#was talking this out with lex recently i just need to put it into words to remember

[ladyintree]

this is my perspective on it and i'm not claiming it's canon for any of the simones i write with because obviously it's up to their interpretation, it's just how i need to make sense of it to write tai with other characters because i think about the dog a lot so. hi

I think that getting a dog was, in some way, tai's way of getting out of having another kid.   I've said before that kids were never exactly in her plan,  and it was a conversation she intended to keep pushing away once she got married,   but ultimately settled on having one because it was what simone wanted.  after they had one kid,  she thought that was done.   she loves sammy but she still hadn't planned to be a mother,  so she does have complicated feelings about it and knows that one is all she could ever handle.  I don't think she'd ever actually say that she regrets having him, though; her love for him is very genuine, but that doesn't mean that she's been willing to be the mother that he needs.

she and simone clearly have very different ways of parenting sammy and early season 1 often implies that sammy gravitates towards tai, even to the point where he starts covering her when her unconscious self starts interacting with him and ultimately forcing conscious tai to blame those things she's doing on him. but tai isn't willing to see that there's a problem with sammy because some part of her knows that she's that problem, that it's her issues that are being brought up, and simone isn't going to turn away from getting him help. settling for having a kid at all is not to blame simone because I don't think taissa put up much of a fight, either; I think she just knew she had to make some sacrifices in her relationship and accepted that this was one of them. and simone is a good mother and there's some part of tai that has always felt settled in having a kid because even if she wasn't giving her all, simone would, and that felt fair to her (it's not!) so she could handle one kid. but if simone ever brought up having another kid, even if it was a very light suggestion without any real plans yet, tai would've shut down.

so a young sammy asks for a dog and tai hates this. she does not want a pet. it doesn't matter what animal he asked for, she has no interest in being responsible for something else. she liked the way her life was going, she liked feeling like she was part of a stable family and the perception of herself she created because of it, she liked feeling like she was still in control of where she was going in life and how well she's moved on. she was achieving so many of her goals despite everything, while feeling nothing in the process and never truly latching onto happiness because she told herself it didn't matter, but she was still going somewhere. bringing a dog into their home felt so dreadful for her but she also knew the alternative could be the actual conversation of having another kid, and a dog felt like less of a hassle. she didn't really have anything against dogs and maybe once wanted one when she was a kid, so again, she told herself she could make it work and it would be fine, because it was at least better than bringing another child into their family. sammy loved the dog and it made him happy and that made tai happy despite the fact that she didn't intend for either of these to be a part of her life. she could look at her family once again and still feel like it was what she was supposed to have (because again, genuine happiness just didn't feel in the cards anymore, anyway), and she settled for that.

I don't think she'd ever consciously want to harm either of them but there is something to be said that her sacrifice was her dog + the doll that closely resembled her child. but that's for another day because discussing that makes my brain go in circles

[not-a-space-alien]

Desperate Daybreak Chapter 3

In this chapter: Valen talks to vampire cops and meets a new ally.

Warning for this chapter: use of a homophobic/transphobic slur, misgendering throughout, police intimidation

MMSS masterpost

DD masterpost

On AO3

***

Valen wasn’t sure how many different ways there were to say “I didn’t kill my husband.”  He’d said practically every variation of it so far.

After the initial rounds of Who the hell is this? and Does Mrs. Kithrara have a brother? and Valen having to literally pull out his ID to prove he was in fact the recently widowed Valen Kithrara, the two officers sat him down in the foyer and refused to stop grilling him and asking him the same questions over and over again.  He was sure if Lex and Ari weren’t there, he would have broken down and simply confessed to the murder just to make it end.  He really wished he could hold one of their hands, but making sure they had their silver armor so none of the vampires around could touch them was much more important than that.

The two cops had obviously watched too many movies glamorizing solving complicated murder cases.  They had even designated themselves as good cop and bad cop, which was as patronizing as it was stupid.

The one who’d designated himself good cop tapped his pencil on his notepad.  “Look, we know you killed him, so why don’t you make this easier on all of us and just tell us how you did it.  This doesn’t have to be hard.”

Valen squirmed in the uncomfortable elaborate embroidery on the upholstery of the fancy chairs of the Kithrara estate’s sitting room.  “For the last time.  I wasn’t even on this side of the border.  I was hundreds of miles away.”

“You hired somebody, then,” bad cop insisted.  “If we pulled up your phone records, we wouldn’t find any suspicious calls to this side of the border?”

The idea that Valen could have hired a human to kill him, from one of the many, many vampire hunters he surrounded himself with, was so far from their minds that they just assumed Valen would have had to contact a remote vampire assassin to pull it off.  Humans were just so non-existent as a threat in their minds.  He almost wanted to point it out, if it wouldn’t have just opened another can of problems for him.  “I only cross the border to come buy supplies, and I barely ever call anybody over here.”

“So if we pull up the phone records, we won’t find anything suspicious?”

“No, I’m positive.”

“So you wouldn’t have a problem with it if we pulled up the phone records?”

“For God’s sake, pull up the phone records then, if you must!”

“Maybe we will.  It’d be easier if you just told us, though, you know.”

Valen struggled to hold back tears.  Don’t let yourself be humiliated in front of these men.  Not more than you already have.  “If I had anything to tell you, I would have.”

“Hey,” Ari butted in with a growl.  “Can we get this over with?”

One of the cops looked disdainfully at Ari.  “Mrs. Kithrara, can you keep your thrall quiet?”

Ari scowled.  Valen went to put his hand on Ari’s arm, then withdrew before he could burn himself on the silver.  “It’s all right, dear, just let me handle this.”

Lex leaned over to whisper comfortingly in his ear.  “You can do this.”

Despite finding massive comfort in the words, Valen looked up and was horrified to discover the two men were giving him a bemused expression, like they were watching a fully grown man be comforted by his mother, or perhaps a pet.

They thought he was pathetic, it was obvious they did.  He was on the verge of a breakdown just talking to them, and he seemed to need the comfort of a human.  He might as well have just pulled out a coloring book and crayons for how it changed their view of him.

But as much as he hated it, he knew that sometimes that could be to his advantage.

“I don’t even know how I would kill someone,” Valen said, finally letting the tears leak out.  “How could anyone even do such a thing?  It’s unthinkable!  To kill my husband?  Such violence… It feels like just yesterday I was right here beside him…”

The two cops softened, now that he was behaving how they expected.  Submissive.  Womanly.  Cowed.  Weak.  He hated it.  Oh, he hated it.  But it was working.  He dabbed at his eyes.  “I’m sorry for losing my composure… I’m just not mentally well, you know.”

“We know,” one cop said sympathetically.  “You poor girl.”

“I can only imagine you need some comfort,” the other said.  “I’ll give you my phone number for if you find yourself lonely now that he's gone.”

“Jesus Christ,” Ari muttered.

“Mrs. Kithara, is it really necessary to have both your thralls here?” He said it like it was gaudy and in poor taste.

Valen went red.  “Surely they aren’t being that disruptive.”

“No, no, I get it,” Ari said.  She tapped her knees and stood.  “I can’t keep my mouth shut, so I’ll wait outside.”

The two cops looked at her funny, like she was a dog walking itself by holding its own leash in its mouth.  “Uh-huh.”

“Do be careful,” Valen muttered, having nightmare visions of someone accosting Ari outside the door.  “Don’t move too far away.”

Ari waved him off casually and opened the door.

There was another vampire outside–way across the grand entryway, frazzled as though looking for something.  His head snapped towards Ari as soon as the door opened, and with the preternaturally fast clackclackclackclack of dress shoes on tiled floor, he was in front of Ari blocking the doorway immediately.

“There you are,” he said, and Oh, that’s Tessie’s voice, and Valen should have guessed by the subtle gold nail polish and the just barely noticeable discomfort at being in men’s dress clothing.  Valen wouldn’t have recognized it if he hadn’t seen the exact same thing in the mirror every time he put on women’s dress clothes. This was undoubtedly the Tessie he'd spoken to on the phone. “My client has the right to legal counsel!”

The two cops rolled their eyes and snickered.  “Sure.  So where were you?”

“I told you to come get me when Valen arrived at the estate, but apparently you can’t even be trusted to do that!”  Tessie stormed over and plunked into the chair beside Valen.  She was taller than him, although that was hardly a feat.  She had ashy, dark skin and eyes that were leaning more towards golden than red.  “I was looking for you because I had to hear that Valen was on site from one of the maids.”

“Sorry.  We couldn’t find you.”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure you looked all over the grounds.  Convenient that it gave you a few minutes to terrorize my client without my being here.”  She dropped a manila folder of documents onto the table.  “Any questions for Valen will now be addressed to me, and Valen will consult with me about the answers before you get them.”

Relief swept through Valen.  Oh, Tessie was a superhero.  Finally, someone who could and would just stand between him and this whole situation.  “Thank you,” he said meekly.

“Now.”  Tessie threw one leg over the other.  “I understand neither you nor the Kithrara family want me or Valen here, but Valen has the legal right to this estate and he has the legal right to an attorney, so we’re–”

“She,” one of the cops broke in.

Tessie’s manicured fingers stopped on the documents she was shuffling.  “What?”

“She has the legal right to an attorney.”

“The man has facial hair and everything,” Tessie muttered.  “Heavens above.”  She cleared her throat and raised her voice again.  “Anyway, the legal right to an attorney, so unless Valen prefers a different legal consultant–”

“I don’t,” Valen broke in quietly.

“–Which she doesn’t, you have to talk to me if you want to question Valen about the circumstances of her husband’s death.”

The two cops scowled.  “Fine, though I don’t know why they let someone like you be a lawyer anyway.”

Tessie peeled her lip into a smile that looked more like an animal snarling.  “Have you explained the basic facts of the case to Valen yet?”

They both fidgeted.  “That’s not how we were–”

“Members of the nobility have the legal right to have the established facts of a case in which they are a suspect explained to them fully before being obligated to answer any questions about it.  Decree 1,489 section 3 clause 8.”

“But we were just gonna–”

Tessie whipped out a notebook and started jotting things down.  “Officer… Davis… refused… to… establish… case… facts…”

“All right, all right, sheesh.”

“Oh, I like this one.”  Ari shut the door and sat back down. 

Valen swept his hair out of his face and crossed his legs with renewed confidence.  “Yes, if there are case facts, by all means I would like to hear them.”

One of the cops sighed and took out his notepad, flipping it back to an older page.  The bastard had a stack of notes ready to go, but hadn’t told Valen about it until someone came and threatened him with legal action!  Valen was so outraged he almost forgot to pay attention. 

“On the morning of May 4th, at 3:30AM, an incident occurred with four males of the Kithrara family who were together on an outing–Xavier, Priscus, Mordecai, and Sebastian.  There were four witnesses:  Xavier’s coachman, Priscus’s limousine driver, and two passersby.  The Kithraras were exiting the grounds of a theater and returning to the private lot to get to their vehicles when an unknown assailant propelled a wooden stake through the chest of Mordecai Kithrara, followed immediately by a second through Xavier Kithrara.”

“The limousine driver ran off at this point,” the other cop broke in.  “As did the two passersby.  Cowards.  No loyalty to their betters at all.”

“The coachman hid in the carriage but reportedly heard multiple gunshots, which according to him incapacitated both Priscus and Sebastian.”

“He didn’t go out to check until several minutes had passed,” the other cop sneered.  “No loyalty at all.  Cowardice.”

Even the first cop was looking annoyed by the commentary at this point.  “Anyway.  By the time police were on the scene, Xavier, Mordecai, and Priscus were all dead from wooden projectiles.  Sebastian’s body hasn’t been recovered yet.”

“He’s dead?”

“He’s presumed dead, but no one knows where he is.”

“Goodness,” Valen said.  “I hope he’s all right.”

The cop who’d designated himself as bad cop slammed his hands down on the table, making Valen jump.  “I bet you do!” he accused.  “As if you didn’t orchestrate this!  The order of assassination is perfectly lined up in such a way that it would be clear Priscus would inherit Xavier’s estate in the moments before his own death!  Mordecai dying before Xavier eliminated him as an heir, and the gap between Xavier’s murder and Priscus’s murder ensured the estate would go to you.”

Oh, so that was why they were convinced he must be behind it.  Valen did have to admit it looked suspiciously convenient that he would end up benefiting so much from this extremely specific series of murders.  But…

“I had no idea Priscus bequeathed the estate to me in his will,” Valen protested.  “Even if I’d wanted to kill him, I had no way of knowing it would benefit me!  I hadn’t been in contact with him for months!  When was his will last updated?”

“That’s besides the point,” came the reply.  “It’s also convenient that Sebastian Kithrara, the only person in any position to contest your claim, is conveniently missing.”

“I would never hurt Sebastian!” Valen gasped.  “You can’t be serious!”

Tessie stood, her chair scooting back.  “These are some very serious accusations to make without any evidence, officers.  Do you have anything that will hold up in a court of law?  Need I remind you that the nobility are explicitly entitled to the assumption of innocence in the absence of evidence, as per Decree 981, section 106 clause 4.”

“Mrs. Kithrara married in, and they've been separated, so she hardly counts as nobility, right?”

“Priscus Kithrara explicitly declined to sign divorce paperwork on multiple occasions and stated he didn't wish for their union to be dissolved.  And women who marry into nobility are entitled to all the legal rights of a born noblewoman, as per Decree 367, section 33, clause-”

“You and your clauses,” said Cop #1.  “I’ll show you claws.”

Tessie sat back down and started writing.  “Officer… Davis… threatened… physical… assault… against… a practitioner… of nobility law…”

Cop #1 crossed his arms stormily.  “Whatever.  We’re not gonna get anything out of the missus while this yahoo is here.  I think we’re done here.”

“I think we are.”

“Well I thought we were, first!”

“Well I concur!”

“Well you’re probably a faggot anyway!”

“Officer… Davis… leveraged… crude… language…”

“Don’t think this is the end of this.  The investigation is ongoing.”

And with that, the two cops absconded out the main entryway.

Valen watched them go with some relief.  “Goodness,” he murmured.  He unclasped his hands to find that they were sweaty.

“I don’t know where you came from,” Ari said to Tessie, “but thank you for saving our asses.”

“This is Tessie,” Valen said.  “We spoke on the phone earlier.”

Lex’s eyebrows went up.  “Oh, you’re Tessie?  Valen was so excited to meet you.”

Valen blushed, trying not to look excited for anything.  It wasn’t proper.  “Mrs. Tessandrax, these are my associates, Alexis and Ariana.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!”  Tessie went to grab Lex’s hand, before Ari broke in:  “Bad idea, sorry.”

Tessie pulled back.  “Oh?  You–Oh, you armored plated them!  That’s so clever.”

“I know they aren’t entirely safe here,” Valen said.  “I would rather no vampires touch them without permission.”

Tessie clasped her hands together, as though trying to restrain herself from shaking their hands anyway and burning herself.  “Very clever.  Yes, it’s so good to meet you.  I haven’t gotten to meet many humans who were, er, cognizant.”

“Right,” Ari said.  “So, pardon me for bein’ rude, but to get right to the point:  Why are you helping Valen?  Why’d you call him here and bust in to beat those cops back?”

“Right!”  Tessie's hair bounced as she gave a little hop, then she seemed to settle down, mimicking Valen’s attempts to restrain his enthusiasm.  “I know an opportunity when I see one!  This whole affair with the Kithrara estate is going to take years to untangle, and you’re going to need a good lawyer to guide you through the process.  And one who, perhaps, can help you navigate this in a way that benefits humans, as well.”

“Really?” Lex said. 

“I’m sympathetic to the plight of humans, and I’ve heard Valen is, too.  If we play our cards right, we might be able to shut down the blood farms entirely.”

***

Taglist

@tomato-whump @dragonfireridge @taterswhump @whump-cravings

@scoundrelwithboba @pigeonwhumps @whumpsday @whumpy-writings @fuzzydarkpebble

@melodicnommer @thecyrulik @snake462 @gt-daboss @appelsiinilight

@star-rott @mottinthemainpot @corvidat @melancholy-in-the-morning @whumplr-reader

@honeycollectswhump @dragonqueenslayer6 @whumpycries @starfields08000

[sugar-softies]

Quickly wrote up an idea @soft-fella gave me as we talked about everything pigs >:3c

When a spy was discovered in the baron's home, the guards wasted no time in chasing after them.

The chase led them throughout the large ringed city, but came to an abrupt end as the spy, Lex, rushed into a pigfolk community.

Lex was a shapeshifter, probably the rarest species in a diverse city, which was why they'd become a spy in the first place. There was good money in blending into the background and finding dirt on the richest and most powerful. Their abilities had gotten them into and then out of this trouble, as they changed shape into a pigfolk and quickly tried to steady their breath after running into the crowd.

“Whoa, where do you think you're going?”

They were surprised to find the red river hog was talking to the guards, and not them.

“Step aside. You're interfering with the pursuit of a criminal.” A guard stepped forward, putting his hand on his gun.

The river hog didn't look impressed, neither did the other pigfolk beginning to amass by the entrance to their community.

Then they said those four magic words: “Let's see a warrant.”

That had been two days ago.

“What's your status?”

Lex sighed and went to pinch the bridge of their nose, forgetting that they'd had a snout for the past two days. They'd been stuck in a shape for a long time before but never this long. It just wasn't safe to change back, pigfolk had a strong sense of community and that meant they didn't see much of a problem in just walking into someone's house or tent.

“The guards are still patrolling around the community, and they know I can change shape so they've got snipers looking for anyone flying out of here,” she said, adjusting the video communicator in their hooves.

Ven sighed, their strange purple eyes narrowing in the billowing smoke that made up their body. “We need those blueprints.”

“And I'll get them to you as soon as I can!” They pulled the small copper colored disc out from their cleavage. “I gotta go,” she added, quickly hanging up and hiding the communicator and disc back between their breasts as a boar ducked his head into her tent.

“Hey, you hungry? We've got a sounder stew going.”

“I'm fine, thanks.” They refused politely.

“C’mon, I haven't seen you eat since we met yesterday.” The boar didn't take no for an answer in the friendliest way, taking her hoof and leading them out of the tent.

The boar was named Thren, and as far as Thren knew Lex was named Apel and had moved into the community recently. There were dozens of pigfolk communities all around the city, and they all supported each other happily.

Thren brought Apel out to the sounder kitchen- basically town square- an area filled with cooking implements and a big well tended fire.

He found her a seat before quickly returning with two bowls of hearty, spicy stew.

“How do you like it here so far?” He asked, sipping from his own bowl.

Lex didn't see any spoons so she did the same.

“It's alright,” they said. “It's a little more… Well, more, than I’m used to. I never get a moment alone… You guys are really just all like that?”

“Well, not all of us.” Thren chuckled and nodded at an old sow that was shaking her fist and shouting at some giggling piglets.

“I mean-” they said carefully. “There's a shapeshifter hidden somewhere, you think we'd be a little more cautious.”

“Why?”

“Because… They're hiding among us?”

“So?” Thren shrugged. “They were running from the guard, and the guard is no friend of ours. We can suspect people later, after they’ve been helped.”

“... that's dumb,” Lex snorted. “A good way to get yourself killed.”

“Well it's kept you alive, hasn't it?”

Lex startled and looked over at Thren, who gave her a playful smirk. “If you want people to think you're one of us you should be less cynical and be more hungry.” He gestured to her stew.

Lex blinked, then took his advice and took another sip.

It was really good stew after all.

It was all really good, they learned.

Fried mushrooms and spicy peppers, roasted chicken with carrots, steak and potatoes, warm gooey cookies, the strongest ales and whiskeys she'd ever had-

And it wasn't just the food. It was the sleeping well past noon while cuddling in a big warm pile, resting in the pools of hot water pumped up from the hot springs below the city and then wallowing in cooling mud that had done wonders for their skin.

And it was Thren.

Thren with his stupidly strong arms and round belly, his unstoppable kindness and sense of humor.

Months passed, the guards left… But Lex didn't.

“Status?” Ven raised an eyebrow at Lex's appearance on screen as they asked.

“Oh, um-” Lex chuckled as Thren offered them another slice of cheese and meat. Ven couldn't see that from their point of view though, all they saw was Lex's round happy face and triple chins. They did however see as Lex popped the snack into her snout.

“Lex! Status!” They said desperately.

“Does it matter?” Lex whined, then sighed happily as Thren rubbed her enormous belly, lifting it and giving it a jiggle before feeding her a piece of fruit. “Look, just send someone to come get the blueprints I'm-” she paused to burp, smiling as Thren patted her belly approvingly. “I'm not coming back. I can't even change shape anymore.”

“Lex!”

“Call me Apel,” they insisted before hanging up, tossing the communicator aside. “Do we have more of the beef?” they asked Thren breathlessly.

“Mhmm.” He fed her another bite and kissed their temple.

[gingkos-eldritch-secret]

Fanfiction commentary and recommendations: The why´s and how´s and Part I of 'Lex Luthor´s ascend from supervillainy to fatherhood'

Okay, so. I know it may be weird, but bear with me for a moment: i love to comment on fics or stories like some people would a youtube video - with all the comments and snark and further ideas that entails. (though that works best in a chapter-for-chapter basis) And all the random tangents my brain will go off of. Which is why I thought: why not share my thoughts? (also thanks to the comment from @norapretzel) Since I have about 300 fics of the Phandom in my 'Please update I need more' tab folder, I wanna share just why I put them there and what makes them worth reading. (Seriously, tab groups or tab lists are the best thing ever. They have made my life so much easier. And stopped my laptop from regularly fighting for it´s life.) I don´t know how regular this will be or even if, because work and life in general. But anyways: it´s just for fun and to put something out there.

I will begin with the fanfic I am currently reading: 'Lex Luthor´s ascend from supervillainy to fatherhood' by halfagone (milkywxy) [@halfagone]

The other parts can be found here:

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

My most recently read chapter is chapter 35 which means: the first mini-arc as well as a few important plotpoints have been mentioned if not completely finished. I have binged those first 35 chapters sometime between late afternoon yesterday and evening today so it will not be as detailed as it would be if i only mentioned one chapter - I do apologize for that.

Anyways, here the actual commentary instead of my usual ramblings:

As for the first point. The most important point. The reason you should read this? It´s a story about family and the difference between the people who raised you and those you actually view as family. It´s about trust and that sometimes you can´t trust those you want to trust the most and that that´s okay. It´s about family by choice and that it may sometimes look or feel weird (especially if viewed from the outside). It´s also about burdens and how one handles them - how it can become unhealthy under circumstances. It´s a story about many themes and plot points and details that play together to become something more. I do hope it doesn´t sound too philosophical to be honest. But to just put it in a nutshell: 'Lex Luthor´s Ascend from supervillainy to fatherhood' is a story about family and how to overcome obstacles together.

The story begins at a gala. Or, more precisely, at a gala where Brucie Wayne (and oh, he holds onto that persona with an iron grip) and Lex Luthor (who has SOME kind of respect for the guy, even though he has his own son run the company instead of himself) are having a talk. And while we all know and love Bruce for this persona it does mean it paints him in a rather incompetent light for other people in this circle. This does not stop him from being a worried parent though. Oh no.

This man has the audacity to tell Luthor IN HIS FACE (though not in those words) that he fears him to be an (more or less accidentally) incompetent father figure. Which Danny predictably finds hilarious when Lex later tells him.

So here we see a first glimpse of the relationship between these two - a relationship that seems to have already been developing for quite some time already. It´s also here that we find out that Danny is stranded in this dimension - i do not want to say 'trapped' but in a sense it is the correct word. (all his friends, his family, everything he knows - they are are not here. He is the only one in this dimension. And even if some things are similar enough - I doubt it´s the same.)

While sad to think about, i do believe that he is making the best of his situation and he already seems to have found himself a parent figure. A parent figure that seems to actually care even. Who wants his best and won´t put their own work before the wellbeing of their child. Though we´ll only get there a little later in the story.

And personally I must say that it´s just damned funny to see the 'showdown' between Lex and Bruce go down. It´s such a stark contrast to the conversation Lex and Danny have later in the chapter that i did have to laugh quite a bit at all of the reactions both them tried to hide xD

I don´t want to sell the story short, but I also don´t want to spoil all too much, because honestly? That just takes the fun out of a story. So I´ll just summarize the next bit for a bit:

What follows are some serious and some funny conversations between Danny and several Heroes and Danny, as well as our favourite halfa and his new father figure about the nature of their relationship, his life before all of this, the nature of cloning and clones and no one has asked to be born and should not be treated any less for their parentage. Also about people being superweapons and how well (or bad) that can turn out. (And also the question: Are Lex Luthor and Superman bitter Exes? An important question I must admit. It would honestly explain so MUCH about their relationship. And even if it´s not true: i kinda want Danny asking it out loud at a press conference with Clark Kent and Lex Luthor present. That would be just hilarious xD)

And honestly? After the heartwarming talk about clones I kinda want Danny ripping Superman a new one about his behaviour with Kon. It would 1) be a very amusing thing to watch and 2) Our boy deserves a brother who will defend him from the people who have hurt him the most.

After that we get to Cass and Danny meeting and my god, those are such frankly adorable scenes that i DO NOT WANT TO SPOILER. So I´ll just ignore that whole comment in my head and just say: it´s the most adorable thing ever and i think i have diabetes after reading it. Also: I think my neighbours were about to knock on my door to ask where all that squealing came from and if i needed help because of all the running around they heard. I may or may not have run around my flat squealing like a little kid. Maybe.

What we also get to is Lex´ reaction to their meeting and it did not disappoint. He´s just such a tired dad now. Before long he´ll have talks about their children and their relationship with bruce. And both will probably be absolutely suffering during it lmao. As well as the batfamily as a whole. They don´t know what to think yet but they are already preparing the shovel talk xD

We also get to see one of the many abilities and strenghths Danny has and how he constantly holds himself as small as possible - our boy has a low self esteem and such a low opinion of his own intellect that it just physically hurts me :')

Okay so it´s quite late now - those were the first 5 chapters. Those are part commentary and part speculations and i hope it was entertaining. I did expect to get out a bit more, but my brain wants to go to sleep and and who am I to deny my brain it´s rest? Will try to at least do another 5 chapters tomorrow but I can´t promise anything ;p

[arrowverse-next-gen]

I'll Never Let You Go

It's the third time. The third time Wes and Jon tried to say 'i do', and things turned into a disaster again.

The first time was Lex Luthor dropping the bomb (figuratively) on Superman and Jon that he had cloned Clark, and was hiding the kid below a kryptonite bomb (literally), for fun. That of course put the wedding off. And to be honest, Wes was glad that time. Everything felt too showy. Star City's mayor and IT Goddess' foster son set to marry into Metropolis reporting dynasty.

The second time they almost got hitched, they got all the way to the alter before a time worm ate half of Central City... He's blaming that one on Barry Allen.

And now here they are. It was supposed to be a small gathering just friends and family. But of course nothing can go right for them.

He's sitting in the bunker as Q finishes up the sutures on his right shoulder. He's telling him how to apply the balm to take care of it, and Wes should listen, otherwise he'll be left with one hell of a scar. But he can't seem to focus on anything.

Not when the image of Adrian was burned into his mind, kryptonite arrow knocked in place aiming for Jon and Lanie. His family.

The man had destroyed the city, killed his mother, and tried time and again to hurt the only people who had been willing to take him in, and now he threatened the family Wes had built for himself.

Without thinking he stepped in the way, taking the arrow straight into his shoulder. Lanie screamed, Jon reached for him but was pulled back by the other supers. It took Clark, Mon-El, Kara, and Allie to hold him still. And Wes broke watching. The one thing that could keep them apart his father used against them. And it felt like darkness across his heart.

"That's all of it," Q said as he pressed the bandage in place. "But I still want you to come in to the clinic next week for a follow up."

"Thanks doc," he quipped, trying to press a smile to his face. It's how he dealt with things when Adrian came into it. But Q's gaze told him he wasn't quite done.

"As someone with a psychotic father figure," he started but Wes cut him off.

"Don't okay," he sighed. "We can trauma bond later, but right now I can't okay?"

"That's fair."

He needed to talk to Jon, apologize for all that happened. Wes needed him to know that if this was too much, if he needed time to process Adrian being back, they could postpone again. As much as that thought broke his heart.

As if he sensed Wes' thoughts, Jon came over to them, the nervousness radiating off him in waves

"All good?" He asked, and while the question was directed at Quincy, Wes could tell Jon was talking mostly to him.

"Clear of kryptonite," Q replied. "Ronnie and HD took it off site to analyze the composite and see if we can figure out how zombie Chase got a hold of it."

"Zombie Chase?" Wes raised a brow.

Q shrugged. "Seemed shorter than recently resurrected evil dad." He looked between the two of them. " I'm gonna go go see if anyone else needs patched up."

Wes wished he hadn't left so abruptly, wanting to find a way to ease into the conversation he desperately didn't want to have with Jon. It's like he could feel the ground beneath him start to crumble. He wanted to reach out, to hold on to the life he'd been trying to build, even for just a second longer.

"I'm sorry--" "I wanna talk..."

Their words mixed and tangled together and Wes felt like his heart would crack.

"Wait?" Jon looked at him perplexed. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because my father shot at you with the only thing on this planet that could kill you."

Jon shook his head leaning in until their foreheads pressed together. Wes breathed in the scent of hay and the aftershave Jon had been wearing since they met all those years ago. Before Wes knew he'd fall so hard for the Smallville farm boy that he felt the earth would implode on itself if anyone tried to hurt him.

"You stepped in the way," it sounded accusatory.

"He was gonna kill you."

"And he *almost* killed you," Jon pleaded. His lips dusting a kiss on Wes' cheek .

"I had to protect you and Lanie," he replied. "You two are everything to me."

The longest of silences passed before Jon spoke. "Marry me."

Wes shifted to meet Jon's eyes. His love looked as if nothing could shake his resolve.

"Kinda been tryna do that for a few months now, if you hadn't noticed?"

He shook his dark locks. "Not a month from now when we rebook a venue. Not after we pick beef or chicken or new flowers. Now. Right here, right now. Everyone I need to be there is right here. So I don't want to wait. I wanna be with you forever Wes, so let's get married."

So in the end they weren't wearing pristine tuxes, and Lanie's hair wasn't in a braid crown atop her head. They didn't have speeches or rehearsed vows, but what they did have was even more special.

They had Oliver do the ceremony and shared a hostess cupcake that Lanie insisted on the biggest bite of. And they laughed when the cream filling covered the bridge of her nose.

It wasn't grand or spectacular. But in the end, it turns out, they didn't need all those things. Not when the end result was the three of them finally being the family they had always longed for.

[cinnamunspice]

THE STATS:

physical appearance

Very dark brown hair, in certain lighting, it may look black. She is Arabic and Chinese. 5'8'', curvy and has a very sweet and soothing voice (honeysuckle like!) despite her very stiff and formal choice of words. Clothes? Designer, or handmade. Makeup? Always flawless.

gender / sexuality/ birthday /age

female. demisexual. may 15th. she is played around fourty years old as a default, physically, on this blog-- unless we are writing pre-damian and in 70s/80s detective comics world. then i'll have her physically around 32.

the link to the talia!tag

ON THE RECORD:

THIS IS A TESTING MUSE ! STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT !

I am still reading through her storyline, but as of right now her interpretation is pre-m*rrison personality/design and excluding of death of the maidens. P.S. as I am continuing to tweak damian's introduction that honors his past, but is reconciled with talia's previous history and personality-- please be patient with me! the MOST IMPORTANT thing is that we are following the Son Of the Demon and his conception was 1000000000000000% consensual. Ras's Al Ghul had intercepted the adoption attempt, and began to raise Damian in secret- on his own. By the time Talia had realized what had happened, she decided to return to her father and try to mitigate/lessen the damage and trauma that young Damian would endure. This would better align with memories of talia via tomasi's son of batman series, where she played a more sympathetic and active role as she tried to plan an escape for both of them.

if you want some resources talking about the very unfortunate r*cist turn talia's character has been taken to post 9/11 comics, and how her character's original origin should be taken (cw: mentions of SA): here are a few things.

I'm super open to her interacting with literally anyone, but I ask that no one treat her as a mustache twirling kind of villain. It can be easy to, because a LOT of more recent comics has portrayed her as such-- so if you want to base something off their previous interactions lmk, and we can work something out

SHORT BIO:

Talia Al Ghul is the Daughter of Ra's Al Ghul (Aka The Demon's Head), and a high ranking member of the League of Assassins. He is an ecoterrorist and dedicated to saving the planet at the very cost of the humans that live within it. He is also in possession of the famed Lazarus Pits.

She has operated as both an anti-hero/anti-villain who is consistently torn between her loyalty to her father, and her love of her life: Bruce Wayne. She believes in the mission of a more natural world, but has also shown to value life, and it often puts her at odds with many people.

She's gone to college in Egypt to study medicine. She's operated as a 'right-hand' woman to Ra's operations in the League of Assassins, she's been CEO of Lex-Corp, she was the one to dunk Jason into the pits and train him into the Red Hood, she is the biological mother of Damian Wayne, she has blown up infinity island….. She's like barbie, to me.

ABOUT THE LAZARUS PITS:

I understand that depending on the writer, on the 'plot holes' needing to be solved, or just the series-- the Lazarus pits origin and means has changed a bit. By default, I will be resorting to artificial pits that have been made from various poisonous chemicals that have the ability to prolong life expectancy/stop fatal wounds and to 'bring back the recently parted'). This is not a fix-all. If you want more details and comic recs on where I'm basing this off, feel free to DM me!

[floosies]

Salvatore

pairing: mob!jake lockley x oc!fem

warnings: slow burn, pining, cursing, mentions of violence, future smut, mentions of dr*gs 18+ ONLY

tagging: @lex-the-flex

"I don't need the world to see that I've been the best I can be, but I don't think I could stand to be where you don't see me..."

4.

Everyone who knew Jake, knew that he did a good thing by all accounts but given the lifestyle he was in, there would have to be consequences for his outburst. At least that was what Rogers bullshitted out when he went to go talk to the guy. In reality he was happy someone put the guy in place.

Although he wondered if it was more than just to do with the fact that it was Barnes' name. He gave Jake a good stare down, "its better to be honest with me than to have to face her uncle." Choosing his words wisely, he shrugged, "she's a nice lady is all." Rogers rolled his eyes, "yeah and I'm the king of England." Still Lockley wasn't that kind of guy, even if it was more than what he was leading on.

Nothing really came from the matter, but he was told he could no longer attend events where the prick who was talking shit was going to be at. Which honestly was fine with him, he didn't like those people anyways.

-

A month after all that had happened at the benefit it was beginning to near time for another one of the meetings. This time he was more eager to actually attend. He would never admit it, but he wanted to know if she would want to see him seeing as she probably already knew. Still he hadn't heard anything from the Barnes family. Really his main concern was coming from the Russian who he had recently started working with.

Alicia expected him to get there early as he always did so she made sure to have things ready. In the itinerary there was a mention of Romanoff wanting to bring up a concern which she hoped was nothing serious.

The ring of the doorbell stopped her overthinking. One of her uncle's maids got to the door before her but she went to greet him anyways.

Her smile was something he hadn't really seen until now, "hey. Early, as always." She nodded, "I thought you would be so I made coffee while you wait for everyone else." She led him to the kitchen where it was.

As he poured his mug she took her chance, "I wanted to say thank you for taking care of that." He shrugged, but gave her back a half smile, "he shouldn't have been talking shit." She chuckled, "trust me they all do." He shook his head, "yeah but they don't know the shit you went through."

That comment made her tense up, "what do you mean by that?" Shit, "nothing bad. I mean your uncle he told me the story. I just wanted to know the truth-" she cut him off "so you went behind my back to know something about me?" He should have just kept his mouth shut but it was too late.

"You weren't going tell me the truth. If i'm supposed to be part of this group, I don't want secrets. I get now why you don't like to talk about it-" she was thinking faster than she could talk, "so you punching that guy wasn't out of respect for my family so much as it was because you feel bad for me? You think i'm weak." The anger and disappointment in her voice was very clear.

How did he end up with his words twisted, "no. I respect that you were able to survive all of that and still choose to live in this kind of life. I punched that creep because he was disrespecting you as a person. I never said you were weak and I don't think that. Que tienes?" She didn't buy it, "but thats not what you were thinking, was it?" He sighed, "I really don't want bad blood between us, we're friends and I was sticking up for you." It wasn't enough, "I'm sorry I went to your uncle looking for your story alright?"

Truth be told, she didn't want to lose his closeness either. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself, "I accept your apology. Next time just ask me for the truth if you need it that badly." She left him there after that, if she focused on her work instead it would calm her down.

-

The meeting went on smoothly as usual, until it came down to the personal concerns and request part, where Romanoff had asked to speak on something. Her concern came from an outside source, it had to do with where her product was headed with regard to Jake's routes.

Lockley couldn't believe the shit he was hearing. He rolled his eyes, "you get your money back and then some. The product goes to whoever purchases it off my men." She didn't care, her concern was in the consumer as she feared ties to well off people. He was beyond irritated by then, "yeah no shit. Rich kids like snow, also its gotta be against some code or some shit to have 'outside sources'" he mentioned with air quotations.

Alicia and the others could sense that it was only going to get more tense if they didn't intervene. So she did as she had done at the start of all this, she intervened, "alright. Both of you need to calm down. There is protocol." Her uncle nodded, signaling for her to take the lead. She looked at Romanoff first, "we've agreed no outsiders unless we all know them and trust them. Where did you get your information?" Jake was waiting to see what came out of the Russian's mouth.

It'd come from her 'sister' and as she said explained it all everyone around the table scoffed or sighed rubbing their face. As Alicia explained, she was a rogue who worked for pay, no matter who was paying. This only further pissed off Lockley. It was bad enough he had fought with Alicia, now he had to deal with rich people gossiping about his work.

They came to an agreement which was simply that they wouldn't work together anymore. He wished he could have said that to all of them. Alicia could see the anger in his eyes, there was no masking his frustration and while she knew they'd fought earlier this was something else and she didn't want him to make the wrong move. As soon as her uncle closed the meeting and they all got up to go into the dining room, she followed close behind Jake as he headed for the door. Her uncle and Rogers watched glanced at her, she waved them off. They only hoped she could help the situation, no doubt in their minds that she was the only voice of reason for him.

Once outside the home she began to speak, "I know you're upset with what happened in there but don't act on impulse." He really didn't want her advice right now and he didn't want to look at her either. He kept walking towards his car, "I know you mean well but go inside and enjoy your dinner niña." Her stubbornness said no, "Jake sometimes you just have to let them win." He turned around and looked her up and down, "when you have everything handed to you its easy to say that type of shit. I have blood on my hands and people who don't have anyone looking out for them except for me and my men. Save your wise guy impression for the next dumbass." He barely finished his sentence before she smacked him. He didn't say anything but the look on his face said it all.

She watched as he took off, not sure and with no real care if she would ever see him again.

[weelittleweasley]

destined for you (d.m.)

prompt requested by @sincerelymalfoy: everyone wanted to find their soulmate. that was except for draco malfoy. in this world, you find your soulmate because you can feel the same physical pain as them. this makes it harder for draco to avoid finding his soulmate.

pairing: draco malfoy x soulmate! fem! reader, friend! ron weasley x friend! reader

warnings: mentions of previous d*mestic ab*se, language, blood (from a nose bleed), burns from an open flame

word count: 5.6k

a/n: this fic mention’s draco’s abusive household at the end. if you find that this might be triggering content for you, please skip it or do not read this fic. take care of yourself please. fanfic is supposed to be enjoyable! so read with caution! all my love in the world, lex

You had heard of it before. Soulmates. Two souls put on this planet who were destined to find each other and spend their existence together harmoniously. Until death do them part. 

It all sounded very romantic to you. Finding someone who had a soul, a spirit that matched yours. Kindred together. Your parents were soulmates and watching their relationship grow and blossom as you grew up was something you had always wanted. A love that continued to grow no matter the circumstances. A love that would guide you, protect you, care for you, and spend its days with you. A soulmate didn’t sound half bad.

Until you realized what that meant.

In order to know that you had met your soulmate, you would have to experience the same physical pains as them. Meaning everything that hurt them, you in turn felt, even though it wasn’t happening to you. The person could be on the other side of the planet, but the universe would still make you feel the same pains as them. It was an annoyance, for sure, but to you, anything that brought you one step closer to them was enough.

You remember exactly where you were when you first experienced your soulmates pain. You were about the age of eight, in your bedroom, reading on the floor, laying on your belly, kicking your legs about happily. That was before you felt a red, hot stinging sensation on your right cheek. Like someone had just slapped you in the face. Confusion washed all over you before you cried out, “Mum!” like any child would when random waves of pain washed over them with no reason why.

In a flash, your mother was in the doorway of your bedroom, asking what happened. You turned your cheek and pointed to it, telling her that it stung and hurt badly. Your mother’s eyes grew wide and she gasped, walking down to her child and touching the sensitive area. “Did you do this to yourself, sweetheart?” she asked, making sure that she wasn’t getting ahead of herself. Your soulmate couldn’t have possibly started showing signs of pain this young. 

You shook your head and looked up at your mother worried about what was happening to you. “Am I gonna be alright, Mum?” you asked, your eight year old head full of worry and fear. This was scary for anyone, especially a child. 

“Yes, darling, you will be quite alright. When you are a little older, your father and I will explain it all to you,” your mother brushed your cheek gently as you relaxed into her warm, maternal touch. She placed a gentle kiss on your hairline before speaking, “This happens to everyone, dear. I know, it’s confusing and can be scary. But it will end with good things, I swear it.”

And you held onto that promise that your mother told you that day on your bedroom floor. From that day on, you continued to feel random spurts of pain. A pinch in the fleshy part of your arm, a slap upside the head, a gut wrenching pain in the your gut, but most often you felt pain in your chest. Less physical pain, but like someone had just broken your heart. It would go away within seconds, but for those few seconds, it felt like someone had told you the worst news of your life, your heart felt hollow. This continued on and on for years but when you turned eleven things changed.

Two weeks before your eleventh birthday, your mother and father had talked to you about soulmates and how you felt their pain no matter where in the world they were. Even more specifically, your parents had given you warning that you might be meeting your soulmate soon. “What do you mean?” you sat in the dining room chair, dropping your fork at the suggestion of meeting your soulmate at the young, ripe age of eleven. 

Your mother looked at your father who gave her a supportive nod. She took a deep breath in before speaking, “(Y/N), honey, you know that you’ll be going to Hogwarts soon. Kids from all over will be going to school with you. One of those kids could very well be your soulmate. I mean, that’s what happened to me and your father,” she tells you as your father grabs your mother’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

Whilst you sat at the dinner table, face blank, your mind was running a thousand miles a minute. You were going to turn eleven and all of a sudden you could be meeting your soulmate? You were a child. You should be focusing on school work, meeting new friends, having fun, enjoying this time of your life before it goes by in the blink of an eye. “But I don’t want to. Not yet,” you protest, tears starting to pool in your eyes. “I want to meet them soon, but not now.”

Rising from his chair, your father rushes to your side, not wanting to see his daughter torn over the news that she could be meeting her soulmate. She was supposed to be happy. “Hey, kiddo, it’s okay,” he wipes away your tear, brushing the hair out of your face, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead. “It doesn’t mean you’re definitely going to meeting them. You might. That’s all. What your mother and I are more worried about is you being safe and having fun. That’s all,” he tells you with a reassuring smile. And in that moment, you calmed down and succumbed to a sniffling mess. “Hogwarts is going to be a blast. You’re going to meet so many new people and have so many new adventures, pumpkin. No need to worry about a silly soulmate.”

Your father’s words soothed you, but that was only temporary. When you arrived at Hogwarts, you were too involved in the thrill of things to pay attention to the small pains you would get from your soulmate. Instead, you let yourself wander away with new friends, discovering new parts of the castle and the grounds. Soon enough, finding your soulmate became the last thing on your mind.

But the years started to go by and a lot of your classmates were discovering that they had soulmates within Hogwarts. Students were putting two and two together, realizing the pains they were feeling were similar if not the same as their soulmates. In fact, most soulmate encounters happened in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey. A student came in complaining about a mysterious pain in their leg and low and behold, there was another student laying in a bed with their leg in a cast. Another match.

It came down to a new soulmate announcement happened every few days. You would groan and roll your eyes at the news, but deep down, you secretly wished that your soulmate would reveal themselves soon. Sure, when you first got to Hogwarts, you didn’t want to meet your soulmate because you wanted to focus on making friends and getting used to life at a new school. But now that you were in your sixth year and everyone was starting to find their soulmate, you felt left out. 

You sat in the library, studying quietly by yourself before someone hurls themself in a chair right next to you. “Quick, pretend like we’re having a conversation,” Ron grabs your arm tight and shakes you. You give him a puzzled look before he speaks, “It’s Lavender again.”

Shaking your head with a laugh, you mindlessly start talking about whatever, pretending to be deep in conversation with Ron. Out of your periphery vision, you see Lavender approach the table, but then stomp her foot in frustration before leaving the area you were in and out of the library. Ron sighs in relief and leans back in the chair as you chuckle. “Why can’t you tell her that you’re not soulmates. Is she still on you about that?” you ask him, crossing your arms across your chest.

Ron groans, “Because she makes shit up! Like in Potions! I had burnt my hand on the flame and it hurt and then she pretended like her hand burned too, but it didn’t!”

You continue to tease Ron. “Oh yeah? How do you know it didn’t actually hurt?”

He leans forward on the table and exclaims, “She’s making it up! Because when we were in class last week, she bumped into Katie Bell and she got a nose bleed. And me? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. We are not soulmates, (Y/N)! She’s bloody out of her mind.” You just sit back and laugh at Ron’s hysterics. You did have to admit though, making up pains just so you can be soulmates with someone who didn’t want to be soulmates with you. That was a little strange. “I’m telling you, we need to find our soulmates soon or I’m gonna lose my mind.”

At the mention of finding your soulmate, your heart speeds up and you gulp. You really didn’t want to talk about your soulmate right now. The thought just made you frustrated. The last sign you had gotten from them was about two weeks ago. A deep pain in your side, like something had smashed into it. 

“Have you felt anything recently? Maybe if you tell me, I’ll know of someone who felt it too,” Ron encourages. “Go on now.”

With a groan, you sit up and prop your head up on your hands as Ron waits for you to tell him. “Two weeks ago I had a crippling pain in my side. In the afternoon. Didn’t fade until an hour later,” you reveal to Ron.

He thinks for a moment and then speaks, “Which side? Where in your side? Like your stomach?”

“My left side by my ribcage. Hurt like a bitch,” you suck in, reminiscing the pain that had you curled over in bed as your roommate sat next to you in your bed, rubbing your back, trying to soothe the pain. But there was no use. 

Ron think again before speaking, “I mean...I know it’s a long shot, but I remember someone saying that during quidditch practice someone was sent to Madam Pomfrey’s for an injury. I don’t remember who, but you could probably ask Madam Pomfrey and see if she remembers.”

You shrug, running your fingers through your hair. “I don’t know if it’s worth it, Ron. What am I going to say? Two weeks ago my side hurt and I don’t know who was injured. Do you know who it was? It might be my soulmate,” you tease Ron who rolls his eyes. “When the time is right, I’ll find them.”

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

Another week goes by and it’s another week of no pain. From either you or your soulmate. It was like they were doing everything in their power to prevent themselves from getting hurt. Even a paper cut. Nothing. And it was making you more frustrated then ever, seeing people happily walking in the hallway with their soulmates and yet here you were, soulmate-less and painless walking in the halls by yourself. 

You walk into Potions class with a sigh, not really wanting to be here. You’d rather be hanging out with your friends in the courtyard on this beautiful, warm day rather than being cooped up inside the castle, doing nothing. “You look thrilled to be here,” Cho teases you as you take your usual seat next to her and behind Ron and Harry. “You alright?” she asks as you simply nod, not really feeling like vomiting all your baggage right now. 

Class begins as normal and your assignment was to replicate Girding Potion successfully and quickly. The whole class was at work diligently as you opened vials, reading the ingredients list, dumping them into the cauldron. As you did so, girls around you chit chatted about their soulmates and their pains, taking them as clues as to who it could be. 

The chatter was like a fly in your ear, buzzing around and around and around, driving you towards a meltdown. Sweet Hannah Abbot gushed at how Neville told her that he thought they were soulmates, bringing her two bunches of beautiful, lush flowers. Girls cooed at the story, telling her how lucky she was. Hannah was lucky; having found her soulmate and that being Neville Longbottom, Hogwarts’ sweetheart.

Girls continued to chatter about their soulmate and how close they were to finding them and how excited they were. This only made your blood boil as you angrily tossed things into the cauldron now, fists tightening. “(Y/N), take it easy,” Ron laughs next to you as he watches you angrily toss things into your concoction.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ronald. Is my frustration bothersome? I can’t help it that I’m one of the last people in this school to find their soulmate after relentlessly searching for signs that they’re still alive,” you angrily tear up dragonfly thoraxes, tossing them into the potion as Ron just watches you concerned. “I mean bloody hell, there are fourth years who have found their soulmates and I’m still clueless as if they even go to school here. You’d thing finding one person wouldn’t be so hard, but damn it, Ronald, I’m so exhausted of hearing everyone else’s stories and how happy they are and how in love people are whilst I’m standing here trying to figure out if I still have a soulmate at this point!” you whisper yell at him, growing angrier with every word you utter. “Ugh, whatever I ju-Ow! Fuck!” you hiss as you realize you’ve burnt your hand on the open flame that licks the the cauldron. 

Ron looks at the burn and his eyes widen. “Not again,” he huffs, having been through this before. “Come here, we’ll have to run it under ice water to stop the stinging,” Ron tells you, grabbing an empty cauldron. “Aguamenti,” he casts on the cauldron, filling it up with cold water as you submerge it fully, the stinging sensation subsiding. “Professor Slughorn! (Y/N) seems to have burnt her hand,” Ron calls over Slughorn who is attentive at another work table.

Slughorn turns around and lightly chuckles, “You too, Miss (Y/L/N)? Mr. Malfoy seems to have also burnt his hand. One moment and I’ll be right with you to take a look at the burns.”

Your eyes widen and your heart sinks for a moment. “O-Okay,” you stutter before you turn to Ron who looks at you in disbelief. Draco Malfoy? No. Absolutely not. No way. Not a chance. “It’s a coincidence,” you tell Ron with a shake of your head in disbelief. “Everyone burns their hand in Potions. It happens all the time,” you try to convince yourself as you focus on your hand in the cold water, watching it clench and flex underneath the surface. 

Ron opens up his mouth in protest, but you give him a look as if to say don’t you dare try to rationalize this. Ron sighs. “Whatever you say. It’s your soulmate,” he shrugs with a little smile. 

“Shut up, Ronald, or I’ll tell Lavender,” you warn him and he instantly shuts up.

The thought of Draco Malfoy being the person the universe chose to be your soulmate made you feel physically ill. Draco was nothing you wanted in a soulmate. He was cruel and vindictive and ill-mannered and vicious. He had no care for anyone except if it benefit him in some form. How could you manage to care for someone with a character like that? 

You glanced over at Draco who watched as Professor Slughorn wrapped his badly burned handle in cream colored gauze. The motion of him wrapping the gauze around his hand was almost hypnotizing as you watched it go round and round, your eyes trailing up to Draco’s face. His face was relaxed, but his jaw was clenched and tense, accentuating his bone structure of his face. Slowly, his head turned to face yours, his cold blue eyes meeting yours as you gulped. When he looked at you, your heart thumped against your chest like a drum. Shaking it off, you look back down at your hand, but you can still feel Draco’s eyes on you. 

“If he’s my soulmate, I don’t know what I’ll do,” you whisper down, not daring to make eye contact with Ron. 

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

Another week passed and their was radio silence from your soulmate. Nothing. However, you were kind of glad there was nothing after what happened in Potions class. You wouldn’t let yourself entertain the thought that Draco Malfoy could be your soulmate in some timeline. The more you thought about it, the sicker it made you feel. 

When you passed him in the hall, you refused to look in his direction and him you. The both of you knew what the other way thinking, but wouldn’t dare confront the other about it. It was far too risky to play that game. No need to talk about something if neither one of you wanted it to be true. 

You found yourself hanging out in the courtyard, messing around with a few of your friends as you sat on the grass, absorbing the brilliant spring sun. People chattered amongst themselves, delighted to be surrounded with their friends. As you leaned up against the tree, you chat lightly to Ron, watching other people toss around a ball, others lay around in the grass, some reading books. “Lavender finally off your back?” you ask Ron, giving him a nudge with a smile. 

Ron rolls his eyes, “Bloody finally. It only took forever.” You chuckle before resting your head on his shoulder. “Anything from you? We haven’t talked about it since....you know...” he trails off, not daring to say his name like it was You-Know-Who.

But he was always around. There was no escaping him. There he was, standing in the courtyard, surrounded by his little bitch boy posse as you sneered, “No. And I’m not even entertaining the thought that it’s him. He’s horrid.” 

Ron chuckled lightly, giving your arm a squeeze. “Alright, let’s get your mind off of him. Did you do the DaDa homework? Because I certainly did not and Hermione told me she won’t let me use hers again ‘cause I used hers last week.”

The two of you keep chatting for a little while until you feel a sharp pain in your left side, like the one you had all those weeks ago. “Ah,” you wince in pain as you hands meet you left side, clutching it in pain, writhing. “Not again.”

Ron turns and faces you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “You alright? What do you mean not again?” he asks, searching your eyes for some clarity. “You need a medic? Someone? Hannah? Come over here!” Ron calls out to Hannah Abbot who lays on the ground, head in Neville’s lap. She shoots straight up to meet you at your side, asking you what the problem was.

“It’s fine. This happened a few weeks ago. You can ask my roommate about it. I think it’s my soulmate actually. They hurt themselves badly and it seems like, ah shit, they’ve done it again,” you seethe in pain as you clutch onto your side, electricity shooting up and down your sides. 

Hannah looks at you and grabs your shoulders, trying to get you to stop contorting your body. “Don’t move, it’ll only make the pain worse, alright?” she tells you. “The pain should subside if it’s only your soulmate’s pain and not yours directly. That being said, you have any clue who your soulmate is? Are they at Hogwarts? ‘Cause if they are here, we can get them help which will ultimately help you,” Hannah explains.

And that’s when the moment you dreaded finally came. You gulp, your chest heaving up and down from the pain as you look up through your eyelashes to look across the courtyard. And low and below, there he was. Clutching onto his side, wincing in pain as he threw an arm over Blaise Zabini’s shoulder, using him as a crutch. 

From the distance, you hear him speak, “I’m fine. Honestly. I think I reopened whatever injury I got from that quidditch practice a few weeks ago. I’m alright, Blaise, honestly, no need to fuckin’ baby me.” Draco untangles himself from Blaise as brushes off his shirt while still wincing lightly at the pain.

Your heart sinks into your feet and all of a sudden you feel lightheaded. So the day in Potions class was real. Draco didn’t coincidentally burn his hand too. He felt your burn because you were soulmates. You felt his rib injury because you were soulmates. Draco Malfoy was destined to be yours. 

“I’ve got to go. Now,” you try and scramble to your feet, pushing through the burning pain up and down your ribcage, ignoring Ron and Hannah’s protests that you needed to take it easy. “The pain is gone. I’m fine. I need to go,” you simply call out, walking away from the group in the courtyard.

You were on a mission now and you were going to put an end to this. Once and for all. Without further hesitation, you grab your bag and start marching over to the other side of the courtyard to where Draco was. As you do so, he notices you approaching and starts to leave the courtyard, trying to prevent you and him having some sort of interaction. “God Godric, really, Malfoy?” you huff out to yourself, knowing that if this was the way he was reacting to the news, the future didn’t look too bright.

Draco starts to march through the corridors as you are quick on his heels, chasing him like a predator chases its prey in the wild. Draco turns to see if you are still on his toes and much to his dismay, you are right behind him. “Malfoy, would you stop running away from me? We need to have a conversation!”

He scoffs, “No, you want to have a conversation. I would like to go back to the common room and take a load off.”

You groan out in frustration before taking up a light jog and grabbing a hold of his wrist, pulling him into an empty classroom. Before he can squirm away, you shut the door and put your back against it, preventing him from going anywhere. 

The two of you just stand there, glaring at each other, both gravely disappointed with the reality that just slapped you both in the face. No one says anything for a moment. You two are just breathing, heavy and hot in the room, a few feet separating the two of you. Neither one of you dared to take a step closer to the other. 

“What’s the problem, (Y/L/N)?” Draco tucks his hands into his pockets, playing the fool. Pretending he isn’t bothered by this information that your souls were made for each other. He was trying to play it cool whilst inside his mind was screaming and shouting, how could this have happened? Someone like you with someone like him. The universe had to have made a mistake.

Oh, Malfoy, you fool. The universe doesn’t make mistakes.

Your chest is still heaving up and down as you speak, “We’re soulmates, Draco.”

He shakes his head, “Sure. Whatever that means. Congratulations, we did it. Go us. Now can you kindly move your arse out of the way so I can go relax in peace?”

“No!” you exclaim, firmly planted at the door, glaring at him. “Listen, I’m just as unhappy as you are with this outcome!” you reveal as Draco gulps with a scowl on his face. “But the universe chose us as soulmates for some reason and I’m going to listen to the universe. We both can’t ignore it anymore.” 

Draco looks away from you, refusing to look you in the eyes. For some reason, looking at you in the eyes was too much for him. It felt like you were looking into his soul, you knew all of his secrets with just a gaze into those iceberg eyes of his. 

“That day in Potions, you didn’t burn your hand...” you gently coax him. “That was my burn that you felt.”

“So what! We both burned our hands in Potions! That doesn’t make us any more or less soulmates!” he explodes in fury.

His sudden change in demeanor makes you change tactics. You knew that this conversation would be hard to have with Draco, but not like this. You didn’t think he would succumb to acting like a child at this news. Finding your soulmate should be something to celebrate, to rejoice about, but instead it was an uphill battle. But one you intended to win.

“Alright then, you want to ignore Potions. Fine! What about your rib cage? Four weeks ago, I was writhing in pain on my bed one afternoon for hours from the pain. Ron told me that a quidditch player got injured during timed trials. He didn’t know who. So, today, I feel the same pain in my side in the courtyard, just to look up at see you writhing in pain in your side. You were the quidditch player, Draco. And don’t you dare lie to me and say it was someone else. Because we both know damn well that neither of us deserve to be lied to again!” you exclaim, hot tears now brimming in your eyes, threatening to spill out. 

Draco hears the emotion in your voice and watches your soft face crack to reveal a truly sad person. His eyes soften and he gulps, feeling horribly guilty. But he doesn’t let you know it. 

“When I was younger,” you sniffle, “I always wanted to meet my soulmate. I felt so badly for them because I always felt their pain. And my soulmate was always hurting. In his body, yes, but in his heart,” you try to reason with him. “I told my mum and dad that when I met my soulmate I would give them a hug because I didn’t want them to feel anymore pain. I wanted them to feel loved.” Your eyes search Draco’s for some glimmer of hope. You weren’t expecting a proclamation of love or realization. You were looking for hope. “We were destined for each other.”

Draco takes a deep breath in before speaking, “We may be destined for each other, (Y/N). But I don’t think we can ever love each other.”

His words leave you blank. That was the best way to describe the way you felt. You weren’t surprised he would say that, but you were shocked that he had actually done it. His sad smile means nothing to you; in fact, it feels like he just twisted the knife that was in your gut.

He manages to slip out of the classroom, leaving you there, numb and blank.

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

You didn’t sleep that night. It was nearly impossible to sleep. The scene just kept playing on and on and on in your head until it became a broken movie reel. Your mind screamed to close your eyes and sleep, but your memories manifested themselves into a sick nightmare as you jolted awake, heart pounding. 

Your roommates were still fast asleep as you peaked a look at your clock. 2:22am. Angel number now? Great. Well, where were you hours ago? 

Slowly, you toss your legs over the side of the bed and grab a sweatshirt and slippers, pulling the cozy material closer to your chilly body. Quietly, you descend the steps of your dormitory and away into the castle to go for a midnight stroll, hoping that you would be caught by the Head Boy or Girl or any other prefect that roamed the halls patrolling them from midnight stragglers. 

The halls of Hogwarts were quiet. But not in a scary way. In a comforting way. The pictures on the walls slept gently, small snores coming from a few pictures making a small smile draw its way onto your lips as you shuffles the halls. The air was cool and crisp as you breathed it in, the sensation cooling your lungs as you sighed. This was much needed after a day like today.

As you stroll further through the castle, you come across the courtyard again and you gulp. The scene plays over and over in your head. “We may be destined for each other, (Y/N). But I don’t think we can ever love each other.” His words were a sick mantra in your mind. How could you possibly spend the rest of your life with someone who didn’t even want to put in an ounce of effort? You were supposed to be loved. Give love. Get love. But instead, you ended up with a shattered daydream of what things could have been. 

You peel your eyes away from the courtyard and to the corridor where on the edge of the wall sits who you wanted to see least of all right now. Your heart stops at the sight of his white blonde hair, sloppily slicked back. His eyes were dark and tired. He couldn’t sleep either. 

Maybe you could slip away without him knowing you were even there. Maybe if you turned around you coul-

“My father was ruthless to me as a child,” Draco speaks up without looking at you. You stop in your tracks and listen. Slowly, he turns to face you and gives you a sad smile. “Still is, to an extent. Not as physically ruthless, but...you get the idea,” he confesses as you sigh and walk over to him, taking a seat beside him on the cold brick, leaning your back against the wall.

Draco gulps and settles before continuing on. “I was always worried. That whenever he would make me feel hurt, my soulmate would feel it. My mother tried to tell me that they would be just fine, but I knew....I knew that she was lying to protect me. Protect me from whatever it was,” he trails off, becoming quiet. In the dark, you couldn’t really tell, but you knew he was softly crying, tears falling down from the pools of blue in his eyes. “I’m so sorry that you had to feel what I felt growing up...he’s a monster. My own father...”

You scoot over closer to Draco and shake your head. None of this was his fault. “Draco, you don’t need to apologize to me. Your father is despicable and you are not him,” you tell him as Draco wipes his tears before you could see them. He didn’t want to cry in front of you yet. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that all those years.”

He shakes his head, “You know, for years, I tried to convince myself that I didn’t have a soulmate,” he lightly laughs. “That way, I only had to protect myself. It was selfish of me. But...obviously, that didn’t work out. I would feel your pain too. I remember one day in third year, something had happened to you. You were running and you fell and you broke your arm. I remember yelling out in pain in the common room and Goyle looked at me like I had ten heads,” he laughs as you joined him, smiling at the memory. He was right. You were running with Ron when you had tripped and fallen in Hogsmeade and broke your right arm. “I remember you came back with a bright orange cast and everyone signed it in Divinations class. You told everyone Madam Pomfrey said you didn’t need a cast because of the Healing Potion, but you insisted on getting one because you had one when you were eight. I remember I thought you looked cute smiling and giggling as people wrote their get wells on your broken arm.”

The smile that appears on your face is wide as your heart gently flutters as he remembered all the tiny details of when you broke your arm. Draco knew for so long that you were soulmates and yet, you were so dead clueless. 

“I didn’t want to tell you that we were soulmates because I didn’t want you to be disappointed,” Draco confesses. “I guess I’m a bit too late on that one, eh?”

You shake your head and sigh, “No, Draco. I mean, do I think you’re a down right dickhead? Absolutely.” He laughs. “But I don’t think it’s too late for you to start trying to act differently. If you can remember me breaking my arm in third year and remember what color the bloody cast was...I think you can work on being a better person. Not for me. But for you.”

Draco inhales deeply before shaking his head, exhaling. “I want to be better. For me, but I want to be what you deserve. If we’re going to...do this, I want to do it right. And if, by some fucked up reason,” he laughs as you chuckle, “it doesn’t work, then at least we know that we tried.”

You feel his hand grab yours as he intertwines his fingers with yours. You look down at his hands and smile, giving it a soft squeeze, assuring him that his proposal sounded like a plan. You were going to give this a go.

If the universe believed in you and Draco, why shouldn’t you?

“That’s all I can ask for,” you whispered gently.

“And I promise I’m going to do more than you ask for. I swear on my life.”

------

taglist: @lumos-barnes @kerie-prince @pxroxide-prinxcesss @c-t-h @another-lonely-heart-blog @starlightweasley @shilohpug​

[skylarmoon71]

Lex Luthor (Smallville)- Chapter 18

That night, you really expected Lex to give in, but he’d just held you, and honestly, it was great. Even though you both weren’t physically intimate, you knew now that it was out in the open. The only question was when. Which led to your particular stressful rambling to Chloe.

“What if he tries to put it in and I phase through the bed!”

“Can we talk about the fact that you're apparently a super human running machine! “

Ah.

Thing was, you’d just recently told Chloe your secrets. Recently meaning just now. You needed to have a girl talk, and you trusted her. Lex knew, and so did Clark, so you didn’t see the harm. It wasn’t like you could talk to Clark about these things.

“I’m sorry.” you take a seat, and Chloe follows, eyeing you with interest. “So do you like pee at super speed too”

“Really, that’s your question?”

“You have to admit this is a lot.”

“I know.” your shoulders lower. You’d been meaning to tell her for weeks, you just kept putting it off because your lack of control had been taking up all your time. Now that you knew everything was fine, you had more time to focus on the more mundane things, like your first night with Lex. Chloe can see the worry on your face, and she moves over.

“Okay, I’ll save the crazy questions for later. Right now, let’s focus on the matter at hand. So how many guys have you been with before him?” Your cheeks immediately color.”

“Zero.” you mutter.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I just...I don’t know. I’ve never been able to just do that with anyone. When I got these powers it got worse. I sort of closed myself off because I was scared. But now with Lex..with him I want to share every part of my life. I really want my first time to be great for the both of us. But I’m not sure how to casually bring it up in a conversation. “

“Hmmm. well that’s an easy fix. Just seduce him.”

“S-Seduce!!”

“Yep. Come on I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I’m a little shocked you guys haven’t done it yet. With Lex it’ll be easy. I get the feeling whatever you do gets him all hot and bothered, so just do that with lingerie on.” You can’t understand how she speaks as though it’s no big deal.

“C-Chloe..I-I’ve never done anything like that before. How do I even know what to buy?”

“I can help with that!” She looks way too excited now.

“I can even give you some seduction tips on the way there.” She winks, and suddenly you wonder if asking for help was the right call.

A very awkward shopping trip and three sets later, you were walking through your apartment door with a sigh. Your cell phone dings, and you look down.

“How about dinner and a movie? I'm sure you could use the break.”

You smile, texting back hastily. The second you do, your eyes drift to your bag.

“Maybe tonight we might..” you blush, racing to the shower.

You were going to grab this opportunity.

~The Mansion~

“I hope you enjoyed the food. I really planned to go all out, but you insisted on chinese.” You giggle, cuddling into Lex’s side on the couch.

“It was great Lex. Trust me, just being with you is okay. Next time I’ll be the one to take you on the date. “

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” You press a kiss to his cheek, and the both of you return your focus to the screen. The movie is a rom com, surprisingly Lex’s favorite.

“You have to make the first move (Y/N), it's that simple. He’ll follow your lead, trust me.”

Chloe’s words are still trailing in your mind.

With a shaky hand, you place it on his thigh. Lex wears a smile, brushing his hand through your hair, but his gaze doesn’t leave the screen. Your shoulders slump.

“What do I do now?”

“If he doesn’t get the hint. Suggest a bath. He’ll immediately take it as an invitation.”

“Well, I think I’m going to take a bath.” you pull away to stand, and Lex just nods.

“Alright, do you want me to pause it for you.”

“N-No it’s fine.”

“I can’t believe this, how did that not work!!”

A bit sullen, you head towards the bathroom. Maybe a nice hot bath would get your head away from your failed attempts at flirting.

Staring at your figure in the mirror, you feel a bit self conscious. You shake your head, slipping on one of Lex’s shirts. It’s mostly to hide the outfit underneath. This had to work at least. From what Chloe explained, men loved seeing their partners wear their clothes. You walk out of the bathroom, and Lex knocks on the door to his room when you walk out. He smiles at you.

“You were in there for a while, I was worried maybe you fell asleep.” You shake your head.

“Sorry if I kept you waiting.” You’re looking right at him, and you’re hoping he’ll make some comment on your attire, or at least take the initiative. He walks over, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“You must be tired, ready to sleep?” He turns, and from the look of it, he seems about ready to prepare for bed himself. You take his hand softly, and he stops, turning back to you.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m just…really bad at this..” you let out a little laugh. You really hoped you wouldn’t have to tell him directly what you wanted. Because it was a little embarrassing, but it appears there’s no other way.

“Bad at what?”

“This entire night, I’ve been trying to seduce you Lex.. “ You sort of mumble that last part.

Recognition clicks behind his beautiful emerald eyes.

“I..I’m sorry I really didn’t realize that you were..that you wanted to..” You guessed he’s just been preoccupied worrying about you after the whole time travel ordeal. It makes sense. To be fair you hadn’t actually initiated anything. It is also said that guys aren’t that good at reading between the lines.

You shake your head with a bashful smile.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t being very direct. Chloe gave me tips but I’m still way too nervous to actually make a move. “ Your hands lowered.

“I don’t want to push this if you still need time. I just thought that you would-”

“I do.” you blink, looking up.

“I’ve been holding back because I thought you would need a little time. Given the interesting last few weeks we’ve had, I thought it was best not to push.”

“So, you want to?” you ask hopefully. Lex smiles, and when his eyes drift over your body, you take a breath.

“More than anything.” He whispers.

“Okay..”

Now that it’s actually happening, you seem to have gotten ten times more anxious.

“Calm down, calm down.”

Lex smirks when he sees your hand begin to vibrate. There’s also a brief flash of lightning in your eyes. You close them, taking another breath.

“You’re this aroused already and I haven’t even touched you. You flatter me.” Lex laughs when you send him a little glare.

“Just relax.” His hand brushes your cheek, and when you look at him, you can feel your body physically, relax. Your hand stops shaking and he grins.

“Now let’s go, I want to rip that shirt off your body. “ He kicks the door closed, lifting you into his arms as he carries you to the bed. You can’t resist him. Kissing him desperately, Lex groans at your eagerness.

He lowers you onto the bed, and you look up. Nothing can truly help with your nervousness. You trust Lex, nevertheless, this was your first time. Somehow he looks similarly anxious.

“Please..be gentle..”

He closes his eyes with a groan, pressing his head into your shoulder.

“You’re really trying to kill me, that was way too hot.”

You blush, closing your eyes when he begins placing little kisses on your neck.

“I’ll take care of you.” You enjoy every brush of his lips. You can feel him slowly unbuttoning the shirt. He pulls it open, and a mild look of surprise on his face.

“Wow..”

He looks speechless, so you suppose that’s a good sign.

You’d worn a royal purple two piece. After much searching you’d found lingerie you thought he’d enjoy. From the darkening of his orbs, maybe you’d made the right choice.

“Lex..”

He hasn’t really said anything for a few seconds, he’s just looking at you, and now you feel like covering up.

“Sorry, d-d-oes it look weird?”

He shakes his head, letting out a staggering breath. You’re about to question it, but he kisses you again. Hard. You swallow the moan that has threatened to spill, and Lex grinds into you.

You can feel just how much it excites him, and suddenly you feel foolish for even worrying about it. Your hands wrap around his back, arching into him and Lex welcomes it. Ever frantic touch.

“I want..to..see you too.” you say between your hurried kisses. He nods, practically ripping his own shirt off. You giggle at the scene. He makes quick work of discarding his pants. Once the pesky materials are gone, he looks back at you.

“Are you alright with this?” His voice is so soft.

“We can stop whenever you want.” you shake your head.

“I’m fine, I want this.” You straighten just a bit, enough to unhook your bra. Sliding it down your shoulder, you drop it at the side of the bed, turning back to him. His body hovers over your own as you lean back, and his fingers brush your hips as he removes your underwear. 

His fingertips graze your skin the entire way down. Once the garment is gone, you feel exposed, but in the best way possible. You're already pretty much soaking wet. Lex confirms it when his hand moves to your heat. He slips a finger in and you whimper at the feeling.

“How does it feel?” He still sounds a bit concerned, and you smile.

“It’s k-kinda weird, having anything down there.” you admit. Lex is wearing a similar smile. He leaves another kiss on your cheek.

“Sorry if It’s uncomfortable. You need to get used to this first.”

“I-I mean how much bigger can it be right..” Lex has to remind himself sometimes how adorably naive you are. It’s clear that you’ve probably never seen a man naked before. 

Since you solely have been looking at his face the entire time, he knows it’ll be a shock. His finger slides out and you shiver. He adjusts his position just a little, and you peek at him. Lex takes your hand, guiding it down. When it closes over his member, your eyes widen and you look down.

“Shit..” you mutter. You know you shouldn’t stare, but it’s pretty daunting. You avert your gaze. You’re positive your face resembles that of a cherry.

“Wanna take a break?” He grins. You shake your head vigorously.

“I’m okay!” He laughs, and you quiver when his hands are once again running over your body appreciatively. You hand twitches, and Lex grunts. You panic.

“C-Crap did I hurt you!”

“No..but if you keep squeezing me like that I’m gonna cum.” He says hoarsely. You let go altogether, and Lex isn’t sure if he wants to continue or just tease you for the rest of the night.

“Are you ready?” you nod.

“Y-Yes.” He positions himself, and you hold your breath as he slowly penetrates you. Your hand has moved to the mattress, and your grip tightens with each inch that fills you up. Your chest is heaving slightly, and you close your eyes at the feel of pain. Lex groans at the resistance. He looks at your face, and the pain expressed makes him stop.

“(Y/N)..”

You can feel it, he’s about to pull back. You grab his arm, shaking your head.

“I-I’m okay. Keep going.”

“I’m hurting you.”

“Lex..I..” you try to gather your breath.

“It’ll hurt regardless. I want this..I want you. P-Please don’t stop now.”

It’s apparent that you really want this.

“M-Maybe if you do it really fast it’ll hurt less. Y-You know, like a bandaid. “

“I’m no doctor, but I feel as though that would be more painful.”

You bit down on your lip, and he’s a bit confused. He jolts when you flip positions.

“(Y/N)!” You’re on top and you push forward, taking in his length. Lex’s voice becomes lost, and you cry out at the sudden action. It does hurt, but with your speed healing, you figure it’ll be just a matter of seconds before the pain passes. 

It's obvious Lex wasn’t going to do it, so you had to. He’s below you, trying to regain his composure, and as you predicted, the pain is gone. You moan, and your legs are trembling. “I..didn’t know it would be this big..” You say shakily. You can’t really move. The sensations are too good.

You gasp at the angle, and your body buckles as you cave. You press your head to his shoulder, and Lex feels a sense of pride. He turns, changing positions. You’re once again beneath him, and he slides his hands down your thighs. 

“We haven’t even gotten started yet.” 

His hips thrust forward, and your eyes spring open as you let out another desperate moan. He finds a good pace, and unconsciously you lock your legs around his waist.

“That’s it..” 

He urges. With every thrust, your pleasured sounds escape. You hope that he feels as good as you, because you were truthfully losing your mind. When he hits a particular angle, you gasp, because you feel a surge of electricity leave your body. Lex jolts, and you’re mortified.

“Oh no Lex are you-” He kisses you with haste, and you’re both confused and aroused.

“Do it again.” He huffs out. Your brows knit, and before you can question him, he pounds into you. It gains the reaction he wanted, and his fist clenches against the sheets as he moans this time around. His breath hits your ear, his sounds driving you mad. 

You hold unto him as he continues driving into you with all he has. It’s all so much. To the point that you’re convinced that the pleasure isn’t real, because this feels a million times better than you could have anticipated. You’re nearing your limit.

“L-LEX!!”

“It’s okay, I got you.” The final thrust is your undoing. You release with something equivalent to a scream. Lex is chasing his own, right after you. He gains it, spilling inside you with a heavy groan. Your panting breaths are all that’s really heard in the room for a while. 

When your body comes down from the high, he slides out, and you twitch, whimpering. He drops beside you, chest still rising and falling at a quick rate. You stare up at the ceiling, body tingling. Lex looks over, and you quickly hide your face in his chest. He laughs at your innocence.

“Did we really just do that?” you whisper.

“We did.” He confirms with a smile. He wraps his arms around you, brushing your hair aside to leave a kiss.

“That was incredible.” you admit.

“I’m glad I made your first time an enjoyable experience. “

He did so much more than that.

~

"So come on, give us the juicy details. " You sip at your drink, flustered.

" It was nice."

You comment. Chloe huffs out a laugh. " Come on, seriously I need more than that. How was his stamina?" Just thinking back, you feel yourself become a bit warm.

"We did it three times. " You admit. Chloe looks proud.

"That's my girl. It must have been really good then. I doubt Lex is packing that much. "

She jokes. You sort of understand what she means, in all honesty, you hadn't been expecting it either.

“Chloe..he’s pretty big…” Lana raises a brow.

“How big are we talking?” Chloe asks.

You make a gesture with your hands, cheeks red and she gasps.

“You’re kidding!”

You shake your head.

“Damn, gotta hand it to Luthor.” Lana laughs.

“If I didn’t have speed healing I’d probably still be sore.” you think.

~

“Things are actually going pretty good. “

Clark is inquiring about your relationship. With all that’s happening, he knows it can be a lot to keep up with.

“That's good to hear.”

He’s happy that both of his friends are finally having the happy ending they deserve. Lex sends a smile, and he heads to the kitchen to help prepare for dinner with the Kents. You pass Lex on your way there, sending him a little smile, in which he returns with a smirk. When you get to Clark, you can’t help but ask.

“H-Hey Clark can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” you take a seat, face still red.

“W-When you and Lana first did it, did anything strange happen?”

“Did it? Did what exactly?”

“Y-You know. Have sex.”

Oh, OH!!

“It’s just that w-when Lex and I did it a bit of my speed slipped out and shocked him. I thought it would hurt him but he..he liked it.”

“NOPE! Nu uh! Not me. Not doing this.”

“Clark!”

He springs to his feet, closing his eyes.

“You’re supposed to help me with my powers!”

“Not in that area, you’re on your own!”

Maybe some quirks were better left private.

[naralanis]

little bumps in the road (pt. 15)

Previously, on LBitR

Kara says no.

Lena is not surprised. They may have grown apart, yes, and she may have claimed otherwise when she was hurt and heartbroken, but the truth of the matter is, she knows Kara—stubborn, hard-headed, resolute, and so optimistically brave. Of course Kara thinks they can do this.

But Lena also knows herself. She is also stubborn, hard-headed, and resolute. It’s partially what made them—her and Kara—so volatile to one another when everything came crashing down.

Lena also likes to think she has even a modicum of Kara’s bravery, when the occasion calls for it. She’d like to think that what she’s about to do counts as that, instead of complete stupidity.

“Listen to me,” she says, mind still reeling after their explosive argument at the side of the road, about fifty miles back. The last time they had shouted so much at each other had been back at the Fortress, and when that memory returns—fuzzy, faded—Lena resolutely tamps it down like she would an oozing wound. “Kara, listen—"

“No.���

Kara’s gritting her teeth so hard Lena almost thinks she can hear them grinding. She figures Kara needs to let some of her strength go somewhere other than the steering wheel already marked with the deep imprints of her fingers.

“Kara.”

“No.”

“Kara. It’s the only way.”

For the second time that day, Kara guides the vehicle to a stop at the shoulder of the road. Her shoulders sag with the heaviness of the sigh she releases, and Lena can see the fading sunlight in the glimmer of the tear tracks on her cheeks. “There has to be another way. I refuse to accept this.”

Lena reaches her good hand over, pats Kara’s arm, which is rigid and tense like the rest of her, coiled so tight it practically trembles. “Whether you accept it or not, we’re out of options.”

“Don’t think—” Kara chokes on her own words, and her whole body clenches even tighter. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing—what you’re planning on doing, Lena. It’s suicide.”

“It’s the only way,” Lena says demurely. She’s thought about this for the past hour—she’s been running all possibilities in her head, speed running through them like a competitive chess game.

Lena suddenly remembers playing with Lex, as a young girl. She remembers his gloating whenever he won, disguised as brotherly advice, and she remembers beating him—how he’d stiffly and coldly congratulate her, hiding a silent fury in his eyes. The way Lex won any game—chess or otherwise, high-stakes or no—was by rattling his opponent, with an aggressive opening that left them scrambling from the get-go, second-guessing their every move.

He’s got them scrambling alright, has had them scrambling since the beginning, Lena realizes, perhaps a little belatedly. He’s gotten into their heads—he’s certainly gotten into Lena’s head—and that’s gotten them on the backfoot all along.

They have limited moves; they’re cornered in the board, and the only way out is through drastic action. Lena cannot second-guess herself in this.

“If he’s got Alex, then this is the only way.” Her voice brokers no argument—the kind of tone she used to employ against moody board-members once upon a lifetime ago—yet she knows Kara will argue. Kara will not back down on this, and Lena wouldn’t expect anything less.

“We’re not sure he’s got her,” Kara interjects, though she doesn’t seem to believe herself. “You don’t have to—you don’t have to, Lena.”

Lena wishes it were true. She wishes they had more moves, more pieces to make another play, any other play except the one she has to make. “I do, Kara.”

It takes another two hours of talking—and talking is putting it mildly. There’s talking, and then there’s more shouting, and then there’s crying. Mostly from Kara’s part, her despair mounting as she comes to the inevitable realization that her hands are tied, that they are out of options, and that Lena is right. Lena refuses to shed a single tear, though her heart breaks over and over at every sob Kara fails to stifle.

But in the end, Lena breaks her—she breaks down every defense, every argument Kara has, until she’s basically cornered Kara into a checkmate she never signed up for. It hurts, to do it like this—to be as impassive and unyielding, as cold as she is. But the strategy pays off, and Kara acquiesces when she’s got no tears left to try.

They part ways in the early morning light, somewhere up in the mountains of Virginia. They’re both exhausted, with red-rimmed eyes and hoarse voices, and there’s so much… resentment in the air it practically sizzles, almost like it was when they were at her worst.

Kara does as well at being pushed into a corner as Lena.

She shoots off into the cover of the trees with a barely-concealed sniffle and a terse goodbye, and Lena feels like her heart flies away with her. She wants to shout for Kara to come back to her, she wants to apologise over and over and over again, for everything. But the play is in motion.

Lena climbs back into the RV with a tired sigh and a wince—the painkillers have long worn off, and her broken hand hurts considerably. She tries to focus on the pain radiating through her bones as opposed to the increased shallowness of her breaths, or her irregular heartbeat.

She can do this, she has to do this.

Lena takes a few minutes to try and calm herself as best as she can, with minimal success, but it is enough—enough to stomach through the pain in her hand, the gaping void she feels in her chest now that Kara is not next to her, the painful flashes of half-memories that still crowd her brain… enough to turn the RV around, broken hand be damned, and floor it down the road heading west. To National City—to Lex.

It doesn’t take long for Lex—or rather, whatever goons he hired for the job— to find her, though admittedly it’s longer than Lena had anticipated. She did make it relatively easy for them, taking a major cross-country highway right off the bat and driving almost twelve straight hours uninterrupted to a rather large, crowded, and definitely CCTV-surveilled rest stop. She takes her sweet time, too—it’s almost like she’s saying I’m here, come get me.

Which they do. Eventually.

Lena has been at the rest-stop for almost two hours, effectively a sitting duck, when she finally feels the prick of a needle at the back of her neck as she exits the restroom. It’s weird, all things considered, that the sensation feels familiar. She’s barely conscious when someone catches her before she falls face-first on the cheap linoleum, has just enough focus to see the dark van, but when darkness overtakes her vision and she can’t feel her limbs anymore, she almost welcomes the respite.

Finally, some rest.

When she wakes, it is to a blessedly darkened room and a pounding headache. It really says something about the life she’s lead, the fact that Lena is familiar with the process of regaining consciousness from a drug-induced slumber.

She takes stock of her body, first—blinks her eyes to gain focus, runs her tongue over her lips. Then she takes a slow, deep breath, fully expanding her lungs, pleased that there are no twinges of pain at her ribs or her back. She stretches, feeling softness underneath her, and realizes she’s on a bed.

Lena feels clean, oddly, like she’s taken a shower recently. Her hair still feels a little damp, and by extension do does her pillow.  She’s not fully covered, but the sheets up to her waist are very soft, and her clothes are comfortable, almost like pajamas.

She could so easily convince herself it was all a dream. Lena almost wants to, wishes to hold onto that little nugget of comfortable lunacy for as long as possible.

But she feels the cast on her broken hand, and hears shuffling by the foot of the bed. Lex sounds thoroughly amused when she opens her eyes and finally meets his gaze.

“Hello, Lena.”

<< Previous || Next >>

[gaitwae]

The Blessings of Damsels [|] Batman x OC

read on AO3!

Warnings: Slightly open-ended, hinted love triangle. 

Length: 8.4k

Summary: A short timeline of how Charlene Park got over Clark Kent and set boundaries with Bruce Wayne.

=-=-==-=-==-=-==-=-==-=-=

=-=-=

The wind felt exquisite on Charlene’s skin, calming her racing heart. It wasn’t every day where her life flashed before her — she had been left under a pillar near LexCorps, then saved by an angel named Superman. Her eyes, shut tightly and pressing away tears, helped her forget exactly why you couldn’t go back to Metropolis. It had been a week, and, yet, here you were. She was hiding from someone too important to her. Charlene was hiding from shaking buildings and crumbling roads and screams and glowing rocks and a reporter who kept disappearing every time that Superman kept showing up. 

She was done with the lying and the rejection.

She didn’t plan on jumping from the rail where she was standing. She didn’t want to hurt herself. She just wanted to see something else. 

So, in search of new scenery, of something alien to her, Charlene went to the most dangerous city in America. Albeit, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, it was something that at least distracted her. Central City was just too far to drive, and Gotham was supposed to be the sister city of her home. She could just forget about this man who had worried her sick, she could just relax and listen to the cars run and the flags flap and smell the sulfur and petroleum and the flowers in the box on the building beneath her. Way up on this rooftop, she let her surroundings melt away her fears.

Char sat on the ledge of the roof, setting her fingers under the concrete lip.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” a deep voice said, startling her. The stranger set a sleek, covered hand on her shoulder to secure her. “People jump all the time. I hope you’re not looking for an escape that way.” 

“Um,” Char started, trying to find her voice, “I wasn’t going to jump. I was just trying to get over someone.” She cleared her throat and dusted her clothes off. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not that it’s important… but he’s kind of important in Metropolis. I had to leave.”

There was a hum from the man who was behind her. Char looked up, seeing a black cowl and stubble dotting a square jaw and set lips. There was a familiarity to him — not that she knew him, but that she had seen him somewhere before. Charlene felt… well, not safe, but there was something comforting about him. As she looked closer, she noticed a large silhouette of a bat was weaved into the fabric on his breast.

Batman.

“How important can he be? He’s not Lex Luthor, is he?” the vigilante asked. He sat down next to Char, setting his cape underneath his legs so it flowed beneath him. His lips twitched upwards, but not quite. 

“He’s one of the biggest writers for the Daily Planet newspaper,” she said, laughing sadly. She felt like an idiot. Why was she spilling her guts out to this stranger? “Clark Kent, such a dork, but he’s always in the building. I work with him. I’m a newscaster —”

“Charlene Park,” he filled in. He turned to look at her, bright blue eyes gazing into her own orbs.

Charlene blushed. She wasn’t surprised. This was the Batman. He was crazy smart. Who knew how much he knew about anyone at the Daily Planet. Rumor was, Superman worked there, so of course, he might have known something about it. “You know my name. Creepy.”

He gave a slight nod as if agreeing with her. “You said it yourself. You’re a newscaster. I make it my job to watch the news.”

“For Metropolis, too?”

What a stupid question, of course for Metropolis too —

“Yes,” he said, patient and friendly. “Superman lives there. I have to know if I ever need to interfere. If he was ever mind-controlled, I need to be able to step in and save the world. The other members of the Justice League aren’t capable.” Each word that came from his mouth didn’t seem arrogant or rude at all. Batman was almost… melancholy. 

“So… you’re all by yourself?” she asked.

“I have my kids. They’re trained pretty well,” he replied. He turned his gaze out to Gotham City. He had a firm stare, unwavering and determined. Her heart dipped, sorry for him, impressed by him, and so… so weirded out, too.

Charlene looked out at the city, too. “I don’t have kids. I don’t have anybody. My parents died when I was young, I was never adopted, and I don’t have siblings.” She scratched the back of her neck. “Clark was my friend back in Smallville. It’s just been so odd, recently. He hasn’t been around as much, he’s been tailing Lois Lane, and I’ve been breaking my own heart over and over.” She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong — Clark’s a great guy! But…”

“That’s why it’s hard to get over him,” the Batman supplied. He bowed his head. An understanding was hidden beneath layers of quiet. “I don’t know what it’s like to be in love with some kind of Clark Kent, but I know what loneliness is, Miss Park.”

“Char.”

“Char,” he corrected himself. 

She cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. “Do you still feel lonely? With your kids?”

He shook his head a little. “Not as much, no. There are times I feel lonely, but I’ve been blessed. Your blessings will come, Char.” He turned to look at her. “I hope that helps.”

“It does,” she said, smiling. “What makes you so sure I’ll have blessings? I mean, you coming to talk to me seems heaven-sent, but that’s not a guarantee.” Charlene twisted her hands together, now restless. The Batman took his time to collect his answer.

“You’re a woman in her mid-thirties who still pines over her high school sweetheart,” he started. “You had one good thing, and it either ended or you grew apart. You built others up instead of yourself. You’ve waited patiently for what you want — but not for everything. You let some things go for others. You fought for everything and you’ve sacrificed it all. The foster homes were nothing, and yet it was the worst thing to live through. A kid with no one made herself into a someone, even if it was half of a someone.” The Batman rested on his elbows. “You’re too scared to let people go, but you’ve accepted people letting go of you or setting you aside. Char, you’ve got to have something coming to you.”

Charlene was stunned. How did he know all these things? Was she that obvious? Was she an open book? Or was that the hero of Gotham doing his job, once more? Oh, she couldn’t tell. Her skin prickled from both his sheer guesswork and the chilling night air. She wrapped her arms around herself. “Wow. You got all that just by listening to me for a few seconds?”

“And from feeling it myself or seeing my kids struggle with it.” He unclipped his cape, standing up. He wrapped it around her shoulders. The Batman stood close, but not too close. This was all too surreal. Charlene didn’t know how to feel. This stranger was becoming less and less of a stranger. She knew he wouldn’t want to be too close, and it was foolish to think that they would be close. This was just a weird talk about Clark Kent on a Sunday night, on the ledge of a rooftop. Being in love with Clark Kent was the least of her worries, anyway.

“Can I ask you something?” she whispered. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t protest. She waited about thirty seconds before saying anything. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her larynx didn’t want to cooperate. 

How to phrase this?

He set a hand on her head, signalling for her to continue. 

“If I wanted to talk to you again, how would I be able to do that?” she whispered. “I feel as if you’ve understood me more in ten minutes than my shrink has in years. Not to mention, you might be able to relate to me more than my shrink can. You said you felt some of this stuff yourself. Are you an orphan, too?” 

“That’s more than one thing,” he said. He looked down at her with a glint in his eyes. “Just go back to Metropolis. You’re needed there.”

Charlene stopped. Of course. Right. She put her palm to her forehead. “You’re right. I’ll have to just face Clark like normal.” She barked a laugh. “You’re a hero, Bats.”

“Good to know.” 

Char stood up. “You might want this back, won’t you?” She flapped the cape around her shoulders. She felt silly. She didn’t know this man. She knew nothing about him, and she was talking to him like she was talking to Clark. She wasn’t a writer; she wasn’t an interviewer; she was a reciter. This was all new to her. 

The cowled detective hooked a thumb in his belt. “I’ll walk you back to your hotel room — you can return it then, Char.”

=-=-= “The Batman Incident” was what Charlene came to remember that night as. It was fresh in her mind for weeks, as fresh as the minutes she had lived through it. Any time she felt crisp cool air on her neck, any time she was alone at night on her balcony, she was instantly reminded of the interaction. Charlene didn’t ache or wish or anything like that, but it didn’t stop her from trying to figure out why the moments felt so real compared to anything else she had been through. Out of all that, she had been now, instead of Clark’s hurt bothering her the most, it was the Batman’s words ringing in her ears. 

Char was sitting at Clark’s desk with the writer himself, now. He was leaning against it, scratching his head and playing with his glasses. Kent was antsy. He groaned, turned, then slapped his hands against the desk with a deep, deep sigh. “I can’t believe Lois caught an interview with Bruce Wayne. Wanna know the weirdest part?” he asked. He looked into Char’s eyes, pure confusion dressing his face.

“What’s ‘the weirdest part’?” she asked, repeating what he said exactly how he had said it. “She’s gotten interviews with the president of McDonald’s, before, Clark, I’m not exactly surprised. Lois is talented.” Char reached over the desk and grabbed a cup of coffee that had been nearly emptied, though had enough for her pleasure. She didn’t need to be an anchor, today. It was supposed to be her day off. She wouldn’t have even come in at all if Clark hadn’t asked her.

Charlene really needed to stop doing things because Clark asked. 

“The weirdest part was how he never accepts interviews. In fact, he asked if Lois still worked at the Daily Planet.” He shook his head, pinching his nose. “He asked if we could hold the interview here, otherwise it wouldn’t happen… oh, sometimes I think billionaires hate me…”

“Makes sense,” Charlene agreed. She propped herself up on her elbows. “Why wouldn’t they hate reporters and journalists? They could be talking with Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman.” 

Clark laughed dryly. “You have no idea how much I wish I was having an interview with Batman. Instead, I have to deal with Bruce Wayne.”

“Lois is having the interview with Wayne, Clark. Calm down. It’ll all be okay.” Char stood up, patted his back, then sat back behind his desk and took a long sip of his coffee. “Besides, Bruce Wayne can’t be that… scary…” She trailed off. She saw the elevator to the writing room open.

The man walking out of the elevator and toward her was not who she was supposed to be seeing. She might have been bad at recognition in general, but she remembered that square jaw, those blue eyes. She hoped against hope she was seeing things. “I take it back,” she whispered to Clark. Her old friend kept shooting his eyes back and forth between her, Wayne, and Lois Lane, trying to put the pieces together quickly. Charlene stood up, a smile tugging up her face at the sight of the man she wasn’t supposed to know. “He’s terrifying.”

“Charlene —”

“Mr. Wayne,” she greeted, speaking louder than Clark intentionally. “Welcome to the Daily Planet. How are you, this morning?” She extended her hand outwards to take his. Mr. Wayne took it, gave it a firm shake, then smiled broadly at her. 

“Charlene, right?” he asked, squinting his eyes and setting a hand on her upper arm in a friendly manner. His suit was about as straight as wrapping paper; shiny like it, too. He was just missing the Christmas bow.

“Yes!” she grinned. She set her hands on her hips. “Charlene Park: a lowly newscaster. I hope you like the Daily Planet and find some friends, here.”

Bruce smiled. “Then I suppose we’re friends already, Miss Park.”

“I guess we are,” she said. “Friends are life’s greatest blessings, aren’t they?”

“They are, I agree.” Bruce Wayne let go of her, moving back to Lois Lane. He kept his eyes on hers. He clapped his hands together lightly. “I have an interview to complete. It was nice meeting you, Char. I hope to see more of you.”

“Best of luck, Mr. Wayne.”

When Bruce Wayne walked away, Clark folded his arms tightly over his chest. “That was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen my dad in daisy dukes.”

Char cocked her head, trying to stifle a snicker. “Clark, c’mon. It wasn’t anything. I’m fine, really.”

The man fixed his tie, taking the empty coffee cup from his desk over to the office kitchen. As he walked past her, he said, “I’ll believe it when you don’t giggle at the billionaire.”

“Maybe he looks funny!” Charlene offered. 

“Har har!” Clark called. “I’m sure that’s it.”

=-=-= The interview with Bruce Wayne was done and over within record time. Charlene had never seen Lois so happy before. Bruce, on the other hand… Charlene had no idea someone could hide such a smile behind two eyes. 

She was shaking. She didn’t know if she was happy, mad, excited, or scared that she knew the man behind the mask all the way back in Gotham City. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what emotion she was feeling… or if she really wanted to know the man behind the mask in Gotham City. She kept replaying the Batman Incident in her head. She didn’t want to relive it. She didn’t want to have a vigilante smile at her and know exactly who she was pining for. 

Yeah, she still hurt for Clark. It wasn’t going to go away so quickly. But billionaire Bruce Wayne didn’t need to know that. 

She let her mouth run twice. She needed to keep a lid on it the next chance she got. To make sure she didn’t even risk it, Charlene packed up and left early. She was at home without another run-in with Bruce. 

Boy, did that make her feel worse. She felt terrible, cowardly. Running from her problems was just another thing Char found herself doing constantly. She had made herself some pasta, wrapped herself in a bathrobe over her T-shirt, and sat with a mug of sweet tea in her lap. 

Her newspaper clippings of the Batman littered her coffee table. Every award-winning article written by Clark was framed up. Her old dog was sitting next to her, chewing on his toy without a care in the world. For being a coward’s safe space, it was very comfortable.

“Real brave, Charlene,” she mumbled into the ceramic as she took a sip. She switched on the TV, hoping for white noise. “Just hope I was wrong about Wayne…”

“That depends on what you think you’ve found,” said the last voice she wanted to hear. Char exhaled through her nose.

“Come in,” she called. “Don’t just hang around in the shadows.”

The Batman slipped out of her bathroom door, cowl on and frown deep. He was regal and knightly, feet apart and shoulders taught. “Char,” he greeted.

“I was hoping you could tell me if I was wrong, actually.” Charlene sat up, putting her mug aside. She beckoned him over. He sat down next to her. “I just never noticed how similar the Batman is to Bruce Wayne.”

“Similar?”

“Like your eyes are the exact same shade of blue,” she reasoned. “And you wear the same aftershave, too.”

“Charlene,” the Batman said quietly, “anyone can have similar aftershaves and blue eyes.”

“Not everyone in Gotham knows who I am.”

“Not everyone in Metropolis knows who I am, either,” he countered. “Do you really want to know who I am?”

“I know Clark is Superman. Part of the reason I’m furious with him is that he lies to me.” Char made sure her emphasis was on lies. “The allegations would be too crazy for anyone to believe, trust me.”

“There are too-crazy people in Gotham that can’t know,” he answered. “I’m sorry. Even if I trusted you above everyone, your position makes it hard for me to tell you.”

“My position?” she repeated.

The dark knight looked at her as if it were obvious. It was, but she didn’t understand why she couldn’t at least hear the truth from him. “You’re a friend of Superman’s and a newscaster. I have responsibilities, a lot of them. My kids, my city, my assets.” He said assets, not money. He was a businessman at his core, even if he had the heart of a lion there, too. 

“Just tell me if Bruce Wayne can answer me, then.” Charlene stuck her hands under her arms. “Since the two of you already know I know.”

“Charlene,” he said quietly, roughly. She turned her head away. She felt insulted. 

It took her a second to realize it, but the Batman was pleading. He didn’t do it the same way Clark did. Clark would soften up, not set up defenses. Clark would take her hand, not give her space. Clark wasn’t anything like the Batman. He just sat, frozen, waiting his turn patiently. 

She had to be patient with him, too. She wasn’t a superhero. She didn’t know what this was like for him, but she could still be patient. So to help, Charlene waited, too, for what seemed like forever. She took his hand and squeezed it. He didn’t squeeze back, but he didn’t recoil. The hand was limp despite her grip and she couldn’t say that she blamed him for it; she was thankful he didn’t rip his fingers away so soon.

“Why did you agree to an interview?” she whispered. “And… and don’t say it wasn’t you. Lois doesn’t talk about me, I wasn’t wearing a nametag, and Bruce Wayne has no reason to be watching the Metropolis Daily Planet Newscast outside of the financial updates.” 

“I figured it was time for an interview,” he answered. The Batman didn’t deny it. Bruce didn’t deny it. He kept his eyes away from hers. “I remembered that you worked there. You owe me after that talk, so I came to collect.”

“You think you’re funny,” she said with a smile. “I appreciate your thoughtfulness… Lois will be grinning ear-to-ear for weeks because of you.”

“I was supposed to be meeting Clark, anyway. I figured the pitstop might be worth it.” Bruce’s lips twitched again. Char grinned broadly. He removed his cowl then faced her. “You could really tell it was me because of the eye color?” 

He seemed more at home in his bat armor. He was comfortable in this grey/black getup. When he wore the crisp suit, he seemed fidgety, but when he was sitting next to her, his muscles weren’t so tense. His eyes didn’t dart all over. He was at rest as the Batman.

“You do a good falsetto, but yeah, it was the eye color.” She stood. “Can I get you tea? Or are you going to disappear?” 

Bruce pressed his lips into a line. “I don’t know how long I can stay.  I have to drive home tonight… and I’m not the type for this sort of domesticity.” 

“I won’t tell anyone you’re docile,” Charlene promised, crossing her heart. She took her cup and went into the kitchen. “As long as no one knows about me, no one can hurt me or my family — there is no family to hurt.”

“You’ve thought this through?” he asked, footsteps not far behind hers. He stopped in the doorway. “May I?” He pointed to the kitchen wall lined with the cupboards and appliances. Charlene nodded. Bruce poked around her cabinets and her drawers, casually picking something up every now and again. She didn’t mind — he was getting to know her. He was a detective. She had nothing to hide, and he had everything to see. Win-win. “Impressive.” 

“I’ve been dying to see you, again,” she teased. “You could say I’m crazy for you.”

“Not really my type,” he mused. Char could hear items jangling around behind her. “Desperation isn’t my style.”

“But stopping a girl from jumping — when she wasn’t — is?” She poured another cup of tea, looking back at the dark knight. He was holding a spatula and studying it carefully. He pretended as if he hadn’t heard her.

“My son, Damian,” he started. He set the spatula down, digging for something else. “He wouldn’t admit it, but he would love to rescue a damsel in distress. I think he would like you.”

“I’m a damsel in distress?” she laughed. She set a teabag in the cup, doing a one-eighty to face Bruce. “Who are you? Some kind of prince charming?”

“The term is ‘knight in shining armor,’” he corrected. He closed the drawer he was meddling in. “The prince is the kid from Smallville, Kansas.”

“I’m from Smallville, Kansas.” Charlene walked over to him. Bruce was still standing rigidly. She didn’t know if he knew how to relax. Could he relax? Was it even physically possible for Bruce “the Batman” Wayne to relax?

“I’m from New Jersey.” He crossed his arms, rubbing his fingers together. 

“Hey. You don’t have the Jersey accent,” Char pointed out. She pulled his gloves off gently, setting them on the counter. She went to get his tea. “Let it steep for about thirty more seconds.” She set the mug in his hands. They were so large that the orange cup seemed like a plaything compared to a real item.

“I never said I interacted with New Jersey,” he said dryly. “I just lived there. I was raised by my butler.” 

“Does Detroit have any superheroes?” she wondered aloud. Bruce waved the tea under his nose, scrunching his nose upwards. He took a sip without glaring at the tea again. “Your butler sounds like a wonderful man. He raised you well.”

“I’m lucky.” He paused for a moment. “Aquaman, the Green Lantern, and Amazing Man live in Detroit. Why are you asking?”

Charlene patted his shoulder, throwing away everything he had just said. Truth be told, she just wanted to hear Bruce’s voice. “Not many kids are lucky.”

“Three of my boys are adopted,” he said quietly. He rubbed the mug that she had given him. “I give to adoption centers. It’s important to me to give kids homes where they’re loved. Clark Kent’s only known family’s love, and that’s what drives him. What drives me is the chance to make sure all sorts of people never have to worry about losing it.”

“I admire that,” Char murmured. “I wish I had a family of my own, but I just don’t have the time.”

“Someday, you’ll find the time.” Bruce gave her a smile. “I promise.”

Charlene smiled back. His small smiles were infectious. “I’ll hold you to that, Bats.”

=-=-= “Hey, Charlene?” Clark called from the living room. She was too busy combing her hair out and fixing her gown. She had received a letter in the mail (honestly, who does that anymore?) from Bruce, inviting her to a charity gala with him. She almost gave Clark a heart attack when she started laughing triumphantly at some paper. He wasn’t particularly happy that Charlene was going for a night on the town with Bruce Wayne, billionaire bachelor supreme. “Are you okay up there?”

“I’m fine, Clark!” she called back. “I’m just seeing a friend, tonight. Tell Martha and Johnathan I won’t be able to come to dinner tonight. I’m going to a foster care fundraiser with Bruce Wayne. I’d think you’d be coming to interview some of the guests there since you were adopted, too.”

“I can’t! I don’t have any way to get in. It’s private, Char.” Clark was starting to sound impatient. “Are you going to meet him or is he going to meet you?”

“He said he would pick me up!” she answered, finishing her eyeliner and walking downstairs. “Does that bother you, wonderboy?” She gripped the rail, fanning out her yellow skirt around her legs. She wore simple copper chains and glass earrings — nothing expensive, but classy enough that she didn’t look like a bum. Charlene knew Bruce liked his reputation (not a lot, but still) so she thought she would save him a few steps. No jewellery, no dresses. He would just have a friend tonight.

Clark’s eyes flew open wide. His cheeks colored. “Wow… you’re going like that?” He puffed his cheeks and took off his glasses. “You look…”

“Terrible?” she fretted.

“Like an angel. Like Wonder Woman,” he said quickly. He looked down at his lenses and quickly wiped them with his shirt like they were going to melt off his face. “You’re gorgeous. Wayne is going to love it, Char.”

“Thanks, Clark.” Charlene walked over and kissed his cheek. The writer wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest. He felt warm, he felt like home. She never had to worry about being something more than she was around Clark. But Bruce knew how to take her walls down. Charlene was better off with a friend than with someone who had never noticed her. Suddenly, she got an idea and pulled back to see Clark. “You should ask Lois out! I heard she likes the boys in blue.”

He stopped. “‘Boys in blue’? She knows?”

After meeting Bruce a few more times, she finally gained the courage to confront Clark about the whole Super-gig. She made sure she wasn’t going to be blown off — so sure, Char almost confessed her years-old feelings to him. She couldn’t have lived through that, even with Bruce’s support. They had talked through the deception and somehow managed to build better trust between themselves. She almost forgot why she had originally left Metropolis for that fateful encounter with Bruce Wayne.

“Clark,” she scolded gently. “You haven’t told her?”

“Listen, I’m working on it —,” he started, holding his hands up in defense. His feet slowly removed themselves from the floor. Charlene set her hand on her hip, pinching her nose. 

“You promised she would know before she kissed you, again.” 

Another reason why Charlene absolutely could not tell Clark she liked him. Lois, caught up in the rush of being a damsel, kissed her rescuer unabashedly in front of half the staff of the Daily Planet. Charlene’s heart didn’t break for the first time; it didn’t mean it didn’t crack a teeny, tiny bit. 

“I know I did —” There was a knock at the door. Clark’s face fell into a scowl. He tucked his knees up to his chest, silently moving toward the door, and straightening his clothes out once he reached his destination. “Wait there for a moment, Char.”

Charlene crossed her arms. “Clark.”

Clark opened the door. Bruce was standing on the doorstep with a single pink rose. “Hi,” he said, giving his signature subtle smirk. “Is Charlene ready? Tim’s not too patient behind the wheel.”

“Hi,” Clark greeted warily. He kept his fingers curled around the door. His gentle manner was nearly nightmarish. Every breath was a slow calculation of how to kill a billionaire and get away with it. Charlene sighed deeply into her hand. Clark continued despite her wordless sass. “She’s ready. You better know that if you hurt her —”

“I wouldn’t do it without a positive benefit,” Bruce swore. “Besides, I’m not the one who’s dancing between two ladies. Save the shovel talk.” He pat Clark’s shoulder, pushing him aside and out of the way. When his eyes hit Charlene, his jaw dropped. She had never seen that reaction before, so her temples tingled from slight self-consciousness. “Char, you look beyond stunning. You’re shining.”

A nervous laugh bubbled up Charlene’s throat. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” She grabbed her clutch on the side table where Clark was standing. Quickly, she hugged him in a farewell. “Bye, Clark.”

Clark released a big breath, hugging her back once more. He set her back next to Bruce. “Bye, Charlene. Bruce.”

“Clark,” he responded in kind. “I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.” Bruce put his arm around Charlene’s waist. “There won’t be any need to play hero; if there is, I’ve got all I need within reach.” With that, Bruce took Charlene out of the foyer and into his limousine. 

“That was weirdly intense,” Char commented. With the knight’s help, she sat next in the back of the cab. “Did he make you uncomfortable?”

Bruce took her hand and set the rose in her grasp before sitting down next to her. “No. He doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”

“Okay. Clark is very protective; I didn’t want you in the hospital for saying the wrong thing.” Charlene played with the rose in her hands, resisting the urge to breathe in the sweet aroma. The cab of the limousine was warm, spacious, and smelled comforting. It took her a second to realize it smelled like Bruce: his aftershave, his cologne, and a hint of something metallic. Her cheeks heated at the realization. 

How close had she and Bruce become? So close she knew exactly what Bruce smelled like? So close that she wasn’t nervous about the speculations tied to being on a billionaire’s arm? She looked at the rose petals. The color always meant something — Bruce always meant something. Pink… Why couldn’t she remember its meaning outside of being her favorite color? Why? Did she just forget everything the minute Bruce smiled?

“Char?” 

“I’m fine,” she said, snapping out of her thoughts. She set the rose down next to her, clasping her hands over her lap. “I guess I got so swept up in the idea of an adoption charity… I forgot who I was going with.” She looked at Bruce with a half-smile. “Thank you for taking me to this. I have as much as I can give on me, tonight; I even sold some of my old pieces of jewellery for these kiddos.” Charlene laughed nervously. “It seems so little compared to what you have… will it even be taken? I’m not an elitist. I’m not even close to well-off.”

Bruce’s eyebrows drew together. Something in his eyes softened, but she couldn’t pin what. He held her hand. “It’ll be taken. It’ll help someone, and any help at all can go a long way. You don’t have to worry about earning a position to give.” He tilted her head upwards, locking eyes with her. “You don’t have to earn anything. Not with me.”

She laced her fingers with his to signal her acknowledgement. Char couldn’t form words. She kept opening her mouth to protest but no sound came with the action — she felt helpless, yet all the same, she knew Bats would understand. Bruce let go of her hand to favor her face, instead. She leaned into the touch with a shaky breath.

“I’m not Clark, Charlene,” he whispered. “I’m not going to keep stringing you along; I won’t compare you to anyone or make empty promises. You’re more than a comparison.” Bruce brushed her hair out of her face, keeping those electric blues trained on hers. “You don’t have to earn anything from me. You don’t have to earn me.”

“I’m not…” Charlene stopped, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She didn’t want to talk about this; she didn’t want to beat around the bush, either. “Gosh, how do you know this stuff? Is it all estimation?”

“Observation,” he admitted. He kissed her forehead. “Cheer up. We don’t want your mascara to run just yet, do we?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath in to calm herself. She hadn’t realized her eyes were quite that full. “Bruce.”

He hummed, arching a brow. Yes?

“You don’t have to earn anything from me, either.” She kissed his cheekbone. The corners of his eyes crinkled, which made her smile. She rested her head on the dark knight’s shoulder. “You’re a good man.”

“But?”

“No ‘but,’” she hummed. “You’re a good man, and that’s all.”

=-=-= Saturday morning, three weeks after the gala, Charlene’s heart felt heavy and light at the same time. She couldn’t put the gala out of her mind: the party; the guests; the smiles on the Wayne boys’ faces; Bruce’s kindness. She was trying her best to think it all over. The waiters kept offering her champagne, but she declined every time. She didn’t drink out of anxiousness, yet the whole ordeal was a blur. Blurry, except the speech about the children, and the way Bruce’s smile widened every time she smiled back.

She was sitting at the window, holding a water bottle and gazing out into the street. It was raining. She had a few pink roses in a vase, all from Bruce. A note was attached, something like “Thank you for your support,” but it didn’t really matter to her. He was gentle in his own way. That was just the way the Batman was: gentle and swift, yet blunt and cold at the same time. How had she managed to stumble into his good graces? What if she brought down his reputation? What if she did the wrong thing?

The Wayne boys were very polite. Dick was making her laugh all night long, Jason knew how to talk old-money downlookers away, Tim was a good conversationalist, and Damian asked all the good questions. All the right questions. Questions like, “What’s your relationship with my father? Do you believe in this cause? Are you using my father? Do you know how to play Mario Kart?”

She almost couldn’t answer some of the questions. Were she and Bruce friends? Were they something else? Were they acquaintances? Was she being kept around because she knew who Bruce really was? When it came to Mario Kart and the adoption cause, she couldn’t say anything but “Yes!” enthusiastically. Every now and then, Bruce would come over to recharge. He seemed tired with all the interaction. 

Then there was the turn of the night.

The most vivid part.

Dancing with Bruce Wayne.

Charlene stopped herself from clawing over her heart. It was sinking deeper as she recalled the moment.

“You’re nervous, Char,” Bruce whispered into her ear. “Why?” The question was innocent, concerning. He kept a steady hand on the small of her back, swaying to the beat of the soft jazz band. He was a natural at it. Charlene did her best to hold onto him, gripping his shoulder and his hand. 

“I’ve never been to anything like this, before. Not even some kind of prom,” she laughed quietly. She looked down at their feet. Bruce was leading, but what else was new? The floor gleamed… Bruce’s shoes were worn, despite his money and status… Worn shoes said a lot about how he spent his money on himself. Oh! Beneath the suit, it was clear that he wore a compact utility belt — at least, it was after learning he wore one everywhere. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing, at all,” Charlene continued. “After talking with your boys, it just made me realize how scared I was to be jumping into this life with you.” She cleared her throat as she prepared to tell him exactly what was on her mind. “I know I’m just on a leash to keep you guys safe. You really don’t need to worry about me.”

The dance halted. No one paid any attention to them, keeping up with the music and circling around them. “Is that what you think?” he asked. Amusement lined his words, as well as a vague hint of hurt. “You’re just a liability?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Charlene had answered honestly.

As of right now, she still felt like a liability. Even though Bruce had promised her she didn’t have to earn anything, her heart was having difficulty believing it. She looked over at her vase of roses. Were those flowers from him? Or were they a product of manners?

Was she seeing things that weren’t there?

Bruce had been so quick to answer her when she admitted her insecurities. He had taken his hand out of hers. “You’re not a liability.” He ran his hands through her hair, pulling her closer. “If you were a liability, I would have used other ways to keep an eye on you.”

Char’s heart was racing faster by the second. “Ba… Bruce…” She wanted to call him Bats. She wanted to say so many things, just then. She wondered if Bruce could feel her pulse through that utility belt he had under his suit. His eyes fluttered shut before she realized what was happening. She didn’t want to believe it was real.

With a never ending, agonizingly slow quickness, lips met hers. Moving, soft, warm lips met hers and drew a gasp from her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to reciprocate the best she could without losing her cool.

Now, three weeks later, she hadn’t talked to Bruce about it. She hadn’t brought it up. He didn’t verbally acknowledge it, so neither did she. A kiss with Mr. Wayne meant nothing. Not in public. Not when he had a false reputation of being a playboy. A kiss between them would have meant the world… but that was in the middle of a gala; in the middle of a party filled with people Bruce was supposed to impress. 

So, even though she loved that kiss, she was still confused about Clark and she was miserable about the manner it came about. She wanted to know the truth. She knew if she asked he would have an obvious answer and call her a fool for believing him. 

“Hey, Charlene?” Clark called. Her ears pricked back at the sudden noise. She stood up and walked downstairs, rubbing under her eyes to make sure there weren’t any tears. She hadn’t cried, yet, but she didn’t want to start crying over it, either. “Come here.” 

“What, Clark? Can’t you see I’m busy moping about — …what is that?” she yelped. Clark was standing with his writing tablet facing outward, a glower painted over his features. She could hardly care about his nasty expression, however. There she was, her yellow evening gown and Bruce’s hands laced in her hair, plastering the first article of the month. Big, bold words read: 

“Bruce Wayne Finds New Lover — Will It LAST?” 

“Who took that picture!?”

“You’re saying this is real?” he asked angrily. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose tightly. “Charlene!”

“I’m sorry!” she apologized, not really sorry. “We’re not lovers, anyway — it was one kiss. Who wrote the article?”

“You never kiss people you don’t know.” Clark turned the screen back to his face, scrolling down and shaking his head. “Jimmy wrote this one, I think, I recognize the alias. I should have known something was going to happen when I told him to follow you…”

“For the record, Clark, all I’ve ever wanted was to kiss you,” she snapped. “Bruce is just differe— you sent Jimmy to follow me!?” She was so engulfed in her defenses that she forgot she had just told Clark she had feelings for him. She didn’t even register the implication that they didn’t matter anymore. She was angry at Jimmy, and at Bruce, and at Clark. She grabbed a throw pillow and fluffed it furiously. She needed an outlet. “I can’t believe you.”

“It’s Bruce Wayne, Char,” he said. He set his tablet down on the coffee table. “He’s not exactly the safest guy to get involved with.”

“And neither were you! I appreciate the worry, but it’s misplaced.” She spun around to stick her finger at Clark accusingly. “For ten whole years I tried to tell you I was in love with you, Clark, so don’t even try to talk to me about what’s good for me! You hear? I can kiss Bruce Wayne if I want to.”

“You tell him, Char,” a small voice came from behind the TV stand. Charlene and Clark both froze. Charlene knew who that was. She did her best not to sigh.

Muffled, a much bigger voice complained, “Look what you did! Now we’re caught. Bruce is gonna —”

“Shh!”

Clark moved over and gently removed the TV stand. “Damian I expected, but you, Dick? That’s low. Spying on Charlene?” 

“She’s a friend of Father,” the young boy answered for his big brother. “After the gala, he went to brood in the Bat Cave and when he came up, he said she was going to be more involved.”

“I think he’ll be happy to hear you like him, Charlene,” Dick smiled. He extended his legs and sat like a toddler on the floor. “We came here on our own, by the way. We wanted to surprise you by picking you up and surprise him by bringing you to Gotham. We racked his schedule up with business meetings so that we could pull this off. Think of it as a rescue.”

“Surprise me,” she regurgitated. She wanted to cry, laugh, scream, and fall over all at once. “You wanted to surprise me.”

“Sure. Why not?” Damian shrugged. “But your friend, here, got in the way with all his mumbling and weird comments about our father. He’s scary but I could take him.” That comment made her smile. Damian taking on Clark. Dangerous, but it still tickled her mind.

“They were not weird —”

“Yeah, they were.” 

“Guys, guys,” Charlene interjected, “Bruce and I aren’t much more than friends. He’s just my knight in shining armor.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “If anything were to happen, it would be very slow.” She made sure each male looked at her. “Very, very slow.” 

“So he does make you happy?” Clark asked quietly. 

“He does,” Charlene confirmed. “It could be more with work. Relax, Clark. You’re not going to be walking me down the aisle so soon.” 

He squeezed his eyes tightly, confusion coloring his face. “So when you said you used to want to kiss me…”

“It’s mostly ‘used to,’ now, yeah.” Charlene’s mouth moved before she even filed how truthful the statement was in her brain. She sat down on the couch, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I hope that’s not an issue — I know you don’t approve of Bruce.”

Clark pursed his lips. He set his hands on his hips and looked at the two delinquents on Charlene’s floor. “The gala with you and Wayne wasn’t a full-on date. Was it?”

“He and I went to sponsor the same cause and spend time together as friends. It couldn’t have counted as a romantic date, anyway,” she said. “The boys spent more time talking to me than Bruce did.”

“I saw him kiss you, though —”

“Dick, shut up,” Damian hissed. “You’re not helping.”

Clark tried for a smile. “I just want you to be safe and happy, Charlene.”

Charlene nodded, feeling much better since the gala. She had made an impression on the Wayne family? “I know I will be.”

=-=-= Charlene, in the end, told the boys she wanted to stay at home and sent Clark back to the Daily Planet to do his work. She had a lot to think over. She took a seat in her loveseat and got comfortable. She had to sit there for a long while. A kiss with a billionaire, a concerned Kansas Chiefs fan, four young men who already looked up to her, and a melting pot of feelings. If this were a young adult novel, she would have already picked someone by now. She had roses in a vase that called her name. She had a heart that wanted her attention, too.

Her whole past screamed for her to let go of Clark Kent — she was learning to set those unrequited feelings aside. He had always looked out for her and been her friend. Sometimes friendship, in the end, was just friendship. Clark was in love with Lois Lane. By the looks of things, he was starting to grow closer to her. Stepping away from that, Charlene could see he was happy; for the first time in years, that didn’t sting as much as it had before. 

Then there was the new friendship: Bruce Wayne. He was more than a friend, but less than a romantic partner. His affection was a different brand than Clark’s in all the good ways. He brought some kind of freshness, a sense that she never had to pretend to be pulling herself together. She knew deep in her heart that Bruce would have a hard time being with her — she would find difficulty being with him, too. They had much in common, as well as a lot of differences. He saw through her, she saw through him. Charlene needed some kind of stability. She needed a friend that offered their hand instead of shared reliance. 

Clark was the bright summer’s day that you longed for in the winter; he was the smell of newly cut grass and the way a paintbrush head felt between someone’s fingers. He was khakis and ball caps and the colors in the sunrise. He had always been the simple pleasures in Char’s life. 

Bruce Wayne had already proved what he was. He was the necessity in life like the clap of thunder in the middle of the night or the hardwood floor on bare feet. Bruce was the crowded streets of Metropolis after dusk; he was petrichor after a much-needed rain, the thimble on your thumb, he was the flick of the light switch that you could never balance. He was the mundane, everyday wakeup call that life was buzzing everywhere around her.

That was the difference between Clark and Bruce. Charlene had always had Clark, but she could imagine life without him. When it came to the Batman, she had a hard time thinking about her life without the petrichor on concrete, the snippy wind on her ears, and the occasional clap of thunder. She didn’t need him, but he was her equal.

He was the equal. 

Not the hero. 

“I’ll have to tell him, then,” she sighed. Charlene buried her face in her hands. 

“Tell who what?” a gravelly voice came from behind her. His presence was close. Char leaned back and extended her hands. 

“You,” she said. Bruce pushed her hands back down, setting his own on the cushion behind her. “We need to talk about what happened at the gala, don’t we?” 

“I don’t see why,” he replied. “You know it was a public display of affection.”

“From the world’s Bruce Wayne,” Charlene countered. Bruce pressed his lips into a line. “Not mine.”

“I know. I figured if the world knew you were Bruce Wayne’s, it would give you a chance to find that time you wanted,” he said slowly. “The boys could teach you how to defend yourself. You’d always have a place at Wayne Manor.”

“But what about us?” she asked, turning to see him better. “C’mon, Bats, you know that kiss was a little more than just a well-rounded plan to turn me into a Bat-Person.”

The dark knight was still for a long second. “It was a moment’s weakness. Even if we wanted to pursue a relationship —”

“We both know we do.”

“— neither of us are ready for it.”

Charlene stood on the loveseat. She cupped Bruce’s face, holding his jaw with both palms. “I agree. I think we should take our time before we even worry about labeling this.”

“We cannot be involved.” He held her hands, prying them ever-so-gingerly from him. “You aren’t ready for the livestyles I come with. I’m not ready for that kind of —”

“Domesticity,” she said with him, nodding. “I know, I know. You don’t want to be a husband, I don’t want to be a wife. No, we can’t be involved, yet.” She rested on her forearms. “You can guess what that means.”

He smiled sadly. “You won’t come stay at Wayne Manor.”

“Not for extended periods of time,” she answered with the same bittersweet expression. Char stroked his cheek. He had been so open to her physical affection. “It wouldn’t really work the way we want it to.” 

“You mean Alfred will be asking about dress shopping?”

“I’ll be asking about dress shopping!” she teased. “Why are you here, exactly?”

“If I said that you no longer worked at the Daily Planet, what would you do?” he asked bluntly. 

Charlene stopped. “I would ask you to fix it, right now.”

He hummed. “You want Clark, still?”

“No,” she said defiantly. She crossed her arms. “I’m just not ready to date, yet.” Charlene was quickly learning how to own herself around Bruce. She felt at home, like he was at home in his spandex. Bruce made her feel like her own woman: strong, compassionate, and happy. If he could be her complement, she could do anything. Absolutely anything.

Bruce leaned in, smirking. Charlene hit him with a pillow, which he promptly caught. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

“Promise to try someday?” she teased.

“Maybe.”

[cyclone-rachel]

happy birthday @mistyautumn !!

~

It’s sunrise, when she finds him on the Tower balcony.

“Good morning, Kara.” he says without turning around and looking at her, and she has to wonder if he saw her in his peripheral vision, or just calculated that she would be there at that time.

(To be fair, he had seen her doing just that- watching the sunrise- whether it was at her apartment, or the DEO, quite a few times- and had joined her, however briefly before their days had truly started. It hadn’t been for a while, though… for a couple of reasons she didn’t want to think about right then.

No point in metaphorically bringing dark clouds over their sunrise.)

“Hi, Querl.” she says standing beside him- and caught a small smile from him, as his eyes met hers. She hadn’t intended on using his real name, but it just happened to slip out- and she hadn’t even heard it in such a long time, she hoped she’d gotten the pronunciation right.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I… I missed you.”

She nods.

“I understand.” she says, and holds her hand out- waiting, as slowly his hands come out from behind his back, where they were so carefully positioned, and one of his ends up in hers. He looks over at her, and she smiles at him.

“I missed you too.” she says.

She missed everything- her friends, this whole city, this whole world, even though she doesn’t know it as well. She missed her apartment, and donuts, and pizza and potstickers and sister nights with Alex and game nights with everyone.

She missed sunrises, and for that matter seeing the sun at all, getting to greet it in the morning and feeling its light. Feeling closer to Rao, to the remnants of Krypton that she holds in her heart.

And yes, she missed him, she realizes as she sees a tear fall down his cheek. She had all along, but seeing him here and now makes her remember how little she’s seen him even before she was thrown into the Phantom Zone.

(And she wonders how much he’s speaking for the past few months too, in addition to this more recent separation)

She especially missed… not exactly this new version of him- but the person he was always meant to be, who he should have been were it not for his father’s need to assert control and prevent him from being his whole self. Truly uninhibited, happy- standing tall and proud in a purple super-suit, greeting the sunrise in his natural Coluan form. Not burdened by secrets or Lex anymore, holding nothing back.

“Ah.” he says, following her eyes as they quickly travel up and down his body. “You noticed.”

“Noticed that your image inducer isn’t turned on right now, yeah.” Kara says, with another smile. “I… haven’t seen much of you like this. You look really good. I’m happy for you.”

“Oh.” He answers. “It’s more than just turned off. I’ve removed it from my person, completely.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“I… have wanted to do so, since I officially rejoined the Super-friends, as it were. But I waited- and thought it would be appropriate to tell you first, since you inspired me to remove my inhibitors to begin with.”

“I did.” Kara realizes. Some of her memories are still a little bit hazy, but she remembers that conversation- hearing the pain in his voice as he recounted his story, and she realized how much his father’s fears had impacted him, and led him to fear himself. Remembered putting as much conviction as she could into her reassurances that he wasn’t like his mother, and would never be.

She’d told him he was loved, and she…

She and the rest of them had ignored him, as he worked for Lex. She’d forgotten- and none of what she’d said had carried over to what had happened next.

“I’m sorry.” She says. “For doubting you.”

“And I am sorry for failing you.” He answers. “Being unable to figure out a way to navigate the Phantom Zone sooner, and unable to prevent you from being sent there in the first place.”

“You did the best you could.” Kara tells him. “Everything is different in there now, and…”

At least it was only a few weeks.

Sometimes, even now in her apartment, Kara has nightmares- that this is just another illusion, and when she does wake up, when she’s pulled out for real, it’ll be another 24 years lost, her family and friends all having lost hope and moved on without her.

She has to keep reminding herself it’s real, that what she sees now is all true. She has her father back, she wasn’t gone for very long, and though Zor-El is different from when she saw him last (and she knows more about what he did, on Krypton) she’s still glad to see him again.

And she gets to wake up and see the sunlight, and talk with one of her friends again.

“I’m sorry.” She says, shaking her head. “You were talking about why you removed your inhibitors.”

“It is alright.” He answers. “There is… a lot of catching up, that we have to do.”

“There really is.”

“And yes- I was telling the truth, about your words being nothing short of magic.” He says. “Well… the subject of myself believing in “magic” as a concept is not relevant. The point is, I came to realize that I should trust myself, after said conversation- that it had been a long time, since the inhibitors were put on, and I was more than capable of self-control, no longer needing them. And whatever happened, you and the others would be there to help.”

“That’s right.” Kara says.

We should have helped more.

“Now… I have indeed become overwhelmed by my emotions. But I am learning to deal with them- in ways that all beings do. Naturally, without needing to regulate them by force.”

Kara squeezes his hand.

“I had to deal with that too.” She says. “You never stop learning it, I guess. But you still try.”

“Indeed.” He tells her. “And because I have removed my inhibitors, I can finally look at myself and not feel ashamed. I dealt with them for such a long time because I thought I deserved them, and tried to do the best I could while wearing them. Now, I see that I can be so much more, and indeed I am- and I want to show that to the world, permanently.”

“But what about the timeline?” she asks. “Wouldn’t people seeing a Brainiac helping Supergirl… change things?”

“Not as significantly as… other events.” He answers, glancing back at the Tower. “That is another conversation. But I have run calculations, and the answer for this particular question is no.”

“Then I’m proud of you.” Kara says. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

She turns to face him, and he turns toward her, expression telling her that he isn’t completely sure what to do next.

“Can I hug you?”

“Of course.” He says, and she does- hoping that this begins to make up for lost time.

But they have a lot of opportunities for that, and this is only the start of a new day for both of them.

And she, for one, can’t wait to continue it.

[owl-with-a-pen]

Nia getting hurt and brainy turning to team-flash for help because he feels hopeless. Ty <3

- I've never written for The Flash characters before, so I hope this is okay! Seeing as Cisco recently left the show, I thought it'd be nice to focus on him. Thank you for the prompt! x

From day one, Cisco had learned that being a part of Team Flash meant staying on your toes, always keeping vigilant for the next attack and always being prepared for the subsequent counterattack Star Labs’ resident tech genius – aka him - could provide. It also meant, expect the weirdest thing imaginable and, then? Oh man, you gotta triple that.

Still, even with all of that in mind, Cisco was in no way prepared for an alien super genius to swoop in from God-knows-where and systematically dismantle his lab, not to mention steal his thunder in the process.

All in the space of under twenty minutes.

"Hey, so I’m flattered you came to us for help,” Cisco finally called out from the lab’s doorway. “But, this might be easier if you actually, I don't know? Talk to us."

Cisco had been watching in bewilderment as Brainy ran around his lab, muttering under his breath as he picked up various pieces of experimental tech with both parts appraisal and derision before throwing them each none-too-gently aside. Cisco flinched when Brainy threw one of his most recent experiments – an advanced interdimensional extrapolator designed in theory to breach the new universes that had been created by Crisis – onto the countertop. And it’d stay totally theoretical if Brainy continued to pay the same amount of care to Cisco’s handiwork as one might a discarded candy wrapper. God, he really needed to start marking these things as fragile - especially when company was over. Then again, he hadn't expected a visit from the fourth kind today.

"Hey, dude, talk to us, c'mon, we won't bite," Cisco prompted, holding up his hands placatingly. When Brainy continued without so much as a word thrown in their direction, Cisco turned to Caitlin desperately, nudging her arm. "Tell him we don't bite," he whispered loudly.

"We don't bite," Caitlin repeated exasperatedly. She’d been watching Brainy with care since he’d barged through Star Lab’s front doors. Because, seriously, could anyone just walk into this place? "Brainy - I understand you're worried for your girlfriend, but we can help you. Just tell us what you need."

Cisco knew that something big was going down in National City, enough that Kara had called ahead last minute to inform Team Flash that they’d be getting a surprise visit from one of the Super Friends. Surprise really had been the understatement of the day. Nearly the second Caitlin had been off the phone with Kara, Brainy had decided to make his grand entrance.

"I don't need anything from you," Brainy said through his teeth, quite possibly the first coherent sentence he’d directed to anyone since his arrival. He continued to move restlessly, shuffling through another pile of technology. "I require your equipment,” he elaborated stiffly. “Since the DEO's destruction, we are rather limited on supplies."

Cisco cringed. "Ooh yeah, I heard about that. Some alien god, right?"

Bad call, Cisco realised immediately. The second the words had come out of his mouth, Brainy tensed, hunching his shoulders.

"His name was Rama Khan,” Brainy said, his voice strained. “He came from a race of ancient beings."

“So, not a god?" Cisco said quickly, glancing to Caitlin for support. When she only shrugged, he fumbled for something, anything, to lighten the mood. “I mean, figures, right? Out of every form of media out there, it had to be Ancient Aliens that was on the right track.”

Brainy made a disgruntled sound at that, dangling another piece of tech out into his line of sight before making to throw it over his shoulder.

“My tachyon filtrator!” Cisco lurched forward, eyes wide. “Hey, hey, stop that!” He snatched his experimental baby from Brainy’s hands seconds before disaster, pointing an accusing finger at him. “No more throwing my stuff, got it?”

"Cisco," Caitlin murmured in warning. "Don't."

"Easy for you to say,” Cisco shot back. “He's not throwing your stuff." Cisco strode over to his workbench, collecting as many of his unfinished designs as he could carry into his arms and very deliberately placing them as far away from prying Coluan fingers as was humanly possible.

Cisco could feel Brainy’s eyes watching his every move, though he wasn’t sure if there was even a hint of an apology in his expression. From the short time they’d worked together in the past, he remembered Brainy as being pretty unfiltered when it came to conversation, if not a little socially inept. Still, he got his nickname for a reason. Dude was literally a walking talking supercomputer, capable of calculating probability to such a high degree of accuracy, he might as well have been psychic. In any other circumstance, Cisco would’ve been eager to pick his brain, maybe even get his input on some of his more complex designs.

Right now, though? Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, especially when he was so clearly distraught with what was happening over in National City.

Cisco had never formally met Dreamer before, but he’d seen her on the news enough to know that she was incredibly powerful. If something had taken her down, he knew it had to be bad.

And so, when Cisco was certain his tech was safe, he turned back to Brainy, eyeing him expectantly.

Finally, Brainy rolled his shoulders, closing his eyes. "Dreamer was affected by a meta," he explained carefully, lowering his chin. "The DEO had stockpiled technology, archived files on known meta attacks and their countermeasures. We- no, I lost that."

Well, Cisco didn’t need to be a twelfth-level whatever to know what Brainy was going through there. The guilt in his voice was practically tangible. Cisco seemed to remember that the DEO had had a sudden change in management during Lex Luthor’s reign, and if the files he’d been able to hack during that handover were true, then it’d been Brainy who’d been heading operations before the organisation’s literal collapse.

And now, Brainy’s girlfriend was in danger, caught in the crosshairs of a situation that couldn’t be fixed because of his mistake. Cisco swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat; he knew he wouldn’t have fared any better if Kamilla had been in that kind of danger.

"We've all done stuff we've regretted," Caitlin said carefully, stepping into the room. She folded her arms over her chest loosely, her brow furrowed with concern. "Look, maybe we don’t know each other very well, and maybe we can't even help advise you, but you clearly came here looking for something in particular so, we can at least supply you, right?” When Brainy turned towards her, eyes glimmering, Caitlin offered a gentle smile. “No one knows this lab's layout like Cisco, and if you need medical supplies, I've got you covered." Brainy held very still as Caitlin crossed the room and, when she was close enough, she reached out, hesitantly patting him on the shoulder. For all the confidence she was boasting right now, Cisco was far too aware that this was the closest alien encounter she'd had since meeting Kara, and for a lot of that time she'd been fronting as Frost.

"It's an extensive list," Brainy said warily. He didn’t shrug away from Caitlin’s touch, at least, which Cisco took as a small victory.

"Hey,” Cisco said, puffing out his chest, “you’re talking to Team Flash, here. I think we can handle it.”

Brainy’s eyes darted away from them both for a long moment, scanning empty air. When he blinked back into reality, he nodded, bowing his head. "Very well," Brainy relented.

With that, he made a vague gesture towards his head, pointing underhandedly with two fingers towards Cisco's pocket. In the same instant, his phone buzzed twice against his leg, indicating a text notification. Cisco fished it out of his pocket in confusion.

"I have transferred everything I need to your phone,” Brainy said by means of explanation.

“Huh. So you have,” Cisco said, eyes wide as he stared at the list of tech, trying very hard to keep his cool instead of grinning like an idiot at that awesome display of alien superpower. Maybe once he’d finished locating this stuff for Brainy, putting together the right machine to help his girlfriend, he’d have a chance to actually ask him some questions.

For now though, finding all this stuff took priority.

Cisco bit his cheek, nodding firmly. “Alright then,” he said, cracking his neck. “Looks like we should get started.”

Even though Brainy’s returning smile was pained, it was still a smile, which was definitely progress.

And hey, maybe Cisco would see a genuine one once Dreamer was safe and sound. Because he was gonna make sure that happened.

After all, that was what Team Flash was all about.

[leahseclipse]

May the show begin (Part 2)

May the show begin masterlist | Masterlist

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Angst

Warnings: Kidnapping, general criminal minds stuff, angst, cursing, blood, mentions of death.

Summary: While working on a case, y/n gets targeted by the unsub that kidnaps her.

A/N: Hello! Here's the 2nd part! Thank you to everyone who liked the first part, it means a lot to me!! I hope you'll like this one- I really do my best at every fic, I hope it's not too bad- lmk if you liked it- have a good time reading. - Lex

Don't hesitate to send requests, I'll be more than happy to write them!

Word count: 5.5 k

_______

"Y/N."

I woke up with a start after hearing a voice calling my name.

I looked around, but no one was there. I almost thought it was Spencer calling me for a second.

I immediately felt panic invade my whole mind as I realized the situation I was in.

The room was dark, which didn't reassure me at all, because I hated being in the dark, and in this situation, I wasn't even somewhere safe.

I'm scared.

I want to get out of here.

What is going to happen ?

I knew that the following hours, or even days would be the worst days I'd ever have, and I didn't even know if I would get out of here alive.

I couldn't be sure of that.

It didn't really take long until I realised that I've also been drugged. I was struggling to stay awake, and my sight was blurry for a while.

I even tried to move for a bit, but quickly noticed the ropes restraining me.

As I tried to dig into my memories, trying to even remember anything from yesterday, the only thoughts that came were the faint sounds of a car, and then...screams.

My screams.

The next thing I did after almost regaining full consciousness was to look at my own body; I had felt a soft fabric against my skin, but still couldn't guess whether it was my clothes or not.

Then, as I lowered my head,

I realized.

Someone had put a dress on me.

I knew that I had this on for a specific reason, but I still couldn't remember why.

I did my best not to crack under the pressure, because the more I'd look around, the more I'd feel like crying out of panic. My head was full of panicked thoughts, I prayed for it to stop, but I knew well that I couldn't. Not until I'd get out of here.

If...hold on.

I remembered something.

The dress.

It's what was on the women that are now...dead.

Right now, what I only wished for was for someone to find me as quickly as possible. I couldn't remain calm, knowing that I could eventually die here.

This wasn't planned at all, I never thought this would happen one day, I did everything to protect myself, be careful outside, and some guy, or girl, managed to get into my apartment to kidnap me.

And right now, being the nervous and dramatic wreck I am, I could only think of the worst things that could happen. And...that are about eighty percent accurate to happen, I'd say.

This really can't...I'm not done saying all of the words I need to say to Spencer, I need more time with him, my life can't end now, it can't end here.

We're even supposed to get married. We're too busy with work that we haven't planned anything yet.

I can't leave him behind like that.

I can't.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound, causing me to come back to reality.

I suddenly heard the door opening, followed by footsteps; these becoming louder as the person approached.

"Hello there." He said, as I froze out of fear, his voice sending chills down my spine.

"I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances. I wished I could have processed this meeting in another way. But apparently, you were quite busy with your job. It was quite difficult to catch up with your schedule. So, I had to pay you an unexpected visit. It's nice to see you again y/n." He added, as he walked in front of me. I looked at him while he talked, but his face was masked, I couldn't see anything.

It's nice to see you again'? Do I...know him?

I still couldn't put a name on the voice, but I knew I did hear it somewhere. But the problem is that I didn't know. It could be an old friend, a colleague, a neighbor, but unless he'd say his name, I wouldn't know.

"You can talk, you know, I didn't say you weren't allowed." He let out a laugh, his hand touching my face, while he traced my jawline with the tip of his fingers.

"I...why am I wearing a dress," I finally let out, with a shaky voice. "And how do you know me…?" What I just asked was probably stupid when I thought about it after, but I was too terrified to think of anything else. These were the only words I managed to let out. I guess it's better than the curses. Maybe.

"Oh, the dress. I made it just for you. It's just a bit loose, sorry. I couldn't get your measurements from far, when I was watching, so...I did my best. I hope that you like it. I didn't want you to keep what you were wearing, it wasn't very pretty." He paused, probably thinking about the other question. 

"And, how do I know you…? Well, it's not my job to tell you, you're a big girl, so I think you can remember it by yourself. It'll come, soon enough. It's not difficult, you used to see it all the time, a long time ago, and kinda...recently." He said, as he put his hand on my hair, taking a strand between his fingers. 

This really has to be a joke. What am I supposed to do, guess your name until I get the right one?

"You really are...amazingly pretty. If I kill you, I can't keep you forever. That'd be a shame, really. I can keep you for a while, if you behave nicely. So, be an angel and don't make me angry, okay?" 

"Be a angel"...how am I even supposed to react to that?

"...keep me forever, why?"

"You see," He said, as he kneeled in front of me. "I couldn't keep watching you, you exactly look like my daughter would have looked like if she lived another ten years. But, some bastard killed her, and now, all I have left...is you. I can feel her presence through you, I know she's here. That's why I want to keep you for a while. You'll love me, soon enough. It'll be like the old days. I just, really am obsessed with you. It'll probably hurt your poor boyfriend, but I'm sure he won't mind if I take you from him. He won't."

He totally lost his mind. I don't think he's thinking sanely right now. If I take his words, his mind totally blew up when he saw me…like to the point he'd do things, without getting scared of consequences, he hadn't realised at all the risks he took, and I don't think he does right now.

I could feel the rage burning sensation in my body growing larger every second I'd look at him. He should consider himself lucky that the rope is too tight for me to move. Otherwise, he'd have no face anymore. 

I couldn't help but wonder why he would do that. Both my father and sister died when I was only 10, but I didn't go and stole someone else's father and daughter to replace mine. It took a long time, because I had to accept the death of someone twice, suffer even more, alone, in my room for months, but I coped with it and moved on a few months after, taking control over my life once again after the event I've been through. 

I know they would have wanted me to do that. They both hated it whenever I was sad.

"Why do...you just take girls from their families, to just end up killing them a few days after? Is making people suffer okay?"

"Look, if I do that, this way sweetie...the police will finally understand my anger. It's been two years, and they still haven't found the guy who killed her. I even wonder if they haven't forgotten about it, or given up. And after, they proudly appear in newspapers while a killer is still on the loose. Wow, look how great police is."

Is this how people are supposed to cope with the death of someone? Making other people suffer isn't the right way when you have to deal with a loss.

"Killing people won't resolve things, it's sad for you, but sadly, it won't bring her back. I won't." 

"We'll see that; if your smart-ish friends manage to find you. Unless they don't, you'll get to travel with me. Exciting isn't it? I know, right? You'll like it. I can feel it. You'll become my pretty little doll. Till you break. I hope it'll last long. We've only been together for half a day. We have plenty of time to get to know each other once again. It's been a long time since our last meeting so I'm sure we both have a lot of things to say. A lot.

"You're fucking crazy." 

"If you say so. But soon, you'll like- no, you'll adore me."

"Never." I exclaimed, glancing at him, my eyes filled with all the rage I felt for him in this moment. He'd be stupid if he didn't see that.

"You won't say that in a few days. I think you'll even beg-" He said, cutting off mid sentence, before I spat at his face. 

I knew the consequences of it, but I didn't regret it. Now, he'd know that I'm not his toy, and that I'll certainly not beg him for anything. 

He stepped back, chuckling, before hitting me in the face with his fist. Soon enough, a few drops of blood flowed from my nose, falling on the dress, as the tissue slightly absorbed it.

I didn't know if it was the punch or the effects of the drugs that I had just felt, but I suddenly felt tired as he hit me, bringing me back to the state I was in when I woke up.

"You bitch...who do you think you are to do that? TELL ME." He yelled, his voice filled with anger. Even though I couldn't see his face, I knew it probably was red from all of the anger he's been accumulating.

The veins on his hands contracted, surely meaning he was restraining himself from hitting me again, or even...strangling me. 

"I'm...not a toy...for you to play with. It's sad that she died...but I already said I won't replace her."

"I NEVER ALLOWED YOU TO TALK, SHUT UP!" He paused, taking a large breath of air, as he pointed at me with his index. "You'll do...whatever I'll tell you. If you care enough about the ones around you. That'd be a shame for them to die because of their...stubborn friend." He added, glancing at me as he left the room, aggressively closing the door.

I couldn't stop shaking the whole time he was in. I'd never imagined that this would ever happen to be one day. It happened to Spencer, and I was devastated the whole time. Watching him on the livestream, I couldn't stand it for more than a few minutes. 

And now that I'm in the same situation, he's the one that is suffering. None of us know if I'll get out of here alive. That's the worst.

Until they'd find anything about him, both of us had to stay there, wondering if the other was doing okay, and in Spencer's case, wondering if I would make it. 

I really prayed for that. I need to see his smile again, run my hand through his hair, cuddle in bed with him, all of the things I love to do with him, that I love him for.

No sound was coming from outside, either the walls of the room were isolated in order to not let any sound in, or the house was in the middle of nowhere. 

The only thing I could do while being tied up was to look around; of the two windows, the only one that would allow the light to go in was closed by the blinds, only allowing a short film of light into the dark place. The left one was being blocked by the shelf in front of it, so not any light came out of it.

Even if I would try to escape, how could I even do that? I was tied up to the chair by the rope, almost suffocating me; my hands were both restrained to the back of the chair, each hand on one side of it, so whenever I'd try to move them up, the head of the chair would block my hands.

I then looked more around, a lot of costumes were displayed in the room. Some were complete, some half done or in bad shape; he also had sewing kits, measurement tapes, a lot of stuff to sew, in general. 

There were some boxes in the corner, some papers, and...a pair of legs coming out of behind the boxes. Someone was lying there. 

A stream of blood was dripping from her tight, while the puddle of blood underneath her limp body slowly became wider.

Her skin was pale as snow, and I quickly came to the realisation that she was either dying or...already dead.

Tears soon began flowing down my cheeks, a quiet sob escaping my lips. I couldn't do anything to help her, the only thing I could do was to watch her die, if she was still alive. 

And now...he's really going to do the same to me…? No. It can't happen...it can't.

The thought of myself soon being in the same situation as them even went through my mind for a second, terrifying me. I wasn't sure of it, but it still could be one of the scenarios that could happen. 

Who could even know if he didn't kill other girls? From what we all know, two have been found, and plus the one I just saw, three, or more, I couldn't confirm that; they'd had to search the house, or he'd have to say it to me in one of his possible attempts to threaten me, otherwise, I didn't know if there was more, I seriously hoped that he hasn't killed other girls. 

But, from what I've seen from the way he was acting, he felt...pressured, in a way. I think that when I...got angry, which resulted in him realising that I wasn't going to be the perfect doll he expected me to be, something might have changed in his plans, he imagined that he'd keep me much longer, thinking that I'd be obedient, calm. 

He had his reasons to think like that, I think. It's not really in my habits to flip people off, I'm usually nice in general. Even with weird guys that try to flirt with me for example. I always try to be as nice as possible when trying to tell them I'm not interested. Some aren't really mean in general, they just need a talk to understand.

I had this one teacher in college, back then, I was taking theater classes, thought it might be fun to do that for my last year. It didn't cost anything, and I had nothing to lose if I tried it. It really was fun, I got to make some new friends, discover new plays, and the teacher was really nice with us. He was like a second dad. You could talk of anything to him, he wasn't the type of guy to judge you, he was quite understanding in general. He wouldn't force you to talk unless you wanted to, and wasn't the type to slide in personal conversations. He was pretty friendly, you couldn't really talk bad to him, he was always nice.

What was his name…? I think his family name was something like...Miller? 

Even if it really was that, hundreds of people wear that name, so I'm not even close to finding it; and I was not really in the mood to play guessing games.

I'm currently being kidnapped, so...it's logical.

The door abruptly opened once again, as he turned the light on, a sudden burst of light brightening the room, causing myself to startle out of my thoughts. 

My eyes involuntarily closed, whilst my vision got blurry for a bit, focusing back when it adjusted itself to the light.

His shadow appeared on the floor as he headed towards me; I could even see my own shadow, not having noticed that I was shaking so much until I actually saw it right in front of me.

"Let's have another chat, shall we?" He took a chair, sitting in front of me while taking the mask off his face. "Remember me now?" 

________

SPENCER'S POV

10 hours since the disappearance of y/n

I pushed the glass doors of the 6th floor's office, walking through the hallway, as I made my way to the conference room.

A few minutes ago, I had reached the point where I just couldn't think anymore, I just had to get some air before getting aggressive with the others out of frustration.

Even if I knew that it would be all of the anger I've accumulated talking, and not the usual Spencer they know, I preferred not to go outside with anyone.

I was too distracted over the fact if we would ever find her alive again. If it's the guy that killed the two women, it'll only be a matter of time before he kills her.

When I stepped into the room, I sat by the seat next to Morgan, putting my elbows on the table while my hands rested under my chin.

Papers were scattered all over the table, as everyone's voices raised, arguing on the proofs they had, trying to understand who could be behind that. We only knew what the guy was doing, but had no clue of who it was.

We barely had anything. The only thing we had in stock was that the guy was between 40-50, and that he probably was a theater teacher, but again, it wasn't sure.

The thing was that we didn't even know if this guy was from here or not. He could be a guy that used to live here, and moved somewhere else.

Some argued on the fact that he always lived here, some on the fact that he just drove here so many times that he ended up knowing the city, or some that someone else who actually knew the area drove with him.

We weren't really close to finding any constructive proofs.

As for me, I wasn't close to finding any mental stability yet. My whole mind was a storm, a storm that I don't think anyone in the room would be able to stop.

What if she was already dead?

Although I wished more than anything that she would be okay right now, I couldn't get this thought out of my mind since we knew she was missing.

Her face appeared in my mind, her wonderful smile with it. She would radiate so much joy, that it would always be enough to cheer the team up for a bit whenever we'd work on a complicated case.

She would always care about others before herself. 

Even if we would never ask for it, she would suddenly burst out of the office, and come back a few minutes later with coffee, or even take a few files behind our backs so that we could go home early. She'd take a lot from Matt, JJ and Hotch; but while they'd go home early, she would go home late. 

We would even find her the next morning in the conference room, along with the finished files next to her. We weren't that evil, so we would let her sleep a bit more. 

She'd eventually wake up with a start, claiming that she just closed her eyes and didn't actually fall asleep. 

I always liked it when she tried to cover the fact that she didn't fall asleep, it really was fun.

But, I don't regret once meeting her, I've been in love with her since her first day at the BAU.

She got in about two years after I came in and when I saw her I just...immediately fell in love. Back then, I had shorter hair, and wasn't as sociable as I am today. A lot has changed about my behaviour and personality since. And...I think most of that is thanks to her. She made me a better person. 

15 YEARS AGO, OCTOBER 2005

The previous day, we've all been notified of the arrival of a new member, coming from New Jersey, but Hotch didn't say anything else, probably to keep the element of surprise, and so that they could introduce themselves to us properly. 

We all were excited, a new member meant an additional person to join our family, a new co-worker, a new person to know, it really sounded fun.

The next day, on a Tuesday morning, at exactly 7:40, she entered the office along with Hotchner.

She was trying to keep up with Hotch as he was walking, he was much taller compared to her, so she had some trouble walking at his pace.

They both headed towards his office, probably to talk a bit, sign some papers, I remember doing that on my first day here.

A few minutes later, Hotch and her went out of the room, as she shaked his hand, exchanging a few words.

During the whole time, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I even waited for her to come out, staring at the door for at least twenty minutes.

The others even tried to call me, but after a few minutes, I think they noticed that the thing I was focused on wasn't the files, 

It was her.

Finally, Morgan decided to come to my desk and move his hand in front of my face, as I blinked, looking at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Hotch called the team five minutes ago, you were apparently too focused on the new one so you haven't even heard him calling us. If you don't want to get lectured by Hotch, get up fast."

"I wasn't focused on her..." I mumbled, while getting up, walking towards the conference room with Morgan.

I entered the room, noticing her next to Hotch, as the others were quietly talking together.

She glanced at me, and gave me a sympathetic smile before walking in my direction.

"Hi, you must be...Spencer Reid, right? I'm y/n y/l/n, it's nice to meet you." She said, reaching out to me.

It took me a few minutes to get out of my bubble, before I came back to reality, looking at her. "Oh, yeah, that's me. It's nice meeting you too." I said, giving her a handshake. 

"Everyone, I think you've all met her now, but let's welcome the new member of our team. She'll be working with us from now on. We all look forward to working with you, agent y/l/n." Hotch said, as everyone clapped once he was done talking, welcoming words following.

And, of course, the following days Garcia kidnapped her a few times in her 'batcave', for getting to know her more, y/n was probably polite, and liked her too much to refuse her invitation, so she would always come, asking Hotch if anything was planned. Penelope wasn't that evil to the point of letting Hotch lecture her.

I enjoyed every moment in her presence. The little time we'd have with each other was more than enough for me. But at the time, I wasn't courageous enough to confess my feelings to her. So, we just were two close friends.

Nothing more.

We really grew closer the following months, we would get coffee for the other one, eat on breaks when we had time, exchange files, but my most favourite things were to see her arriving in the morning, and walk her home at night.

She would always have this beautiful smile on her face whenever she'd greet everyone on her way in. Eventually, I stopped staring at her like an idiot when I'd see her, and talked instead.

She seemed to like my random facts a lot, so before she would arrive, I would write a fact on a piece of paper, and drop it on her desk. She liked that small attention of mine, and kinda began doing the same with cheerful words she'd write on paper or randomly say to me throughout the day.

Slowly, it became a habit.

Our habit.

I liked saying that. It almost sounded like...we were together. 

We weren't until, one day.

I suddenly came to her desk, and asked her out. It was now or never. Because if I hadn't done it back then, I don't know if I would have done it later.

Surprisingly, her first reaction was to cry. I got scared, thinking that she was about to announce that she already had a boyfriend or something else, but instead, she got up, and wrapped her arms around my neck, bringing me in a tight hug. I returned the hug, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"You took a lot of time to ask, I thought you'd never do it." She mumbled, loud enough for me to hear.

Soon enough, the team quietly gathered around, smiles on their faces. They wouldn't see that everyday, so might as well enjoy this moment.

When y/n broke our embrace, her eyes were still watery and a bit puffy because of the crying.

Before y/n even got to, I brought my fingers to her small face, wiping the tears from her eyes, which she immediately responded to with a smile.

Her smile.

That's the reason why I fell in love with her, and recently, asked her to marry me. 

"Hey, Reid. Reid. You there?" A familiar voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I then realized it was Morgan a few seconds after.

"Yeah, sorry. Overthinking. I just got stuck in my thoughts for a minute." I said, trying to keep up with what was said previously by listening to Morgan's short resume.

"He kept the first one four days, and the second two days." Emily said, tapping her pen on the table. "Which gives and doesn't give us a correct estimation. But, from that, we could possibly conclude that he would approximately keep her…" 

"Three or four days." I interrupted, while running my hand through my hair, in an exhausted way.

Everyone was exhausted at this point, we didn't even know if we would get the guy once, but mostly, we didn't know if we would be able to find her in time before he decides he wants to kill her. 

We would have this crushing weight on us if we wouldn't manage to save her. We'd not lose an agent, but a member of our family.

And I don't think we'll get up from that.

Derek, Luke and Matt always act like she's their little sister, they like to tease her, take things from her desk and wait for her to notice it, bring her the wrong order before saying that it only was a joke, they really like her.

Emily, JJ, Garcia, and Tara immediately became best friends with her, they really liked going out with her at night, or even hanging out with her in general. She wasn't a big fan of girl nights, but she'd come anyway, it distracted her from all of the stress she had throughout the week because of work. 

Which I understood, because even I like to throw myself on the couch and watch as many Doctor Who episodes as possible till I end up falling asleep. I do that, or just sleep. 

When you work there, get as much sleep as you can because you never know if you'll get called for a case, and when you'll get sleep when you'll start working.

And lastly, Hotch and Rossi are like the fathers she never had. Rossi often invited her to teach her how to cook, chat with her, watch tv, he really is considering her like she's his real daughter. 

Hotch always protected her, he likes to sit down with y/n to talk whenever she feels down, needs help with files, and she really looks up to him. He still lectures her sometimes, but he doesn't mean any harm. 

They both are like her fathers, the fathers that I'm sure she would have wished for. 

So, losing her would be the worst thing to ever happen to us right now.

From now on, every single second would be crucial. I could not permit myself to get distracted; it was a matter of life or death from now on. 

Even if I had to go to the guy's place myself, I'd do it.

I would risk my life for hers.

I would do everything for her.

She's my everything.

Her life always mattered more than mine. She'd always say to me that I should stop saying that, but I meant it, it was absolutely true. I would have never lied to her about that, or anything else.

She always supported me in all of the imaginable ways. She never left my side once. Even when I'd beg to stay alone, she would come anyway. She always came.

Y/N always felt bad when she couldn't come to a date we've had planned, by making sure to bake something for me the next day. I never got mad, if she couldn't come, it was totally alright.

Everyone would sometimes get sick, or too busy with files. But no matter what I'd say to her so that she'd know that it was okay, I would continually find something she baked for me on my desk. 

Losing her was my worst nightmare.

A nightmare that could become reality if we didn't find her in time.

"I'm sure we'll find her. You'll marry your girl, don't worry." Morgan said, a slight smile on his face. He probably was trying his best at being positive.

"I know you're supposed to think positively in these cases, but I just can't. If it's that guy, who knows if he's not going to kill her off, who knows if she's not already dead, I don't know what to think of anymore." I said, tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. We'll do everything to find her. I promise, okay? Now calm down, you have to be strong for her."

"Yeah, I know, I know. We'll find her." 

The rest of the day consisted of piles of papers, some short naps, coffee, emotional breakdowns, everyone was overwhelmed by the situation.

I never had to deal with it before, so I didn't know what to do, how to manage all my emotions, I was completely lost.

Just a month ago, I proposed to her, and now we're supposed to get married. I don't even know when. 

It's not easy to plan something without it risking to be cancelled at the last minute because of a case. You can even get called at 2AM. 

These last weeks, we actually planned to organise the wedding, but just when we had free time to do it; two cases appeared. I'm even wondering if we'll ever have time to do the actual wedding at this point.

We were supposed to discuss it this weekend. Garcia even wanted to help us, she adores weddings. It's the first one she'll get to organise. She was so excited when I asked for her help. 

And now, all of our joy and excitement from the last days shattered in pieces when we heard of what had happened.

We all were devastated.

________

A few minutes earlier, Garcia had returned to her office, probably wanting some alone time. I knew she didn't really like to show her emotions in front of everyone, she finds it embarrassing. 

Everyone was pretty much doing the same, trying to stay strong even through I know we all were on the verge of tears.

I was about to walk out of the room to talk to Morgan who had come back to his desk, when my phone loudly vibrated. I quickly noticed that it was a call, whilst I answered, placing the phone to my ear.

"Spencer, you need to come, now." Garcia said, with a panicked tone, hanging up before I even got to place a word.

Apparently, she had sent the message to everyone; some of the team members were already there.

I headed into the room, as all my hopes shattered at the sight of what I've just seen on Garcia's monitors. 

I swore I almost heard her voice for a moment.

I wished for it to be true.

At that moment, I felt like everything around me was collapsing. 

Hotch was the last to come in, closing the door after entering, as he headed to where I was, his hand now resting on my shoulder.

We're almost there y/n. Almost there.

__________

Taglist: @amanda-rotigliano , @thatsonezesty13 , @eevee0722 ,

A/N (2): I hope you liked the chapter! I'm sorry it took so long,, I had a lot of struggle writing it haha- See you soon for the next and probably last chapter. The post that will close this story after the 3rd chapter will be the Epilogue.

[shwazzberryswriting]

Movie Night

Pairing: Renjun x Original Female Character|Reader

Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor

Summary: Renjun's crush just broke up with her boyfriend, now is his chance to make a move. Things don't go according to plan. ---- Part 3 of my "The NCT Frat House Series"

Word count: 4.5k

Rating/Warnings: PG-13/Kissing, watching an R rated movie together

Author’s Note: My first Renjun fic! Please enjoy!

------

    As a favor to Lucas, Kun’s girlfriend Ruby was organizing a surprise birthday party for Alma, Lucas’s girlfriend. Ruby and her roommates offered their house to host the party, and though Alexandria didn’t qualify as a roommate, she was a friend, so she was part of the party planning committee. When she arrived on the day of the party, she was not prepared for the NCT frat bros to be at Ruby’s house, helping set up.

    Once Janell handed out responsibilities to the volunteers, Alexandria was seated at the dining table, using Ruby’s coveted decorating tweezers to strategically place silver sprinkles onto a simple white frosted cake. With her legs crossed in front of her, and her shoulders slumped down to get a closer inspection at the cake, Alexandria stopped and sat up straight, rolling her shoulders as she fixed her posture. Blowing her brown bangs out of her eyes, she tried not to think about her mom’s constant nagging, You’re an adult now, and you still need to fix your posture.

    “The ‘A’ needs more sprinkles,” Haechan said, leaning over from across the table to look at her work, breaking her concentration.

    “Who died and made you my boss?” she asked, looking up at him.

    “I mean, if you want the cake to be ugly, don’t take my advice,” he said with a shrug, turning back to the game he was playing on his phone.

    “What are you doing here if you’re not helping set up for the party?” she asked, trying to keep her tone even.

    “Johnny told me to be here two hours before 5:00 so I’m here two hours before 5:00,” he said.

    “We’re here two hours early so we can help set up for the party,” Renjun explained as he sat down next to Haechan. “Janell put us on balloon duty.”

    “Where’s the helium tank?” Haechan asked, looking up. “I’ll fill the balloons and you can tie them.”     “We can take turns,” Renjun replied. “It’ll be faster.”

    “No, you have nimble fingers. They’re perfect for tying balloons. I can’t tie balloons. I should be in charge of the helium tank.”

    “Lex!” they heard a voice shout from the backyard. The only person to call her by that name was Janell's younger sister. Renjun jumped in his seat and Haechan snorted a guffaw while Alexandria stood up and slapped Haechan’s arm gently, chiding him for laughing at Renjun. Renjun was easily startled but Haechan took extra glee in his reaction due to Renjun having a crush on Janell's sister.

    Alexandria hadn’t meant to find out that Renjun had a crush on Violet, but during a recent party at the NCT Frat house Renjun had drunkenly admitted to her and a couple friends his secret. Before the party, Alexandria considered herself friendly with Renjun, but now that she’d experienced him make a drunken confession they were comfortable calling each other friends. He’d even gone to her condo a couple times to hang out. Unfortunately for Renjun, since Alexandria was in on the secret Haechan felt more comfortable teasing him in front of her.

    “Alexie,” Haechan said, touching her arm to stop her from leaving, “don’t make it obvious that Renjun likes Violet.”

    Renjun reached over to wrap his hands around Haechan’s neck, a pained smile on his lips, and Alexandria shook her head as she turned away from the fight. She was going to have to remind Ruby and Kun that they were better off not asking any of the NCT guys to help with any sort of party planning. The small surprise birthday party for Lucas’s girlfriend had turned into a daycare for man-children, and not even half of them had come.

    “You called?” Alexandria said to Violet once she made it outside to the backyard. She sat down on the picnic table. Violet, Janell, and Johnny were decorating a couple mason jars for the small bouquets of wild flowers they’d picked from around the neighborhood.

    “If I gave you some cash, would you go to the dispensary and buy me a couple joints?” Violet asked. "My sister and her boyfriend won't help me out."

    “Hold on,” Alexandria said, raising her hands out before her as she stood up. “Am I the only one who remembers what kind of party this is? Lucas asked for a small cute surprise birthday party for Alma, this isn’t a house party.”

    “Oh my gosh, Lex, you’re always so dramatic,” Violet said with a sigh. “I need some weed because I broke up with Joey, OK?”

    “I’m sorry,” Alexandria said as she sat down beside Violet, hugging her. “We can chill at my place after Alma’s birthday party. I’ll take you to my favorite dispensary, my treat. What happened?”

    As Violet tearfully went on a tangent about her ungrateful ex-boyfriend, Alexandria glanced over to see Janell and Johnny rolling their eyes. It was in Janell’s nature not to extend too much sympathy toward her younger sister, still holding a grudge that Violet had followed her across state lines to attend the same university, so Alexandria took on the task to give Violet a little more patience as a surrogate older sister. With that in mind, Alexandria couldn’t blame Janell and Johnny for reacting the way they did when it came to Joey, Violet’s boyfriend of 5 months.

    The couple were cute, but they argued constantly. Violet and Joey had spent the last month threatening to break up with each other, and now that they were properly broken up it seemed like the drama was still ongoing. Alexandria tried her best to remember what it was like with her first boyfriend. She'd believed he was The One and put up with the petty drama, so she understood why Violet was putting herself through the unnecessary pain with Joey. After a five minute rant, Violet seemed satisfied and grew quiet as Alexandria confirmed that she would buy Violet some weed.

    Returning to the dining table, Alexandria found Renjun tying ribbons onto a single balloon, and then heard Haechan with some others in the front living room, playing with the balloons and helium tank. She sat down and crossed her legs in her seat before returning to spelling out Alma’s name onto the cake using the sprinkles. Renjun ran a hand through his hair and leaned back as he watched Alexandria decorate the cake, his new platinum blonde hair making his brown eyes seem bigger and darker than they already were.

    “Did you hear?” she asked softly, raising an eyebrow. “Violet broke up with Joey.”

    “You’re lying,” he said, though he sat up straight, leaning over closer to her. “What happened?”

    “She broke up with him a few days ago, and I invited her to my place so we can get high,” she replied. “You should come along. Maybe you can cheer her up.”

    He laughed nervously as he met her gaze, and she closed her mouth as Ruby and Kun entered the kitchen. Given the tone of his voice, Kun was nearing the end of his patience as he barked orders over his shoulder only to be met with what sounded like Yangyang imitating Kun. There was a ripple of high pitched laughter, and Ruby gave Kun a pleading look.

    “They’re grown men, they’ll be fine,” Kun said, setting some grocery bags onto the countertop.

    “They’re playing with a cheap helium tank,” Ruby said softly. “Do you hear them?”

    The front living room sounded like the Chipmunks singing Migos’ “Walk It Talk It” followed by more high pitched laughter. Groaning and slumping his shoulders, Kun turned around and led Ruby back to the front living room so they could make sure the boys weren’t going to hurt themselves. Meanwhile, Alexandria and Rejun set up the dining table with the bouquets, balloons, and cake.

    As everyone gathered around the front door to surprise Alma, Alexandria asked Jeno and Hendery to help her tape up the streamers in the kitchen so that Renjun and Violet would have a moment alone on the loveseat. When she returned to the front living room, she saw Renjun and Violet deep in conversation, and patted herself on the back. As she stood beside the loveseat, Violet grabbed her hand and invited her to sit with them, sandwiching Renjun between them.

    "Isn't he the softest thing in the world?" Violet asked as she reached her arms out around Renjun and grasped onto Alexandria's arms.

    Alexandria gave a chuckle as she reached out to grab Violet’s arms in return and the two women hugged Renjun, his face turned bright pink and he began guffawing. It was difficult for anyone not to like Violet. She enjoyed showing affection to her friends and was doing her best to make Renjun blush, making some of the other guys laugh. Alexandria placed a hand on Renjun’s cheek and chuckled again as she felt that it was burning up. She removed herself from the group hug and let Violet continue to hug him while she turned around to see Kun and Johnny standing nearby, complaining like middle age dads, each man holding a can of beer in his hand.

    Even after graduating, Kun and Johnny were still in touch with the frat house, making sure the guys were taking care of themselves. It also benefited the NCT guys that Kun and Johnny's girlfriends were still attending university, so the two men were likely nearby the campus during their free time. Alexandria understood the sentiment. She hadn't lived with Ruby and Janell for over a year, but she visited them often and helped clean the house as if she still lived there.

    When Lucas and Alma arrived at 5:00, Yangyang, Haechan, Xiaojun, Hendery, Jaemin, and Chenle had taken some of the helium filled balloons and insisted on singing Alma's birthday song with their high pitched helium voices. Alma was a good sport and clapped as everyone suffered through their helium induced singing. Once she was served a slice of cake, Alexandria sat down with Violet and Renjun in the dining room, the trio sitting across from Alma and Lucas.

    Lucas pulled Alma into his lap and he kissed her free hand as she ate her slice of cake. For as long as Alexandria had known the couple, they were proud to be affectionate with each other. Their PDA didn't bother her, but she knew it made some people uncomfortable. She stopped herself from laughing out loud and snorted cake up her nose as she glanced over to see Renjun poking his fork into his slice of cake as his eyes darted nervously from Alma to Lucas while Violet's eyes were focused on the pair as she passively chewed on her food. The pair looked to be taking notes from Alma and Lucas.

    "I-I need water," Alexandria coughed out, distracting Renjun and Violet. The cake crumbs up her nose burned her sinuses, and she stood up to find a tissue.

    "Let me take you home," Violet announced, standing up immediately. "Happy birthday, Alma! Janell and Johnny paid for your present but I picked it out. Remember that when you unwrap it."

    "Over here, Dria," Renjun said, standing up and leading her toward the front living room by placing his hand on her elbow.

    "Lexie!" Yangyang and Xiaojun exclaimed together.

    "Alexie!" Haechan and Hendery screamed, making her laugh before she gagged and fell onto the sofa beside Jeno.

    “Are you dying, Andria?” Jeno asked as he helped her sit up. His shoulders were shaking as he tried not to laugh.

    The guys found out that Renjun gave Alexandria a nickname in an attempt to start a conversation with Violet when he first met Violet. Whenever any of them heard Renjun call her "Dria" they enjoyed making jokes out of her name, and Alexandria knew it was easier to let the kids have their fun rather than take the teasings to heart.

    “I don’t want to ruin the party,” she said when Renjun handed her a bottle of water. “I’m going home.”

    “Can I come?” Violet asked immediately, linking her arm with Alexandria’s.

    “You want to come along?” Alexandria asked Renjun.

    “I do,” Haechan said, raising his hand. “Alexie! Will you make me your mom’s eggrolls?”

    “Sorry, Haechan,” Violet said as she grabbed Renjun’s hand. “Alexandria only likes me and Renjun.”

    “Happy birthday, Alma!” Alexandria shouted as Violet walked her and Renjun out of Ruby and Janell’s home.

    As she dropped by the dispensary, Alexandria had Violet and Renjun go buy snacks, directing them to meet at the front of her condo complex after 20 minutes. She took a slow stroll through the streets, appreciating the warm spring weather. She thought about how she was playing Renjun’s wing(wo)man, and she wondered if her interest in Renjun and Violet hooking up was her way in dating vicariously through her friends, something Ruby and Wen, one of Ruby’s other roommates, had accused her of before.

    She gave herself another pat on the back when she saw Renjun and Violet laughing together, plastic bags in their hands. Was she dating vicariously through her friends? Whatever the case, Alexandria was glad that Renjun and Violet seemed to be hitting it off. Renjun was a fun person to be around, and Violet was playful as well, the two would always have fun together. Violet could take advantage of Renjun’s NCT Frat status to invite herself to Janell and Johnny’s dates. There was so much to be gained, Alexandria hoped Violet would see Renjun’s datability.

    "We decided to watch a horror movie," Violet announced when Alexandria led them inside. "Have you heard of It Follows? It's about a sexually transmitted monster. Renjun makes it sound good."

    "Um, OK," Alexandria replied, plastering on a bright smile. She hated horror movies, but Renjun and Violet looked excited as they shared a smile and raised their eyebrows. "Is it, like, super scary?"

    "It's not super gory but there are definite scary elements to it," Renjun answered. "Your condo is perfect, too, Dria. It's quiet and there's only going to be the three of us."

    "Perfect," Alexandria muttered as Renjun and Violet listed their favorite horror movies to each other while they entered the elevator.

    Renjun made them iced green tea, and Alexandria popped 2 bags of popcorn in her microwave and unpacked all the candies into bowls. Violet sat by the patio door and lit a joint as she played music from her phone, setting the mood for the evening. Alexandria went through stages where she either smoked a lot of weed or she didn’t, and she hadn’t smoked in over 2 months, but Violet tempted her into taking a few hits, especially when Renjun said that he’d take a hit if Alexandria did. He didn’t react well, coughing up a storm, and Alexandria felt bad that Renjun was smoking in an attempt to impress Violet.

    She felt worse when she noticed that Violet was texting with Joey. Violet’s music playlist had started with playful Bruno Mars songs, but after a few texts with Joey she began playing Ariana Grande love jams. Renjun was too busy singing along to the music to notice the shift in Violet’s mood. Placing the bowls of snacks onto a serving tray, Alexandria asked Violet and Renjun to bring the snacks to the living room and start the movie while she would finish preparing the iced tea, hoping to give them a few minutes alone.

    “I invited Joey over,” Violet announced when Alexandria arrived with a small serving tray that held the glasses of tea, sitting up straight. “He wants to watch the movie with us.”

    “Um, sure,” Alexandria said as she sat down next to Violet, making sure it was Violet who was seated in the middle. “How long before Joey gets here?”

    “He’ll be here soon,” Violet said loudly as she picked up the remote and started the movie.

    Alexandria held the bowl of popcorn in her lap as she sat on the couch with her legs crossed in front of her, her shoulders slouching. Noticing her posture, she straightened her back, and rolled her shoulders as she glanced over to see Violet’s eyes glued to her phone while Renjun was busy shoving M&Ms into his mouth, completely absorbed in the movie. They were roughly ten minutes into the movie when there was a knock on the front door.

    “I’ve got it!” Violet said immediately, jumping up and rushing to the front door. She stepped outside and shut the door, having not invited Joey in.

    Alexandria ate some popcorn as she tried to pay attention to the movie, but all she could hear was Violet and Joey having an argument in the hallway. As Joey sounded like he was crying, begging Violet to give him another chance, Alexandria glanced at Renjun and was impressed to see him absentmindedly shoving Skittles into his mouth, still completely immersed with the movie. She turned her attention to the movie, and felt her face grow hot as she realized that the scene was a sex scene. Feeling silly for her bashfulness, Alexandria set the bowl of popcorn onto the coffee table and grabbed her glass of iced tea. The movie was about a sexually transmitted monster, of course there would be at least one sex scene. 

    Sipping her drink, Alexandria’s eyes drifted to the front door as she heard Violet and Joey talk, their voices sounding softer and less volatile. Her eyes returned to the TV screen as she set her drink down, and she sank into her seat as she watched the scene unfold. The lead protagonist, a blonde girl named Jay, was lying on her stomach in the backseat of her date’s car as she talked.

    It was a sweet post-sex scene, her date was crawling up behind her, and Alexandria gave a soft sigh as she thought about the last time she’d felt a guy press his body up against her back. It’d been before Ruby and Janell began dating their boyfriends, and she cringed at the length of her dry spell. Her mind forgot about her lack of a sex life as the lead’s date chloroformed her from behind, shocking Alexandria. She leaned in close to Renjun and threw a hand over her mouth, worried that she might scream.

    “Renjun, what’s going on?!” she breathed out, shaking his arm. “I thought this was about a sexually transmitted monster! Is her date going to kill her?”

    “Watch the movie,” he said, sighing gently. “Can I get some popcorn?”

    Alexandria screamed and grabbed on tighter to Renjun’s arm as the scene in the movie became more intense, Jay’s date had tied her up to a chair and she could not move as her date explained to her of the monster that was now after her. It was a slow monster that took on the form of a random person, and once It caught up to the infected person It would kill them. She buried her face into Renjun’s arm, and said to him, “I can’t watch this! I can’t watch this!”

    Renjun laughed, making her look up, and she sat up straight, feeling her face grow hot.

    “It’s just a movie. I knew you were afraid of scary movies, but…wow, Dria. You’re a complete wimp.”

    “I never denied being a complete wimp,” she said, shoving his arm. “If you want to finish this movie then you’re going to have to put up with me jumping and screaming.”

    “Fine,” he said, giving a small chuckle, throwing his arm over her shoulder. “I can’t believe I have to hold you like a little kid.”

    “Oh my gosh, they called the cops?” she asked, turning her attention to the movie.

    “Cops are useless in horror movies,” he replied. “You really don’t watch scary movies?”

    “No. Do you remember that old Japanese movie…Ju-Oh? My cousin was babysitting me when I was 8, and she put it on for us to watch and I haven’t liked scary movies since.”

    Renjun laughed and she poked his side to shut him up. After he pushed her away, Alexandria hugged her legs and Renjun leaned back into the sofa as he ate the popcorn. The movie’s pacing was slower and more subtle than she’d anticipated, and Alexandria found herself being drawn into the mystery. What was going on, and would Jay be able to avoid the monster? Alexandria bit her bottom lip, wondering if she’d be able to go through with finding new sex partners in an attempt to prevent a monster from coming to kill her.

    The suspense built up again, and Alexandria tried to be brave, but the reveal of the monster entering Jay’s house at night was too grotesque. She screamed once more, and grabbed for Renjun’s arm again, throwing her face into his shoulder. He laughed, and threw his arm over her shoulder, letting her grab onto his hoodie as she turned her face in toward his chest. The movie kept slowing the suspense down to build up drama, and whenever the suspense built up it went on much longer than she was prepared for, so Alexandria spent the majority of the film curled up in Renjun’s arm, clawing her fingers into his chest.

    “So are they going to die?” she asked him once the movie ended. It ended on an ambiguous note.

    “Maybe,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “What do you think?”

    “I think if I ever watch scary movies, this is the only way I can watch them,” she said, burying her face into his chest again.

    The air was silent and became very still after what felt like an entire minute. Renjun hadn’t moved a centimeter, so she lifted her head up and saw him looking down at her with his eyebrows furrowed. Looking into her eyes, his face softened, and he reached over to cup her cheek in his hand. She looked at his long eyelashes for a moment when he kissed her, but feeling the warmth of his lips on hers instantly had her closing her eyes. His hold around her tightened, and she moved her hand up to touch his neck. As her fingers moved to caress his earlobe, he pulled back, breaking the kiss.

    They stared at each other, and Alexandria could only think about wanting to kiss him again, her mind feeling foggy. She could feel her heart beating fast and loud in her throat, and his arm draped around her body felt heavy. She pressed her chest against his as she pushed forward, kissing him, but turned her head aside when she felt his hand on her cheek drift down to her neck. He groaned as his tongue flicked the side of her cheek.

    “I think you should go home,” she said softly.

    The heat that burst into her gut was intense when his fingers had touched the bare skin of her neck, and she wasn’t sure how well she could handle Renjun’s touches. The night had been a mess, and she didn’t want him to think she was the type of friend who was into hookups. They might come to regret it, especially if Renjun was going to continue to crush on Violet.

    “Did I do something?” he asked, releasing his hold on her. She shook her head, planting her feet onto the ground, sitting up straight.

    “I’m sorry that Violet bailed on our movie night,” she said softly, her eyes unable to meet his.

    “Oh, right, yeah,” he said, falling back into the cushions of the sofa. He ran a hand through his hair, and he gave a nervous chuckle. They sat together in silence for a few moments, and then he spoke up again. “Why did you kiss me?”

    “You kissed me,” she replied, shoving him gently by pushing her hand against his knee. “You started it.”

    “The details don’t matter,” he said, sitting up straight. “We kissed, I liked it, and I know you did too.”

    “So?”

    “So...can I kiss you again?”

    He barely had the question out of his mouth when she’d already begun to climb onto his lap. She held onto his shoulders as she straddled him while he rested his hands on her hips. They kissed, her fingers running gently through his hair as she dove her tongue into his mouth, giving a soft moan every time his mouth was able to capture her tongue to suck on it. When her lips began to burn, feeling a little swollen, Alexandria pushed against Renjun’s chest, and sat up straight, looking into his eyes.

    “This is a bad idea,” she said.

    She shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip, pulling his head to rest on her shoulder as his hands slid down to grab her ass. She raked her fingers through his hair as she panted heavily, breathing through her mouth as his hands groped and squeezed her ass cheeks. Instinctively, her hips thrust against his, but she closed her mouth and found the willpower to shove against his chest, getting off his lap to sit back down beside him.

    “What’s so bad about it?” he asked, out of breath, his eyes looking at her in a way she’d never seen before. His eyes were darting around, seeming to look over every inch of her.

    “I mean, I think Violet and Joey are back together, but...you know, what’s going to happen when they break up for good?” she asked, brushing her bangs with her fingers, trying not to look at him.

    “I don’t know,” he said, shrugging.

    “You really don’t care about her? This girl you’ve been crushing on for months?”

    Renjun gave her a grin. He sat up in his seat, and he said, “Dria, I forgot that you invited me here for Violet. It’s just you and me here, and I like it better when it’s just you and me.”

    “So are you saying that you like me?” she asked.

    “Dria, you just felt my boner poking your ass,” he said, making her blush. “Yeah, I like you. What? You don’t like me? I can go home.”

    He made to stand up, but she reached over and grabbed his arm.

    “No!” she shouted. “Renjun! I like you! Stay. You have to stay.”

    “Oh, I have to stay now?” he asked, guffawing as he moved to stand up. “I thought you wanted me to leave.”

    “I watched that scary movie with you!” she said, placing herself onto his lap. “You have to give me company now, because I’m going to have nightmares.” She kissed his cheek, making him stop as he grinned at her, his face turning pink. “What a twist,” she said softly. He laughed, touching her chin to tilt her head toward his, and then kissed her.

    “None of our friends are going to see this coming,” he admitted.

    “Can we watch another movie?” she asked him, resting her head onto his shoulder.

    She didn’t want to think or talk about their friends. He kissed her cheek, smiling at her before picking up the remote to scroll around for another movie to watch. He insisted all the movies he wanted to watch weren’t very scary, the title cards and movie posters just looked scary. She didn’t believe him, but eventually let him pick a movie for them to watch. As much as she didn’t like scary movies, it was worth it since she was in Renjun’s arms.

------ Thank you always for reading!

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

I would like to revisit my alternate S5 ending...

...to address the villainous aspect of Lena’s character instead of ignoring it, in which case the big reveal leading to the final stretch of episodes being the superfriends finding a hidden server at the DEO that seems devoted to tracking and monitoring a secret convoy.

When they track it down, they crack open a freight truck to find it modified into a prison inside. A prison with a single prisoner. 

Locked in a straightjacket and blinded by a dark hood, they can’t fathom who it might be. But when Supergirl wrenches the cell door off its hinges the bare feet that recoil in fear are delicate and pale.

A woman?

Kara reaches out with wary care, and gently removes the hood.

It takes her an eternal moment before she pieces the dark hair and pale skin and green eyes into the complete picture of Lena Luthor. 

Except this Lena isn’t the one who glared at her from across her desk in the LuthorCorp headquarters not so long ago. This Lena has sallow skin and dark bruises under her eyes and limp hair and flinches away from Kara without looking at her... but it is Lena.

Kara reaches for Lena’s cheek, but flinches away when Lena kicks out, still without lifting her eyes. “Don’t touch me.”

The clink of a chain follows as Lena scoots away-- a repurposed leash that tethers her to the wall of the truck, barely a foot of give. This Lena is small and skittish of the bodies milling in the truck around them, pressing closer with dangerous intent, but it’s still...

“Lena?”

Bruised green eyes snap to Kara, locking on her face for a long shuddering moment before they drift to the symbol on her chest. 

“K-Kara...”

Bruised green eyes fill with tears, and even though it doesn’t make sense, none of it makes sense, because this isn’t the woman who cried in anguish in the Fortress of Solitude, this isn’t the person who turned her back on Kara’s hologram, but it is the Lena who leans towards Kara for comfort as reality kicks in, and the tears spill over. 

It is the Lena who Kara wraps her arms around, and holds her close.

---

In a Tower interrogation room, they learn Lena knows less than they do. 

“I don’t know,” Lena tells them from across the table. “I woke up, in the-- in a lab, and my brother was there. He told me--”

Her eyes flicker to Kara, then away.

“He told me some awful things.”

She’d spent most of the time since exactly where they’d found her. Lex didn’t seem to want anything, except to keep her contained. Contained, and alone. But when they move the conversation to the medbay, where Alex examines her, she locks up, and can barely seem to breathe for all the equipment around her.

When Alex comes in with a syringe, Lena recoils. “No. No, no, no...”

“Whoa, hey,” Kara soothes, “it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“It’s just a booster,” Alex says. “Cocktail shot of some vitamins and electrolytes.”

“See?” Kara holds Lena’s hand. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

Lena’s eyes lock on Kara’s, but she doesn’t pull away when Alex moves back in for a second attempt. Kara brushes the hair from Lena’s forehead, hoping the touch will keep Lena focused on her rather than the needle. It works. 

But when Lena starts to relax when the needle withdraws, it’s not in relief. Lena’s eyes grow wild with panic, even as they start to drift shut. “You said...”

Kara looks to Alex, and finds her sister’s features solemn and unyielding. Sudden anger flares at Alex’s lie, that Alex lied to her, but focuses instead comforting Lena. 

“It’s okay,” she promises. “You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

---

“We don’t know who she is,” Alex defends herself later.

“She’s Lena, Alex.”

“So is the person who kidnapped J’onn’s brother and stole Myriad,” comes the counter. “Maybe she really doesn’t know anything, or maybe she does. Until we know exactly what is going on, she cannot be trusted.”

And so when Kara next visits Lena, it’s from the far side of the isolation cell glass. Lena sits curled in a ball, head on her knees, shoulders slumped in defeat. 

“They don’t believe me.”

It’s not a question. There’s no doubt in Lena now. No more fear. She’s back in a situation she’s familiar with-- being contained, being controlled. There’s a bitter sense of comfort in it.

“Lex told me they wouldn’t,” Lena continues. “He was right. About them. About you.”

Just as with the Lena who sits at her desk in Luthorcorp headquarters, Kara can barely face the hurt in this Lena’s gaze. She almost looks away, but stops herself. This time, she holds Lena’s gaze, and faces the anguish she’d been unable to face the last time.

But this time, Lena isn’t looking for comfort. 

“Go away.”

It’s not the second chance Kara hoped for. That second chance remains out of her reach as Lena turns away and doesn’t speak for days after. The only further information they get out of her is that her last memory before waking up in Lex’s lab is of her pulling the trigger on her brother. Of killing him.

“She doesn’t deserve to be here,” Kara argues to Alex. “I know you don’t trust her, but I do. I’m not saying we should just let her out on her own--” they have no idea why or how there are two Lena’s, but risking the two meeting would be a bad, bad idea. “What I’m saying is that she come stay with me. I’ll keep an eye on her, and maybe she’ll be able to trust us enough to give us more information.”

And so Lena soon finds herself standing awkwardly in the middle of Kara’s apartment. She looks around like she’s never been there before. Maybe she hasn’t. Or maybe she has, and she’s absorbing the minutiae of differences since her last visit. 

Kara suspects the latter, when she sees Lena’s gaze linger on a photo of the most recent game night that scrolls across her sleeping laptop. It’s one she loves because it includes Winn. That it’s one without James and Lena both leaves her feeling empty. 

But when another photo from that night scrolls across, a close up of Will, Kara, and Nia, Lena’s jaw tightens. When Lena averts her gaze, Kara catches a glimpse of anger, and an old guilt rears its ugly head in Kara’s chest. She should have been quicker to invite Lena into her life. Into their game nights, into her secret, into everything. Will’s quick acceptance of and by the group proves that the only thing that kept Lena at arm’s length was Kara’s own inhibitions. 

Her own fear. 

“Lena, I--”

“I assume I’m taking the couch,” Lena grumbles, forestalling any overture. “Or is this where the chains and dog cage come out?”

Kara swallows thickly, unable to completely deny Lena’s concerns as outlandish, as she’d had to talk Alex out of physical restraints for her guest. 

“No,” Kara replies. “No chains. No cages.” She shrugs. “I trust you.”

A scoff is all the response she gets to that.

---

Lena picks at her dinner, and barely eats a morsel before ultimately putting her plate aside. When Kara clears up, she listens to Lena’s breath and heart rate, finding some semblance of relief when Lena finds a comfortable position on the couch and finally, finally relaxes. 

She takes her time, allowing Lena extra minutes to herself. When Kara finally returns, she does so with a mug of tea in each hand. Lena simply stares at hers when Kara sets it down in front of her. Kara tries not to notice the way Lena’s eyes follow her as she curls up in the chair opposite the couch. She stirs her tea with a pensiveness that’s not entirely genuine.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

The question comes as quiet as a sigh. 

“All I ever wanted was to be trusted, and you let me believe that I was--”

Lena’s voice cracks, making tears spring to Kara’s eyes. 

“Lex really was right. Nothing I did was ever going to be enough for you.”

“That is not true.” Kara sits forward. “It was never about that. Never.”

A shrug lifts Lena’s sweatered shoulder. She still has yet to meet Kara’s eye. “No, it wasn’t.”

Because if it had been, Lena would have been told a thousand times over. Like she should have been. 

“I was afraid, Lena.” Kara curls her hands around her mug. “I know that must seem so foolish to you, and it does to me too, now. But before I told you? The thought of losing you--”

“What have I ever done to make you think I would hate you?”

“Because… you do?”

“I hate that you weren’t the one who told me. I hate that the words came from my brother, as he lay dying in front of me after I shot him in the chest. That’s what I hate. Not you.”

Kara’s throat locks around a sob, her eyes filling with tears. “Lena…”

“I hate that of all the things my brother is, everything he’s done… I hate that he’s more honest than you are.”

In a single blink, the floodgates open. Tears spill down Kara’s cheeks and don’t stop. On silent feet, Kara moves to kneel at Lena’s side. Reaching for Lena’s hand is a risk, but one that rewards Kara with warm fingers in hers. 

“I’m sorry, Lena.” Her voice scrapes and scratches-- there’s no defense in her, no way to hide the raw emotion spilling from her. “I am so sorry. I should have told you. I should have trusted you. Not just with my secret. I should have trusted that you-- that our friendship-- was stronger than that.”

Lena takes a shuddering breath, one that seizes in a sob. When Lena leans towards her, Kara wraps both arms around her. Thin arms hug her back, and bony shoulders wrack with silent sobs.

“I’m so sorry, Lena.”

And just like that-- they start to heal.

---

Their peace doesn’t last long. J’onn can only pretend to be Supergirl for so long before the real thing is needed. Lena’s trust in being trusted is put to the test: she spends Kara’s time away curled on the sofa, eyes on the door, just waiting for Alex’s team to burst in and take her back to the isolation cell. When the only person to enter is Kara six hours later with four pizzas, garlic breadsticks, and a two liter of MelloYello in hand, Lena almost starts crying all over again.

When their paths end up crossing, Kara finds interacting with the other Lena difficult-- she spends the limited exchange searching Lena’s face for any hint that she knows a version of her exists besides herself; that a version of her is sitting in Kara’s apartment, wearing an oversized hoodie and baggy blue jeans.

Kara can’t find any. 

Kara knows that doesn’t mean anything.

She goes home that night and asks her version of Lena for a hug. Her version of Lena gives it-- slowly, but without hesitation.

One night, Kara returns home to a ransacked apartment devoid of any Lena. There’s no question who is behind it the blood Kara finds on her hardwood floors. Only one man knows this Lena exists. Only one man knows where Supergirl might keep a traumatized best friend.

And there’s only one person who can go up against Lex Luthor and have a hope of coming out on top.

So Kara goes to the Lena Luthor whose eyebrow lifts in derision at the sight of her, and tells her everything. She explains the second version of Lena they’d found and lost again, tells her how Lex is behind it all, shares how they still haven’t any idea why.

And that Lena stares at her as though she wants to accuse her of more lies, more subterfuge, but when her lips part, what falls out is “then let’s find out.”

They track Lex to one of his many bunkers that still exist in this reality, and there they find him with the second Lena (or maybe the first, Kara’s still not sure). The Lena’s stare at each other, one with more surprise than the other. Kara supposes it’s hard to be surprised when one is cuffed hand and foot, with a collar around your neck. 

Lex, for his part, only smiles. “Hey, sis.”

The chain connecting to the collar around Lena’s neck retracts into the ceiling, pulling her to the very tips of her toes and leaving her choking for breath. Kara shoots forward, but the area around the dangling Lena glows green with Kryptonite, effectively grinding her to a halt before she staggers back to be caught by the other Lena.

“Why?” that Lena asks her brother. “What good could having two of me possibly be to you when you don’t let one out of your sight?”

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Lex returns. “I didn’t double you, god no. Why would I double my work trying to control you? No, I reduced you. By half.”

Shock ripples through them both. The sight of it makes Lex chuckle. 

“You always had such potential, ace. But your judgement was always clouded by empathy-- you were always soft. But brilliant. Brilliant enough to figure me out. Splitting all of that between two of you, well… it made you far more pliable.”

“But…” Kara gasps. “How?”

Lex lifts a brow in an expression eerily like Lena’s. “You of all people should have figured it out by now, Supergirl.”

Just like that, the pieces click into place. 

“The harun’el.”

The same mineral that once split Kara herself. The same mineral Lena spent months working with. Rao. 

Lea leans towards her. “He means…?”

“Red Daughter,” Kara confirms.

She can still see her. Sometimes Kara dreams of her, still feels the weight of her body evaporating from her arms as she holds her dying counterpart. 

Kara looks at Lena, sees her eyes dark with thought as they travel from Kara to her dangling twin, then to Lex. Lex receives her silent gaze with an almost proud grin.

“But I gotta say, sis, even I never imagined you’d go as far as Non Nocere.”

Kara staggers to take her own weight, freeing Lena to approach her brother. Whatever Kara expected Lena to say or do in confronting Lex, it wasn’t the sight of long fingers snatching a scalpel from a table as she passed, or for the movement to be so blatant that Lex would see it coming.

“Oh, come now, Lena,” Lex chides. “At least you were smart enough to bring a gun last time.”

Lena lifts the blade towards him, but her features twist into a smirk. “What makes you think this is for you?”

Before anyone has time to react, Lena lifts the blade and plunges it deep into her own throat.

“NO!” Lex and Kara cry in unison. 

Kara moves faster, catching Lena as she falls. She cradles her friend in her arms, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Lena… why?”

“I refuse…” Lena gasps, “to be less...”

“What if--?”

“I’m not the copy?” Lena gurgles slightly through the blood filling her throat. It bubbles to her lips, staining them an unnatural red. “I’m the one he kept around. Just like…”

She coughs, unable to finish. Kara does it for her. 

“Just like Red Daughter.”

Lena features droop, gray with increasing blood loss. “Don’t… let him… win…”

With her last crackling breath, Lena’s form melts away just like Red Daughter’s, misting into a purple ether that lifts from Kara’s arms and chases towards where Lena still hangs on the tips of her toes. The violet energy sinks into her, illuminating her entire frame for a split second before it pulses out of her in a violent burst that disintegrates her bonds and drops her to her knees, choking for breath. 

Kara intercepts Lex when he makes a run for it-- she grabs him by the collar and tosses him back towards his sister, who still glows with unearthly light. He struggles to his knees as Lena climbs to her feet, eyes glowing with power. 

“Okay, Lena, listen to me-- I just wanted the best for you. For us to be working together, just like we used to--!”

Lena roars. She roars so loud that Kara covers her ears under the onslaught, and peers through slitted eyes as the power of the harun’el funnels into Lena’s hands, mouth and hands, firing a single combined blast towards her cowering brother. It consumes him entirely.

When the light under Lena’s skin finally wanes, there is nothing left of Lex-- not even a scorch mark. In the silence that follows, Lena sags to her knees once more, exhausted.

Green eyes meet Kara’s, heavy and full of emotion Kara can’t quite decipher.

“I’m sorry,” Lena murmurs. “For everything.”

Kara staggers towards her, and collapses to her knees beside Lena. She wraps Lena in a fierce hug, tears still damp on her cheeks. 

Lena’s alive. This time, Lena is whole. 

Kara would have asked for nothing else in the world.

---

It doesn’t take long for normalcy to return after that. Lena steps up as the CEO she’s meant to be, and it’s less than a month before she announces her intent to rebrand LuthorCorp as L-Corp. Supergirl resumes her full duties, and this time does so with a true ally in Lena. 

Still, there’s a hesitation in her chest when she arrives at Lena’s office one afternoon as Kara Danvers. She has Big Belly Burger in one hand, and kombucha in the other, the only peace offerings she can think to bring besides her heart, ready to be given if asked. 

She steps into the room with said heart in her throat, and almost swallows her tongue when Lena’s gaze snaps up to her and freezes for a split second before softening in recognition. The smile that follows is as gentle as the first rays of sunlight on an early sunday morning, and warms Kara just as completely. 

“Hey you,” Lena greets quietly. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

It takes a long moment for Kara to realize she means Kara Danvers-- it’s been too long since Kara has been anything but Supergirl in front of Lena, even when she wasn’t wearing the cape.

“Yeah,” Kara agrees. “Sorry about that.”

They stare at each other for a long moment, until Kara lifts the heavy bag in her right hand. “Big Belly?”

Lena’s features warm.

“I knew there was a reason you’re my favorite.”