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oreoambitions · 1 year

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The thing about Lena, Kara thinks to herself as she strolls down Main Street with her hands shoved in her pockets, is that she wants to seem tough. That's the problem in a nutshell. And anyone else here in Midvale would tell you that it's just a city thing, that all the city kids want to seem tough, that Lena is no exception, but Kara doesn't think that's true. Well, okay, she knows it's true. But with Lena, it's something else. Something deeper. Something maybe related to the way that Lena has withdrawn into herself day by day as Midvale has begun to dress itself up for the holidays.

But Kara can do I'm-so-tough. She can do I-hate-Christmas, and she can do I-don't-believe-in-fun because at this time of the year she can do anything and get through to anyone. A little bit of light, a little bit of magic... maybe a little bit of love. That's how Christmas goes, right? Especially in a place like Midvale.

Kara likes to think of Midvale as a postcard town: the kind of town folks are only ever passing through on their way up and down the coast, a scenic detour, a cozy place to spend the night or just the afternoon before you move along. It's a place where time seems to have come to a standstill or at least a crawl, where it was a big deal when the first (and only) Starbucks opened, where nothing at all is open after 8pm, and you'd be hard pressed to run any errands on a Sunday, and you'd better not let Mrs. Nal catch you doing anything untoward or you can expect you'll be the topic of every conversation in or out of church for the next week or so at least. Kara would know; she's been the talk of the town on more than one occasion.

But these last several weeks the talk of the town has been the young woman who pulled up one evening in a car worth probably more than every vehicle on Main Street put together and strolled into the aforementioned Starbucks in a beat up hoodie sporting red rimmed eyes and trembling hands to ask the barista whether possibly anyone had a spare phone cable. She didn't want to bother anyone, only she'd left Metropolis in a hurry and forgotten hers and without GPS she didn't have any idea where she might stop to purchase one. She'd slid a hundred dollar bill across the counter as payment for the manager's beat up old charger and rolled right back out of town before anyone could tell her just how far from home she was.

Only then she'd rolled back into town some six hours later and booked herself into the bed and breakfast. And then she hadn't left.

The Danvers have assured Kara that in all the years Eliza and Jeremiah have run the bed and breakfast, and all the years Jeremiah's parents ran it before that, stretching back all the dusty decades since Midvale was founded, they have never had a longterm guest, no sir. It has simply never happened before. Kara doubts the veracity of such a statement but it has been delivered to her with all the solemn weight of sacred fact, and so she's taken it in stride - something which Alex seems to have found suspicious. And, true, on another occasion Kara might have been found elbow deep in records on a personal mission to prove that Jeremiah has pulled this particular historical "factoid" from some place the sun don't shine, but, well, she's been a little distracted these past weeks. Distracted by sad green eyes and coy smiles and the overwhelmingly mysterious circumstances that have delivered Lena directly into Kara's home.

Unfortunately Eliza has strictly forbidden Kara from asking the hundred and one questions perpetually on the tip of her tongue, and Kara's objections that she's twenty four now and she'll ask her questions if she so pleases haven't actually outweighed the sense that, at least where Eliza is concerned, she ought to do as she's told. So she's restrained herself. And as the weeks have gone by, she and Lena have fallen into an amicable, if not entirely comfortable, routine.

Kara serves Lena breakfast in the dining room with the other guests at precisely 8:15 every morning: two poached eggs with avocado on a thick slice of Winn's sourdough bread, a cup of coffee (black, diluted with hot water), and a side of roasted vegetables (no potatoes). Every morning Lena invites Kara to join her at the table, though Kara only does so when there are no other guests around to serve. They eat - together or not - in a silence broken only by small talk and the occasional lingering gaze when one catches the other looking until, at precisely 9:15, Lena excuses herself to seek out Eliza and enquire after the availability of another night's lodging. She pays in cash, one day at a time, without fail. She and Kara see one another again on the stairs, Kara on her way out to work a shift at the library and Lena on her way back up to her room. A small smile passes between them, affectionate and familiar, and Kara thinks perhaps... But no, the moment has passed and they've gone their separate ways for another day.

Kara has resolved that this pattern will not repeat itself again. Not now, not when Midvale is draped in heavy golds and greens, when the smell of Christmas pastry is wafting through the streets, when the trickle of seasonal tourists is threatening to become a thunder which will by necessity pry Kara's attention away. Not now when Lena is withdrawing further and further, when those lingering glances at breakfast seem to be few and far between, and it seems the onslaught of Christmas cheer is threatening to drive Lena out of Midvale altogether. If Kara is going to get through to her, today is the day.

She swings into J'onn's diner with a determined expression, sidestepping the younger Arias who has eyes these days only for her iphone and not so much for where she's going. J'onn is predictably behind the counter; Kara isn't sure he's taken a day away from the diner in all the time she's known him.

"I need two to go mugs of Bad Day Danvers Brew," she tells him. "It's urgent."

He plops two large paper cups down onto the counter almost before she's done asking. "I thought your sister was on duty tonight."

"She was. Is. It's not- It's for me."

"I don't suppose this has anything to do with a certain green eyed young lady from out of town."

It's not really a question the way J'onn says it but Kara somehow still feels pressured to answer. She flushes, turns away, scans the room. The dinner rush hasn't quite arrived. J'onn bustles about behind the counter without further comment, though he does arch an accusatory brow when Kara meets his eyes again.

"You do know," he says as he slides the drinks across the counter, "She's going to leave this place. She may not be ready yet, but the day is coming."

Kara frowns at him. "Leave is a four letter word."

"L - e - a -"

"You know what I mean."

"Maybe you should consider it too. Whole world out there waiting for you, Little Danvers. Seems a shame not to go out and see it."

Kara thinks for a moment of this world as she saw it first: a little marble hanging in a black sea, so fragile and small, so far away from home. Midvale is home now, and she'll be damned if she's going to leave it behind. She forces a smile for J'onn's sake.

"I'm right where I'm supposed to be," she says. She tries to pay him for the drinks. As he has a hundred times before, he turns her money away. Kara slips the cash into the tip jar on her way out the door.

When she gets home it's to the smell of apple pies bubbling in the oven and the sound of some old 50's Christmas record playing almost too loud for Jeremiah's battered old bluetooth speaker and hardly loud enough to compete with Jeremiah himself. Kara creeps up the stairs two at a time, one Bad Day Danvers Brew clutched in either hand, quiet quiet quiet. If Eliza catches her she'll try to put her to work and Kara isn't sure she can explain exactly what she means when she says she's too "busy" right now to help out.

She occupies herself with that thought, thinking up excuses for Eliza, each one more improbable than the last, and then she finds herself standing in front of Lena's door. She feels suddenly grimy, foolish, clumsy. What she hasn't considered in all her planning for this moment is that with both hands occupied she can hardly knock on Lena's door, and with her heart pounding an urgent rhythm in her chest and her body trembling with something that is distinctly not fatigue Kara doesn't trust herself to tuck one of the drinks into the crook of her arm.

So she does what any sane person would do: she kicks the door. Gently. As gently as she possibly can, but it still feels brutish and Kara winces as the sound of it tumbles down the hall to clash with Jeremiah's crooning and the roar of the vacuum cleaner in the foyer. Grimy, foolish, clumsy. But then the door swings open and all such thoughts fall from Kara's mind.

She has words picked out for this moment but they don't come to her. Lena stands in the doorway in jeans and a cardigan and socks that have bumble bees on them and Kara feels like she needs just a moment but the moment is already passing. Green eyes search hers, curious, bemused. Kara wants to reach out and tuck that stray lock of hair away, but-

The drinks. Right. "I brought refreshments," she says, proferring the paper cups. "For us," she adds, in case it isn't clear.

Lena reaches out for one of the cups, hesitant, then pries the lid off to take a whiff. "Hot chocolate?"

Kara wants to melt on the spot but she sticks to her guns. "It's special hot chocolate," she clarifies. This is not how this conversation was supposed to go. She had this exchange all planned out, there were contingencies, it was all perfect and here she is muddying it all up. "I was thinking maybe we could go out tonight."

"Like on a date?"

Oh, Rao. Kara's eyes drops to Lena's mouth without her say so and then they travel a little further south to the line of that cardigan and she swallows. "No," she forces out, "like on a walk?"

There's a long pause and then Lena laughs. "You're really very charming, Danvers," she says, and Kara feels an unexpected thrill at the sound of her last name in Lena's mouth. "Let me just get my sweater."

"You're already-" Kara starts, but the door clicks shut before she can finish. "Wearing a sweater," she mumbles to herself.

Lena emerges some minutes later, just when Kara is beginning to get fidgety. She's thrown on a hoodie which is perhaps a size too big and a pair of converse rather the worse for wear and Kara isn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn't this. Which is not to say that she doesn't like it. Lena licks her lips and fixes Kara with a pointed look.

"There is whisky in that hot chocolate," she says.

Kara shrugs. "I did say it was special."

They make it down the stairs and out of the bed and breakfast without Eliza noticing, though Kara is all but certain Jeremiah saw them leave together and will have Questions with a capital Q about it later. The sun is just now sinking below the horizon as the two of them turn down Main Street, ducking around Mr. Schott who is occupying most of the sidewalk with a rickety old ladder in an attempt to install another strand of lights above the toy store window. Already the street lamps bear oversized red bows and long, heavy pine garlands, and it will be only a matter of days now before every storefront from here to the edge of town is bright and warm and magical. Kara takes it all in with a growing smile. Lena takes it in with an expression that borders on an outright scowl.

"So are we going anywhere in particular?" Lena asks. They duck around a knot of visitors asking after a table at the brewery and for an instant Kara is almost certain she feels Lena's fingers brush hers.

"We are," Kara admits. And then, because she doesn't want to give away their destination, she adds, "You don't like Christmas."

Lena grimaces and takes a long sip of the Bad Day Danvers Brew. "I wouldn't say that I don't like Christmas."

"But?"

"But I've never been festive. And this year..."

Kara's mind fills in the words that Lena doesn't say: This year it's hard. Hard to see the joy and the magic and the laughter all around when you're alone and far from home. Well, Kara knows a thing or two about that. She takes a sip of her own drink and, resolutely, carefully, looking straight ahead, she reaches out to touch Lena's hand, so gentle it could have been an accident.

"This year you have me," Kara says. She's shocked the line comes out of her mouth as smoothly as it does. Her heart is so far up her throat she almost fears she'll choke on it.

Lena steps in closer until Kara swears she can feel the heat radiating between them even through both of Lena's sweaters and her own Christmas flannel. They walk in silence for a block or so, shoulders bumping once in a while, before Lena asks, "Do you have any favorite holiday traditions?"

Kara shrugs. "I like the carols. Jeremiah and I always go out caroling on Christmas eve. Oh! And the cookies. Pie for breakfast on Christmas morning."

Lena laughs at that. "Pie for breakfast? Lilian - my step mother - she'd have a fit."

"Well you can have pie with us this year if you want; I promise not to tell Lilian a thing. If you're still hanging around."

Lena looks at her sharply and then looks away, leaving Kara to feel silent and small and a little rejected. But Lena touches Kara's wrist as they move through the crowd and then, when Kara doesn't pull away, she takes her hand.

"Christmas is always an important social event for my family," Lena says. She glances at Kara as if to check that she's listening and then away again so quickly that Kara almost wonders if she imagined it. "Everything has to be perfect. The food, the decorations, the music. The family. And it's beautiful, really. Imagine a pine tree towering up to the very rafters, all the ornaments carefully curated and arranged, and a cellist flown in from Italy perches in the corner playing O Come Emmanuel while the city's elite pass through pretending to enjoy bite sized Christmas pastries prepared overnight by a team flown in from France. I suspect it would feel magical if it weren't so much work. It's hard to enjoy the magic when you're a part of it. Especially as a child."

Kara frowns. Her fingers tighten around Lena's, tugging her ever forward towards the Christmas tree in the center of town. She's thinking of Krpyton, of a perfect family, a perfect people, and a perfect world crumbling under the veneer. But she can't say that to Lena, so she flashes her a bright smile instead and says, "In Midvale, everyone who wants to gets to put an ornament on the town tree."

"Everyone? That doesn't seem practical. There have to be, what, at least a thousand people living here."

Kara nods. "Yeah. Not everyone participates, but most people. And of course that means the tree isn't curated like your family's, but it's got a special kind of magic to it. The kind you get when you aren't trying to make magic follow the rules."

There is a sort of comedic timing, as this is the moment Kara steps over the low fence with the sign that reads "do not walk on the grass" and tugs a protesting Lena after into the shade - or, in this case, the light - of the Midvale tree.

"Rules," Lena is saying, "Generally exist for a reason, and when you break them willy nilly you don't get magic, you get chaos. It's important to- Wait, is this your Christmas tree?"

"Yep," Kara says. She reaches out to press a hand to the trunk and then stares up at the tiny golden lights wound among the branches with care, ornaments dangling here and there, some homemade and some not. She's definitely not supposed to get this close to it but, well, it's Alex on duty tonight and she doubts her sister is about to arrest her for trying to make a move on a pretty girl. "This is the one."

"But it's an oak tree," Lena observes. She steps up beside Kara to touch the trunk.

"Couple hundred years old, or so they told us in middle school," Kara says. "She's a gorgeous tree, isn't she? Not a pine and not perfect, but. Our own kind of magic." Then she grimaces. "Sorry; I'm being terribly cheesy right-"

"Did you know that mistletoe often grows in the California oak?" Lena interrupts.

Kara falters. She did know that, but this tree is carefully tended. No mistletoe here. She opens her mouth to say so when Lena holds up a finger to stop her again.

"To be perfectly clear I'm suggesting that we kiss here under this tree. Because you're charming and a little over the top and I hate that I love your Christmas flannel and I would very much like to have pie with you on Christmas morning. So if you'd like we can pretend there's mistletoe in the Midvale Christmas tree. It would be a very reasonable mistake; mistletoe really does grow on-"

Kara kisses her. The surprised gasp that falls from Lena's lips almost makes her laugh, but this is a serious moment so she tries to keep it in. She's got only one hand to work with - the other is still holding her Bad Day Danvers Brew - so she slides it around Lena's waist to pull her closer, and it's her turn to gasp when Lena tilts her head to slide her tongue along Kara's bottom lip.

Someone on the sidewalk cheers, and that is when Lena drops her drink. And then they do laugh together there under the tree, spiked hot chocolate splattered over the bottom of Lena's pants, Kara pressing her own drink into Lena's hands, and the sound of Mrs. Nal nearby screeching about public indecency while James tells her to go suck an egg. The two of them will be the talk of the town for weeks. Certainly through New Years. Kara doesn't think she minds.

#this is a repost #but I can't find my original post to repost it #so #here you go #xmas #ficlet #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #xmas au

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natalievoncatte · 10 months

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Another piercing wail cut through Lena’s skull and almost sent her reeling to the floor. Her teeth ached from grinding and her hands stung from the process of boiling bottles. Yet, she steadfastly refused to hand off this duty to someone else. When she and Kara decided to try for a child, Lena began grooming Sam to take her place as CEO and created a researcher emeritus position for her in the advanced projects department. That was taken care of.

What she hadn’t anticipated was the weeks without sleep. Little Jeremiah had a set of lungs on him, and the slightest provocation set him wailing. Kara had offered to leave CatCo and take care of him full time, but Lena insisted they care for their son equally, no matter how chivalrous and selfless Kara wanted to be.

It was more than that. Lena was never going to be a stay at home mom, but she would be damned if she was going to be an absentee mother. She’d be there for every school concert, every field trip, every precious moment and she’d bury him in love.

She just had to get through this first.

He didn’t need a fresh diaper. He’d been fed and burped. He didn’t seem to be tired. He just kept wailing. Lena was at her wit’s end, tears welling in her eyes. She was about to call Alex and beg for help when she heard the door close and Kara calling her name.

“You’re supposed to be at work,” Lena protested, as Kara stormed into the kitchen.

Her wife was on a mission. Kara didn’t ask any patronizing questions- she knew Lena was doing her damndest to be the world’s greatest mom. She simply swept behind the kitchen island and wrapped mother and son in a gentle hug, surrounding their son in the presence of his parents.

Kara closed her eyes, gently rested her chin on the top of Lena’s head, and tucked them both into a hug. Lena knew what was coming next and let it sweep over her. The low rumble in Kara’s chest quivered in her bones as her wife began to purr.

The effect was instantaneous. Jeremiah’s cries softened and turned into soft gurgling sounds as he squirmed in Lena’s arms slightly and relaxed, the tension easing out of his tiny muscles.

“Hold onto him.”

Kara scooped them both up with ease, cradling Lena on her arms as she had so many times before, and she was once again reminded that being held by Kara Danvers was like being held by a castle. Kara bore them both gently into the bedroom and lowered Lena to the bed, then kicked off her shoes and joined them, the deep vibrations still emanating from her chest.

“You’re supposed to be at work for another two hours.”

“Not until you’ve had a nap,” said Kara. “I’ll take him and then I can go back when you wake up. I can tell you’re exhausted, zhao.”

“Can we just stay like this a little longer?” Lena whispered.

Kara pressed a soft kiss to Lena’s forehead and smiled against her skin.

#supercorp #supergirl fanfiction #supergirl #supercorp fanfic #lena luthor #kara danvers #kara x lena #karlena #supergirl fanfic #ficlet #waff #warm and fuzzy #fluff #so much fluff #it’ll rot your teeth #a teensy hint of angst is like a touch of salt in a dessert #Kryptonians can purr

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thatonebirdwrites · 1 month

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DEO: Department of Extra-normal Operations

This will be an essay that looks into the ethical problems of the DEO. For the purpose of this essay, I am not concerned about the showrunners reasons for their decisions for how the show presents the DEO. I care only about examining the worldbuilding and stories inherent within the world created. So let's dig into some philosophy and theory. Whee! [Minor spoilers]

To start, this department was first created within the Superman/Supergirl universe in order to analyze alien activities after Superman reveals himself on Earth. It's made in retaliation to the appearance of powerful aliens that those in power deem possible threats. Already, the DEO's beginnings are rooted not in true protection but in stopping and eradicating what those in power deem a threat. It's roots start with dubious ethics.

Let's examine it's history:

It was led by Hank Henshaw, who is vehemently anti-alien. Henshaw is also slated to have ties to Cadmus, which experimented on aliens and attempted several rather horrific and genocidal attacks on aliens. (Note that in Supergirl: Season 2, Kara and Lena thwart Cadmus' activities. Lena Luthor saves the day by modifying an alien killing virus to be harmless to all living creatures. Bits and pieces of the worldbuilding around Cadmus showed that the aliens experimented on came from DEO facilities.)

Henshaw dies when Jeremiah Danvers "kills" him when saving J'onn J'ozz, who then takes Henshaw's place until exposed. He recruits Alex sometime before his exposure (Season 1). After J'onn is exposed in Season 1, Lucy Lane takes control. Then after J'onn helps Supergirl defeat the murderous Kryptonian Non, J'onn received a presidential pardon and was reinstated as director. He kept Henshaw's guise for publicity sake.

The show makes it clear that J'onn choses to be the Director to change the DEO. Yet, what evidence is there that this actually happens?

So that's the basic history.

We have a clandestine agency that has unethical procedures that doesn't change under a new director.

The DEO picks up aliens and throws them in a cell to never be seen or heard from again. This would likely terrorize the alien neighborhoods. This is never truly address in any meaningful manner by the Superfriends or Kara.

In fact, if anything, the show positions the DEO as being Good if Alex, J'onn, or Lucy are in charge (Kara, ironically is not in charge of the DEO at any point). However, the DEO becomes Bad if Lex Luthor or Lauren Haley or the real Hank Henshaw are in charge.

This creates a rather large ethical problem.

First of all, the worldbuilding builds up the argument that certain people are good and certain people are bad. The person we see skirting between those two extremes, and living in a morally grey area the most, is Lena Luhor. For the purposes of this essay, I'll put a pin into Lena's characterization and focus only on the DEO.

Secondly, we are told again and again what Kara/Supergirl's ethics are: justice and truth. Yet when we examine Kara's actions within the context of her DEO Supergirl duties, we are confronted with the following:

She must hide her identity, even from her best friend Lena, and thus deceives regularly. Her reasons for not telling Lena are rooted in the pressure from those at the DEO to not tell Lena but also in Kara's intense fear of loss. However, Kara will demand truth from others despite her hypocritical actions. This doesn't seem to fit solidly in the "good" category.

Her "justice" is defeating criminals. Humans go to the police to eventually have a fair trial. However, aliens are not afforded that same right. Her justice for aliens becomes judge and jury. Since she professes to "not kill," she at least doesn't extend that to executioner. This again doesn't fit solidly in the "good" category.

Thus, by examining Kara/Supergirl's actions, we see a disconnect with what the show claims is "good:" truth and justice. Yet, there is no true justice for the aliens fought and captured; their rights are rescinded (if they had any at all).

This is why the show must tell us who is "good" and who is "bad," because people's actions do not fit the show's claims of what "goodness" is versus what "badness" is. Thus the worldbuilding ends up defining Kara's actions as always "good" even if those actions cause harm to those around her.

[Side note: This isn't to say that Kara is "bad." It is to say that the binary within the show's worldbuilding lacks nuance for the complexity within Kara's understanding of the world and how she acts within that understanding. This binary simply cannot allow for such a complex examination as there is no room for it.

Because of this binary, the show actually butchers Kara's character to make her past "not good" actions as somehow "right" and "good" in the end. We see this with how Kara's harmful actions toward Lena (the lying, duplicity, deception etc) is turned into "I did just one mistake" when it wasn't one mistake. It was years of harm, but because the show paints Kara as "good," Kara is not allowed growth.

This binary of good versus bad is already nonsensical in the worldbuilding since Lena Luthor's very existence throws this entire frame out the window. Her actions, always with the intention to do the least harm and try to improve the world, don't fit neatly into the binary. The story often punishes her for this. (She breaks the binary too much I suppose.)

Yet when other people's actions fail to fit neatly into the binary, the show whispers: "Hush, don't look or think, believe us when we say this person is good and this person is bad.']

To reiterate: It's okay to capture aliens and disappear them without any right to trial If the Superfriends are doing it. This good/bad definition collapses ethics into meaningless words since the activities and procedures of both the "good" people and "bad" people don't differ in terms of impact on alien communities. This lack of differentiation is why we must be told who is good. Otherwise, how would we know?

To dig a little deeper, in Season 4, when Kara is on the most wanted list, she learns very little about the true plight of aliens. During this time, the DEO becomes "bad" under the control of Lauren Haley. Lena Luthor and Alex Danvers, who are both working with the DEO still, also work against the DEO but only to clear Kara's name. So justice is done for Kara's sake but not for the other impacted alien communities.

Once Kara's reputation is restored and she's no longer deemed an "enemy of the state," Kara returns to working with the DEO, as it is now labeled as "good" again because Alex is back in charge.

Ironically, the only person in Kara's friendgroup that questions the DEO is Lena Luthor. (Who in Season 5 will have her 'villain arc' only to be redeemed to the good side again at the end of Season 5. She's the only character, who is labeled a villain at one point, that is allowed true redemption.)

We learn very little about what alien communities actually think about the DEO and about Supergirl in particular. The most we get is the Children of Liberty plot line of Season 4; however, this plot line doesn't ever give us a solid viewpoint from impacted alien communities. Instead, we are confronted with:

We are told what alien communities are like and how lacking in rights they are. Very little of this is shown directly outside of "criminal aliens." Or the brief glimpses within Manchester's arc. However, Manchester is viewed as 'in need of redemption' despite having very real grievances with the state of things. The show then tells us that Manchester is 'bad' and the 'good' J'onn and friends must stop him.

The second time we see alien daily lives is Nia's return to her hometown, which is attacked by supercharged humans. This blended town of aliens and humans serve as an outlier. Nia actually admits that the town is unique and not representative to most aliens' experiences. So again, we don't see a direct experience of alien life in National City or other major cities.

Aliens either have significant powers that humans can justifiably find scary or they are human-like with little to no powers. Both are treated the same for the sake of the Children of Liberty plot line, which serves as an immigrant allegory. @fazedlight and @sideguitars did excellent analysis on this and the problems of these allegories based on the worldbuilding and story itself. (Note: thank you to fazedlight for finding the post in question! Click here o read their analysis.)

This makes it easier for the show to pretend that the DEO is "good" when the Superfriends are in charge. Since we don't meet alien families harmed by the DEO's actions, we never truly get an alternate perspective. Even Lena Luthor's critique of DEO is spat upon by the story, where her alien friends fail to truly counter her valid points. Instead, it's presented in the good/bad binary, which erases all nuance and ethical considerations.

Let's also consider the start of the Supergirl career. Kara is captured by the DEO 12 years after her initial appearance on Earth. However, prior to this moment, we had learned that Kara had nearly been taken by the government -- specifically Henshaw's control of the DEO. Jeremiah Danvers agrees to work for the government in exchange for Kara's freedom from being a government asset.

However, her saving Alex's flight puts her in the crosshairs of DEO, and eventually she is captured. Upon which she learns J'onn is in charge (not the original Henshaw), and J'onn's goals are revealed. He allows Kara to fight her first alien fights as Supergirl. Here we see that J'onn's methods have not actually changed anything about the DEO. The alien fight results in that alien being captured. Supergirl/Kara never hears what happens to the alien she fought and captured. No thought is given to the rights of that alien or if a fair trial will be given. Instead, we are told the alien is a "criminal' as if that somehow justifies the brutal treatment.

After Alex reveals she's an agent with the DEO, Kara fully trusts the agency.

So Jeremiah gave up his life to make sure Kara wasn't being used by the government, only for Kara later on working for the DEO, which is part of the government. Thus Kara ends up used by the government after all. The irony here.

Kara's blind spot here is:

she's privileged. A white-passing, human-passing alien. It's easier for her to hide as a human and not be clocked as an alien. Also, she's white, so less likely to deal with the complications of racism. The most she has to deal with is sexism and the DEO's procedures. This means she doesn't experience the worst the DEO and the systems that uphold it dish out to aliens.

Kara hasn't really interacted with aliens outside her friend group. She's relatively sheltered since coming to Earth due to Kal placing her with the Danvers and having to hide herself. She has no real knowledge of how aliens survive on Earth. This means she has nothing in which to compare the DEO's claims.

She blindly trusts Alex when it comes to DEO.

We don't see Kara questioning what happens to aliens until Season 3 (if it happens in season 1, I apologize as that season is a bit hazy for me). Here Psi saves Kara's life during a perilous mission. Kara then asks about her accommodations and finds out she has no window in her cell. She then demands Psi be given a cell with a window.

However, notice who Kara takes with her on that Season 3 mission: LiveWire (human but due to an accident became Livewire, so she's not an alien but a meta-human) and Psi (who is labeled a meta-human). So the two incarcerated people that Kara chooses are meta-humans and not actual aliens.

So again, we never see Kara interact with aliens outside her friend group unless she is interrogating them. Once the DEO is done with interrogations and the case "closed," those aliens disappear into these windowless cells. Which, need I remind that solitary confinement is labeled as torture for a reason?

Yet that is where aliens that are dubbed "too dangerous" end up by those with power. No rights given; left trapped in solitary confinement with (likely) no windows to never see the light of day again. Of course, because we are told the "good" people do this, it is thus "okay," despite it not differing in methodology with what the "bad" people did.

2. DEO's procedures don't match law. This is especially true when alien amnesty is put into law.

DEO changes NOTHING about their procedures after alien amnesty is put into law. This means that although aliens now have a legal right to a trial, the DEO does not provide this for them. No captured alien is given this right.

This means the DEO doesn't operate within the law.

So if the DEO can disregard laws if they so desire, then what is to stop them from terrorizing any citizen regardless of whether that citizen or alien or human?

What exactly is the ethics of the DEO?

Is the ethics dependent on who is in charge? But if one compares the tenure of the directors: Henshaw, J'onn, Lucy, Alex, Lauren, and Lex -- we see no difference in how the DEO acts.

They all target aliens and give them no rights. The aliens vanish into the cells never to be seen again. This includes some meta-aliens.

Some will claim that while the Superfriends are in charge only criminal aliens are thrown into solitary cells with no hope of release.

But that begs the question: Why do the Superfriends get to be judge and jury and/or executioner? What makes their decisions good but Lauren Haley's or Lex's or the original Hank Henshaw's decisions bad?

Why do the Superfriends get to decide that criminals get no right to a fair trial? Why do they not interrogate what is causing the criminal behaviors in order to change the conditions to avoid aliens resorting to "criminality" as defined by them?

In the end, it does not matter why an alien or meta-human engages in what the state has deemed "criminal" behavior; the methods used in capture and the end result is the same regardless.

The families of captured aliens see the same results regardless of whether "good" people or "bad" people are in charge of the DEO.

While alien amnesty is in law, the DEO, who is under Superfriend control at the time, does not alter their procedures to give the aliens they capture any rights. We never see the aliens or meta-humans captured ever given a fair trial. Nor do we see any programs to reform "criminals" or give them any chance at parole or redemption.

The only method for dealing with aliens and meta-humans uses a carceral prison system that is based in solitary confinement torture. Even the interrogation procedures used have elements of torture to them. In fact, many of the "interrogation" procedures use leading questions to entrap and force a confession under duress. None of these methods are conducive toward reform or fixing a system that deprives those captured of all rights.

Alternate systems for dealing with criminals are never explored. We never see transformative or restorative justice utilized. Both systems would require extensive dialogue with the communities harmed by the "criminals," and if there is one thing the DEO fail at consistently is dialogue with the impacted communities. Instead, their approach is top down, where their ideas of what is right and best is pushed down upon the communities they claim to serve.

Part of this lies with the fact the Superfriends can't engage in dialogue as long as they adhere to the oppressive methodology and practices of the DEO. Reform has failed to alter the ethical violations within the DEO. Alex Vidale wrote an excellent book called The End of Policing, which digs into the attempted reforms for police and how they have consistently failed. Vidale writes:

“At root, they [reformers] fail to appreciate that the basic nature of the law and the police, since its earliest origins, is to be a tool for managing inequality and maintaining the status quo. Police reforms that fail to directly address this reality are doomed to reproduce it.”

The DEO at its root was created to manage the inequality inherent between human rights and the lack of any rights for aliens. It was also created to control aliens and maintain a human status quo. The Superfriends attempt at reform fails to address this reality, and thus were doomed to repeat it.

Vidale continues:

“Police argue that residents in high-crime communities often demand police action. What is left out is that these communities also ask for better schools, parks, libraries, and jobs, but these services are rarely provided.”

Services to better the conditions of so-called "high-crime" communities are not shown to be rendered in the Supergirl world, while the Superfriends are in control of the DEO. It is not more policing that is needed, but more services which do not get provided for most of the show's story and worldbuilding. Thus, the communities that struggle with survival, who often must resort to "illegal" or "criminal" ways end up with only punitive measures that continue the cycle.

It's only in Season 6 when the Superfriends are no longer with the DEO that we start to see them engage in dialogue with the community in general (Kelly's arcs in particular touch on this for the lower income area that she tries to help, which is shown to be a mixture of nonwhite humans and some aliens).

If J'onn and others truly are seeking to reform the DEO, then that requires them to be in dialogue with the affected communities and to put forth new procedures that provide rights to those impacted. This is never done.

3. The DEO suffers no consequences for its actions.

The "Bad things" that happen under the "Bad" directors -- original Henshaw, Lauren Haley, Lex -- aren't ever addressed. Nothing really changes; instead the "Good" guys get back in control and things continue.

Was any reparations made for those harmed by the bad actors? Are the families impacted ever given compensation? We see some aliens rescued from Cadmus in Season 2 and Lex's Power Plant in Season 4, but what of the families of those murdered by Lex and Henshaw? The show fails to address this.

Instead, we are told that the "good" people are now in charge again and only "criminals" are being taken and incarcerated with no rights.

The concept of "criminality" depends entirely on who is in a position of power to dictate what constitutes "criminal" acts. One of the biggest problems with "criminality" as a concept is that it fails to interrogate the why these behaviors happen. What led to the "criminal act?" Are the people engaging in the act just "bad" people?

Often when basic needs are not being met, people may engage in acts of desperation to meet those needs. These actions may fall under what that society deems as "criminal." However, if the people's needs were met, then they wouldn't need to engage in desperate acts to meet their needs.

Another reason for "criminal" behavior stems from people who lack rights in a society. The oppressed will often fight against their oppressors using a mixture of methods (sometimes nonviolent, sometimes violent) in order to win their rights and transform society for the better. Until they win that fight, their actions are labeled as "criminal" by those in power.

Some rarer individuals may engage in acts of harm because they enjoy it such as Lex. However, this is actually very rare. Property crime and burglary is far, far more common. Yet, even those engaging in horrific violent crimes are still afforded a fair trial. Something aliens in the Supergirl universe are never given.

There's quite a few scenes where the aliens fought by Supergirl are engaging in robberies/burglaries or other property crimes. Those that seek to violently mass murder is actually rarer, and often the big villain of the season. At no point does anyone in the show reckon with the reasons someone may choose to engage in "criminal" behavior. Instead, all "criminals" are painted as "bad" regardless.

J'onn professes to be "reforming" the DEO to stop its reign of terror among alien communities. Yet, the most crucial components in changing an oppressive system? We don't really see him utilize them until Season 4, but by then the DEO is in the hands of Alex, who continues the procedures put into place by J'onn,

Paulo Freire writes in Pedagogy of the Oppressed concerning the "radical" as in the person seeking to end an oppressive system:

"The radical, committed to [human] liberation, does not become the prisoner of a 'circle of certainty' within which reality is also imprisoned. On the contrary, the more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them."

J'onn recognizes that the DEO's methods are wrong and unethical. When he takes over and poses as Henshaw, he wishes to transform the system. Except, this is where he fails, because he justifies his changes by claiming that now the DEO only locks away forever criminal aliens.

No thought is given as to why these aliens are making these decisions. What pushed them to rob a store? What pushed them to attack? Did they feel like they had no other choice? Was there no opportunities other than to rob for what they needed? Or to fight against a system that they deem is harming them and their communities?

These questions are not analyzed at all by J'onn or the Superfriends. They do not listen to those most impacted by the DEO. The only time we see J'onn seem to listen is when he is trying to work with Manchester in Season 4, but that results in Manchester being presented as bad in the end, while J'onn is shown to be good. Where he tried to redeem Manchester.

Yet Manchester had valid points about the treatment of aliens. His methodology in fighting back against what he saw as oppressive system is problematic, but he listens far more than Kara and the Superfriends to those being harmed by the systems that created the DEO.

So J'onn and the other Superfriends are failing to engage in dialogue with those harmed by the DEO. They fail to unveil what is truly horrifying with the DEO: incarcerating aliens in solitary confinement with no fair trial and no hope of ever seeing the light of day again.

The justification that because they are "criminals" this is somehow okay erases all the contributing factors that may make up the circumstances that lead to the "criminal" behavior. Nothing is truly done to remedy the situations that may drive someone to what the state labels as "criminal" behavior. It also unveils a horrible truth. Any alien (or meta-human or even human) can be marked an "enemy of the state" and thus a "criminal," where all rights they had prior be rescinded. We see this happen to Supergirl in Season 4. The only reason she isn't locked away in a cell with no windows is because Alex and Lena don't allow it. Unlike most aliens the DEO fights to find and capture, Kara has people fighting for her. But what about every other alien? Who is actually fighting for them?

J'onn's attempt to reform the DEO falls into the biggest trap for all radical liberators: it is all too easy to become complicit with the system at be and justify this than it is to actually change it from within.

As Paulo Freire puts so succinctly:

“Oppression is domesticating. The gravest obstacle to the achievement of liberation is that oppressive reality absorbs those within it, and thereby acts to submerge human beings' consciousness.”

Thus the DEO fails to be reformed. It's reign of terror in alien communities is not truly diminished. Nor does those fighting to "reform" the DEO engage in any dialogue with those communities to determine their needs or ways to improve conditions to decrease the need to resort to "criminal" activities.

In the end, the DEO stays an oppressive, clandestine agency that has no transparency, answers to apparently no one, takes away the rights of those they catch, and disregards laws as they please.

What the Superfriends have failed to learn and understand is that oppression cannot be defeated by reforming the system that causes the oppression. In other words, liberation cannot be achieved be reform alone.

This is why the destruction of the DEO in Season 6 is perhaps the best result at least within the rules of the Supergirl world. The Superfriends could not reform it from the inside, and by trying to do so, they ended up complicit to a harmful system. As long as they were tied to the DEO, the Superfriends would never be able to live out justice and uplift the rights of aliens and humans alike.

ADDENDUM: However, the Superfriends decision to go full vigilante is a whole other can of worms. They do attempt to be transparent in their actions for the communities they serve, but is there a way for people to hold them accountable? That isn't fully addressed. However, that would require a full essay, and this essay is only about the DEO.

#I know it's CW who failed to ever think about these topics #I wanted to get philosophical about this #if I had more energy I'd give the good/bad problem further depth as it deserves more examination than I gave #The simplification of ethics to good/bad based on who the show labels as 'good' and 'bad' is a bastardization of ethics #I love me some paulo freire #trying to reform a corrupt system from within runs the danger of becoming part of that system #Liberation cannot be achieved by reform alone #I wrote this mostly as an exercise in examining worldbuilding within a liberatory framework #I'm solidly in the DEO cannot be redeemed or reformed camp and needs to be completely taken down #A new method for dealing with dangerous aliens that respect their rights is needed #Restorative or transformative justice is my jam

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kent-farm · 6 months

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Take care of my girls.

—Jeremiah Danvers to J'onn Jonzz, Supergirl, “Manhunter”

#Supergirl #Every Supergirl Episode #1.17 Manhunter

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luthordamnvers · 4 months

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Hell was the journey (but it brought me heaven)

Chapter 6 - Control

Kara had been safe on Earth since she’d landed at the Danvers household. Jeremiah and Eliza always made sure that she knew how to behave like an average human American girl. From her grades, to her clothes, to the way she moved, faking clumsiness and cluelessness whenever necessary to not stand out, to not call attention to herself. She didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton, because her grades were average, like the average girl she was supposed to be, instead of a science prodigy, that with the knowledge she had at 13 years old, could have fundamentally changed science on Earth, and catapulted it to uncharted territories. Instead she went to National City University, got a degree in Marketing, worked at Noonan’s as a barista, and found herself with the record of Cat Grant’s longest standing personal assistant. Until her debut as National City’s hero. Not that she’d been hiding in her human identity until then, she had been a happy teen. As happy as a kid who lost her entire family, world, and sun could be. But she’d been denying parts of herself for years. After Supergirl, it wasn’t that she revealed everything about herself to everyone, but she felt more true to herself than the last twelve years she’d spent on Earth. Her life kept changing, going from Ms. Grant’s personal assistant, to cub reporter, to star reporter, to Pulitzer winner and now Editor-In-Chief. From Superman’s cousin, to hero, to pariah, to Paragon of Hope, to savior of the multiverse, to inspiration. And yet, Kara had never felt freer than when she first told Lena she was Supergirl.

Continue Reading on AO3 || From the start

#supercorp #lena luthor #kara danvers #supercorp fic #supercorptober #supergirl #supercorp fanfic #sc fic #fic writing #supercorptober 2023 #better late than pregnant #nicnic writes #[10]

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spaceman-earthgirl · 1 year

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Supercorptober 2022 Day 29: Bonfire

ao3 fic link. series link.

Kara’s eaten way too many marshmallows, and she knows her lips are sticky, which is exactly why she sidles up next to her wife, presses a kiss to an unsuspecting Lena’s cheek.

Lena doesn’t even react, just looks over at Kara with a half roll of her eyes and a smile when Kara pulls way.

“Hello darling, having fun?” Lena asks, knowing full well that this is one of Kara’s favourite nights of the year.

“Of course,” Kara grins, leaning into Lena’s side.

It’s an annual tradition, a bonfire night in Midvale. It had started with just the Danvers but has grown over the years, Kara’s family so big now she can hardly believe that when she arrived on Earth, she had no one.

But each year, the tradition has grown, more people have joined in as their family has grown too and now Kara has this whole family that loves her.

And this year, everyone is here.

Alex and Kelly are here of course, with their two kids, the youngest currently being entertained by Eliza while Esme is showing off Kara’s powers to Winn and James, by roasting a marshmallow with her heat vision.

Nia and Brainy are looking after Lizzie, Kara sure their daughter isn’t going to sleep any time soon, both because of the excitement and the sugar.

J’onn and M’gann are here too, and even Kal, Lois and their sons made the trip.

“Are you?” Kara follows up, tangling her fingers through Lena’s. The air is chilly but the fire is warm in front of them, the light casting a bright glow around them all. There’s laughter and music and it really is the perfect night.

Especially because her wife is standing next to her, Kara’s hand warm where it’s tangled with Lena’s, Lena looking so beautiful that Kara is helpless to do anything but lean forward and kiss her again, but this time on the lips.

“You taste sweet,” Lena laughs into the kiss, Kara belatedly remembering her sticky lips, but Lena doesn’t seem to mind as she deepens the kiss.

Kara’s free hand slides its way across Lena’s stomach, her hands running over the small bump.

“Kara,” Lena laughs, pulling away slightly, only to drop her forehead to Kara’s. “People are going to guess I’m pregnant if you keep touching my stomach.”

“Fine,” Kara grins, but removes her hand. They’re going to have to tell people soon anyway, Lena’s starting to show. Kara can’t wait for their family to grow even more.

There’s a squeal from the other side of the fire, and it catches Kara’s attention, but it’s just little Jeremiah and Eliza. Though when Kara looks over to check on their daughter, she smiles when she sees Nia walking towards them, Lizzie propped on her hip.

“This little one wanted to see you,” Nia says, tickling Lizzie’s side as she does. Lizzie giggles, wiggling in Nia’s arms.

“Hey sweetie,” Kara says, extending her arms towards Lizzie who immediately reaches out for her. Kara easily shifts the two-year-old into her arms, settling her on her hip. Lizzie’s little hands are sticky as they grip Kara’s shirt. “Did you have some marshmallows?” Kara asks.

“I had to cut her off,” Nia answers as Lizzie nods her head. “If she doesn’t sleep tonight, blame Brainy.”

Kara knows how hard it is to say no to Lizzie, which means Lizzie has definitely had too much sugar. Lizzie’s head immediately drops to her shoulder, and she can tell their daughter is tired. Maybe they won’t have as much trouble getting her to sleep as she thought.

“Are you tired?” she asks, Lena’s hand running over Lizzie’s back as the little girl buries her head further into Kara’s neck.

“I can take her inside if you like, put her to bed, so you can stay out here and enjoy the fire?” Lena asks, arms reaching out to take Lizzie from Kara, but Kara shakes her head.

“I’ll go with you,” Kara replies. “And then we can both come back out here and enjoy the party. I know for a fact you haven’t had a s’more and I’m going to make you one so big, you’re going to be sick.”

Lena grimaces. “I can’t wait.”

Kara grins and Nia shakes her head at them both before she returns to Brainy, leaving Kara and Lena alone with Lizzie again, who’s now half asleep on Kara’s shoulder. All of the excitement must have worn her out.

Lena tucks her arms through Kara’s. “Come on, let’s get this munchkin to bed.”

It’s easy, because Lizzie is so tired now, to get her to bed. They’re set up in the guest room, the three of them sharing the room while Alex, Kelly, Esme and Jeremiah are all sharing Alex and Kara’s old room. Only two pages into a bedtime story, and Lizzie is fast asleep.

They head back outside, safe with the knowledge that Kara would hear Lizzie if anything happened. They find Winn and James are having a fake fight with sticks, Esme and Alex, along with Jonathan and Jordan, are roasting the longest stick of marshmallows Kara has ever seen (which she definitely wants in on), while the rest of the adults are on the other side of the fire, laughing at a story J’onn is telling and Eliza is sitting away from everyone else, Jeremiah also fast asleep in her lap.

Kara’s whole family is here, every single person who’s made earth feel like home, and with the prospect of a giant s’more and probably more marshmallow kisses with her wife, with their daughter in the house and another child on the way, Kara has never been happier.

#supergirl #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #superfamily #supercorp fanfic #supercorptober2022

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bitch-for-a-rainbow · 7 months

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Supercorptober Day 3: Kara

The folder is burning a hole through Lena’s desk.

Not literally, of course, that hasn’t happened in years. (Thanks, Jack). But it might as well be. Jess had dropped it off a few hours ago with a meaningful glance that was as close to an “I told you so” her professionalism would allow. It’s thicker than Lena would have thought. Much thicker. She tries to pretend that isn’t as much of a warning sign as Jess handing it to her in person had been. She eyes it like a snake, and the name emblazoned at the top seems to glare back.

Kara Danvers

It’s stupid, really, her hesitation. These background checks have been done on every person she’s been in close contact with since she was four years old— and they’ve only grown more intensive after Lex’s fall. Even Sam had had to go through this once. Kara is no different.

Except that she is. Except that now Lena has a folder on her desk thick enough that the plastic cover is bulging. Except that if there wasn’t an issue, Jess would have just told her that Kara had been cleared. Except that Jess had never, in the almost 3 years she had worked for Lena, given Lena one of these folders in person, on paper.

The nagging worry chews at the base of her gut. Here they are. All of Kara’s secrets. She really hadn’t thought the woman could keep a secret at all, but she must have. She must have.

Kara is a journalist. Lena’s known that from the start. Maybe she’d been hired to write a hit piece, and her friendship had just been a means to get her scoop. Maybe she’s been selling photos or compromising gossip or the project details that Lena has been stupid enough to tell her about over their lunches. There are a hundred options— all of them terrible. She could have connections to Lex, an ugly voice whispers in the back of her mind. Maybe he’s been using you this whole time.

Lena brushes the thought away harshly. If anything, Kara might come down on the opposite danger of that particular arrangement. None of Lex’s cronies would argue that strongly for aliens, even if they were playing the long game.

The folder sits, and its secrets burn her.

Lena flicks it open. To her surprise, the first page is a copy of Kara’s adoption certificate. There’s a photo pinned to it. Kara isn’t wearing her glasses here, but no one could say it isn’t her. The flannel she’s wearing is ill-fitting, and the jeans are belted on and rolled up at the ankles. It’s a family photo— Jeremiah and Eliza beam arm-in-arm, with Alex on their right and Kara on their left. Kara stands slightly apart from the rest of the family. She doesn’t smile.

There’s a note at the bottom of the photo. It reads, “Earliest verifiable proof of life.” The second note, at the bottom of the adoption certificate, is far more damning. “Forged.”

Lena sifts through the rest of the pages, curiosity banishing her unease. The same note repeats again and again.

Forged. Forged. Forged.

Kara’s birth certificate is fake. From what Jess’ sources have found, every school transcript, every medical record, every single document even hinting at Kara’s existence before the age of 13 is fake— and they aren’t poorly made forgeries either. Before the family photo was taken, December 14th, 2003, there is no evidence she existed at all. No photographs, no real records. Jess’ PIs couldn’t connect her to any dead or disappeared children in the year or so before the photo. There’s just nothing. An empty hole where a life should be. Even now, every medical record she has (limited to a few necessary vaccinations) is fake.

Kara’s claim that her parents died in a car accident is as unprovable as her birth. Of the nearly 39,000 car accidents in the United States in 2003, none of them can be connected to Kara. The simple fact, raised in a small addendum at the end of the first section, is that someone had worked very hard to make it look as though a girl named Kara Danvers (Born Kara Brown) had been born and raised in California.

It’s not the worst outcome there could have been, Lena decides. So far, there’s no connection to Lex, nor even to any specific security risk. Maybe Kara had been in Witness protection, or she’d been illegally adopted from a foreign country. None of it’s good, but on the scale of 1 to psychopathic mass murderer, it’s actually all rather minor.

She opens the next section, and her stomach drops. It’s a death certificate— Jeremiah Danvers’ death certificate. “Plane Crash - Presumed dead on impact.” Her eyes drift lower, and she knows what the note will say before she reads it. Forged.

The next several documents are government-issued mission reports and memos. She doesn’t recognize the heading at the top, “DEO,” but the notes beneath it confirm its veracity. They are purposefully vague in places, but Lena has read enough of the old Cadmus documentation after the Medusa attack to read between the lines. Jeremiah Danvers had been caught hiding aliens, and he’d been given a choice. He could help catch them, or he and his family could join them. Lena remembers the way Kara had recoiled at her alien detection device. She feels slightly queasy.

There’s nothing more about Jeremiah in the documents, only a few scattered remarks on Cadmus’ activity in the area of Peru where his plane had gone down. There are a few other documents. Alex apparently works for this DEO, and she’s rather high-ranking too. The end of the file has some written conclusions, theories of the investigators. Lena doesn’t pay them much mind. It was the data she needed.

So, Kara was raised by a known alien smuggler, one who’d been discovered for an undisclosed “incident” only a year after Kara’s adoption. She had no verifiable proof of existence before the age of 13. By all accounts, Kara hasn’t been to a doctor in the past 12 years, but Lena has never seen her so much as sneeze. And in all the months Lena has known her, Kara has only ever said 2 things about her life before the Danvers— that she’s adopted, and her mother was “sort of like a lawyer.” It’s not exactly the world’s hardest puzzle to solve.

Kara Danvers is an alien.

Okay, then.

What the fuck does she do now?

#supergirl #lena luthor #supercorp #kara danvers #supercorptober2023

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oneshotnewbie · 1 year

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Could you do a oneshot where Jeremiah is back (S2 Ep14) and joins family dinner but with b!d being not so happy to see him again because she was so devastated when she was gone? Maybe Kara or Alex/Maggie/Lena confront him when she runs out the door or something? You can decide how this ends?

A/n: In this story, Alex and Kara play more as a supporting role in order to focus the oneshot more on the friendship between Lena and Baby Danvers (Reader). That´s why they´re physically mentioned, but do nothing active as talking.

---

"Did you miss me?" asked the familiar voice from across the room and you swallowed hard as every vein in your body filled with a throbbing rage.

When the doorbell rang, you expected everyone but never him. Not your father, who just disappeared from one day to the next without telling anyone. He hadn´t even given you a damn reason and all these years you´ve been racking your brain about the why.

When he left you, you often thought about what it would be like to see him again, but over time, the scenarios in your head changed. At first, you would havee forgiven him as if nothing had happened. You would not have blamed him, but would have fallen into his arms and started crying with joy.

But now, you recognized his selfishness and was convinced that if you would meet him again, you would let him feel my coldness. For him to be consumed with self-reproach, like you had been for a while. But the more time passed, the more you managed to put the pain behind you with the help of your family and found the strength to close this chapter in your life.

Until now, when your wound completely ripped open again.

"You shouldn´t be here." you hissed between clenched teeth and didn´t dare to turn around.

You didn´t have to- heavy footsteps, mixed with the crunching of the wooden floorboards, could be heard and he stood behind you. "Babygirl.. I´m sorry." you tried to calm your hands, which were starting to tremble. Whether with anger or the sadness he left in your heart- you couldn´t quite figure it out. "But now I´m back and everything can go back to how it was before."

You tried to breathe regulary and bit your lip in the process; the pressure leaving a slight metallic taste in your mouth. Why couldn´t you just ignore him? He should get out of your apartment. Forever. You wanted to get rid of him- he was no longer a part of you and never will be again.

"You screwed up." You couldn´t bear to swallow your feelings anymore. You couldn´t go on and tolerate everything he had done, eventually the capacity of lying and cheating was reached.

"Alex could forgive me, then why not you?"

A short laugh escaped your lips and you leaned against the table that you were recently setting. You looked down for a moment, your feet scraping the floor as you just rolled your eyes up and glared at him maliciously. "Alex feels sorry for you. Why else would she invite you to a family dinner when you traded your wife and kids for work? To me, you are just a pitiful piece of misery that abandoned and destroyed his entire family."

Suddenly, there was silence in the room. Not long ago, your mother and Kara had been messing around with dishes in the kitchen, Alex´s attempts to say something between your arguments had died down and the nervous clinking of the rings against the glass of wine, that Lena wore, was gone.

"Do you really want me to go?"

"Yes, I do. Because I don´t give a shit what promises you make. Just because you exist and tell me all these things doesn´t mean they are true. I can say with a high certainty that you will be gone again in the next few months."

You had your arms crossed across your chest, your eyes narrowed and your mouth set in a thin line. You were furious, your blood almost boiling over but grateful that Alex let you talk. To get everything off your chest; she knew exactly how you felt when he disappeared and that you partly blamed yourself for it.

"Well, I´m not going."

You stared at him one more time with disbelief; your eyes boring deep into him so that he had to swallow hard and had to improve his stance. "Then I will go." you skillfully walked past him. "Please, sweetheart." Jeremiah sighed tragically. He managed to grab your arms and clasped your wrist tightly, so that you couldn´t shake them off at first. "Please, take a deep breath. Do you really want to leave?"

Without saying another word, you freed yourself with a quick and strong shake and took a step back from him. You walked away and grabbed your handbag from the bar stool on the way.

Only now did both siblings step in and try to persuade you to stay, but you couldn´t manage to play happy family with this person, who called himself your father, and enjoy the evening with him. You had nothing more to say and at the same time, you didn´t want to know anything more from him.

"Do you know how much damage you did in less than five minutes?" the black haired finally threw into the room with an even deeper voice and glared daggers at Jeremiah; the light color of her eyes turning into a deep dark green. How could one be so damn impudent and bold to enter the apartment with such a sentence. "A damage that was almost impossible to repair years ago, but we still managed to get her through it?"

"Calm down, Luthor. I´ve disappeared to-"

But the older man didn´t get any further chance to speak, Lena interrupted him abruptly; shifting in her seat so that her back could be supported and her arms crossed in front of her chest. "What? To protect? At that time there were other methods of protecting your children, most notably Y/n."

Lena Luthor seemed close to a dropout, despite her calm demeanor. Everyone in the room knew her, knew well that the throbbing vein on her temple and the twitching of her jaw showed, that the window of opportunity to be able to talk to her normally was soon missed.

He just drove her insane. And yet he still had the nerve to look at her quite innocently and confidently.

"This kid had an untold number of sleepless nights where she would show up at my apartment, crying and sometimes drunk because she didn´t know how else to suppress the feelings you left behind."

During the sentence she dropped, she stood up and put her hands on her hips in anger and disgust, waiting for his reply. But none came. Instead, he turned to leave when Lena held him back one last time.

"So often, she had doubted herself as a daughter, was sure she would have been the one who made you disappear because she gave you a hard time as a teenager. You didn´t deserve her as a daughter so do her a favor and don´t show up in her life ever again."

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