#full lex luthor moment: I have no idea who this is

[fanaticalthings]

Give me crime lord!Jason who's actually on good terms with the batfam. Not only would it actually be helpful when it comes to missions surrounding underground/illegal operations (Jason would be able to retrieve way more insider knowledge) but also I think having a supervillain family member that you're chill with is just untapped comedic potential that needs to be taken advantage of.

---

Damian gets into a petty fight with Bruce, and the next day, instead of waiting for Bruce to pick him up from school, he calls Jason, who shows up in full Red Hood regalia and just rides off with Damian.

Of course everyone at school sees that Wayne's son just got snatched by Gotham's most notorious crime lord, so ofc when Bruce gets there, sees Damian missing, and hears a series of panicked whispers about a gun slinging, criminal biker riding off with a prince of Gotham, Bruce immediately knows what's up and just sighs, already anticipating the many publication companies he's gonna have to bribe to stay silent.

---

Sometimes, they need Jason's help with intercepting certain illegal trades within the underworld of, not just Gotham, but just common areas where shady businesses are most prevalent. And when Bruce requests that Jason brings evidence of said illegal shipments to the cave, Jason will smugly respond with "I can, but it'll cost ya"

And Bruce is all exasperated like, "Jason, please, this mission's been going on for a month, I just want to get it over with."

And Jason's just looking down at the crate of smuggled materials, recognizes that it's highly sought after by many rogues (maybe it's machinery parts or rare chemical substances, etc) and ofc Jason's about to be petty as hell when responding to Bruce:

Jason: I don't think you have any idea how valuable the stuff I have is. If I sold this myself in my part of the underground, I'd make a fortune!

Bruce: Jason

Jason: Butttt, if you're not willing to pay me for this, y'know, despite being a billionaire, I guess I could just auction this off to another willing client

Bruce: Jason

Jason: I hear Lex Luthor's been cookin' up something new for Superman. I wonder if he'd be interested?

Bruce: Son, please.

Jason:

Bruce:

Jason: I'll give you a family discount.

And it's just a back and forth of this EVERYTIME. And Jason only does it when he's collaborating with Bruce. None of the other bats have to deal with Jason demanding money.

---

There was one time, during a Wayne gala where practically ALL the kids (except Jason, dude's still legally dead), had to show up. And around halfway through, the Red Hood just crashes through the skylight and then just fucking kidnaps Bruce Wayne, in front of everyone. And of course the gala has to be cut short.

Meanwhile, Bruce, in Jason's custody: I CANNOT believe you, son. WHY of all times would you do this? You are GROUNDED, I don't care if you don't live with me anymore, this is just UNACCEPTABLE-

Jason, completely ignoring him, holding up a tablet with news article headlines about this incident: Bruce, look at this shot they got of me crashing through the ceiling, I look fuckin' badass

And then when the fam (in costume) come to "save" Bruce, in a blink and you'll miss it moment, Bruce catches Cass and Jason whispering something to eachother in the corner and them fist bumping before Jason books it out of there. He can already feel a headache brewing.

And generally speaking, I feel like the batfam could be way more efficient with this arrangement. You got the regular team of bats, investigating from above, as well as being able to infiltrate socialite environments as Waynes. Then you got Jason, who can keep an eye on all the lesser exposed and lucrative activities whilst he keeps the underground businesses under his control. I feel like it would be a win win situation that would be hella interesting to see explored.

[sanguinesmi1e]

A Round Door Like a Porthole, Lazarus Green Pt. 1 Pt. 2 (you're here) Pt. 3 Pt. 4

Art of LBM

Danny was still lying under the Specter Speeder, mind reeling as the words “they opened this portal with a child sacrifice, and bound his death and all the lost life potential to their bloody machine to create a perpetual gateway to the Infinite Realms” ran in a loop through his head. Could that really be true? Is his death attached to the portal, forever lodged in the doorway, preventing it from closing?

The guy clearly knew what he was talking about. The bit about why his ghost friends and frenemies caused so much chaos as they unleashed their obsessions on Amity Park made so much sense. It would certainly explain a lot of his interactions with ghosts after he died. 

 Danny silently cursed himself for not destroying everything in the lab before they got here. He and Jazz hadn't worried about the portal schematics, because they honestly didn't have any way to open a portal, only cycle energy in a recursive loop that shouldn’t have done anything. No one, not he and Jazz, not their parents, not Tucker or Technus, had been able to figure out why it had worked when Danny was inside. But if the machine was able to sustain a portal that was already opened. . . He wondered idly if he could light a fire that looked accidental and would both destroy the lab and leave the two men enough time to escape. It’d probably be too risky. And who knew what destroying the portal would do to him. Fully kill him? Destroy him completely and shatter his core? It might be worth it to prevent anyone from gaining this knowledge. 

No wonder Lex Luthor was interested in this business. A child was murdered in this basement, and for all Tim knew, the child’s soul could still be trapped here fueling a Lazarus Pit that connected the world of the living to the afterlife. What Luthor could do with an interdimensional portal or even a single sample of Lazarus water. . . Tim shuddered to think.

On the one hand, he was grateful that Wayne Enterprises secured the business before Luthor had the chance. On the other hand, he felt rather ill to think his family had directly enriched mad scientists who performed child sacrifices. At least he had full faith that between him and Oracle, they’d hunt the Fentons down and make sure justice was served.

“What is to be done for the child?” Tim asked Constantine. “Is his soul tied to that machine?”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s just his death.” 

“You’re gonna have to explain the difference to me, ‘cause I’m not sure I see the distinction.” Tim said wryly. 

“I guess. . . Hm. You could think of it as the moment of transition drawn out endlessly like a plucked string whose note never stops vibrating. Like life is the anchor point of one end of the string, and the afterlife is at the other end, and the child’s death is the note created when his soul crosses from one side to the other. The soul is the bow causing reverberations, but the reverberations are the actual death itself. The effect of the soul’s passage. And in this case, the portal is amplifying the death so it doesn’t end like a normal death ‘note’ would.” Constantine leaned in to examine some of the runes that were part of the array. “Not a perfect metaphor, obviously, since you bow perpendicular rather than parallel to the string, and death and souls are nothing like music, but you get the idea, right?”

Tim was still caught on John Constantine saying the words “death note” together unironically in a sentence. He was going to have to share that with Steph later. Maybe with the whole family group chat, even. “Yeah, the metaphor makes sense, as much as any of this occult stuff does to me.”

“Whatever. As for whether there’s anything we can do for the child, I think we’ll have to try and summon him if we can.” The Brit started pulling items out of his trenchcoat’s inner pockets. “We need to ask what the spirit wants done, before we go messing with things we don’t understand.”

“Alright, need anything from me?”

“Yeah, move this stuff out of the way so I can draw a circle.” Constantine directed Tim to shove aside a few stacks of boxes, something called a Fenton Ghost Weasel, and together they shifted a coffin-shaped iron maiden that for some reason was labeled Fenton Stockades. Then he set to work chalking a circle and runes on the ground.

Finally he sat back and dusted chalk off his hands. “That should do it.”

“Will this be bright too?” Tim asked warily.

“Eh, might be? Shouldn’t be too bad.”

Tim grabbed an auto-darkening welding helmet with a green “Fenton” sticker on it off the workbench and slipped it on.

“Alright, here goes.” Constantine began the summoning ritual.

While Danny debated arson, the other two had finished clearing a space and chalked some kind of circle onto the floor. He tuned back into the conversation when he heard the trenchcoat guy begin a traditional incantation for a summoning. Were they trying to summon him? Danny really hoped it wouldn’t work. 

When people tried to summon the Ghost King he could almost always ignore the pull. This pull, however, was very strong and immediate. It seemed proximity made a difference, or this guy was just better at summonings than the average cultist. Before Danny could accept the inevitable, he was pulled bodily — literally! — out from under the vehicle and across the floor, still flat on his back on the Fenton Under Car Creeper, with the Specter Speeder’s ecto-engine hugged tightly to his chest. The wheels of the Fenton Creeper (not to be mistaken with the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick) sped him straight to the summoning circle. Still very much in human form. 

This was his first real look at the guy called Constantine, and he couldn’t help a horrified yelp. “Eugh!! What the fuck is wrong with you, dude!?!!” 

His lapse in attention made him lose the battle with the summoning spell, and it gripped him, pulling him through the convolutions of the spellwork even though he was already lying half across the circle, and forcing him to change into Phantom in the process. It was such a disgusting sensation, like he was one of those squishy water filled tube snake toys that look like a fleshlight, and someone squeezed really hard and abruptly so he turned inside out and went flying to go splat against a wall (or in this case, against the ground inside the circle of chalk). He tried and failed not to retch.

The younger man in the crisp suit whom he’d already identified as Mr. CEO-Timothy-Drake-Wayne looked at him in startled bafflement, while the older blond, still smoking his cigarette, (gross, and was that thing never ending?) was probably looking at him. Maybe. It was really difficult to tell, because he was a frankly vile sight. Danny winced and swallowed down nausea. “What have you done to your soul?”

“I — what?”

“Trypophobia central, man! Ugh that’s gotta be the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. Can’t you cover it up?”

“Who are you?” Timothy Drake-Wayne interjected.

“I’m the dead guy? You literally just summoned me.”

“Constantine said you were a child”

“I mean, I was?” Danny looked down at his obviously twenty-something year-old self and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been a while since I was fourteen though. These things happen.”

“Not typically, no. The dead tend to be pretty unaging.” Constantine said. 

“Dude I’m not having a conversation with you while your soul looks like Escher’s swiss cheese nightmare. Anyways, some of us do. Heck, I know a guy who constantly shifts from infant to old man and every stage in between. It’s pretty distracting when you’re trying to get him to let you fix the timeline again.” Danny continued to look anywhere but at the blond man. “But if it’s so important to you, I can —” He got an abstracted look, and slowly de-aged himself until the two men stood over a fourteen year old boy with snow white hair and glowing green eyes.

“That does not help. No.” The guy whose soul looked somewhat like a bleeding tooth fungus said. He turned away and started doing something magical. Danny hoped it would mask his soul in some way, but so far all it did was make Danny feel like he needed to pop his ears.

He also felt particularly uncharitable, so he didn’t revert to his natural age, and instead tried to see how young and cute he could make himself appear.

“So are you just haunting this basement? Seems hazardous, given the former proprietors.” Timothy tried to redirect the conversation. He didn’t seem nearly as distressed to see the ghost of a child, but his eyes darted surreptitiously to the Lichtenberg figure Danny used to always hide under gloves.

“Nah, haven’t been back here in years. I mostly live in my Infinite Realms haunt these days.”

“You . . . live? Is that just a figure of speech?”

“It’s rude to ask about a ghost’s nonliving status, you know. Highly taboo to ask how a ghost died or poke into the circumstances of our deaths without permission.” Danny admonished. Making himself younger than fourteen took more effort than he expected.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Timothy raised his hands placatingly to the boy who now looked younger than Damian. “What brings you back to Amity Park?”

“Uh, you summoned me? Are we still not clear on that?”

Tim looked pointedly at the Fenton Creeper and the engine Danny still held. He’d shrunk down to the size of a four year old, and the engine really should be crushing him given it was bigger than his torso now. He quickly set it aside, and turned his biggest puppy dog eyes on Tim.

“You were in here already, and you looked pretty alive for a moment there.”

“I can look lots of ways!” Danny focused really hard on looking as cute, small, and nonthreatening as possible. He thought it was working when all of a sudden there was a pop! and he was smaller than he’d ever managed before. 

Timothy Drake-Wayne looked like a giant. The other guy, who had thankfully managed to put away his soul somehow, wore scuffed oxfords bigger than Danny. Hell, he could probably fit his entire self into one of Constantine’s shoes if that wasn’t a bizarre thing to do, and they weren’t already full of stinky feet. Holy shit what happened to him!?

Tim blinked down at the cat? Snake? Ghost. . . thing at his feet. What the fuck. A moment ago he was talking to an adult man whom he’s pretty sure was dead and he’s very sure was trolling them. Now his interlocutor had turned into an adorable creature with soft white paws, a long twisting tail, big pointed ears that swiveled like a cats, and a humanoid face that should’ve been creepy but was actually eliciting cute-aggression in him. Tim blinked again. The little baby ghost creature blinked enormous green eyes back at him. Then it yawned, revealing three rows of needle sharp teeth that looked like a cross between what you’d find in the mouth of a shark and a cat. Yikes.

“Does that mean the interview is over?” Tim asked him.

The creature just blinked up at him again, then zeroed in on his shoelaces, pupils expanding until only a narrow band of green ringed them.

Yup. The interview was over. Those paws hid some wicked claws which could apparently slice through leather with ease. Oh, Tim really hoped ghost scratch fever wasn’t a thing. At least the ghost looked sufficiently contrite after he yelped, and it waited while he removed a shoelace to sacrifice as a toy.

If Damian ever met him, there would be a new member of the family. Maybe he should name the creature preemptively so they didn’t have a cat-snake named Bat-Ghost in Wayne manor. 

“Do you have a name, little baby cat-snake ghost? Little baby ghost man?” He cooed as the miniature monster dashed back and forth, intent on shredding his shoelace.

The ghost paused long enough to chirp, “Li’l baby man!” before launching himself at the string. Even shocked, Tim’s reflexes had him whisking the toy out of the way, and the ghost went careening under a cabinet.

He wedged himself in the gap, landing face first in a dust bunny, and quickly wriggled backwards with an indignant squall. His wordless protestations cut off as he fell into a violent sneezing fit that thankfully dislodged him from beneath the cabinet.

Tim suppressed his laugh, and asked, “Little Baby Man? Is that what you want to be called?”

The ghost pawed most of the dust away from his nose, but spider webs covered his face and a big dust bunny perched atop his head like a fascinator with a cobweb lace veil. He looked Tim right in the eyes and nodded, dislodging the dust in his hair and setting off more sneezes.

“Li’l Baby Man” he confirmed. He placed a paw on Tim’s shoe and chirped, “Tim!” Then he pointed his tail at Constantine and said, “Gross!” with narrowed eyes.

[thehubby]

Okay, so live action superhero movies haven't been my jam for a few years now. My dwindling embers were practically exinguished, One-For-All-style, with Infinity War and the DCEU has been basically a trash heap (Birds of Prey was pretty good, Suicide Squad was okay to put on while doing chores, but the mainstream stuff, ugh). But I have to say, with the Superman trailer that dropped today, there is hope. Obviously, this is early, we know nothing concrete, and trailers can lie. But this looks like the first great Superman movie in decades. There is a distinct patterning -- and yet modernizing -- of the immortal Superman from 1978, and I am here for it.

Superman 1978 font, John Williams' iconic musical theme: check. (Also, drops on my birthday, nice.)

"No fucks to give" reporter Lois Lane: check. I have no idea who Rachel Brosnahan is, but she absolutely appears to capture what I would expect Margot Kidder's Lois Lane to be in 2025.

"Slightly goofy, mild-mannered reporter" Clark Kent: check. The posture, the non-cool hair, the expression, the just-slightly-off suit. They actually manage to nail it in a way that even Henry Cavill (whom I greatly respect for being a fan and wanting an authentic Superman) couldn't. Look at this guy. There's no way he could be Superman. (Unlike many movies, his hair does seem to change when he becomes Superman.)

Close ties to the adoptive family that give him the humanity and ideals he strives for instead of the philosophy of Jor-El? Check. A 64-year-old Pruitt Taylor Vince is an interesting choice for Johnathan Kent. In the 1978 film, Glenn Ford was a strong, masculine figure (despite his age) who nevertheless raised Clark on the concepts of being helpful, gentle, not showing off his powers, not crushing everyone else. But here, Johnathan is visibly aged, overweight, balding, frail and all the more imperfect. He is weak and inferior to Clark in seemingly every way except presumably his humanity.

Okay, so their Lex Luthor is not going to be Gene Hackman. That's okay, Hackman was a great Luthor for the Superfriends era, but in today's age, hokey aloofness is not what we expect. Much like the Joker, Luthor also evolves with the times. This one is driven by wealth sure, but also he just hates Superman with a passion. Nicholas Hoult (Nux from Fury Road and Beast in the modern X-Men movies) might just be able to pull it off.

Note that while this Lex appears much more serious, according to Wikipedia they're bringing back Miss Tessmacher and Otis, two of Lex's associates from the 1978 and 1980 films.

I expect a significant story moment will be Luthor using his wealth and influence to turn the public against Superman, possibly through ploys like Lexor City where Superman was tricked into destroying an energy-producing device and damaging the city in the process.

Oh, and this Luthor-Superman rivalry? Ties into something else really exciting about this movie: All Star Superman, one of the all-time great Superman stories. There are clearly elements of that story contained within this, from what looks like the threat of a Sun-Eater to Superman's robots falling in battle. And while I'd rather they did a full-on All-Star story instead of just putting little bits and pieces in here, we should take what we can get.

All-in-all, this seems like a great modern retelling of a movie that I still enjoy to this day despite its obvious cheesiness and near-camp at times. I've actually a tiny bit excited.

BONUS POINTS: they're obviously willing to have fun with the franchise despite the obvious seriousness of a murderous Luthor and border conflicts in impoverished countries. Because they're including Kypyto the Superdog:

DOUBLE BONUS POINTS: Nathan Fillion as totally authentic, clown-ass-arrogant-jerk-surprising-decent-dude Guy Gardner:

[spandexinspace]

Hello if you have the time simply put who are brainiacs family members.. and like how are they related? I never knew he had relations of any kind but im picking up the house of brainiac event but twitter has pushed me down a rabbit hole and now im trying to piece together brainiacs family tree. I am in no way an expert in comics or well read in anything im searching things up but idk what different universes/ dimensions/ timelines mean and who/what is canon. thx 💜

So I made this family tree a few years, which is still largely accurate but I still kinda want to remake at some point. Still, a decent visualiser for now.

I think it's important to note that we don't really know what is and isn't canon right now. We will probably have a better idea of it come June-July, but at the moment everything is a little all over the place and it may also remain that way. Comics.

The ones we know are relevant to Williamson's story are Brainiac and, as per the most recent issue, the pre-Zero Hour version of Brainiac 5. I'm also reasonably certain we'll see Vril II and Brainiac 3.

But, the full-ish list:

Kaja Dox and her unnamed mother - Appeared in Humphries' Green Lanterns in a story set "10 billion years ago". We don't actually know if they're supposed to be related to the others, but we can probably assume as much.

Brainiac/Vril Dox (I) - Big man himself. You know him. Man of many faces and origins. Brainiac 12 and 13 are upgraded versions of him.

Vril Dox II - Brainiac's son. Initially adopted, later either a biological son or clone artificially aged into adulthood. In both versions granted as a boon to Brainiac by Colu's machine overlords.

Techne - Brainiac's clone daughter as introduced during Convergence. Maybe canon. Maybe not the child of the main universe's Brainiac.

Unnamed siblings - Techne had several mutated siblings who Brainiac appeared to have used for experiments. The same has been implied to be true for Vril. They're dead.

Project Alien Farm - A clone made out of Brainiac and Lex Luthor's DNA, probably meant to be a parallell to Superboy/Kon El. Had the misfortune of being born a few months before Flashpoint and hasn't been seen since.

Indigo/Brainiac 8 - An artificial being supposedly created by Brainiac 6 to go back in time to aid Brainiac in his mission. We've never seen Brainiac 6 in canon and she kind of just existed in her own corner with the Outsiders and Titans.

Pran Dox - Formerly the son of Vril Dox II. Only ever appeared in narration, we can assume he doesn't exist now.

Lyrl Dox/Brainiac 3 - The more canon son of Vril Dox II.

This is where things get a little spicy timeline-wise. There are essentially five different versions of the future of the DC universe. Each one is its own universe, but has been the canon future of the main universe before. Like this:

The first timeline is the pre-Zero Hour version, the second the post-Zero Hour/Earth-247, the third Earth-Prime, the fourth is an divergent version of the pre-Zero Hour, and the fourth is post-Rebirth. These characters exist within these timelines:

Kajz Dox (both versions of the pre-Zero Hour timeline) - The son of either Lyrl or Pran. Both have been canon.

Brainiac 4 (post-Zero Hour/Earth-247) - An unnamed female child of Lyrl.

Unnamed female Coluan (Earth-Prime) - A character who appeared for two pages in one comic. Probably Lyrl's daughter.

Post-Rebirth lacks a version of Brainiac 4. Among other things.

Querl Dox/Brainiac 5 - Exists in every timeline/universe. The great-great-grandson of Brainiac, by various means.

There are a couple of other characters who can sort of be considered members of the family, but they're not super relevant at this stage.

I don't know how understandable all that is, feel free to shoot me another ask if you want me to clarify anything.

[clay-cuttlefish]

Finally we've arrived at 52, the series that turned me from a casual reader of a few comics into a full-on DC fan and Question enthusiast. This is the reason I set out on this project in the first place. I love it so much.

#1

This is my fifth time reading this in full, I think, and I still get hyped at this opening issue. Look at my guys.

It's a miracle this came together as well as it did. The omnibus is great for giving some insight into that construction process.

#2

There's just so much in 52 and I can't believe they pulled it off. Part of that is that it's thematically coherent, despite how different the plots are. Grief, reinvention, self-destruction as a means to cope with loss... it all feeds into itself.

In a slightly different timeline I came out of 52 fixated on Booster Gold and stumbled back into the Question later through Blue Beetle, instead of the other way around.

It took 416 issues but they're interacting! They're together! It's paying off!

Renee's heartbreaking spiral into self-destruction is interrupted by this massive dork. I love them.

#3

I really need to read Steel. Captivated by these two.

Skeets nudging the gyro cart owner out of the way is a very good panel. Catlike behavior.

#4

Booster and Bea's conversation is so. Hhh.

In the omnibus, Mark Waid calls Vic and Renee's scene "one of the high points of the entire series", and I'm with him.

#5

Renee and Maggie...

The metahuman hospital's a really cool piece of worldbuilding.

The only plotline I don't care much about is the spaceguys. I still like them, but the bar's really high here and I want to see other characters more.

Wish this was less creepy about Starfire.

#6

Kind of obsessed with Bob the theatre teacher and villain-for-hire, conceptually.

It takes a while for the Black Adam plot to pick up steam so this part isn't quite hitting yet.

Booster having a normal one.

#7

Renee hasn't talked to her mom in three years by this point. Oof.

The exes of all time!

Booster... Ralph blaming him for Ted's death is brutal.

#8

Oh cmon girl you're smarter than this. It's Lex Luthor, when has he ever had anyone's best interests at heart.

At least Ollie's still doing his thing.

Clark hating Booster is so good.

#9

"Smart-ass." "Consistency is everything." He is so annoying!

The John and Natasha fight is great.

#10

Clark taking a page from Lois' book is so good. Ridiculous.

I like Will and Professor Morrow a lot, nice that they're back in focus.

Supernova time :)

#11

His anti-smoking rant...

"I don't owe you anything." Oof ouch my soul.

Big talk here from a guy who spent a decade hung up on Myra.

The one superheroine ass shot I respect is in the "that's a Batwoman" panel because Renee deserves to appreciate Kate's ass.

#12

Besties moment.

Black Adam's plotline is gaining speed.

Oh Ralph.

#13

Oh NO, Ralph.

#14

They both look so good here. Love his stubble.

Desperately want to hear Tot's side of their conversation, and also their previous phone calls, because I'm sure he'd have Opinions about Vic deciding to become a mentor.

Shaking him. You are so annoying!

"There's no such thing as crazy, just behaviour that society has deemed unacceptable." SO true bestie.

#15

BOOSTER...

#16

Oh god, Renee.

Billy officiating Black Adam's wedding is very sweet.

#17

Luthor's superteam is one of the series highlights.

Still very funny that there's just a guy named Hannibal on it. Zero subtlety here.

Oh Lobo. I do not care about you.

#18

He's so silly.

Renee is having truly awful time falling back into old coping measures and he's out here getting scooped and being made fun of for cockblocking.

Booster's shitty funeral still fucks me up. Choosing to believe Skeets intentionally didn't invite people for evil reasons because the idea nobody showed up is too much.

Once again, oh no Ralph.

#18/2

A backup with Vic's origins. It's about right, though I prefer him starting as the Question before moving back to Hub City.

It lists his "essential storylines" as Mysterious Suspense, The Question 1987, and Cry for Blood, which I mostly agree with. Mysterious Suspense is less important but reading a pre-DC story is useful background for the 87 run and it's his only solo option.

[idabbleincrazy]

Since I finally worked thru the block I was having on Ageless:

The elder Kent sighed a heavy breath and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin before turning in his seat to face Lex more fully. A glimmer of what Lex could only read as shame rippled over Jonathan's sun-weathered features, and Lex felt confusion and a hint of worry tremble through from Clark.

"Look, Lu-Lex. It may have dawned on me that I've been neglecting to keep my end of an agreement." Lex set his fork down to give Jonathan his full attention, an eyebrow quirking in bemusement. "It may have only been a verbal request, but we shook on it nonetheless, and that's as good as any contract typed up on paper out here. When you came back from that disaster of a honeymoon, you had barely even recovered from the whole ordeal, and yet, one of the first things you did was gift us back our land. I know I agreed with only a minor hesitation when you claimed all you wanted in return was for us to treat you like family; I just, well, I just kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

You may have done some questionable stunts over the past two years, but even with this debt between us, you never once tried to wheedle us into anything. I was wrong, Lex, to keep thinking you were just a carbon copy of Lionel. This dinner is long overdue, and I can't help but think that if I'd kept my end of the bargain, maybe some of the recent troubles between you and Clark, some of the less-than-ideal choices you made, could've been avoided. I may be set in my ways in a lot of things, but I know when to admit to my mistakes, and…I'm sorry, son, for holding the Luthor name against you before even giving you the chance to show us who you are. I'd forgotten how very young twenty-one truly is, and immediately treated you only as the full-grown adult you tried to show to the world. And, in the spirit of making amends and keeping the promise I made when I shook your hand, there's a standing invitation for you to join us for dinner whenever you'd like."

"And, consider yourself unavailable for any non-LuthorCorp related holiday parties your father may ask you to attend in his stead", Martha tacked on as Lex absorbed Jonathan's speech. She flashed him a pointed look when he turned her way. "Welcome to the family, Lex."

Lex sat there, stunned, as he let the wave of emotions sweep through him, fighting back the slight sting of unexpected tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Son. Jonathan had called him son. All the moments of familial love he'd witnessed between these three and felt a pang of envy and longing. All the time he'd spent wondering how much more enjoyable his life would be if he'd had a family like the Kents instead of Lionel's twisted ideas of love and care. He felt a rush of happiness and warmth flow through him as Clark's face broke into a beaming smile, the teenager's feelings so powerful they bolstered his own. He'd spent four years striving and longing for acceptance and approval from the family circled around him, and now, he apparently had it. He couldn not let this fall apart.

@leatafandom

[cyclone-rachel]

Querl doesn’t turn his image inducer back on, as he and Kara return to the DEO with the bottled world.

And why would he? He feels no need, right now, to hide his true face. This is a moment of triumph for him- he feels, as he was just moments ago, like he is floating. He has finally overcome both of his parents’ influence on him- his mother’s rage, his father’s fear- and there’s nothing he wants more now than to show the proof of that to the world.

In fact, the only person he wouldn’t want to show his real face to is Lex Luthor, and even then, he likely will not be at the DEO at this hour.

But Alex Danvers is, and of course, he trusts her far more with putting the bottle somewhere for safe keeping, until he can find a place to release it.

(And he wishes to do that, of course. He isn’t sure how much time he has left in this century- far be it from him to predict when Winn will return, and tell him that the plague has been cured and it is safe for him to go home- but he knows that either in this century or the one he comes from, the other Brainy will have his home restored.)

However, when he and Kara do land inside of the DEO building, and Alex is there to greet them, she doesn’t seem as happy as he is.

Rather, she has a gun pointed at him once more, and it’s only then that he realizes she knows nothing about this situation. It was Kara whom he told about the inhibitors, and even when Alex saw that one of them was cracked, she had no idea what would happen when he removed them completely.

“Stop right there.” She says, as this time Kara is the one to step forward, defending him physically. “Who are you? Another Brainy, from another Earth? And where’s Dreamer?”

“Dreamer is fine.” Kara says. “We dropped her off at her apartment before coming here. And… Brainy, you may want to tell her about the inhibitor situation?”

He’s about to, but Alex takes another look at him, and pieces it together for herself.

“Back when we were investigating Leviathan, and you got hit in the head.” She says. “You said you were fine, but after that, the… what was it- peripheral vision of your mind expanded?”

“Yes.” He confirms. “And now I know that such an effect is permanent. I will have to tell you the full story later, but…”

“You definitely will.” She says. “But you’re happy?”

“More than you know.” He answers, smiling at her, and she smiles back.

“Then… can I hug you?”

“Yes.” He says again, and she does, as beside him Kara takes his hand.

Once they separate, Querl holds out the bottle.

“This contains the other Brainy, who had been trying to kill us.” He says. “And his world, which he bottled right before the Crisis. I… want to keep it safe. Can you find a place in the DEO for it?”

“Of course.” Alex answers, taking it.

[thefaeriefeatherdark]

Okay… as someone who sees the arguments in the narrative for Trans Kon. The answer is no.

Ultimately Kon isn’t in the worst position and already has a pretty big existing fan base. Not like… Batman or Nightwing or super major character big, sure. But… not small.

Kon won a fan vote to get a miniseries not even 2 years ago, beating a Suicide Squad book with Vampire Batman on it. Their last mini just ended? They recently showed up in a new comic (presumably to help launch it), and they’re getting stuff in the current Unchained arc.

The Trans Kon story could be an interesting story, but the pitch itself was meh and immediately struck a lot of problems.

The major problem is it’d destroy any marketability Kon already has, it’d basically mean that no one would ever do an adaptation of earlier Kon ever again because doing so would be stepping into the middle of a controversy over using the pre-transition version of the character. They couldn’t release any Superboy action figures or toys, they couldn’t use the Superboy name, etc.

The big problem is the name! Characters can change their names! They can use slightly different names, etc. Taking every recognizable name used to describe a character and giving them a whole set of new ones all at once? Not a great idea!

Furthermore we can do a breakdown with the actual pitches problems:

First: It talks about how messy Kon’s original continuity is and wanting to fix it, but then… never goes into what it means about Kon’s continuity being messy…

To all extents and purposes Kon is actually a character with pretty clean continuity. Our one big problem in terms of working stuff in is the N52 stuff, but unless there’s a plan to use that (and since that incarnation sorta dies at the end anyway…) there isn’t a reason to bring it in.

Worse is the fact that the comic doesn’t actually do anything that could be described as cleaning continuity. It introduces a new “The person actually responsible for making Kon” character (and with Westfield, Lex, Donovan, and Harvest we don’t really need another).

Second: The pitch never tells us what it’s pitching.

The story spends a lot of time building up to the transition but never gets past introducing Connie. And what her ongoing Status Quo will be is a pretty important thing for a story to establish!

Like at the end of the book is she supposed to be back in Hawaii full time (this is sort of what they set up)? Because that’s a bad choice!

If you want to understand why: The main hero of Hawaii being white is pretty fucking bad. A fact that even the original Superboy comics touch on (which is part of why Kon leaves!)

Third: This issue is mostly based in execution but the Evil Future Superfam dynasty would’ve sucked.

I can’t say that with 100% certainty! I’ll admit that. But the phrasing of the pitch seems to be a very Byrne/Krypton sucked approach. The two things discussed here are how the Super Dynasty were missing the humanity of Earth and how Superboy gets to lead since they’re closer to the original Superman genetically…

All of which feels iffy! It doesn’t help that their major addition is that Kon has a brother who is more Lex Luthor and therefore smarter.

The general… eugenics-I-ness of stuff just seems a bit off to me personally.

I Also think people are assuming diversity means people will use characters! It doesn’t.

Kenan Kong (Superman of China) pretty much vanished the moment his series ended (until recent Action Comics).

Jess Chambers has been in a handful of specials and then a singular team comic that ran six issues.

I’m all for a trans exploration of Kon-El as a character (Though I’d probably go with Kon being non-binary)! BUT I do not think it’d actually help Kon very much in terms of them having a book or in terms of their sales.

I think it’s important to remember Kon’s not the only Superfam member without a book (and frankly Kon’s mini only ended a little while ago)! Right now Supergirl (a character who had their own tv show within the last decade and is supposed to be getting a movie) doesn’t have a comic book. Heck even Jon who does often get favorable treatment over others doesn’t have a book!

Kon not having a book right now is more likely a result of them holding it back for a bigger release alongside other books, or the Mini not having sold well, or lack of an interested writer, or that there is a book in the works but only in basic development phase, etc.

CONNER KENT/KON-EL from DC Comics

JUSTIFICATION:

"If it makes DC editorial actually use her instead of shoving her behind Jon all the time..." - Anonymous

Reminder: Submissions are always open!

[trashpandato]

Shield You

“God, I forgot how terrifying she can be.”

Alex’s voice is loud in Kara’s ears. She stands shoulder to shoulder with her sister but doesn’t reply. She can’t, because she is entirely focused on the scene playing out in front of them.

“I mean, I watch her with Esme and they’re so quiet and gentle with each other. And then with you. I mean, you know how she is with you. And then she turns around and pulls this?”

This, the scene they are both watching, is Lena tearing into a stranger, a young man who made the mistake of approaching Kara in public. Not that there is anything wrong with that, per se. Since revealing her identity to the world, Kara has gotten used to people coming up to her to thank her for the work she does, or to ask her questions about being a superhero. There are also the many little girls who stare at her in awe, and Kara can’t lie, she enjoys it.

However, the attention Kara gets isn’t always entirely positive, and today is an example of that other side of being known publicly. Kara didn’t even hear all of what the man said to her, but what she did hear was lewd and gross. Lena didn’t hesitate; she pounced.

“Should I, do I need to intervene? She looks like she’s about to rip him apart and scatter the remains.” Alex sounds impressed and concerned in equal measure.

Kara swallows. She knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of this Lena, and it makes her shiver. The icy tone, the way her face betrays little more than the sheer determination to destroy, it’s both familiar and alarming.

In the end, intervention isn’t necessary. Kara watches as the man retreats, head down, without another glance in their direction. Lena turns and takes a few hasty steps toward Kara.

“Are you okay?”

Kara blinks. The sudden shift in Lena’s tone and demeanor is enough to give her whiplash, but she can’t help but feel warm at the deep concern in Lena’s voice.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m pretty sure you made him soil his pants there, Lena. Especially when you told him you’d be calling his mother about today.” Alex chuckles, clearly amused.

Lena just shrugs. “Not my first rodeo.”

“You know, you didn’t have to do that.”

“What, and let him walk away thinking this is acceptable behaviour?” Lena frowns and shifts back and forth on her feet.

“No, I just,” Kara pauses and takes a breath, “I could have dealt with it myself.”

Lena’s body goes perfectly still and she studies Kara’s face for a long moment, brows pulled together. “I know that,” she says, and it sounds pained. “But if you’re asking me to, to sit back and watch you get attacked, I can’t do that.”

And just like that, today’s interaction is no longer just about the vulgar commentary from a stranger. Kara can see how Lena’s expression shifts, tenacity on full display despite the underlying worry. She’s seen this version of Lena before, too. The one who wouldn’t let her face Lex without programming a life-saving protocol into the Fortress’ systems. The one who agreed to use her still volatile magic to protect Kara’s humanity. The one who is Kara’s shelter from any storm they get thrown into, even when she is the storm.

Kara knows she wouldn’t be here without Lena, that she wouldn’t want to be here without her.

Alex clears her throat and the noise pulls Kara out of her thoughts and back into reality.

“Alright, I’m going to,” Alex points behind her shoulder, “I’m heading back to the office. You coming, Kara?”

Kara never takes her eyes off Lena. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Alex shakes her head a little but smiles at them and walks away. When she is sure that her sister is well out of sight, Kara reaches out and brushes against Lena’s hand with her fingers.

“I guess I’m still getting used to this. Getting recognized. And everything that comes with it.”

Lena hums.

“I have no idea how you handled being a Luthor in public all these years. The vitriol. The hostility.”

“The bombings,” Lena adds with a quiet laugh.

“Those, too.” Kara shudders.

Lena’s eyes bore into hers. “I know you’re perfectly capable of defending yourself. I just, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. Please don’t ask me to do that.”

“I won’t. But promise me something?”

“What?”

“Keep yourself protected, too?” Kara watches as Lena nods carefully. “And if you need help hiding a body, call Alex, not me. I don’t need to know.”

The tension snaps and Lena breaks into a proper laugh, loud and warm, the kind she only ever seems to share with Kara. Suddenly, Kara forgets all about any unpleasant public attention, or that Alex asked her to come to the DEO.

Lena reminds her when they’re half-way back to her office and Kara speeds off, but not before pressing a quick kiss to Lena’s cheek.

Later that afternoon, Kara places a somewhat excessive order at the local florist for delivery, with strict instructions to leave no surface of Lena’s office untouched.

She grins when she sees the text from Lena the next morning: a single red heart.

[from-a-reckless-writer]

RE: the tags about being tempted to post a half finished fic and guess the ending, well you are a reckless writer for a reason

this is long overdue, so here have a fic.

It has come to the point that nothing fazes her anymore.

A kidnapping? Been there, done that. It means calling Sam Arias to intimidate the board of members into temporary submission.

An explosion at the office? Just a typical Tuesday. It means relocating to the 23rd floor and sharing the desk with two other interns for 2 months tops.

An assassination attempt? It means bracing herself for at least 3 deliveries of donuts and coffee for the two following weeks that Kara Danvers would be protectively hovering over L-Corp, until her boss snaps and shoos her away back to CatCo.

She’s seen it all, endured it all and she sure as hell is prepared for it all. She’s got three different ironclad statements ready to publish for whatever PR disaster will most likely turn up that week. She’s got contacts from the FBI, DEO, CatCo, Daily Planet, Gotham Gazette-- hell she even has Lillian’s personal cell (just in case the Luthor matriarch ever tries anything y’know? ) and yes, even the number of that 'Mexican place at 5th and Spring, you know the one Kara likes, Jess?'

She’s got two pairs of heels, a raincoat and four sets of outfits neatly folded in a duffel bag, at the back of the office, reserved for any emergency that requires a change of clothes.

The point is, she is an independent Asian-American woman who has worked her ass off for the better part of the decade and has long learned to take no shit from anybody.

Not even stupid superpowered Kryptonians.

See, it takes a lot to be her. It takes unlimited patience to put up with a woman like Lena Luthor, not because she’s a terrible person. Oh no, no, the complete opposite, actually. She is so overwhelmingly kind to a fault, and she doesn’t want nor let anybody see it. It’s infuriating to see sometimes. Okay, fine, she sides with the Krytonian on that one matter. But oh, ho, ho, not today. Today, she’s mad.

She’s livid, actually and it’s all Supergirl’s fault. (and Lena Luthor's too.)

Jess has had her fair share of ‘I-Should-Not-Have-Been-Here’ moments, like that one time she forgot to knock and stumbled unto Lex mid-yell with Lena whose eyes were shimmering but was still keeping a rigid posture.

Or that one time when she thought her boss had long left the office, only to be greeted with quiet sobs and an empty bottle of scotch rolling on the floor. Or that time she happened upon Lena, skirt and sleeves on fire with fumes rising from a green solution.

Apparently, her staff from the lab refused to let her in after three days of their CEO holding herself in isolation with the experiment. Lena had gotten the great idea of smuggling the chemicals to her office instead. Luthors are nothing but determined. Jess still remembers the adrenaline rush of holding a fire extinguisher—as if she were the chosen 5th grader for a school fire drill—and shoving her boss out of the way.

Like she said, nothing fazes her anymore she’s seen it all, except maybe, this one. Yep, definitely this one. This one just made a hot ball of fury unfurl at her very core. This one might just take the cake.

Jess was just going about her day, returned from a hearty lunch and feeling reinvigorated from that dose of sunlight and fresh air. It was a quiet day today, she noticed, which should’ve been a foretelling.

Nothing really is ever quiet. Well, when it comes to L-Corp, at least.

She’s been sitting on her desk for about a good fifteen minutes and finished with screening a few papers from their new contractors, when it occurs to her that the latest blueprints from R&D are still on her desk instead of already being reviewed by her boss.

She grabs the drawing tube and quickly makes for her boss’s private office. They’ve spent enough time with each other that Jess could just come and go as she pleases, instead of having to knock each time. Saves both of their time, that way.

Although, usually, she buzzes through the intercom first to double check, but it was 1:20 P.M and she knows Lena doesn’t have anything scheduled after lunch. So, she pushes the door, confidently strolls in and promptly stops in her tracks.

Jess stops breathing for a moment, blinks once, twice, stares at the scene before her.

Lena Luthor sat atop her work desk; blouse open, eyes closed, cheeks flushed, neck currently being ravaged by Supergirl with legs wrapped around the waist.

She probably should’ve just turned and left while they haven’t seen her yet. That would’ve been the smart decision, right? Yes. Yes, it was so very clearly The Right Decision.

Of course, she doubts she could look Lena in the eye for the next few weeks after that, but at least she wouldn’t know that Jess walked in on them during an er- make-out session? Office tryst? Oh God, she shudders internally. It sounds even worse.

Incident? Yep. Yeah. She’s sticking with incident. Indecent incident sounds more apt really.

She should’ve left. Would have left, if her eyes didn’t just land on the desk—well, more like Miss Luthor’s as- backside—and felt the stirrings of rage make itself known. Because there, underneath Lena’s ass (Backside!! Jess, that’s your boss!) is the squished—probably crumpled—pages of a contract.

A contract they’ve spent 5 months securing!!

Jess decides to do what everyone else would have done in a situation such as this; she clears her throat. Loudly.

Classic move.

Supergirl’s head immediately shoots up and Lena’s eyes snap open.

“Jess!” Supergirl squeaks and she sees the exact moment the realization hits Lena. Her eyes widening at her girlfriend’s exclamation, whips her head to the side, spots Jess, hands scrambling to a panic to close all the buttons of her blouse.

She hears Lena hiss, “Fuck, shit. Oh my God. Shit. How did she even- You have superhearing!!!” as she pushes Supergirl—who lets herself be pushed, stunned by the intrusion, face redder than a tomato.

Lena gets off the desk, fixes herself all the while to futile results. Her hair is tugged down from her usual ponytail, her neck and chest is marked, her lips swollen.

Supergirl's hands twitch at the sides and Jess sees her gulp as blue eyes frantically dart to Lena and her, and then Lena, and then back to her.

Lena finally turns around after those few awkward beats.

"Jess," she begins, clearly trying hard to put on her business bitch persona, but come on, there's a hickey under her jaw for fuck's sake.

"It's not what you-"

Jess doesn’t let her finish, she stomps her way across the office and forcefully puts the drawing tube on the desk. It makes a hollow thump.

“Jess I-”

“Supergirl, do you know how long it takes to finalize a business proposal, pitch it to the board, persuade the board and finally have a contract drawn?”

Supergirl gulps again. Lena’s eyes are wild next to her, she doesn’t like not knowing what the next best move is, Jess knows this all too well.

“Uhhh- no?”

Jesus Christ, you’d think after years of shadowing Cat Grant, she'd had at least learned a thing or two. Then again, if somebody is full on glaring at her after getting caught red-handed, Jess doubts she could answer coherently too.

“That’s right,” Jess says, “You don’t.”

“Jess,” Lena repeats pointedly. She knows that tone. It’s a warning.

“Ms. Luthor.”

A period not a question mark. It’s a challenge.

"I've spent all my evenings working late on that, do you know how many dates I've had to cancel? Just so I can secure a meeting with Qatar and simultaneously sync it with Beijing's time? My boyfriend hasn't seen me in two weeks!” Jess bursts out.

“Two weeks, Supergirl!” She gets close enough to jab a finger to the Girl of Steel’s chest. A feat she will gladly tell all her coworkers later when she’s calmed down enough.

“Not to mention, the 10 other people who worked their ass off trying to make sure that Miss Luthor's presentation is airtight, bulletproof and waterproof!” Lena has the decency to look a little guilty at this point, nothing big though, just a slight tug at her lips, but it was enough for Jess.

“IT TOOK ME 3 FUCKING MINUTES TO PRINT THAT GODDAMN CONTRACT WHICH MIGHT NOT SOUND LONG—” Jess raises a finger in emphasis, “BUT BELIEVE ME WORKING IN L-CORP? A 3 MINUTE DIFFERENCE CAN MEAN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OR PSYCHOPATH PRESS!”

Supegirl of all people should already know this! For fuck’s sake!

Jess’s chest is heaving. She takes a deep breath, kneads her knuckles to her eyelids, “So, please if you're gonna have sex in the office, please, pleaseeeee clear the desk first. And at least, lock the door.”

She stares them both down, till Lena gives her a solemn nod; cheeks and ears still red. Supergirl squeaks out an, “U-understood, Ma’am.”

“Good. Glad we’ve come to an agreement.” Jess gives them one final nod before finally fulfilling what she came in here to do, “Miss Luthor,” She turns to Lena, “here are the R&D blueprints. Good day, to you Supergirl. I'll be going now. "

When she finally goes home, tells her boyfriend, and wonders aloud if she’ll still have a job the next morning, he tells her she’s such a badass.

And well, Jess can’t disagree with that.

*****

"Did I just- Did I just get yelled at by your secretary?? D-did she just chew us out?"

"She did, and she deserves a raise."

[am-i-obsessed---maybe]

Red, Blue and Aqua (GN!Reader x Young Justice)

I've actually found a good story idea so this is gonna be a series. (I plan on slightly rewriting the last chapter to match) and hopefully more chapters to come.

Part 1 (Two Birds, One Team)

Masterlist

Word count: 3k

warnings: none

Summery: after almost a month with the team Roy finally reaches out to Y/N, and for help? What a surprise. So Kaldur, Roy and Y/N journey to Taipei to protect and unlikely ally and find a terrifying secret about the team.

Mount Justice

September 7th

“Finally ready to talk to me Red?” You ask Roy over your comms, Roy finally stopped ignoring you since you sided with his former mentor. He’s finally begun responding to your messages but this is the first time he’s reached out.

“I need access to the Justice League’s database and the exact height of the League of Shadow’s assassin known as Cheshire” He said over the comm and you rolled your eyes as you pulled up the information. “So, you’re willing to talk as long as it's a favor?” You teased and you could hear Roy’s scoff from over the line. “Just do it.” He asked but his voice lightened a little and you smiled.

“She’s 5”6” You stated matter of factly, “Do you need backup?” You asked knowing full well he would say no.

“Please, the last thing I need is the junior Justice League” He said and you kept the light mood.

“Does this have anything to do with your sudden trip to Taipei?” You asked and he coughed to hide a chuckle.

“Good to know I’m not the only one keeping tabs” He retorted.

“Roy-” You began but he cut you off.

“Gotta go, I’ll talk to you later” He said and you sighed.

“Please do.” You said and cut the line. At least he was okay and managing on his own… For now.

And in fact a few hours later:

"Bluebird, I have recieved a request for backup from Red Arrow" Kaldur said over the phone, you had gone home to Star City but you smiled when he called.

"I'll be there in a few" You told him. It didn’t take long for you to Zeta to the cave and suit up. Quickly enough Kaldur and you were roundevueing with Roy in Taipei.

Taipei

September 7th

Roy met you by the Taipei Zetatube in his new Red Arrow uniform and you smiled.

“How can we help?” You asked and Roy explained the situation and the plan.

The League of Shadows has sent assassins to kill Lex Luthor in order to once again destabilize the reunification process between North and South Rhelasia so unfortunately for the moment you needed to protect Lex Luthor.

Soon you, Roy and Kaldur were in the hall where the leaders of both nations along with many security guards, Lex Luthor and dozens of journalists were discussing reunification of the two countries who had once been one. You were undercover as a journalist, allowing you to hide behind a pair of shades and cover most of your uniform in an oversized jacket while Aqualad was one of few simple observers in the room. Roy, who already showed himself the first time Cheshire attacked, was standing defensively behind Luthor.

As Lex was attempting to help both Rhelasian leaders find a common denominator between their people the plan fell into action. Aqualad recognized Cheshire (who was the unknown assassin you had fought on your first mission with the team) and had already taken out his water bearers.

“That is far enough, Cheshire” He stated and you quietly began backing away from the group to place your mask without anyone seeing. Roy knocked an arrow and was ready to fire just as Cheshire pushed the cart she had with her towards the crowd and Aqualad created a huge water shield to protect everyone from the explosion of the bomb the cart held. The tall glass windows of the hall shattered and as Aqualad’s shield melted away you and Roy flipped (and flew) into position beside Kaldur who was now in uniform after removing the now torn jacket that covered it. All of you readied your weapons, Roy knocked another arrow, Kaldur with his water bearers and you extended your batons.

“It’s over Cheshire” Red Arrow said and the assassin in question smiled muttering, “You would think so” under her breath as a helicopter carrying Sportsmaster and countless other goons arrived outside the now broken windows.

Security guards charged the goons at what you assumed was the order of the south Rhelasian leader. “Take Sportsmaster, Cheshire’s mine” Roy commanded and you simply rolled your eyes and smiled. “If you insist” You said and took off in the air towards Sportsmaster, grabbing Aqualad on the way. The Atlantean attacked before even reaching the ground, hitting Sportsmaster with long range attacks with his water bearers. The two of you took turns leading the attack against the assassin, Kaldur keeping a small distance between him and the villain while you dove right in with the martial arts skills you were somewhat known for as Black Canary’s sidekick.

Even as Sportsmaster knocked Aqualad down and disarmed you, you continued to keep up with his attacks if only to distract him while Red Arrow fought Cheshire. At some point in the fight you and Aqualad got separated as you stepped in to help keep the goons away from civilians.

“Damn security guards need to get better at their jobs” You huffed as you took down goon after goon, making sure to only engage one or two at a time.

When Roy activated the sprinkler system you knew what was coming and simply flew up to meet him.

“Aqualad, let’s end this.” He stated and Kaldur became more visibly focused on commanding the new water supply. He created a giant snake-like shape that knocked over goons and pushed the Shadow’s attack to the edge of the hall.

Cheshire threw a smoke bomb and you kept above the blast radius enough to see the assassin that jumped through with a katana, trying to reach Luthor and the Rhelasian leaders.

“Oh no you don’t!” You raced to tackle him out of the air only for Luthor’s assistant to disassemble her arm into a cannon that knocked the assassin down. You glared down at Luthor but eventually flew back to meet Roy and Kaldur.

The Rhelasian leaders thanked Luthor but you were no longer paying attention to them. “Thank you Mr. Luthor. We owe you our lives” One of them said and Roy was pissed.

“They owe him their lives?” Roy asked, the anger was evident in his voice.

“As if this isn’t what always happens” You roll your eyes, slightly upset as well.

The three of you watched as both leaders signed the treaty and left soon after.

“I can’t believe we did a solid for Lex Luthor” Roy grumbled and you nodded, “Neither can I”

“Not for Luthor, but for peace.” Kaldur reminded you both and you sighed trying to think how he can be this calm about the situation.

“If Ra’s and the League of Shadows wanted to sabotage the summit, the signing of the treaty renders their contract moot.” He continued as the three of you walked out of the building.

“Well then at least it’s over” You said, standing between the two boys.

“Is it?” Roy asked, “I heard what Sportsmaster said, do you really think there’s a mole on your team feeding him intel?” He questioned and you looked at Kaldur for confirmation. He didn’t look at you, instead facing away and ahead. “I cannot rule out the possibility. I will investigate… Quietly” He said and you sighed.

“Without telling them. I can understand why but when they do inevitably find out, they aren’t going to be happy” You pointed out and Kaldur simply nodded.

“I do not want the unit unraveling over baseless suspicions. And if there is a mole I have no wish to tip them off” both you and Roy nodded.

“Good luck with that” Roy tried to say while walking away but Kaldur stopped him even before you could.

“You could have called Green Arrow or the League but instead your first instinct was to call the Cave” Kaldur pointed out, he seemed more curious and surprised at Roy’s choice. It was more than Roy had done before or expressed the thought to do.

“You’re right. The team deserves- has my respect.” You smiled proudly at his words. He was indeed growing and you were happy to see it. This was the Roy you knew. The one who ever so slowly learns when he is forced to. The one who respects his peers even if it is hard to see at first and the one that above all, cares and trusts his friends.

“I’m still getting used to this whole solo act stuff, but if you need me- either of you” He said, looking at you and you scoffed but didn’t interrupt. “-Need me, I’ll be there” He shook Kaldur’s hand and came up to give you a hug, one which you happily returned.

“Call me once in a while you ass! I wanna know what you’re up to without hacking and spying” You joke but when you break from the hug he nods. “I will Blue. You stay safe, I’m not there to pick up the slack anymore”

“As if you were the one picking up slack in this duo” You joked before you too parted ways and you Zeta’d back to the cave with Aqualad.

Mount Justice

September 7th

“I am glad you were able to make up with Roy, I know you two have been on rough ground since the mission with Dr. Roquette” Kaldur said once you were both back in the cave and you nodded.

“Ya, I’ve really missed him. Patrol back home just isn’t the same without his stupid retorts to GA’s lighthearted conversation” You said, walking into the common area with him.

“Is Artemis dramatically different while on patrol?” He asked and you had to think about it as you went to the fridge to grab a snack.

“No, not that much but she hasn’t been around long enough to talk back to GA as much and I think she actually enjoys the laid back approach.” You confessed and Kaldur nodded. “I am glad to see you two getting along. When Green Arrow said she was his new protege I thought perhaps you held a grudge. I am glad to see that is not the case” He said and you smiled.

“I’m glad too, I should get back though. But Kaldur'ahm, whatever you decide to do with the intel we received today is up to you. I want no part in it.” You said, basking in both the seriousness and the drama of the moments before waving and walking back to the Zeta tubes. As you left you heard the robotic voice of the computer say the phrase that always filled your chest with pride. “Recognized, Bluebird B 16”

The next few weeks were busy for you, the occasional mission with the team but mostly training and school. That was one thing Dinah was insistent on. “I don’t care how much you know you want vigilantism to be your job you will go to school.” Dinah repeated endlessly in the apartment. She had signed you up to the local public school and it was mostly easy for you. You didn’t have to work very hard to get good grades and as long as your grades stayed up you were allowed on patrol and eventually the team. Unfortunately high school was a bit more difficult and unfortunately sophomore year was proving more of a challenge than you thought.

Luckily you didn’t have to stay away from the action for long.

Mount Justice

September 22nd

You Zeta’d in and quickly found your teammates “helping” Superboy with his bike. “Hey Guys!”

A small chorus of “Hey Blue!” “Hello Bluebird” and “What’s up blue?” followed. You may not have been on all of their recent missions but you had grown quite close to the team. In a way they took Roy’s place as your masked hero friends. It used to be that he was the only friend near your age who did what you do and understood the complexities of it, but now you were on a team of superheroes and it was a welcomed change. “How are you handling school?” Kaldur asked and you remembered hearing him ask everyone else the same thing when you were looking for them. You sighed, “It’s okay, kind of annoying and not as easy as it used to be but it is what it's not really an issue. Plus it’s not like Canary’s gonna let me drop out” You joked and M’gann looked confused. “You don’t like school?” She asked and you shrugged.

“I mean, I don’t hate it. It’s kinda boring mostly and it keeps stopping me from coming here” You explained and Connor with his lack of tact asked.

“Why won’t Canary let you drop out if it’s so easy?” He asked and you tried to hide your laughter. “We have a rule that as long as I pass all of my classes I can keep being Bluebird”

“My parents and I have the same thing!” Wally called from below the bike.

“And yet you’re still here” You teased, crossing your arms casually and Wally looked shocked in mock offense. “Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m the best chemistry student in my class” He exclaimed proudly and you all laughed. That’s when a huge explosion caught you completely off guard and blew you all back. Two red androids that looked creepily similar to Red Tornado attacked. You all tried to fend them off but you were all caught unprepared and while you flew over to Wally (who was blown into a painful collision with a wall) to make sure he was okay, the robots methodically and mechanically took out each of your teammates and eventually you. Trapping M’gann and Kaldur in a fire cage and Wally, Conner and yourself in incredibly durable metal. Connor tried and failed to break out even though he was angrier at what the robots were doing to M’gann than to himself. Poor boy really had it hard for her. In a way it was sweet… Until you remembered that soon enough these robots were going to murder you and you had no way to contact the two teammates who were not here or the League. The metal held your arms away from your body so you couldn’t reach your utility belt or your comms. And like that you waited until Robin and Artemis zeta’d to the cave only to be immediately attacked by the same robots. The water level began to rise and fear was slowly creeping in. You trusted Artemis and Robin but they were the only two members of the team without any superpowers and if Superboy and Miss Martian couldn’t stop them how could they?

The chase was on and soon enough both robots left to look for your missing teammates, leaving you unsupervised.

“Kaldur, how’s M’gann?!” Connor immediately asked, Kaldur replied that for now she was okay but neither of them could take much more of this. Wally tried to phase through the metal but it didn’t work and any attempt you made at trying to wiggle your hand to your utility belt failed.

“Ugh! I can’t reach anything!” You yelled in frustration and your team all looked at you. “They know we’re stuck. Getting annoyed at that won’t give them any advantage” You defended your burst of anger and sighed. “I hate being stuck.” “Everyone does. But we must have hope” Kaldur said you were really starting to question how he could see the bright side of everything.

“Well I trust Rob, he knows what he’s doing” Wally commented.

“I just hope Artemis doesn’t get too freaked out, she hasn’t been in a situation like this yet” You knew Robin would figure out a solution but as bad as it sounded you just hoped Artemis didn’t freak out and get in his way.

“What is it with you and her anyway?” Wally asked, “I’ve never seen you that protective of someone”

“I’m not protective-” You tried to say but Connor cut you off. “Yes you are.” He said and you sighed. “Okay maybe I am. She’s new to this and even though she has a lot of talent she doesn’t have much field experience and she’s a friend so ya, I worry. Because the world sucks, you happy Wallace?” You asked, although the end question was heavily laced with passive aggression. What you said was true though. Artemis was your friend and you knew how much situations like these could be scary.

Infinity Island

2000 (ten years ago)

A woman stood in front of a small child in a small room. The room was plain, it held only a bed and a dresser but crayon drawings and an assortment of weapons were thrown around the room. The child, covered in cuts and bruises, looked down at their feet, refusing to meet the woman’s eye.

“What happens when you hesitate?” The woman asked, though it reverberated around the room. It was a command for the child to speak.

“You slip and allow the enemy a grip on victory.” The child said sadly as if reciting a sentence that had been drilled into them. In fact it was.

“And what happens when someone else has a grip on what is rightfully ours?” The woman asked coldly. The deep judgment in her voice did not fail to register in the small child, only six or seven years of age.

“We eliminate the threat.” The child answers and the woman nods.

“Do not fail me like this again. You were already a waste of resources, show me you are not also a waste of space.” She commanded coldly, leaving the room.

“Yes mother.” The small child, Y/N, responded.

Mount Justice

September 22nd

Artemis and Robin did succeed in shutting down the androids only for Red Tornado to turn on you all as well. Eventually the Justice League came to investigate and helped the team and yourself. You felt uneasy the whole time. Dinah came to check on you as Captain Atom slowly cut through the metal to free you but you told her you were okay. Only a little shaken after worrying for M’gann and Kaldur who were in the most immediate danger. Throughout the repair process of the cave you looked at Kaldur uneasily. You both knew what the other was thinking. Was Red Tornado the mole Sportsmaster referred to? It seemed clear that he was but you both knew there were deep layers to everything and it was Kaldur’s job as the leader to investigate this privately, like he told you and Roy. You thought you’d have more time but you don’t always get what you want and now you have to deal with the fact that there is most definitely a mole on the team.

[naralanis]

little bumps in the road (pt. 19)

Previously, on LBitR...

Like her cell before this, the room Lena now occupied has no windows, only the bright fluorescent lights that emit a soft hum just loud enough for Lena to hear—something that would ordinarily drive her crazy with annoyance, but now just gives her something else to focus on.

There are no clocks, either, at least not that she could see, not even on the many monitors attached to her via an array of wires. Though, to be fair, her visibility is somewhat compromised by the limited range of movement the handcuffs afford her.

No one has come in to check in on her so far, not even a nurse doing their rounds or some hapless DEO agent—because she is very much not in a hospital, as much as it looks like she might be. Lena would guess she’s being held at the DEO, but she doesn’t particularly like guessing. She likes knowing. And what she knows is that she’s been here for what feels like forever and she’s starting to get antsy.

Not that Lena has much idea of how much time has passed; she tried counting the minutes in her head, but couldn’t concentrate long enough on the task to keep it up for more than twenty counts to sixty, which in her book, is long enough.

She half-expected Lex to come in at some point, even if just to gloat, but he hasn’t shown so far, and Lena figures he doesn’t need to. He’s already got his pieces in place—he controls both Lena and the Director of the DEO; he can just sit back, kick up his feet, and relax while he waits for the game to start up again.

For Kara to come flying into his trap.

Fucker, Lena thinks bitterly. She feels a little high—probably whatever pain medication she was given.

Her stomach growls, sudden and loud, and Lena realizes she has no idea when she had eaten last. But more than telling she’s hungry, the unpleasant sound tells her she’s been sitting here twiddling her thumbs (figuratively speaking, of course) for a few hours at least.

Tired of being laid up and useless, and entirely not in the mood to wait for Alex or whoever else to come in, Lena tries to shuffle down the bed, as much as the handcuffs will allow, to try to get to the bandages stuck to the side of her head.

There’s some incredibly awkward shuffling down the thin mattress and further into the cheap, staticky sheets, and the angle is far from comfortable, but eventually Lena manages to lean down just enough so her fingertips graze the edge of some gauze, right at her temple. She pinches it between her index and middle fingers—the only ones that actually reach—and slowly begins to tear it away from her skin.

It’s at this moment that Lena becomes exceedingly thankful for the invention of morphine—or whatever else it is they have her on, here—because after some poking around, she’s definitely reopened her wound. Her fingers come away bloody, and the whole spot feels raw and hot to the touch, but fortunately, she feels little more than pressure.

She’s very well aware that, as far as good ideas go, this one probably nears the bottom of the list (or perhaps isn’t in it at all), but her options are limited, after all. And to be quite fair, even if she doesn’t succeed, she’s already in this pseudo-hospital room—it’s quite unlikely her captor will let her just. Die.

The angle is mightily uncomfortable, which makes it less than ideal when it comes to actually digging into a head wound, and so far she’s felt nothing that resembles the minuscule implant in her skin, but Lena is nothing if not tenacious, not to mention stubborn as hell. Kind of like Kara.

“If you would like, I could provide you with the schematics to Lex Luthor’s mind-control implant without the need of aggravating your wounds.”

Lena jumps—as much as one can jump when they’re handcuffed to a bed—at the voice; she’d been so concentrated on her slightly insane task she didn’t hear anyone come in. Her bloodied hand snaps away from the wound on her temple in shock and hits the rail with force, enough to send her now-empty ice-chip cup flying to the other side of the room.

“Brainy!”

Lena cannot quantify the sheer relief she feels when she sees the stoic figure at her door, ramrod straight with his arms crossed at his back. His lips are tugging into a little smile, like he’s so clearly happy to see her, and for some reason that makes her want to cry.

She does cry a little, and it’s so pathetic, because her hands are still handcuffed so she can’t even reach out to wipe at them. But it’s the first time in weeks, maybe months, that someone other than Kara actually looks happy to see Lena, and she finds she’s wholly unprepared to deal with it.

“What are you doing here?”

He steps in, squinting at her and tutting under his breath as he sees her bloodied hand, head, and bandages. “Do you need me to tell you how exactly much you’re increasing your risk of infection by interfering with your bandages?”

Lena lets out a wet, choky laugh. “No, thank you. I’ll be good.”

He nods, lips tugging ever-so-slightly wider. It’s the closest to a beaming grin as Brainy can get, and Lena can’t help but laugh. Maybe she’s hallucinating. But she’s so, so very happy to see me.

“Good,” he says, looking a bit awkward just standing by her bed with perfect posture. Lena wouldn’t have it any other way. “I will call someone shortly to redress your wounds. Trying to remove this type of subdermal implant with a piece of glass only had a 9.7% chance of success, in case you were not aware.”

Lena lets out a little snort. “I figured the odds weren’t great,” she quips. Brainy’s now just close enough she can touch his elbow with her casted hand—the other one is erm, bloody. It’s a little awkward—Brainy, like Lena, was never the extremely touchy type—but he accepts it with a little laugh. “Brainy, Alex—she also has an implant; she doesn’t remember—”

“I am aware of the Director’s implant. I was working to disable it, but it seems you managed to trigger the return of some of her memories.” He raises his brow, and Lena can tell he is mightily impressed. “Well done.”

“Who else has them? Who else has Lex gotten to?”

“Only the Director, as far as we know. Lex hasn’t made many of them, but we are working on disabling the entire system.” He frowns. “I need your help,” he admits as if it both pains and delights him to need Lena’s assistance. “I found the schematics of the implant itself, but the system…”

“Works on the basis of a program I designed,” Lena groans.

Brainy nods solemnly, thankfully not saying anything further on the subject. Instead, he pulls a small tablet from his pocket, and taps at it until it flashes blue. He turns the screen for Lena to see, and her eyes have a bit of a hard time focusing on the diagrams slowly spinning in place.

“The implant cannot be removed without triggering an alarm,” Brainy begins, and Lena is glad to finally have someone who can get straight down to business. “As well as several countermeasures Lex put in place. Had you successfully removed it, it would have. Erm. Liquefied your brain. In essence.”

Lena lets out a low whistle through her teeth. “Talk about overkill. So I guess we can’t remove Alex’s either.”

Brainy shakes his head. “No. The only hope is by disabling the entire system, which unfortunately cannot be accessed remotely,” he sighs. “I’ve tried 346 times and haven’t gotten close.”

“Well, if we can’t access remotely, then the only other option would be to—”

“LENA! ARE YOU BLEEDING??!”

Brainy jumps back a full three feet, bumping into the monitors with a loud clatter, hugging the tablet to his chest like a kid caught stealing from the cookie jar. Lena yelps, startled by a blue-clad figure at the door to her room, mask off but scowl very, very much in place.

“Nia,” Lena breathes, but she doesn’t have the chance to say anything else before the young woman marches to her bed, looking exasperated.

“What the hell were you thinking—girl you made a whole-ass hole in your head, this is not the time to start poking around in there, if this scars I swear to god I am going to kill you before Kara kills me before Lex kills us all are you kidding me right now—”

“Nia,” Lena tries again, and she can’t even be bothered with the way Nia’s fussing over her torn bandages and slowly clotting wound, because she just wants to thank her, she wants to hug her, but most of all, Lena just wants to cry. “Nia—”

“Oh my god, are you crying!?” Nia yelps, her previous fury vanishing within a second as it turns to worry as she eyes Brainy, who looks completely out of his depth at Lena’s sudden sobbing. “Why are you crying??”

Lena wants to raise her arms to hug the young woman, but the stupid handcuffs won’t let her, so she just. Sobs. Like a little baby—it’s a little pathetic, but she can’t help it, because Nia’s here, Nia’s the one who took her to Kara. Their mad run across the country, the resentment that melted into companionship again, the laughs they shared along the way—it was all because of Nia.

Nia seems to understand, on a surface level, because she lets out a sigh, dropping the gauze she’d been unsuccessfully trying to stick back on Lena’s head, and just wraps her arms around her, tight and present.

“Thank you,” Lena sobs wetly against the crook of her neck. “Thank you.”

  << Previous || Next >>

[supercorpkid]

A lunch with a Luthor.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Lillian Luthor x Granddaughter!Reader

Word count: 2078.

The moment you see her there, a shiver runs through your spine. You look around for signs that other people can see her too. You obviously don’t find any, since the rest of the school is too preoccupied with their own lives. You don’t even know what to do, to be honest. Should you go and talk to her, or pretend you didn’t see her there? She can’t be here to talk to you, right? But then again, what other reason would bring Lillian Luthor to your school?

“Grandmother.” You say when you’re close enough and she can hear you. Your close enough is actually still pretty far away.

“Granddaughter.” Lillian answers nonchalantly and you see a black car behind her.

“Are you here to kidnap me?” You take a deep breath.

“Oh, no dear. I would never.” Lillian takes one step towards you. You tilt your head at the action. “I’m here to…” She cleans her throat. Tries a smile. Gives up the idea. Goes back to you. “Invite you to have lunch with me.”

“Oh, that’s very original. Are you going to poison me?” You bitch grin, and this time she actually smiles.

“You expect too much from me, granddaughter.” She points to the car behind her. “Please, join me. This is not a very good place to talk.”

You look around after lowering your glasses. You don’t know exactly what you’re expecting. Maybe someone showing up with a kryptonite gun, or a monster jumping at you, or even getting into the car and your uncle Lex being there. But there’s nothing. It’s Lillian Luthor in front of you, asking you for lunch, which is already weird enough.

You get in the car and she joins you right after. As soon as the door is closed, you turn to her.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re planning, but remember that I have superpowers. I, also, can call Supergirl and she’ll be here in a second, and your daughter has literally microchipped me, so any funny business…”

“It’s just lunch.” She stops you and shoots a look at the driver and he starts the car, leaving your school. “I understand your concern, although I wish you didn’t have it.”

“You wish I didn’t have it? Ok. So, should I forget that the Luthors tried to kill my momma several times?” You cross your arms, annoyed. She wishes you didn’t have it! Has she gone totally bonkers?

“Your momma. Not you.” Lillian looks at you with a serious expression. She doesn’t look upset. She just looks like she means every word she’s about to say. “You may not believe me, but I would never hurt my granddaughter.”

“Your half alien granddaughter.” You add trying to annoy her. She just agrees with her head.

“It’s not your fault. Your mother was the one who fell in love with the alien in the first place. I wouldn’t hold it against you.” She turns her face to the front and you breathe heavily.

“You should. I love her too.” You look through the window. “And if you tried to hurt her, I wouldn’t think twice about hurting you back.”

“Noted.” You hear her voice. “Now should we move on from this topic?”

“Oh, sure. What do you want to talk about?” You look back at her. “Maybe how you’ve employed one henchman to follow me around?”

“What makes you think that?” She is still not looking at you, and you let out a fake laugh.

“So, you just happened to know that I won the physics decathlon? It wasn’t announced anywhere, and not even my moms were there.”

“Well, if you wanted them there, I’m sorry to hear that.” And she turns her head at you. “But I was.”

“What? No, you weren’t.” My dear Rao. You were right! Lillian Luthor was at your school watching you. You knew it. “How would you even…?”

“Get in?” She scoffs. But it’s different. It’s not like Lena’ scoff, it’s something else entirely. You’ve never seen someone look so good while literally scoffing. “I’m your grandmother, dear. I know sometimes you forget that, but the school doesn’t.”

“You tell me.” You roll your eyes. “They won’t let me live this down.”

She looks like she wants to say something. But before she has a chance to, the car stops.

“We’re here.” Lillian gets out of the car, and you do the same, looking at the building in front of you. You lower your glasses and look inside. People are eating, and drinking. No one has a gun, and no sign of Kryptonite. “Shall we, or do you need more time to investigate?”

“It looks like we’re cool.” You say adjusting your backpack on your shoulders and following her inside. She talks to someone and you two are taken to a private table further away into the restaurant.

“I heard you like Italian food.” She says when the waiter gives you the menu and you look at her questioning where the hell she heard that. “Just bring a little bit of everything.” She says to the waiter. “My granddaughter just left school, and she’s a bit hungry.”

And apparently, she also knows you eat like a goddamn monster. You’re feeling very restless in your seat. Lillian Luthor knows way too much stuff about you, but it’s so damn weird because you keep looking for signs that she’s going to do something bad to you, but nothing comes. And you can feel in your bones that nothing is going to come, which is not, at all, normal.

“So.” She starts when the waiter leaves the table and you look up from your menu. “How’s the lab at L Corp? Is it a good space for you to work?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s quite an improvement from breaking old controls and assembling things in my room at night.” You shrug and she agrees with her head.

“I don’t know why Lena took so long to do that. It was obvious that with a brain like yours, you would need a good space to thrive.”

You blush from the compliment, and look down so she can’t see it. What is happening? Why is she being so nice? You want to ask, but you also don’t want to ruin the moment. You might ask later.

“Working on anything interesting lately?” She asks looking genuinely curious and you shrug.

“Made a video game this weekend. And, um, gave Lena a lead box for Mother’s Day in case she wants to keep any secret from us.”

“Oh, I doubt that. Lena doesn’t like secrets, unless it is from me.” Lillian says and the waiter comes with all the types of food you can imagine. She places everything in front of you two and leaves. Lillian looks at you. “Just choose something.”

You raise your eyebrow at her and she smiles at the movement.

“My God, your face might be Kara’s, but your personality is immensely Lena’s.” She takes a plate for herself and starts to eat, like she is trying to show you it’s not poisoned. You choose a plate of pasta and dive in. Shit. The food is so good.

“At least you’ll try to kill me after I’m fed. That’s not very on-brand, is it?”

She doesn’t answer. It’s pretty obvious she’s trying to dodge the ‘killing’ subject. You decide not to push any further and you go back to eating. A lot of eating, by the way. She doesn’t look impressed, and it’s almost like she’s used to seeing you eat.

Lunch turns out to be very much…ok? She makes small talk about school and robotics, and you try your hardest to actually answer without giving any information away. Not that it matters, because she knows more than you could ever have imagined. You don’t ask her any questions, especially because if you did, it would all come out like “so, killed a lot of people lately?” and you’re trying, Rao knows why, to keep the peace.

“Home?” She asks when you slid back in the car.

“Um, you should drop me at school. I wouldn’t want my moms to worry about… This.”

“Very reasonable.” She asks the driver to go back to school, and you smile to yourself, belly full of good food. “I trust today wasn’t completely insufferable.”

“Weirdly, it wasn’t.”

“That’s good to hear. I would actually like to do this again, eventually.”

“Sure. If you promise you won’t kill me next time too.” You smile and Lillian raises her hand at you. You look at it, and then take it. Shaking it.

“You have yourself a deal.” She lets out a little smile that you almost didn’t catch. You hate to say this, but Lena does the exact same thing when trying to hide a smile.

When you arrive at school. You get out from the car and go to the exact same place she picked you up earlier today.

“Granddaughter.” She says, tilting her head as part of the goodbye.

“Grandmother.” You salute her off, and the car starts taking Lillian away. You walk back home thinking about what happened. You’re still confused by the whole thing. Actually, what you feel is surprised. You never thought Lillian had all that inside her. By the relationship she had with Lena, and the hate she feels for Kara, she should not like you at all. But people have different relationships with different people, so she might truly not hate you.

Lena comes home earlier. Kara must be on some Supergirl call, because she doesn’t arrive until later.

“Hey babygirl. Why didn’t you come to the lab today?” Lena asks, sitting on the couch next to you. You lay your head down her lap, and she smiles at the action. Her hands go to your hair. And you look at her trying to read her expression.

“I have something to tell you, but um, I’m scared of your reaction.”

“What happened?” Lena’s brow furrows immediately and you breathe deep.

“I had lunch with Lillian today.” You close your eyes and expect Lena to scold you, but she doesn’t say anything, so you keep talking. “It was fine, really. She didn’t try to kill me or poison me or whatever.”

“Of course she didn’t.” Lena says and you open your eyes to look at her. She keeps playing with your hair like you didn’t just tell her that you saw Lillian freaking Luthor.

“She said she would never hurt me.” You add.

“I believe that.” Lena smiles at you and pinches your cheek. “I mean, who could ever hurt someone with a pretty little face like yours?”

“So, you are not mad?” You ask and she shakes her head in denial.

“Remember that day, a while back, that you saw her at L Corp?” She asks and you agree with a nod. “She was very impressed with your wit and told me I was horrible for keeping you away from her…”

“Oh, mom.” You sit down quickly. “You’re not horrible!”

“I know. It’s just Lillian being Lillian.” Lena breathes heavily. “Anyway, that day I kind of figured she would try to get close to you. Because you are, obviously, very impressive.”

“I won’t see her again if you tell me not to.”

“Oh, no baby.” Lena says putting a hand on your cheek and smiling. “She is your grandmother. And you are old enough to make that decision for yourself. Just don’t ever, ever, let her belittle you, ok?”

“Ok.” You agree and she pulls you in for a hug.

“You’re a bright light and no one can take that away from you.” She whispers close to your ear. “Not any Luthor, not anyone else in the world. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you, mom.” You hold her tight. She presses a firm kiss on your cheek and you smile at her. “Do you think momma will have the same reaction?”

“Oh, your momma trusts you with her eyes closed. I would not stress about it.” She squeezes your shoulder lightly and you agree with your head.

You are well aware you cannot trust Lillian Luthor entirely, but you’re also somehow happy to even have some kind of relationship with her. You know she’s not a very good person, and she is not warm and welcoming like Gramm Eliza. But yeah, she is your grandmother and that means something to you. And so you hope it means something to her too.

Notes:

Thanks @adeledewittj for the idea :)

[herpronuonsarefemslash]

Satisfaction Brought it Back - TEASER

The one where Lena ghosted Kara rather than going villain, Kara went into reporting on human rights abuses in warzones and Lena started a project to take medical information for aliens and their anatomy to help human hospitals.

And then volunteer Subject 99 walks in for a full exam and Lena wonders if she can pretend she's doing anything other than "playing doctor" while learning about Kara's unique body. But her traitor heart just wants to play house. SEE THE REST HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/56078508 ===== Alana helps the gray-scaled Jorviunan gentleperson down from the exam table. Five genders on a three-pole gradient, the species file says. Subject 98 uses he/him according to the survey. But it's not right. She's gotten enough peripheral glances of herself in a ballroom's mirror, gritting her teeth and using the identity of least resistance when one of Lillian's friends slid a hand around her back. Lena's been in both the human medicine and xenobiology games long enough to know when a word tastes bad in someone's mouth. Or fangs. Or pincers. Or feelers. Or bioelectrically charged water-filtering membranes. Subject 73 was a Vyllnat who rolled in the other day who looked like she belonged on a Wikipedia article about the Dykes on Bikes movement with the zinger being that her partner was checking in for the session in the next bay during the same time slot. Mating for them involves snuggling close and sharing body heat until their physiologies sync up enough to allow genetic material to simply seep through softened skin. What Lena thought was a rather plain leather riding jacket was, in fact, skin that just looked like supple black leather. Membranous flaps that adults use to seal each other's bodies in an airtight embrace during one of these sessions. A mutually embarrassing moment involving Lena stumbling and nearly wiping out with a tray of sharps and some accidentally-spit acid revealed the tight jeans were really fifteen feet of muscular tail as thick as Lena's waist trailing behind 73 in a holographic concealment field. Lena even weaseled her into letting her take 3D scans of all five sets of interlocking fangs and slicing teeth and a venom sample.

Late that night, Lena might have put a few minutes of Clash of the Titans on loop while she got herself off. Sue her. The idea of reproduction by snuggling is even gayer than a race of medusa-ish beings who come in three flavors of what could only really be called female in a human framework.

"Next subject?" Lena asks, looking up at Alana who is tapping some commands to the repurposed attack drone of Lex's they use to burn any biohazards off the equipment.

"iPad," Alana replies, her eyes sparkling a bit too much as she directs three streams of particle-dissolving energy. Lena sometimes gets a distinct whiff of Kate McKinnon's character in Ghostbusters, except that not only is Alana weird and unapologetic and intense, she's also a first-generation immigrant. She tears through American pop culture like Kara tears through potstickers, so Lena's never 100% sure if Alana's showing up in an outfit that looks like business-safe cosplay on purpose or not. Some city in Nigeria is missing their resident mad genius, to National City's benefit. ===== "Uh, hi."

Rude, is all Lena can think at first. She had heard through the 'DEO to Alex to Kelly to the group texts of doctors who deal with aliens' pipeline that Supergirl had gone from on-patrol to emergency use only around the time that blogs gushed about one of CatCo's human passing journalists coming out as alien and then leaving the company. She was trying very hard not to stalk Kara's Instagram at the time so she didn't follow up. Something something independent reporter in the field somewhere somewhere bringing attention to the plight of someone someone.

Lena only avoided full-on alcoholism over the last year by screening out all reminders of Kara's existence, which let her pretend. Which didn't make it hurt any less when Jess came into her office a few months ago and said that Kara Danvers had come by to ask if Lena had gotten a new cell phone. Kara's first thought wasn't Lena being a cruel, overdramatic mess of gay thirst and Luthor trauma. She trusted Lena's good nature, so her first thought was clerical error.

Kara seems to have taken being ghosted in stride because she spent the last six months getting somehow even hotter than she already was, which probably violates some United Nations Convention on placing dangerous pressure on the human body or something.

Her hair is the same length, but it's tied in a hasty ponytail that's tied off with a scrunchy made of honest-to-god paracord the same crimson as her cape. She's let the curl come back in--how did she straighten it, anyway?--so it doesn't look like Supergirl's sheets of gold more suited for a damsel in diaphanous silk than the halo of an avenging angel. What it evokes is a stallion's mane, glossy in the harsh light and waving as the beast moves.

The dresses that never suited her are gone, and the button ups are back but now they're a thick flannel or something worn half-unbuttoned over a burgundy tee shirt that clings tight and reveals the corners of the suit's breastplate underneath. She could trace the glyph through it, which means if Lena could only get her out of the damn suit, it would revea--FOCUS, she reminds herself--and rather than CatCo-required chinos Kara is in black denim that hangs loose at rest but molds to her muscles when she walks over to put her coat across the 'patient clothing' rack. Each flex and tense tells Lena way too much about how powerful her thighs are and also not nearly enough about what it would feel to have the--FOCUS, Lena--and Jesus take the wheel Kara's even wearing combat boots covered in a fresh coat of pale dust that could just as easily be from a hiking trail north of town or a warzone in Somalia.

"It's funny. On the plane, back from Kasnia? I almost told you."

When she couldn't stop fidgeting with her glasses. Her hair was a mess when she escaped from the Eve clones. She had her glasses off and her hair down and she was going to show me... Lena realizes.

She makes a sound she doesn't even recognize and suddenly she's in Kara's arms, her knees sting from hitting the floor before Kara knelt with her. She's slapping ineffectively against the protective firmness around her and watching her own tears fall like it's happening to someone else.

Kara shushes her and rocks her back and forth and doesn't ask before kissing her forehead. Lena doubts she thought about it consciously. Maybe when she is released, she can complain about lack of consent or maybe she'll demand another kiss to make it all better.

=====

"Lena, I really can't do this. Not like this, not with you."

Reality slams down around Lena like the doors in a haunted house closing.

"Of course. I can schedule you with Alana or per-"

Kara molds her hands to Lena's hipbones and pulls her into her arms. She takes her with force, cupping Lena's head and holding her fast. She nips at Lena's lip and uses the moan as a chance to lick into Lena's mouth. Hot and wet and impatient, her tongue seasoned with ginger and orange and grease, cut with the waiting room mints. She kisses like she eats, greedily and curiously and bottomless. Kara hums and holds and presses and licks and nips and sucks. She brings one hand up to Lena's neck and curls around her pulse, rubbing her thumb along Lena's windpipe. She doesn't seem to notice or care that Lena can't do this forever because Kara wants to do this forever and fuck human failings like a need for oxygen. Lena has to bite her tongue to get her to retreat. It would've drawn blood on a human but Kara just moans and pulls back.

"Christ, Kara."

Kara licks her lips lazily. The chilly blue that reminds Lena of ice caps and winter skies is darkened and her pupils are swollen and fucking hell Lena can even see little white crackles in the depths of them, rising towards the surface like caged lightning.

[pl-panda]

The vines that bind us - Chapter 3

Chapter 1 || Previous || Next

“But…! But…!?” Mari shouted after the closing doors. She could hear a cheerful shout as the elevator left the level. 

 The girl placed the box on the desk and collapsed on her knees. She just numbly stared at the gray wall in front of her. She noticed that that the floor was actually a fluffy, dark blue rug. At least she could have her meltdown in a comfortable environment. 

“Sarah?” A voice called from the desk. For a moment, Mari thought someone was in the room the whole time, but she noticed a small device which was probably an intercom. “Sarah, are you there?”

She quickly got up and walked over to the device. There was a blinking red lamp over one of the buttons. She hesitantly pressed it. “Um… Excuse Moi?” 

“Who’s that?! What have you done with Sarah?”

“I… I… I was supposed to be the new intern, but she just… She… I… I think she just hired me and quit…”

“Ah. Okay.” She could almost hear the shrug in the voice. “I need you to bring me the LexCorp deal we are finalizing tomorrow.”

“But… But I have no idea about being a Personal Assitant! How can I be hired?” She shouted at the device.

“Probably something in your contract? I dunno. About that deal?” The boy asked. 

Mari wanted to argue, but a big folder with the LexCorp logo got her attention. She grabbed it and walked to the doors. After knocking twice she pushed it slightly. The girl expected to see some clean and ordered office of the CEO of a big company. Instead, to say it simply, the room was a mess!

The documents laid scattered everywhere. There was a strong smell of coffee permeating the air and she noted a smashed cup. In the corner, there was a table with what could only be called an altar on which a coffee machine with a golden frame stood proud surrounded by candles. The desk was ginormous, easily twice the size of her kitchen table. It was also full of papers tossed around and several boxes stacked on one another to the point where the whole structure risked falling apart. By the doors, there were two pots with some plants that were long dead. She wondered why the janitor didn’t water them, but then she took another look and wondered when any Janitor last saw this room.

Mari tried to walk without stepping on the papers, but it would require to either learn how to fly or walk on the ceiling. 

“Um… Sir? I think I got the folder you said you needed?” She more asked than stated. 

“Put them with the others!” A voice came from under the desk. Mari did as she was asked. She was about to leave when her tablet beeped. She looked at the notification and her eyes went wide.

“Sir?! You said the meeting was tomorrow?” The girl asked. 

“Yes, why?”

“What day is it?”

“Um… Sunday?” He deadpanned

“It’s Monday!” She shouted at him. 

“I would know if it was Monday… I think.” The faceless voice answered, but his voice wavered. 

“I just got the message that Lex Luthor is here to see you!” She panicked.

“Oh bat! Bat bat bat!” Was the response. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Mari kept on sinking. “The security is asking me?! I’m not qualified to make such decisions! That guy’s suit is probably worth more than both my houses!”

The CEO finally got his head out from under the table. Now the girl could see that he was around her age. What was with this company hiring teenagers!? Besides his age, he was dressed in a dark gray suit and white shirt that spotted several brown stains, probably coffee. He was rather handsome, with black hair and steely-blue eyes. “Stall him!” He shouted and started frantically gathering the papers. He then tripped over a toppled mug and fell face-first into the tower of boxes. Just like she predicted, it collapsed, spilling even more papers around. 

“Ugh! You stall him! I will sort this out!” She shouted, switching from ‘panic mode’ to ‘Ladybug mode’.

“What?” He looked at her confused. Instead of answering she looked around. A plan quickly formed in her head. She grabbed the folder that he previously asked for and pushed it into his hands. Then, she grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged the boy out of the room and into the elevator. Mari practically tossed him inside. Before the doors closed, she grinned at him and slid her hand over the control panel. Now the elevator would stop at every level. 

“Ups! Silly me! It’s my first day at this job…” She faked remorse with the same effectiveness Lila faked dating Damian Wayne. “Remember to read the folder one more time!” She shouted after the closing doors. When he was gone, she sighed. Now the hard part. 

Mari rushed into the room and let Tikki out from the inner pocket of her coat. “Tikki! How am I supposed to clean this all up?! It would take hours to even see the floor! I’m supposed to be an intern, learning things!”

“Calm down Marigold!” The Kwami tried to calm her chosen. “You just need to believe in yourself some more. And maybe get some help?” Tikki smiled suggestively and nodded toward the two near-dead plants. 

“I love you Tikki!” Mari exclaimed before turning toward the sad pots. She touched each of them gently so they would not be hurt and allowed her powers to flare. For a few seconds, her eyes turned vibrant green and her hair became dark-blue while her skin got a green tint. The brown receded as plants soaked the new energy in. It didn’t take long before both were back to their prime and then grew some more, forming vines that would let them walk and more, which would let them grab things. Mari directed them to gather the papers and stuff them into the closet while she got to cleaning more obvious things. 

Firstly, she got the boxes and used them to build around the coffee altar, hiding it from the view. She feared touching it in any way but also didn’t think monsieur Luthor would look favorably at it. Eight boxes were just enough to hide it. There were still several coffee stains on the rug that she had no idea how to clean. She tried to use a watered napkin, but it did little good. Finally, she pulled decided to move the desk slightly forward to cover them. 

Mari looked at the desk. She estimated it was at least ten to twenty times heavier than she was. The girl walked around and started pushing. Slowly, it moved forward. She could hear the elevator ping outside. Damn! She was too slow. Suddenly, the desk became much lighter and she quickly moved it. The plants helped her. She could hear them sing praise to her for reviving them. She promised to water them as often as they needed before ushering them to stand by the doors just as two people entered the room.

-----------

Tim grumbled under his breath as he was tossed into the elevator. The girl then pressed every button and sent him on his way. He had to admit, the plan was brilliant. She said she was an intern? Wasn’t Sarah supposed to be the one helping him? Nah. It was probably nothing.

He opted to skim through the folder. The deal itself was rather straightforward, but he didn’t trust Luthor as far as he could throw him. His documents were already looked through by the Legal Department. It was now only the matter of familiarizing himself with them so he wouldn’t sprout some nonsense at Luthor. 

Once the elevator finally arrived at the ground level, he was met by a very irritated Lex and his personal assistant/bodyguard Mercy. The woman had her usual expressionless face on. 

“Exactly how much longer did you expect me to wait?” The businessman asked with a sneer.

“Yeah. Sorry. My new assistant accidentally pressed all the buttons. She didn’t yet get the hang of all the cybernetics.” Tim lied swiftly before welcoming them into the elevator. He did his best to hide the fact he was sweating heavily. He had no idea what state his office would be in, but he doubted that the girl could possibly make it presentable in such a short time. Even just the boxes he accidentally knocked over must have been heavier than her, so there was absolutely no way she would move them.

“You’re ‘sorry’?” Luthor asked with a raised eyebrow. The sneer never left his face. "So, I assume this new assistant of yours will have the time she has wasted removed from her paycheck, yes?" 

“What? No! Dude! It’s her first day.” Tim protested. “She needs time to get a grip on things. Cool a bit, would you?”

The elevator ride was in simple words awkward. Tim was looking over the deal in silence while Luthor was clearly pissed. Neither spoke to each other and if one looked at the other, it was with some degree of disgust. Suddenly, the younger man remembered why he disliked meeting with Lex so much. He felt dirty and had the urge to get a bath. If it was up to him, Wayne Enterprises would cease all cooperation with Lexcorp, but sadly that’s not how the market worked. Sometimes, you needed to work with a slimeball or people would lose their jobs.

When they finally arrived at the top floor and the doors opened, Tim saw that the desk where the assistant should be was empty beyond the box with her things.

“Maybe you should warn her not to unpack if she keeps the unprofessional behavior,” Luthor commented. 

“I’m sure…” Tim started when they were entering the office, but words died in his throat. All the papers were gone and she moved the boxes around his Holy Coffee Machine! He was sure there would at least be the coffee stains, but they seemed to have disappeared. Wait, wasn’t his desk a bit closer to the window? Nah. There was no way she moved it. How did she make the plants look so green? They were dead when he left. Did she switch them with Bruce’s office? Who cares! There was a steaming cup of coffee on his desk. It was red in black polka dots. Tim had trouble focusing on anything but the nectar on his table. The smell that reached him almost made him float toward it, but he stopped himself.

“Oh! Sorry. I was just leaving the coffee and the documents you asked me.” She said with a smile and handed him a folder with large ‘confidential’ on the front.

“Um… Thanks?” He looked at her flabbergasted. How did she do all that? And how can one make coffee so strong?! She needed to teach him!

“I will leave you to the meeting then.” She said quickly and left the office. 

-------------

Once outside, Mari collapsed into a chair by the desk. Her desk now…

“Tikki! What am I supposed to do?!” She moaned

“Don’t worry Marigold!” The small goddess comforted the girl. “I’m sure you will do great. You just need some help from time to time.”

“I can’t believe you summoned the coffee cup for him!”

“I felt bad I couldn’t contribute more.” Kwami giggled. “But seeing his expression I did well.”

Resigned, Mari started to browse through the box. The number of folders almost gave her a panic attack, but Tikki nuzzled into her neck, giving her some more confidence. Instead, the girl reached for her tablet and quickly called Chloe. She half-expected the girl not to answer, but to her relief, the Blonde’s face appeared. 

“What’s the problem?”

“Problem? No! No problem at all! Why would there be any problem?” Mari reacted on instinct, trying to hide behind a cheery mask. Seeing Chloe’s unamused expression, she relented. “I somehow got hired as the personal assistant and the previous one quit.” 

“What!?” The blonde shouted. “They can just do that?”

Chloe scrambled to look for her mentor. Interning in the Law Department had its merits. After a moment a woman in her early thirties appeared.

“Mari-bear, Meet Ethel. She is my caretaker. Like I needed one.” the girl complained.

“You accidentally made a hundred copies instead of ten,” Ethel said with some amusement

“So? Anyone can make a mistake.”

“You tried to pick them all up.”

Chloe wanted to argue some more, but Mari’s giggle on the other side reminded her why they were all there.

“We’ve got some problem. Apparently, my friend’s here mentor decided to hire her on the spot and then quit.” 

“Oh! Congratulation. You must have quite the CV then.” The woman clearly couldn’t see the problem.

“Expect I have no idea how to be a personal assistant.”

“Wait! You’re Sarah’s girl?” Ethel asked hesitantly. “Oh, you poor baby!” She cooed. “Honestly that woman! I know she was overworked but that was low even for her.”

“I… assume Sarah wasn’t liked too much?” Mari asked.

“It’s not that… She was quite well-liked actually. The problem is that she was too ambitious and went about it the wrong way. The rumors about her trying to seduce both Bruce and Tim circulated the company for some time now. She wanted to get to the top, by all means necessary, and it blew in her face. Sarah was trying to run away for quite some time, but the stipulation was she found someone for her place.” 

“Oh…” Mari honestly didn’t know what to think about it all. 

“Yeah yeah. As much as all the drama might seem interesting, I’m more curious about how did Mari-bear get hired?”

“In your internship deal, there is a clause that allows your supervisor or mentor to hire you if they consider you fit for the job.”

“But… What about the guardian’s permission? Or my permission!?” Mari screamed. 

“You gave it by signing an internship deal,” Ethel commented. “Tell you what. I will look into it and meet you in the cafeteria at lunch.”

“Um… Okay? What am I supposed to be doing until then?”

“Try learning the basics of working at WE. You were supposed to get a guidebook. Lawyers advice: read it as soon as possible.” Ethel joked before handing the video to Chloe. 

“Look at the bright sides Mari-bear. You are at least getting paid.” The blonde joked before sending her best friend a virtual hug and ending the chat. Mari collapsed into the chair. It was a disaster. She did pull the aforementioned book and started reading the basic procedures. She was so focused she didn’t even notice when the doors behind her banged loudly and a very irate Lex Luthor walked over to her desk until he slammed his fist down the desk.

“I don’t have time for incompetent idiots.” He sneered.

“Oh! Please forgive me, sir. I’m still learning the ins and outs. It’s my first real job.” Mari answered honestly, but for some reason, it only served to increase Luthor’s frustration

“I wonder how would someone so inexperienced end up in such an important position, but I can see you are still more competent than Drake.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” The girl smiled, but there was a mocking note in her voice. She showed him that his opinion mattered little, which was the best way to piss the self-important CEO off.

“Whatever. I want a meeting set for next week at the same time as today.”

Now, Mari had little experience with being a personal assistant, but it didn’t mean she didn’t know how to deal with clients. And say what you want, Lex here was just a client. Incredibly wealthy and influential, but a client. He definitely wanted the deal more than Mr. Drake. 

“I’m not sure if there is an opening at that time. Could you please leave a contact number so we can set something up? You can also email me. I think I will get access to company mail tomorrow though, so that might not be very reliable.”

“Contact number? Email?” Lex looked like he was having a stroke. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Um… should I? I mean I was born in Gotham, but I spent the last decade in Paris, so I’m not exactly up to date. I can tell you are not Gabriel Agreste or Jagged Stone.” She bit her tongue. They have hair. 

“You stupid little…” He scolded her, but Mercy put a hand on his shoulder. Luthor straightened his back and fixed his tie. “Fine. Tell Drake I will be contacting him personally.”

“That is sweet of you to try and lower my workload, but he will probably have to run it by me anyway. Let’s cut the middle man, kay?” Marisass strikes again. 

“What?!” Lex screamed. “You… You…” 

The girl did not say anything to the stuttering businessman, but slowly pushed a sticky note and a pen toward him. Resigned, Lex muttered several curses under his breath and scribbled Mercy’s number. When she reached to collect it, he grabbed her wrist.

“In the future, I would be careful who do you antagonize, child.” He sneered. When he tried to tighten his grip she suddenly broke free and pulled his arm closer.

“Just because I spent some time in Paris doesn’t mean I don’t remember how to be a Gotham girl. Have a nice day Mr... Mercer?” She said after stealing a gaze at the piece of paper. Letting go of his arm, she gave him the disarming smile number four. 

Tess Mercer had to practically wrestle her boss to drag him away from the alteration. 

Mari relaxed in her chair and twirled the phone in her hand. This recording was priceless. Even if she couldn’t officially share it (according to the manual), it would definitely lift her spirit some. She was now back in Gotham and it was time to start acting like it. 

NEXT

[mrsluthordanvers]

Au where Kara used the book of destiny and lose her mind. When Lena wakes up after the crisis nobody can remember Kara.

So I’ll be honest I still don’t fully understand what happened in crisis, but I did my best!

Read on AO3 + my ko-fi

“Supergirl.” Lena greets coldly as two familiar red boots land on her balcony.

A visit is about the last thing she wants right now. She’s still trying to wrap her head around everything Lex was talking about this morning. In one fell swoop, the world she knew was gone, she lost her company, and her brother was being awarded the noble peace prize instead of being sentenced to prison. It’s enough to make her head ache, and the idea of listening to Kara grovel only makes it worse.

“Miss Luthor.” Supergirl replies as she walks into Lena’s office, her cape billowing behind her.

Lena keeps a straight face at Kara’s unusual coolness. It’s reminiscent of the early days of their friendship and Lena hates how it throws her off. After weeks of apologies and begging, Kara stands in the middle of her office every inch the Super she is, looking like she’s inspecting the place.

“If you’re here to explain, there’s no need, Lex already filled me up.” Lena rubs her temples wearily.

Supergirl’s brow furrows as she turns slightly to look at Lena over her shoulder.

“Explain what?”

Lena lifts her head slightly to look Kara in the eye as she turns fully towards her.

“Crisis. The book of destiny, the anti-monitor, Luthor Corp.” Each word falls from Lena’s lips like they leave a bad aftertaste in her mouth.

“I think there might be some confusion as to why I’m here Miss Luthor.”

Lena fully lifts her head this time as she leans back into her chair.

“So, what, you were just going to skip over everything? Hope I didn’t remember so that you don’t have to keep apologizing?”

Supergirl takes a step forward, hands settling on her hips.

“Have I offended you in some way?”

“Offended?” Lena stands, ignoring how her head throbs with every step she takes to round her desk. “You only lied to me for years about your secret identity.”

“My secret identity?”

“This is how we’re going to do this? A new reality, and you go right back to lying to me?”

“Miss Luthor, I really don’t know- “

“Kara Danvers.” Lena seethes. She hates that Kara is forcing her to say it. That she’s still denying it to Lena. “CatCo reporter.”

“Who’s Kara Danvers?”

The words hit Lena like a bucket of ice water. Her whole body stiffens as the hero stares at her with concerned eyes.

“Lena…” Supergirl’s voice is so soft and familiar all of a sudden that it makes Lena’s stomach twist. “Can I take you to the DEO? I think you might be sick.”

“I think you might be right.” Lena finally answers, as she smiles robotically at Supergirl. “But I can’t let you fly me off in the middle of the day.”

Supergirl looks like she’s about to protest when Lena continues, “I will go as soon as I’m done for the day.”

“Promise?”

Lena feels nauseous as she looks at Supergirl looking at her with an expression she’s seen a hundred times.

“’I promise.” Lena croaks.

---

Walking into the DEO is much easier now, Lena realizes. A perk of having her family name written across the floor, everyone is much less surprised to see her. The only head that turns towards the sound of her heels echoing on tile floors is Director Alex Danvers.

Lena barely slows as she signals to the director before letting herself into the nearest office.

“Something’s wrong with Supergirl.” Lena says as soon as she hears the door click.

“Did something happen at your office?”

“You could say that.” Lena scoffs as she turns to look at Alex.

“She went to tell you that we found evidence that Lex is stealing your work, just like you said. What happened?”

That makes Lena pause. She and Kara didn’t actually get around to talking about why she had come by the office. She had flown out the window shortly after Lena promised she’d go to the DEO herself.

“Lex is stealing my work?” Lena blinks. “That bastard is winning a noble peace prize with my work?”

Alex uncrosses her arms and takes a half step forward with a gentle look of concern.

“Lena, is everything alright? You already knew this was happening, we talked about it remember?” Alex takes another cautious half step forward. Lena winces internally as she feels a stab of pain behind her left eye as she realizes in frustration Kara must have already talked to Alex about this morning. “You came to me. You told me that Lex wasn’t everything he seemed. We’ve been looking for this evidence for months…Supergirl wanted to be the one to tell you.”

Of course.

Of course, Kara would want to be the one to tell her. Of course, Kara believes in her. Kara’s always believes in her. Why would the destruction of the multiverse change that?

Lena’s chest tightens, her breathing growing shallow as she reaches out casually to brace herself on the table.

“Lena.” Alex’s face swims before her, her voice coming in and out as she navigates Lena into a chair. “Lena, you need to sit down.”

Lena’s murmuring to herself, calling Lex all sorts of unpleasant names under her breath. “He can recreate the universe but he can’t recreate himself. Same manipulating, cunning, asshole.”

“Recreate the universe? What are you talking about?”

“Lex.” Lena says like it’s completely obvious, before she looks Alex dead in the eyes and sees all the same concern, she had seen in Kara’s eyes this morning.

“God, you don’t remember anything either, do you?”

“Remember what?”

“The multiverse!” Lena stands, inadvertently pushing Alex back.

“The DEO,” Lena points in the direction of the agents she knows sit outside the office, “was a black ops government agency. You were still the director and Supergirl still worked for you. But you told people you were a part of the FBI because people don’t know you exist. And it certainly wasn’t a Luthor subsidiary! I helped out occasionally but…” Lena waves her hand in the air as she continues.

“Luthor Corp. Luthor Corp was L-Corp. I became CEO when Lex was sentenced to 32 consecutive life sentences after trying to kill Superman and murdering innocent people in the process. I’m the one that made it a force for good! Not him!

And Supergirl! Supergirl is Kara Danvers, a sweet, sunny reporter for CatCo magazine because even in her secret identity she can’t stand to see injustice in the world. She’d just won a Pulitzer Award. Your parents adopted her as a child. She’s your sister, she’s my best friend. And no one remembers who she is! She doesn’t even remember who she is!”

Lena’s almost panting by the time she stops. Her throat aches slightly from raising her voice, and her headache is definitely back in full swing.

“You’re not the only one that remembers.”

Lena turns towards the door to find J’onn watching them both.

“Kara seems to be the only Paragon that doesn’t remember what happened.”

“Lex probably made sure of that.” Lena hisses as J’onn just nods in agreement.

“Manipulating someone’s memories can be dangerous. I wanted to be sure it was the right thing to do.”

Lena lifts her chin, jaw muscles clenching slightly. “And, what have you decided?”

J’onn looks over to Alex momentarily before looking back at Lena. “I think it would be best if I restored Alex and Kara’s memories…Lex isn’t what he seems in this world, and he has all of his memories. They can help us better if they have their memories.”

Lena nods, “And everyone else?”

“I can’t.” J’onn says regretfully. “Restoring everyone’s memories could have catastrophic consequences. It would change relationships on such a large scale that the mental impact would- “

“I understand.” Lena sighs, as she lowers herself into a chair. “But Kara and Alex?”

“Should not pose any problems.”

---

“You may want to sit for this.” J’onn suggests gently, not bothering to specify if he is talking to Kara or Alex.

Lena watches as he places hands on both of Alex’s temples and closes his eyes, Alex following his lead. She feels a pang of sympathy as Alex winces every once in awhile, her eyes flicking back and forth under her lids.

Finally, Alex settles and J’onn steps back. It’s a moment longer before Alex’s eyes start to flutter, and she finally opens them. Looking between Lena and J’onn she takes a deep breath but says nothing.

“It’s okay if you need a minute.” J’onn says as he gives Alex’s knee a squeeze.

“Kelly?” Alex croaks, looking relieved when J’onn nods again.

“We can talk to her. I can restore her memories too, if she wishes.”

Then J’onn turns to Kara, waiting as she stares over his shoulder at Lena.

“I’m ready.” Kara says strongly, never breaking eye contact until she closes her eyes at J’onn’s touch.

Kara twitches more then Alex did. Occasionally crying out as she clenches the arms of the chair. The plastic warping under her strength. Lena holds her breath as a single tear runs down Kara’s cheek as J’onn pulls away.

Both J’onn and Alex quietly leave while Kara still sits in her chair, eyes closed, gently breathing.

“Lena?”

“I’m here.” Lena whispers as she shifts quietly to the chair closest to Kara.

“I’m really sorry.” Kara whimpers, her eyes scrunching up against more tears.

Lena nods despite Kara’s eyes still being closed. “I’m sorry too.”

Lena takes a deep breath when watery blue eyes blink open to look as her.

“I made a terrible mistake. I was hurt…I was so hurt, and, I thought I could get rid of the hurt…I thought I could push you away.” Lena’s voice shakes as she lifts a hand to stop Kara from talking. “But I can’t…For a moment this morning I was forced to live a reality where Kara Danvers didn’t exist. And I realized…I realized I’d rather be fighting with you than push you out of my life again, because even for a moment, not having you in my life was the worse thing I could imagine.”

Lena blinks, taking in another long shuddering breath as Kara stares at her for a long moment.

“I’m still going to need some time…”

“I know.” Kara whispers.

“But I’d really like to start working towards being your friend again…if you’ll have me?”

It’s like every tense muscle in Kara’s body deflates at those words as she smiles softly at Lena.

“Always.”