cat finally kissed Kara, just softly, though she wanted it to be nothing but soft, and the party started up again, the cupcakes brought out, the cake, the drinks, and Cat smiled as soon as Kara took one and bit into it. God, what had she gotten herself into.

For a moment, Cat just watched, Kara settled into the crook of her arm with her treat, and Cat swiped at the icing too, much to Kara’s laughter, and smiled until Maggie decided to come up and speak.

“Can you do something for me, Cat?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you test me and Alex? Because I think I feel that thing too.”

Cat looked over at Alex, who stared at Maggie with a gasp, then walked over and hugged her closely, so much so that Maggie seemed to have trouble breathing through it. Cat laughed, so did Kara, and everything was good, and then Winn stood up with Lyra and raised his hand in invitation and Magan did the same, and Hank brought a hand to his forehead in laughter.

This would be epic.

#sc week #supercatweek #day 6 #soulmate dating agency #haha this was too much fun #supercat with mild SANVERS and Winn and Lyra and hank and Meagan and who else is there?#scweek3

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gldngrl7 · 8 years

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Karamel Fic: Ruination (4/6)

Title: Ruination

Author: gldngrl7

Started: January 5, 2017

Rating: Explicit

Chapters: 6

Author’s Notes:

I feel like I should point out that some stuff happened in this chapter that literally blind-sided me. Just came out of nowhere. That's how it works with me -- and sometimes that’s how I know it’s working. It’s the stuff that blind-sides that really drives the story forward.

BIG NOTE: I am borrowing canon from other Superman universes. When Supergirl provides direct canon I will always choose that (to the best of my memory) but when no canon is provided I WILL borrow from “Smallville” or “Man of Steel”. Be warned..

More religiony type stuff in this chapter, But it’s alien religion stuff,so if you get offended...you’re weird.

Chapter 4 is NOT explicit in rating. My apologies.

Thanks to the following for your comments and flailing. You guys are awesome: @pwettypwita, @lostin-the-desert

To all others: thanks for reading/liking

Constructive criticisms and feedback/comments/flailing are mightily appreciated. Flames are destroyed by my freeze breath.

Chapter: 4/6

Look what we started, baby

You're not what I expected

'Cause all I ever wanted was some fun

Look what we started, baby

Used to look for exits

'Cause all I ever wanted was some fun

I never meant to fall in love

--Jason Derulo – “Cheyenne”

A black light provided by the DEO reveals the trace remains of the Medusa virus’s presence wherever it fluoresces. Despite the speed of his work, it is challenging to find every bit of remaining contaminant. It’s everywhere, he knows, thanks to the virus being aerosolized into a weapon. It’s on every chair, every booth, on the ceiling, beneath the tables, and every glass and bottle of liquor will be have to be decontaminated.

“Why don’t we knock off for the rest of the day? We can pick up again tomorrow.” M’gann, the White Martian who’s chosen to live in human form, stands before Mon-El in a borrowed HazMat suit. Due to his immunity, he doesn’t require extra protection so he’s wearing a pair of blue scrubs borrowed from the hospital laundry, sneakers that are barely hanging on since walking through fire, and a pair of thick, black rubber gloves that extend nearly to his elbows.

“Walk me out?” she asks. Mon-El nods, tearing off his rubber gloves and dropping them on the bar. M’gann isn’t one for tight spaces and needs frequent breaks from the confinement of the suit, from which she requires assistance in donning and removal.

In the alleyway behind the bar, they stand in front of the open back doors of her van filled with bleach and other cleaning materials. By the time they’re finished, her bar is going to be the cleanest joint in all of National City. Mon-El sprays down her suit with a fine mist of decontaminant before reaching for plastic zipper that from just below the suit’s helmet, diagonally across her body. She’s tearing off the helmet before he’s finished with the zipper.

M’gann takes a deep breath and tilts her head back, eyes clothes, absorbing the sun’s rays like she’s a Kryptonian/Daxamite. She really hates being inside this monstrosity. She hates even more that she has to. She slithers out of the rest of the suit and throws it in the back of the van. The bar had been her home away from home until it was heartlessly violated by CADMUS in an attempt to murder every alien inside. She feels as if it was taken from them—from her—and she’s determined to take it back.

“Same time tomorrow?” Mon-El asks.

“You bet,” she replies. “For as long as I can stand the suit.”

Concerned for her apparent claustrophobic tendencies, he suggests, “You know I can just take care of it. There’s no need for you to get suited up all the time.”

“It’s my place now,” she shakes her head, “and I should be there. I need to see this through.” After the attack, the bar’s original owner couldn’t put the place on the market fast enough, so M’gann snapped it up for a steal, seeing the opportunity to truly make a home here.

“I understand,” he answers. Or at least, he’s beginning to. Working for something, earning it, seems to make people more attached to it – responsible for it. It’s a pattern he’s beginning to see more and more among the humans.

“I appreciate the offer though, Mon-El, I really do.” Then with a chuckle she asks, “You trying to get on someone’s good side?”

“Just yours,” he smiles, in a way that he hopes is not too charming, but rather inviting.

Her eyes widen, not expecting that answer. “Well, you’re on the right track. What is it that you want?”

“Something a little more permanent. I could really use a job.”

“Tired of living off a government stipend?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Well, I need bartenders,” she says. “I’m having trouble filling my roster at the moment. Can’t imagine why…” she mutters.

A ray of hope lights in Mon-El’s eyes but it’s quickly extinguished. “I don’t…know how to do that.”

“You’ll learn,” she shrugs. “It’s not rocket science, and I’m sure that smile of yours will make up for the mistakes you make when you’re starting out. Although I recommend not smiling at the Tregorians – showing teeth is an insult. Anyway…I’m expecting the place to be slow for the first few weeks. That should give you some time to pick up most of the basics. Four hundred a week to start, plus tips – which you’ll split evenly with the wait staff on shift,” she informs him, her tone all-business. “If you’re still working out after six months, I’ll up it to six hundred.”

It sounds like a million units of currency to him. The ray of hope appears again. “I really owe you, M’gann. You won’t regret giving me this chance.”

“I’m the one that owes you. If it hadn’t been for you we might never have known who did this.”

“No. that’s--,” he shakes his head. “I just wish I could have done more.” He recalls the bar littered with bodies of dead customers. Peaceful aliens, like himself, who died at the hands of CADMUS. He might have been killed himself had he not chased after the perpetrator, narrowly missing the release of the aerosolized weapon; and had he not been a Daxamite, his Kryptonian-esque DNA softening the blow of the virus and giving Eliza Danvers a chance to find a way to combat it.

“Here,” M’gann says, reaching into her back pocket and withdrawing a wad of cash. “For your help today.”

Mon-El stares down at the folded wad and counts three hundred units of currency. “I think you might have given me too much,” he says, confused by the sudden influx of wealth. The currency in his hand is more than his monthly stipend.

“Look, Mon-El, there are two people who can safely handle this task, and the other one is busy being Supergirl. That makes you a hot commodity. Besides, it looks like you might need some new clothes and shoes.” She tilts her head, indicating his borrowed scrubs. ‘There’s a clothing resale shop down the street – that is if you don’t mind wearing clothes other people have worn before. But they’re cheap, and if you’re going to keep jumping into fires, you’ll want to get the most bang for your buck.”

“Right,” he says, having no idea what the phrase means. At least he’s beginning to recognize an idiom when he hears one, so that’s progress. Before he leaves, she gives him instructions on locating the shop and its name. It will be nice to have something other than scrubs to wear for his ‘date’ with Kara.

M’gann, having more knowledge of Earth, and National City in particular, is correct. For a whopping thirty-two units of currency he obtains two pairs of thick denim jeans, a few button up shirts (one with a hardly noticeable stain on the hem), a few t-shirts, a pair of brown work boots with steel toes, and a jacket with a hood. Changing into the jeans, he layers a blue and white plaid flannel shirt with a red t-shirt, and though he has no fresh socks, he laces up the boots anyway, tossing his burned sneakers into the nearby trash. His scrubs he throws into the bag before he leaves. He can’t deny their comfort and wishes to keep them should he have occasion to use them again.

Mon-El makes a few more stops along the way to meet Kara, spending his money like a miser, but picking up a few necessities, like socks and a cheap watch. He also wishes to purchase one of these communication devices that everyone carries around with them, but after stepping into the store and checking the prices, finds it too expensive for his current state of finances.

Outside of the ice cream shop, Mon-El doesn’t wait long before he spots Kara moving towards him, fast by human standards, but by no means using super speeds. She grins at him the moment her eyes alight on his, and his stomach plummets. The thought of losing that look in her eyes, terrifies him beyond the telling of it.

“I’m right here,” Ral interrupts Mon-El’s thoughts, his voice reassuring. “You can do this.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Hey!” Mon-El greets, his grin plastered to his face. She’s dressed as Kara Danvers, which makes sense, since Supergirl on an ice cream outing would likely bring too much attention. She wears a light green Oxford, with a dove gray pencil skirt and pointy-toed flats. She’s wearing her glasses, with her voluminous hair knotted on her head and secured with what looks like…pencils? Will wonders never cease? “You’re right on time,” he checks the hour with the new watch on his wrist.

“Hey, you,” she greets back with her usually cheery disposition. After a moment’s hesitation, a shift of weight from one foot to another and then back again, she throws caution to the wind and leans forward to greet him with a kiss. It’s chaste and quick, appropriate for a public sidewalk greeting, but still she aches for more. Pulling back, her hands on his shoulders, she notices his obvious change of clothes, as well as the bag he carries. “What have you got there?”

“M’gann gave me currency for the work I did today, and so I went shopping. She told me of a place that sells cheap clothes that have already been worn by others. Isn’t that an interesting idea? What does ‘bang for your buck’ mean?”

“It means to get a lot for a small amount of money,” she answers with a smile. “So you went to the Goodwill?”

“Yes, that was the name of it,” he confirms. “I was able to get several articles of clothing and these boots for only thirty-two units.”

“Dollars,” she corrects. “We call units ‘dollars’ here in America…or ‘bucks’—which is why we say ‘bang for your buck’. Though other countries have different names and values for their currency.”

“That makes more sense now,” he says, his eyes lighting up with understanding. “Dollars,” he repeats, committing its meaning to memory.

He’s adorable when he’s working hard to fit in. “Yes. It’s written right there on the bills,” she chuckles. Kara looks down, realizing that, at some point, her hand had slipped into his…or maybe it was the other way around.

“I also got this watch,” he holds up his wrist. “It was twenty-seven dollars. Is that a good price? It has not been used before by another person.”

“Depends on the watch. Some watches cost thousands of dollars,” she informs him with a smile.. “I don’t think you need one of those, though.”

Who would pay thousands of units—dollars—for a common device used for telling time?

“Watches are also a fashion statement,” she answers, as though reading his mind.

“Ah.” Mon-El leads her into the shop and they stand in line as they wait to be served. Ridiculous behavior for the sake of fashion or status is something he understands all too well.

Predictably, when it’s their turn at the counter, Mon-El has difficulty deciding on a flavor as there are thirty-one completely different flavors from which to choose. The teenage girl behind the counter patiently offers him several samples on tiny little spoons, and it’s the pistachio almond flavor that tickles his taste buds the most. Kara chooses mint chocolate chip on a wafer cone. They get two scoops each.

Kara attempts to stop him when he pulls out his wallet to pay, but he waves her off. “I want to,” he says, enjoying the first time he’s gotten to pay the way with her.

Also, he’s about to tell her something unpleasant; it doesn’t seem right that he should drop bad news on her and make her pay for the ice cream.

“How do you feel about taking a walk?” he asks. “To the park, maybe?”

Kara nods and Mon-El’s mind scrambles for a suitable conversation topic. The way she’s licking her ice cream, wide swipes of her determined tongue around the rounded scoop, does nothing to help his predicament. Mon-El clamps down on the groan that’s ready to force its way out.

She tells him about what happened after he left the ruined hospital. How she helped get the critically injured to the nearest emergency room, and how she stayed behind afterwards to talk to the many of the kids.

“Oh, they wanted to know all about you!” she exclaims.

‘They did?” Mon-El asks, surprise written across his features.

Kara nudges his shoulder with hers. “I told you they would never forget you.”

“Well…what did you…say?” He’s almost afraid to hear her answer.

“I told them that you were a secret superhero, which they didn’t believe because they said you had no costume, and I said it was because you didn’t even have a superhero name, which is when they started making suggestions.”

Amused by her description of the conversation, Mon-El inquires, “Really? Like what?”

“Well, there was the ‘Leaping Man’ – an obvious choice, if you ask me. Maybe a little too on the nose. One older kid suggested ‘Ascension’, which I give points for knowing an SAT word. There was one young girl there, in the hospital for a gymnastics injury who suggested, ‘Springboard’. Personally, I don’t think any of them sound like you.”

“What sounds like me then?” he wonders.

Kara thinks for a moment and responds, “Mon-El.”

“But that’s my actual name. And it won’t exactly evoke confidence among people.”

“It evokes confidence in me,” she counters. “What I’m trying to say is …being a hero is a choice you have to make for you, not for anyone else. You showed up today and you saved lives, but I don’t want you to think that’s what I expect from you. I was on this planet for twelve years before I became Supergirl. I chose to save my sister in that plane, exposing my abilities to the world, and as a consequence Supergirl was born. If Alex’s flight had gone on to Geneva and landed safely, there’s no telling what I’d be doing right now. It’s likely that I’d just be plain old Kara Danvers, Cat Grant’s assistant at CatCo.”

“There’s not a single thing that’s plain about you, Kara,” he compliments. Mon-El takes another bite from his Pistachio Almond, and rolls the cold treat around on his tongue, thinking about how his life might have been different if Kara had never become Supergirl. “If that had happened…we might never have met,” he realizes. “The DEO would probably have locked me in a cell and thrown away the key. The only reason J’onn gave me a chance was because of you. You’re the only one who’s ever had any faith in me.”

Faith he fears shattering, now more than ever. When he tells her the truth, if she believes for a moment that he’s lying for his own purposes, she will never look at him the same way again, never hold his hand again, never kiss him again. And she will most certainly never take him into her bed again.

“On Krypton we had a saying: Rao offers freedom with one hand and unbreakable will with the other.”

“What does it mean?”

“That Rao gives us a lot of breathing room to make our own mistakes and live out our own choices, but when He commands something, our own free will takes a backseat. He will have His way,” she tells him. “And by fighting it…the worst harm you bring is to yourself, because he will never stop trying to bring it about.”

“And you think Rao made you Supergirl.”

“Looking back, as I became an adult, there were signs that I didn’t follow; opportunities I intentionally overlooked. I simply put on my lead-lined glasses and turned a blind eye. Until He did something I couldn’t—wouldn’t—ignore. I try not to defy Rao when he makes himself known.”

“You are very religious,” he says, trying not to sound judgmental.

“Yes, Krypton is a monotheist culture while Daxam is a planet of polytheists,” she parrots the teaching of her database construct.

“Or anti-theists,” he counters. “Like myself.”

“So you don’t believe in anything?”

“Can you blame me really?” he shrugs, referring to the unfathomable tragedy that now defines his entire existence. “But even before…there was a god for everything. To believe in a god for everything is to ultimately believe in nothing. How can a person spread themselves so thin, like water spilling across a stone floor?”

Suddenly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation has taken, Mon-El is anxious to move onto another topic, even if means deferring to a topic he’d rather ignore altogether. Spotting a bench up ahead, he points her over to it, entreating her to sit, before taking a seat beside her. He tosses the remainder of his ice cream into the trash can beside the bench and wipes his hands on his jeans.

“That part was edible, you know,” she chuckles.

“The receptacle?”

“It’s called a cone, and it’s made to be eaten. See?” Kara demonstrates by biting into the wafer cone with a satisfying crunch. She covers her mouth as she chews but continues to speak. “It’s my favorite part, to be honest. Especially the last bite, when the cone is just a little bit soggy but still a little bit crunchy.”

“Well, the ice cream was delicious, so I’ll remember that for next time.” He watches her whittle her cone down to nothing, before popping the last bit into her mouth to polish it off. Mon-El swallows heavily, hoping the right words to say what he needs to say to her will come. “Kara,” he begins. “I invited you out here for more than just ice cream. I invited you out because there’s something I need to tell you, and I think it’s better if I don’t do it while we’re surrounded by cameras and microphones. It just wouldn’t be fair to you….”

“Fair to me?” The world slows down around her and the vibrating in her body that’s a constant presence around him now, comes to a full stop. Everything inside of her feels like it’s circling a drain and she’s slowly slipping away, scrabbling for purchase but finding none. “You regret last night, don’t you? Was I that awful? I didn’t know what to do because it was all new, and you probably want someone who knows all those things already.”

Mon-El can only watch, stupefied by her conclusions, as Kara builds up a head of steam. But then tears form in her bright blue eyes and her voice begins to hitch in the back of her throat in that way that makes him willing to do anything to turn her world right-side-up again. She stands from the bench and begins pacing in front of it before turning on him.

“But…you!” she accuses, wildly pointing her index finger. “What about all that stuff you said about doing what it takes to win my heart? You lied and I believed you! I’m such an idiot. It’s the oldest story in the book, isn’t it?”

“Kara, stop!” he shouts, grabbing at her arm. Her mouth snaps shut obediently, as she stares down at the hand on her skin. “Could you just…sit down for a minute?” Kara heeds his request, retaking her seat on the bench as far from him as possible. “I don’t know about this book and its stories that you’re talking about, but I didn’t tell you anything that was a lie last night.”

“But—“ He holds up a finger, silencing her.

“Every word I said to you last night was true. I do want to be the man you deserve, the kind of man that deserves you. And I’m willing to do what it takes to earn your love…and…your trust. Which is why I have to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

He reaches for her hand but before he can take it she snatches it away. A part of him shrivels up and dies on the inside. “Last night…” he swallows, “when we had sex, I discovered something that may be very hard for you to hear.”

“It’s about me?”

“First of all, you did nothing wrong last night,” he begins, disabusing her of the notion that she is a lackluster partner. “You were amazing and I can honestly say that being with you was the most fulfilling sexual experience of my life.”

“Oh,” she replies, blush spreading across her face, followed by a smile. She worries a paper napkin between her fingers.

“Kara, you are beautiful in every way and your body is spectacular. But it is also extremely strong – every part of you. I know you are very good at controlling your strength in ways I haven’t yet figured out myself. I mean…you could probably arm wrestle a drunk reveler and not break his arm.” Mon-El’s attempt at humor misses the mark, and so he quickly moves on. “The problem, Kara, is that there are certain things that you can’t control, because you’re not supposed to control them, and when they happen they are tremendously powerful.”

“Oh,” she says, this time a shadow passing over her eyes.

“Kara, you will never be able to have sexual relations with a human man,” he says, at last, feeling a part of himself deflate a bit inside. “When you take your pleasure—“

“I understand,” she cuts him off, her voice emotionless, like an automaton.

“I’m sorry…to have to be one to tell you that. I know it can’t be easy to hear.”

“How would you know?” she asks, a tinge of coldness in her voice. “I mean, how could possibly know how I feel?”

“Do you think I like this, Kara? Do you think I wanted this for you? How do you think it makes me feel knowing that if you choose me…it will be because you had no other options? Besides…do you really think I wouldn’t have the same problems? That I wouldn’t worry about breaking any human partner I chose?”

“Clark and Lois seem to be just fine,” she points out.

“Your cousin’s been here for thirty-seven years – since he was a baby. He’s had decades to adjust. I’ve been here for a few months and I can barely hold an ale glass without shattering it.”

“I’m thought you were getting better with that.”

“I have to think about it every single time,” he counters. He tilts his back, closes his eyes and sighs, defeated. “This conversation was not supposed to become about me. I just delivered some news that wouldn’t be easy for anyone to hear. So…I think it’s best if I…give you the time and the space you need to process it.”

Mon-El stands up and looks down at the top of her bowed head. He wants so badly to comfort her, to place his hand on the crown of her head and stroke her hair, until her sadness goes away. “I think…maybe right now…I’m just a reminder of things you’ll never have.”

He picks up his bag and with one last look back at her, turns and walks away.

****

Kara sits there on the park bench until after the sun sets beyond the horizon. Until the sound of police chase on the I-25 catches her ear and she’s off to nip that in the bud before innocent bystanders get hurt. She’s happy for the distraction. But standing there, in the middle of the freeway in her flowing cape and Kryptonian glyph, she’s reminded that this person she is – this hero with all of her unfathomable powers, may be all she is ever meant to be. And there’s something heartbreaking about that.

She takes to the air where it’s easy to be alone with her thoughts. Up there, in the stratosphere she can block out the sound of the city below and just…float.

In the weeks prior to the fall of Krypton, Kara’s parents and Kal-El’s parents had spent many hours huddled together speaking of their plans. Kara always knew that her newborn cousin, Kal-El, was special, having grown inside of Lara’s belly instead of the Argosian birthing matrix like all the other children of Argo City, going back thousands of years. Like herself.

Beyond changing Kal-El’s cloths in the first few days of his life, Kara recalls her Aunt Lara grasping her smaller hand, an excited smile on her face, and placing it over her ever expanding belly. She remembers vividly the way she giggled when the growing child inside of Lara pressed against Kara’s hand, as though trying to greet her before his own birth.

“Can you feel that, Kara?” she asked.

“Yes, Aunt Lara. He moves so much!” Kara loved him so. Even from the very beginning.

A sad, resigned expression passes over her aunt’s face. “He’s a strong one,” she said. ‘Stronger than any Kryptonian born in ten generations, for growing inside of me. He’ll make his own choices one day. Decide who he wants to be without some birthing matrix telling him.”

“Maybe I’ll get to make my own choices too when I’m grown up,” Kara grinned, blissfully unaware that so many of her already limited choices would be taken from her in the coming weeks.

“I hope so Kara. I hope so,” Aunt Lara said. “Can you promise me something, dear one?”

“Anything, Aunt Lara!”

“If something should happen to me…or to your Uncle Jor…will you promise to take care of Kal?” Aunt Lara rubbed her belly indicating her unborn son.

“Is that to be his name?” Kara asked. “Kal-El?”

“Yes,” Aunt Lara nodded with a wan smile. “It means…Bringer of Hope.”

“I like it.”

“Will you make me this promise, precious Kara?” Aunt Lara asked, her voice taking on a near desperate edge. “It would soothe my soul to know he will always have you.”

“Always, Aunt Lara,” she promised the woman, reaching out to caress the squirming bundle beneath her skin. “I will always be by Kal-El’s side.”

“Then I know that wherever he is, he will be in the best of hands.” The relief on Lara’s face was palpable, but Kara couldn’t think why.

Kal-El’s tiny foot kicks hard against her hand and Kara, filled with awe, presses back, letting him know she’s there and always will be. “Aunt Lara?” she inquired.

“Yes, dear one?” Lara’s hand caressed Kara’s long golden hair.

“Will a baby grow inside of me one day?” Kara asked, excited at the prospect of feeling it all from within.

“Would you like that, Kara?”

“I would!” She replied with the innocence of a child without the means to determine the responsibilities that come with parenthood.

Lara placed her hand over Kara’s on her stomach, and squeezed her fingers lovingly. “Then…if it is Rao’s will, that day may yet come…if you’re very lucky.”

“I will pray to Rao to make me lucky.”

A sadness crossed Lara’s face, and Kara wanted to inquire why her aunt was so melancholy about such a happy topic. “I will pray with you,” she said. “For the sake of all Kryptonians…may Rao see fit to bless you.”

Kara didn’t know what her aunt meant by invoking all Kryptonians, but she echoed back the expected answer anyway, “And may Rao see fit to bless you as well.”

She never forgot those moments with Lara which, as it turned out, were their last together before Kal was born. By the time he came into the world, a fat, hungry baby, blissfully unware of the destruction bearing down on his people, Kara knew something was frightfully wrong. Many times, she’d overhead her parents and Kal’s parents as they huddled together, speaking of escape pods and a planet with a yellow sun where Kal would grow to be strong.

At first she wondered why Kal couldn’t grow to be strong on Krypton, until more of the pieces were revealed to her and everything became terrifyingly clear. No one was going to be growing up on Krypton anymore, because soon there would be no Krypton. She remembers her father, Zor-El, a well-respected bioengineer, telling her that something was wrong with Krypton’s core and that it couldn’t be fixed. Not even by Uncle Jor-El, an astrophysicist, who was an expert in such matters, could find a solution.

Very soon Krypton would meet its doom, and everyone along with it. But they had a plan to evacuate as many people as possible using a variety of means.

It was a plan that never made it to fruition. The time they were hoping for and counting on, never materialized. Kara had hope upon landing on Earth (arriving late after having been thrown off course) that others had survived the cataclysm and found their way here. But her cousin Kal, who was now a full-grown man and very much beyond need of her help, explained that there were no others. He too had been hopeful, and was glad, he’d said, if he only had her. But over the years, that didn’t stop her from hoping.

If she had been thrown off course…didn’t that mean others could have been too?

It wasn’t until a year after her arrival on Earth, while lying in her twin bed next to Alex’s, unable to sleep and staring at the ceiling, that Lara’s words that day began to make sense.

For the sake of all Kryptonians…

Kal-El was the Bringer of Hope, but so too was she – although of a different sort. One day, when she was ready to be a mother, she would carry a child that would merge the world of Earth and Krypton together. A child that would, in time, take humans to the next level of evolution. And in that child, Kara could instill knowledge of the best of Krypton, so that the culture of her ancestors could live on after she was gone, at least in memory.

Even before she was grown—before there was a Supergirl—it was her biological and moral imperative. Krypton must live on beyond her own lifetime and beyond Clark’s. Not at the expense of another people, but with the help of it; together becoming better…stronger. Kara hovers high above the clouds, her secret spot, mulling over her memories and everything she thought her life was supposed to be, but turns out…wasn’t.

Perhaps Krypton is meant to die with her and Clark, she considers. But if that was so, why should they have survived in the first place? Kara finds it unfeasible to believe that their joint survival was anything other than ordained. It can’t have been an accident. Yet why bring her across a galaxy to this place and then make it impossible for her to perpetuate her bloodline, her culture, her history? Well…almost impossible. There was, after all, still one possibility.

One possibility.

One path.

Her breath catches in her lungs, her heart taking a giant leap forward before every ounce of tension seeps out of her body, as all the threads begin to gel into a cohesive tapestry that’s been right before her eyes all along. Why hadn’t she seen it?

Every muscle in her body tenses as she prepares to put on some speed. It is about time she stop brooding over the derailment of plans she made as a child, and start accepting the path before her – a path laid out for a grown woman. Kara shoots forward, almost instantly breaking the sound barrier with a loud boom, a ballistic missile with a pedicure headed for the DEO. She just has one stop she needs to make first. Kara smiled.

She has to see a man about some red tubes.

TBC

#karamel #karamel fic #hanging on letting go series

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