I probably should have done this sooner, but hi! This is my writing blog where I write stuff! So far it’s predominately Supergirl-related (heavy on Brainiac-5 and Nia Nal content), but I love writing for all the characters very much and hey, I may branch out to other shows as time goes on!
(Scroll to the read more at the bottom to find a masterlist for every prompt I’ve written so far!)
On this blog, you will find:
- Sneak peeks for some of my AO3 works.
- Story prompts. Suggestions can be made through my ask box, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to fulfil every one.
- Any stories that were either too short or didn’t fit with the themes of existing works I have on my AO3.
- Answers to any queries you may have! If you want to talk writing, fandom, or anything, really, my ask box is open.
SUPERGIRL PLAYLISTS:
The Heart isn’t Logical - A playlist for all things Brainia
In My Dreams - A Brainia playlist for when they were separated in 6x20
Uninhibited - A Brainy playlist exploring his character development from inhibited to uninhibited
SOME OF MY AO3 PROJECTS YOU SHOULD TOTALLY CHECK OUT:
Love Cannot Fit Inside a Theory: There was a 100% chance it was going to happen eventually, and after a year of planning, Nia and Brainy finally make good on their biggest promise to one another. In other words, the wedding fic is finally here!
All the Ways to Show I Care : - SUMMARY: A series of mini fics focused on Brainy and Nia's relationship and the inevitable fluffiness that ensues. (Note: Prompts for this story in particular can be made by commenting directly on the fic!)
Present, Past and Future Hunt Me : (COMPLETE) - SUMMARY: When a probe from none other than Brainy’s most feared ancestor, Brainiac, arrives on Earth, there is precious time to find a way of stopping him before he can come to collect.
As Brainiac draws closer to Earth, it becomes abundantly clear that the DEO is being sabotaged from the inside. With the Super Friends' assistance, Brainy works tirelessly to defeat his evil ancestor, but without his inhibitors, unanticipated complications arise.
The countdown has started. Can anyone be trusted?
PROMPTS MASTERLIST :
BRAINY/NIA (enhance your experience with my Brainia playlist)
Dead :- Nia is too late to save Brainy from Leviathan’s ship. (Character Death TW)
Home :- With the AI virus defeated, the Legion return for Brainy. Brainy has to make a decision about his future with Nia.
Fanfiction :- Nia and Brainy discover the wonders of Alternate Earth internet.
Possessed :- Brainy is taken over by an alien’s influence.
Vocabulary :- During a card game, the Super Friends notice a few changes in Nia’s vocabulary.
Anniversary :- Nia forgets their anniversary.
31st Century :- Brainy takes Nia with him to meet the Legion.
Argument :- Nia realises she was holding more of a grudge about Shelley Island than she’d thought.
Stuck :- Nia gets stuck in the dreamscape. Naturally, she tries to get Brainy’s attention.
MIA :- Nia gets captured on a run-of-the-mill mission.
Mother :- Nia meets Brainy’s mom. ALSO ON AO3
Aftermath :- Brainy comforts Nia after a run-in with a particularly nasty foe.
Snow :- Brainy experiences snow for the first time in National City.
Mistletoe :- Nia enlists Brainy’s help in making Christmas cookies.
Night Terror :- Brainy wakes from a nightmare convinced that he’s alone.
Sofa Cuddles :- After a stressful day, Nia finds comfort in Brainy’s arms.
Valentine :- Nia and Brainy share their first Valentines together since Leviathan.
Director Dox :- Nia finds out a little more about Brainy’s female doppelganger.
Follow the Leader :- Tension runs high when Brainy asks Nia to lead a DEO mission.
Eruption :- When Nia is hurt in the field, Brainy blames himself.
Murderous :- Nia wants to kill Lex for what he did. Brainy tries to talk her down.
Pinky Promise :- An alternate take to the pinky promise scene in 6x01
Not Fun :- An extension to the pinky promise scene in 6x01. Brainy is exhausted, Nia is there for him.
The Chair :- Extension to 6x06. Brainy and Nia have a little fun before their ship is due to arrive back in the present.
Not Dead :- Extension to 6x07. Nia gets the hug she deserves from the person she thought she’d lost.
While You Dream :- Nia wakes to find someone watching over her.
Ice Skating :- Kara proposes an interesting group activity.
Nuzzle Cuddles :- Nia indulges in her favourite kind of affection with a sleep deprived Brainy.
Voicemail :- When Yvette takes Nia out post 5x10, things get a little messy. Brainy can’t help but to come to the rescue.
Back Rubs :- When Brainy struggles with his anger, Nia finds the perfect remedy.
First Night Alone :- Nia struggles to sleep when Brainy’s not there. Fortunately, he left something behind.
Awkward Angles :- Nia falls asleep at an inopportune moment. Brainy makes sure she gets to bed safely.
Truth :- After William’s death, Brainy reveals the truth about the merge to Nia. A truth of which Nia refuses to accept.
Dream Echo :- Nia experiences a dream echo of Brainy’s death. Good thing Brainy is right at her side to help her back to sleep.
Slow Dance :- Brainy and Nia share a slow dance at Alex and Kelly’s wedding.
The Proposal :- After all, there’s a 100% chance it was gonna happen at some point. ALSO ON AO3
Sushi :- Nia teaches Brainy how to use chopsticks for the first time.
Valentine 2 :- Brainy decides to do something a little more impressive for their second proper Valentine’s Day together.
Together Again :- In the aftermath of 6x20, Nia and Brainy share a kiss during game night.
Close Call :- Brainy and Nia jump into action when Esme puts herself in a life-threatening situation.
Let It Out :- Nia comforts Brainy through a bad day without his inhibitors.
Magic :- Set during 6x14 - Brainy helps Nia after Lena’s magic breaks her brain.
Freezing :- Brainy keeps Nia warm when they become trapped in an unforgivingly cold environment. Later, Nia repays the favour. ALSO ON AO3
Dark Timeline :- In the dark timeline, saving Brainy from Lena’s influence is only the start of the healing he requires, but Nia promises to stay at his side no matter what.
Piano :- At Alex and Kelly’s wedding, Brainy teaches Nia how to play the piano.
Affections :- Nia expresses Naltorian affection to Brainy who is more than happy to reciprocate.
Phantom Nightmare :- The night they return from the Phantom Zone, Brainy and Nia open up to each other about what they experienced.
Side Effects :- Extension to 6x01. The radiation's effect on Brainy rears its head at an inopportune moment. Despite recent tensions, Lena and Nia are there to help. ALSO ON AO3
Holiday Special :- Nia and Brainy return to Parthas for the holidays, but there’s one guest that Nia’s more than nervous about seeing again.
The First Dreamer :- Additional scene following the events of the Flash season 9 episode ‘Wildest Dreams’. Nia comes home to Brainy and explains what she was able to uncover about her powers’ history.
That Brought Me to My Knees :- An alternate ending to the Bottle Episode. What if Brainy’s evil doppelganger hadn’t been quite as defeated as everyone thought? What if Nia pays the price? ON AO3
The Stare :- A new power develops for Nia during a hostage mission gone sour.
Headache :- An additional scene for the end of season 4. Guilty over all he has yet to tell Nia about his ancestral memory, Brainy faces the consequences of his realignment.
Restore Required :- Brainy hasn’t been sleeping. When he passes out at his desk, Nia steps in to help.
Sick & Tired :- Sick and exhausted from the aftermath of Leviathan’s radiation, Brainy falls into a nightmare of his own devising. Nia helps to guide him out.
In Too Deep :- Additional scene set during 6x13 showing what actually happened when Brainy couldn’t wake Nia from her dreams.
Bracelet :- When Brainy gets hurt, Nia takes on babysitting duty solo. But, who’s looking after who?
New Year :- It’s been a year since Kara revealed her secret identity to the world and a lot has changed. Nia and Brainy spend the New Year with their friends and reflect on their future now that they’re engaged.
Married Life :- After a difficult night, Brainy helps Nia with her morning hair routine.
Sleep Easy :- Nia’s skills are needed at a local hospital when a virus hits the city.
Apart :- Nia ruminates over recent changes in her role as a superhero. Brainy surprises her with a kiss.
Don’t Freak Out :- Alternate scene for 6x02; what if Nia did get arrested when she was sent to cover the Lex Luthor court case?
Set Up :- Set between 4x12 & 4x13; Alex and Kara decide to give Brainy and Nia a push by setting them up on a surprise coffee date.
ALEX & BRAINY
Crying :- Alex finds Brainy crying at the DEO.
Coffee :- While searching for Supergirl, Alex makes sure Brainy takes a break.
Moody :- When one of Brainy’s moods turns violent, Alex tries to figure out what triggered his outburst.
LENA & BRAINY
Hair :- Lena finds out the real reasons Brainy grew his hair out again.
BRAINY/NIA/KARA
Recovery :- Kara and Nia snuggle with Brainy while he recovers from Leviathan’s radiation.
Nightmares :- Brainy has a nightmare. Kara and Nia are there to comfort him.
Bottled :- When Brainy closes himself off to them, Nia and Kara ask for Bottled!Brainy’s help.
Glasses :- Joking around at the table leads Kara to a daunting realisation.
Inducer:- Brainy reveals a big decision to Nia and Kara.
BRAINY & KARA
Outcast :- Set during 6x06. Young!Kara opens up to Brandon about some of her insecurities.
Worst Fears :- An alternate scene from 6x07. When Brainy’s fear vision makes him believe that Kara is dead, he loses all sense of hope.
Streaky 2.0 :- Brainy surprises Kara with a perplexing gift.
NIA & KARA
Cat Grant :- Nia panics when she and Kara run into a very familiar face at CatCo.
Before You Fall :- Nia wasn't flourishing, it just took Kara far too long to see it. ALSO ON AO3
Something Borrowed :- Nia enlists Kara’s help when she needs to find something special for her wedding day.
J'ONN & BRAINY
Advice :- Brainy goes to J'onn for relationship advice. ALSO ON AO3
ALEX & KARA
The Boys!AU :- In a world where Kara and Alex are ‘heroes’ from The Boys, Alex speaks out against Kara’s growing dispassionate behaviour.
I’ll Protect You :- In the aftermath of 6x07, Alex helps Kara get some well deserved sleep.
NOVA!AU
2040 :- During a mission to the future, Brainy and Nia accidentally run into their daughter.
Handful :- At five years old, Nova proves to be a handful even for superhero parents to deal with.
BRAINY &/VS ZOR-EL
Argo :- When Brainy takes Zor-El home in the Legion ship, old wounds are re-opened for both of them.
BRAINY VS LEX
Lex :- Whilst helping Lena with an errand, Brainy is forced to speak face to face with Lex Luthor after his charges are dropped.
what do you think it would be like if Brainy from Supergirl met the MAWS version of Kara?
Oh boy, I have to imagine that a version of Kara that was literally raised to be a weapon by Brainiac would not sit well with Brainy.
I think he'd feel guilty at first. With the mentions of ancestral memory peppered into Supergirl canon, it makes me believe that Brainy's connection to Brainiac goes beyond him being a distant relative/reoccurring threat even in the 31st century. Brainiac's history, mind and knowledge is a part of Brainy in some visceral way that goes beyond our own natural understanding and so coming face-to-face with a Kara that was brainwashed by the teachings of a version of his own ancestor... oof that has GOT to cut deep.
Once Brainy gets to know Kara, though, the friends she made in her universe despite the awful things she'd been made to do, I think he would be inspired by her perseverance. They would probably have a lot of opportunity to trauma bond considering they were both raised by people who sought to control them by limiting their minds. Not only that, but they both share the emotional scars of their past, and an underlying fear that they can't escape the poison that is Brainiac, that they might share a little of that darkness no matter how far they try to run from it.
From Kara's perspective, meeting another Brainiac has gotta feel a little bittersweet. To know his legacy continued on in another universe for so many generations probably makes her fear for the future of her own world, and likewise it would also make it extremely difficult for her to trust anyone who carried the title or markings of Brainiac. But again, I think that after learning more about this Querl Dox, she'd come to realise that they were both unwitting victims of the Brainiac clan, manipulated into doing awful things, even believing them to be correct (Kara's adamance of the superiority of the Kryptonian Empire vs Brainy wanting to bottle an entire planet) but that paving a path for themselves as well as finding a chosen family of close friends to help carry them forward is what really defines them. Also, knowing that a Brainiac was able to break that cycle of violence would probably also help her believe in herself a little more.
On a more lighthearted note, Kara's forwardness and penchant to speak her mind is kinda similar to Brainy's, which would either lead to some hilarious clashing or maybe some eventual established common ground. Speaking of common ground, I think they'd also bond over food. (After Kara's crash-course in human desserts, I have to believe she's developed some funky flavour preferences).
I also feel like Brainy might be somewhat relieved to know that Clark is taking a closer interest in Kara and personally helping her acclimatise to Earth in this universe. Kara was a lot younger in the CW universe when she arrived, and the Danvers family did prove to be a good fit for her, but it's canon even in the show that Clark wasn't around nearly as much as he could've been, even when Kara idolized him so much. (I know it's never explicitly stated Brainy and Clark even really knew each other in Supergirl, but there is a Legion ring at the Fortress, so I like to believe that some version of the events of Superboy & LoSH did occur, enough that Brainy would have had a certain expectation of Clark when they met as adults).
I could go on lol, but those are some of my thoughts. Thanks for the question Rachel! I'm also SUPER excited for season 3 dropping in a matter of hours!!
messy beginner drawing of my favourite fucked up family !
Like Mother, Like Son*
*This is intended to be a snapshot of Brainy from the Supergirl canon just after having his personality inhibitors fitted. I liked the idea that the transformation was gradual, and so the pigment of his skin and hair is only just starting to fade.
I’ve noticed a really fun parallel between the comic variants of Nia and Brainy, in particular in two specific arcs that I kinda wanted to talk about. In lots of detail. So, I’m going to do that.
Prepare for an essay! (NOTE: this does contain spoilers for multiple comic arcs involving Nia and Brainy, including the most recent Justice League Intergalactic Special)
Just to preface, as of current DC continuity, Nia and Brainy have not met. In fact, Legion of Superheroes is due another(!) reboot in a couple of months, so we actually don’t know anything about the current Legion in the new future as of the DC K.O arc.
So, the version of Brainy that I’m talking about is not from the most recent continuity; in fact, we’re going waaay back to the bronze/silver age of Legion lore. The first generation of LoSH, if you will.
Let’s start there.
The first thing you need to know about Brainy is that in almost every iteration that exists, he is an incredibly emotionally unstable character. In the show, this is mostly demonstrated through his inhibitors (something that’s also briefly touched upon in PZH continuity) but for other variants…. Brainy is just like that.
There’s a sort of unspoken expectation of Brainy in the comics that because of his twelfth level intelligence, he should be capable of handling just about anything. And because of that, he constantly takes on too much. He doesn’t sleep. He stresses himself out. He internalises. He has a mental break down. Rinse and repeat.
During LoSH's first continuity, Brainy was institutionalised after becoming delusional and paranoid from overwork and lack of sleep, feeding a jealousy he’d already been harbouring after not being voted as leader by the other Legionnaires. This nearly led to him destroying the entire planet with the use of the Miracle Machine, and even when he briefly regained enough of his senses to save the planet, his plan left another Legionnaire, Matter Eater Lad, completely mentally broken after using him to fix his own mistake.
So now you have a bit of context, allow me to introduce you to the story arc that I’m referring to for Brainy. One of my favourite Brainy-centric arcs of this specific continuity, actually:
THE TRIAL OF BRAINIAC-5
Over the course of this comic’s lifetime, many Legionnaires were put under scrutiny in one way or another, either in a UP courtroom or by the Legion itself.
In this story, when a long-term villain known as the Time Trapper causes the death of the Legion’s Superboy, Brainy – fuelled by anger and heartbreak - goes against the Legion’s back, gathering the support from a few trusted Legionnaires in the process, to concoct a plan to kill the Time Trapper. Brainy’s plan involves using the Infinite Man, formally known as Jaxon Rugarth, against the Time Trapper. Jaxon was left brain dead after a time travel experiment gone wrong that led to his transformation and eventual comatose condition. Therefore, he had no ability to give his consent to be involved with this plan - a plan that meant sacrificing his own life by becoming the Infinite Man again in order to destroy the Time Trapper.
However, knowing Jaxon’s values, Brainy surmises that he would have wanted to give his life for this and, in sacrificing Jaxon, he was in fact successfully able to defeat the Time Trapper.
Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl and Mon-El all agreed to be co-conspirators in this plan and during the fight, Triplicate Girl – at the time known as Duo Damsel – loses her second body when she is killed by the Time Trapper. For added context, in the early years of the LoSH run, one of Brainy’s inventions – COMPUTO – took on a mind of its own and killed Triplicate Girl’s first body, leading to her name change in later issues. Mon-El was also gravely wounded during this attack and later succumbs to his injuries. *Although he is eventually resurrected
While Brainy wasn’t necessarily responsible for either of these deaths, he was still held in contempt by his fellow Legionnaires due to the unethical nature of his plan. In fact, they hold a court hearing for him where the Legion must vote on whether he can remain a member. Legion opinion is split. Some agree that Jaxon was brain dead with no hope of recovery and that the plan was therefore morally sound, however others believed Brainy’s actions as sacrilegious as Jaxon was still technically alive and unable to consent.
Brainy doesn’t take the court hearing seriously because he honestly doesn’t care what the Legion thinks of his decision. In his mind, the plan was fully justified and he has no regrets in carrying it out. He even requests that Saturn Girl offer nothing in his defence.
Instead, he tells the Legion exactly what he thinks. That there is no trial, only an argument of morality, and he believes that his is sound.
In the end, even though the Legion do vote in favour of him staying, he decides to leave of his own volition, returning to Colu to pursue his research where he won’t be restricted by Legion politics.
It's important to note that Brainy is not a cruel or callous character. He cares about his friends and the Legion very much and wishes to protect them to the best of his ability. However, he is willed by his logic and practical mindset, and so when he isn't able to do his job because of the obstacles the Legion puts in his way, he isn't beyond leaving. Brainy leaves and rejoins the Legion a few times during the comic's run, sometimes due to dispute, others due to his own mental health, but he always rejoins the moment he's needed.
In fact, the only regret Brainy has over the fight with the Time Trapper is that Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel had to lose another life - both that he feels responsible for - leaving her with only one body. Before he leaves the Legion, he reaches out to her, leaving his shield belt - his signature tool - with her as an apology, and in hopes of keeping her safe.
Okay – so now let’s jump to Nia’s arc.
Nia Nal who, at 18 years old, only had about three years of experience as a superhero before she was forced to work for Amanda ‘The Wall’ Waller against her will. Nia Nal, who - in this universe - did not have the likes of Supergirl’s example to follow, but was rather made to lead a bunch of morally ambiguous criminals to carry out Waller’s bidding in a new Suicide Squad.
Nia Nal, who at just 18 years old, accidentally killed an old man when she was forced to transport her team to his location through his dreams. Oneiric Travel: a power unique to her comic variant
Nia had started out with the purest intentions, wishing only to live up to her mother's example, but after Waller threatened to dox the location of her home, the secret alien haven of Parthas, she was willing to protect it with everything she had, even if it meant abandoning her own morals in the process.
When Waller releases Parthas' location to the public anyway, Nia, full of rage and intending to kill Waller for what she had been forced to do, discovers through a dream that there was a trigger inside of Waller's body that would go off the second her pulse stopped. A trigger that would terminate her only surviving family.
She'd never had a choice, only orders, and if she mis stepped, it would have been her father and sister that ultimately paid that price.
Just like Brainy, Nia’s story is a lot darker than some of the other heroes that she runs with. For example, one of the first heroes she befriends is Jon Kent, son of Superman, who embodies the teachings of his father, never killing or using his powers for ill will.
So, you can imagine Jon’s surprise when he finds out that Nia had not only killed someone, but had been planning on killing a recently prison-breaked Waller as well.
But Nia had already left her mark on Waller.
After the events of the comic arc Absolute Power, Waller was finally incarcerated and the trigger was removed from her body, but not before Nia stole every incriminating memory Waller had, every piece of information she could have ever used as leverage. Waller’s power came from her intel, and Nia made sure that Waller would never have the means to blackmail anyone ever again.
*Nia did not, in fact, put a bomb in Waller's head. But she's happy for her to go crazy believing that.
Jon doesn’t approve of Nia’s methods, but Nia isn’t apologetic for doing what she did. In her mind’s eye, her plan was justified. She had ensured that Waller would never be able to hurt anyone again, but when she finds out that Waller might be in the process of having those memories restored, she doesn’t hesitate to plan her murder again.
In the end, Nia sees Waller at her weakest, stripped of her power, without her memories, and realises that so long as Waller’s memories can be permanently extracted, she isn’t a threat, nor is she worth killing. She only wants her to face justice for everything she's done.
By the time we catch up to Nia’s arc, she is disillusioned and bitter and no longer believes that she would ever fit in the tight constraints of the Justice League.
By this point, she’s seen the darker side of being a superhero, she’s worked with the people who never once had an easy day in their life, who were used and abused by systems outside of their control, who had become criminals to survive or simply because they had no other choice. Not only that, but in the Absolute Power arc, Nia had sacrificed her own life to protect Superman and other heroes from being attacked inside the Fortress of Solitude. Her body was ripped to shreds in an explosion and the only reason she survived was through the dreamscape of Jon Kent, where she was able to rebuild and reconstitute her body before returning to the physical realm.
Despite what she gave up, it amounted to nothing in her eye. Jon still doesn’t trust her after learning about what she’d done to Waller, and his boyfriend Jay still blames her for the part she played in his mother’s murder - despite the fact she’d already revolted against Waller before that had even happened.
So, she doesn’t want to be accepted back by the Justice League. Partially because she’s punishing herself, partially because she’s angry for being judged by the choices she made.
Despite all this, she’s still a hero. She’s lost a lot, and she’s terrified of losing anyone else, which oftentimes makes her choices come off as selfish. In fact, her own losses often blind her to the larger picture, which is that despite her losses, her closest friends have also experienced similar devastation.
And those friends are still striving for hope within the new Justice League, one they desperately want her to be a part of. Nia’s pain and self-hatred skew her own judgement. She no longer believes in herself, but in the end her heart and will to do good is still present, she’s just refusing to see it.
There’s still a lot of story left to be told, and so we don’t yet know how Nia will grow from here, but for the moment I’m taking what we do know to draw my parallels.
So, you may be asking at this point – what parallels? Aside from the fact that Nia and Brainy in the comics are way more messed up than their show counterparts.
I think what interests me the most about these two is that Brainy and Nia are both passionate for what they stand for, and they don’t let codes or judgement get in their way of doing what they believe to be the right thing. Nia and Brainy both make selfish choices at times, choices that may come from anger or grief or lack of control, but that doesn’t mean that those choices don’t lead to results that end up stopping the bad thing from happening, something that a hero with a cleaner conscience may not have had the heart to carry out.
And, when judgement is inevitably cast upon them, they are not ones to back down. In fact, they are more than happy to part ways with a system that they don’t believe is working in favour of finding one that better serves their interests. Justice is all that matters in their eyes, especially at these specific points in their respective arcs, and I just love that so much.
Brainy’s strength comes from his intellect, but his flaws are in his hubris. Nia is incredibly powerful, but she’s also inexperienced and punishing herself and others by refusing to look beyond the side of the story that she’s experienced first-hand.
Obviously, this isn't a perfect parallel, both characters are in very different stages of their journeys in these arcs, and their reasoning for not joining forces with their respected teams are coming from different places too, but it's their justification and passion for what they believe in and stand for that ultimately tie these two instances together in my mind.
Anyway, I just have a lot of love for these characters and wanted to share some of my thoughts! Feel free to share your own if you want, my asks are open, I’m on a bit of a DC kick at the moment.
new prompt ideaaa perchance? brainy accidentally hurting nias feelings and making her cry ^^ tysm
I'm incredibly late, I know, but I had this idea during my season 5 re-watch. Bringing in some more angst for an already angsty era. Hope you enjoy! x
Prague, Sydney, Cairo, São Paulo, Madrid. The constant pings across the planet were starting to make Brainy’s eye twitch.
Lex had been off galivanting on his little Obsidian Platinum world tour for weeks now, sat snugly inside the pocket of one Gemma Cooper, and in all that time, they had come no closer to discovering the location of Leviathan’s ship.
Brainy had been following Lex’s progress scrupulously, scraping the navigation data from his private jet, following the public interviews, the unaired disputes, marking his movements in every time zone he stepped foot into. He had been waiting for an update - for any sense of urgency from the self-proclaimed Man of Tomorrow. And yet, every day, Brainy found no new messages on his phone. No missed calls. No orders.
Lex was enjoying this. Moreover, he was up to something. Brainy knew it, could feel it agitate inside his mind the longer he allowed that sense to linger. He was missing something, something obvious, and yet no matter how closely he monitored Lex’s moves, he couldn’t figure it out. There were always pockets of time that went unaccounted for, blank spots where he was able to slip away undetected. It was like he was swiping pieces from a chess board in plain sight.
To make things worse, Brainy had lost track of him. Again. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, exactly, somewhere between the church in Midvale and the journey back to Eliza’s.
It had been an… unexpected deviation in the plan, although he supposed that most deaths were. Truthfully, Brainy knew very little about Jeremiah Danvers - only that, despite his past, he had been striving to be a better man. Kara had wanted her whole family there to pay respects to that person, and to the father she and Alex had lost so many years ago.
How could he have refused that? His attention may have been spread thin between the DEO, investigating Leviathan, monitoring Lex, lying to each and every one of his friends, but he would be damned if he allowed this convoluted plan to strip him of his base humanity, too.
Still, he could not rest easy. Even sat inside that church, he’d been able to feel the tug of the leash in his hands, one that held a dangerous, unpredictable ticking time bomb on the other end. Who was gaining more slack with every moment he wasted.
Brainy wasn’t sure how he had been talked into going to the Danvers’ family home for dinner. Perhaps he had agreed while his mind had been elsewhere, perhaps it had been upon the might of Eliza’s own insistence, but some hours later, Brainy found himself sharing a living space with his friends, unable to find the energy to draw out even the weakest of lies.
He was cracking, he could feel it. The house smelt overwhelmingly like fresh like pine, along with a welcoming waft from whatever Eliza had cooking on the stove. The living room was too small for so many people; claustrophobic, even, and yet no one else seemed to notice.
Brainy pressed his back against the wall closest to the doorway, unable to meet anyone’s eye. It was better that way, he rationalised, to keep his distance, even if it did mean he was the only person left standing.
Kara and Alex were sharing a blanket on the couch. J’onn had taken to an armchair. And Nia…
Nia was engaged in a conversation with Kelly, her eyes brighter than Brainy had seen in so long. Almost as though a weight had been lifted from her heart.
Good, he thought. That was good. His only hope in all this had been for the pain that he had caused her to ease as swiftly as possible. He had no misconceptions that she would forgive him when all was said and done. No matter how hard his heart screamed on the contrary, his logic was undoubtedly sound. His latest simulations had left him with a bleak outlook for his future where his friends were concerned, anyway.
Perhaps he should have taken this moment of unity as a blessing.
But it was a curse. To stand in the company of such kindness and compassion, all the while knowing the secrets he was harbouring, the heartbreak he had caused. And what of the hurt yet to come? The inevitable distrust when they learned of his deceit? He couldn’t stop, not now, not when the end was so clearly in sight. All he needed was that damned location. As soon as Leviathan was out of the way, he would be free, he would be…
He would have to tell them all the truth.
The smell of a home cooked meal soured on the back of his throat, making his stomach turn. Sweat prickled across his brow as he reached instinctively for his phone, lending two thought tracks to the task of pinpointing Lex’s latest tour stop. Madrid. Yes, that was right. He had just landed.
No more distractions, no more delay. He needed answers. An update. Anything.
Brainy snatched his phone from his pocket, already dialling Lex’s number with his mind as he slipped silently out of the room.
Breath shallow, judgement clouded, Brainy was just able to locate the door to the backyard before his vision began to blur, yanking it open as he all but stumbled outdoors.
The crisp evening washed over his face in an instant, cooling the sweat on his skin as he shakily drank down a lungful of fresh air.
All the while, the ring tone droned on like a bell toll inside his ear.
No answer. He redialled immediately, fingers clenched tight to the screen. No answer. Again. Brainy’s teeth sank into his lip, nearly drawing blood. He redialled again.
No answer. No answer. No answer.
“Brainy?”
Brainy flinched, turning towards the voice that had most certainly not come from his phone. He pulled it away from his ear with haste, erasing his call history with a single thought.
It was Nia who stood in the doorway, a reserved look in her dark eyes.
Brainy could find no words to respond with. He wasn’t sure what might come out of his mouth should he try. Desperately, he fought for control, stuffing every unruly emotion into place as quickly as he deposited his phone back inside his pocket. He struggled to find that version of himself again, the stoic and emotionless figure he had been presenting himself as ever since he’d removed his inhibitors. It was draining to hold so tightly to a part of himself that did not exist, moulding his expression back into affectless stone.
If Nia noticed anything unusual, she didn’t express it. Instead, she swallowed, nodding towards the house. “Dinner’s ready, if you’re hungry. Eliza needs some extra hands to set the table.”
It was such a simple sentiment, and yet Brainy was barely able to contain the wave of emotion that struck him.
In truth, he wanted nothing more than to join Nia inside that house. To eat with her, share her company, her burdens, to be with her in any way that he could. He was exhausted playing this charade; being dialled in so strictly to a single mode of thinking had drained his mental reserves to the point of serious systems fatigue.
Some days, it hardly felt worth it. Every move he made was as deftly monitored as his own attempts against Lex, and he knew that he was falling behind. No matter how many simulations he ran, there were too many variables to account for. If he made just one mistake, the domino effect of events would surely lead to the harm of one of his friends. And if his life held so many similarities to that of his female doppelganger, if her losses became his, on this Earth… the mere thought was too much to bear.
But Nia was there. She was right there and, just hours ago, she had been close enough that he could have held her.
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even hold her hand.
Which meant that no matter how much he wanted to follow her back inside that house, to join his friends at such a difficult time, he could not. He doubted he would have been able to eat anything, anyway. The constant guilt that churned inside his stomach made him perpetually nauseous.
And yet, giving in would have been far too easy.
“Brainy?” Nia asked again, more serious this time. She glanced down towards his pocket, hesitating before she said, “Was that Lex?”
Brainy froze. This, he realised, was his out. An arguably inoffensive lie compared to the hundreds he had already accrued. It was either that, or one of a dozen other far less convincing excuses to get him out of Midvale post-haste.
“Yes,” he said swiftly, forcing a steady tone. “I am needed back at the DEO.” That was the truth, at least. He had spent far too much time away from his post already.
Nia smiled harshly. “No such thing as sympathy leave when your boss is evil incarnate, huh?” When he didn’t respond, her expression hardened. “Are you going, then?”
A longing part of his heart almost asked if she wanted him to. Instead, he dug his hands into his pockets, squaring his shoulders. “I must. If I am to maintain my cover—”
Before he could finish his drilled-in excuse, Nia interrupted with a derisive snort, turning to leave.
He should’ve let her go. He should have had the fortitude to have stopped the conversation long before it had even started. And yet the yearning in his heart screamed louder than any shred of sense he had left. Before he could stop himself, her name was already out of his mouth. “Nia--?”
Nia’s hand clenched around the doorframe, knuckles white as bone. “I just don’t get it,” she muttered. “How can you—how can you do it? Act like it’s not eating you alive to work for him like that?”
Brainy wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. It took all his energy simply to hold a neutral expression. “It is imperative that I remain close to him, so that I am able to feed information back to you all.” He shrugged, willing his voice not to shake. “Logic does not demand an emotional response.”
Nia turned to him bitterly. “Of course,” she said, eyes shining. “How could I forget? You operate on logic only now, right?”
Brainy ducked his head.
“Was it logical when you sat next to me today?”
His heart thudded loudly in his ears. Brainy swallowed hard, unable to speak.
“In the church,” Nia continued, voice thick. “You were right there and you didn’t have to be. You could’ve sat anywhere else. You haven’t spoken two words to me since you walked out. You avoid me at every corner. So why change that now, Brainy? Why--?”
“I can’t give you the answer that you want.”
Nia faltered. “What—?”
Brainy lifted his head. It was the last thing he wanted to do, to look her in the eye while he drew in from this awful character he had invented - but he was out of time. “It is natural,” he said without malice, “that you would feel emotionally vulnerable so close to the anniversary of your mother’s death. Trying to find comfort from someone that you were once – close – to is logical, also. But I can’t be that person anymore, Nia. I—” He grit his teeth, speaking faster if only to get it over with sooner: “If my proximity during the service gave you the wrong impression, then I apologise. I will not make that error again.”
Nia’s eyes widened in shock. She blinked, quick to mask it, though not quite quick enough to catch the tears that rolled down her cheeks. Brainy’s heart sank as he watched them descend, collecting somewhere beneath her chin.
Nia sniffed hard, swiping them away hastily with her knuckles. Her shock turned to hurt, then to rage in an instant. “Great,” she hissed out. This time, when she turned from him, it was with a finality that Brainy was both grateful and wholly unprepared for. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
The door slammed hard as she disappeared back into the house, a swirl of energy illuminating the glass briefly in blue.
Brainy didn’t move. There was no relief to be found in what he had done. Exhaustion softened the sharper edges of his guilt, though he knew it would strike him soon enough.
He deserved every part of it. Twice now, he had made Nia cry. Twice he had broken her heart. All to preserve this terrible lie.
Nia was right to have been suspicious of his motives. Despite his doppelgangers’ insistence against it, he had wanted to be close to her during the service. It had been his concern that Jeremiah’s funeral might bring up unsavoury memories for her, his choice to sit at her side. And yes, in focusing on that closeness - a proximity they hadn’t shared in months - he had even lost sight of his own mission in the process.
And for what? He had only made things worse. No matter how much he wanted it, no matter how much it tore him apart inside, there was simply no way he could be there for her that wouldn’t twist the knife in deeper for them both.
Had his words just now ensured she would not question him leaving? Almost certainly.
Had it been worth it?
Absolutely not.
His Legion ring allowed for a swift departure at least, although as he launched himself into the ever-deepening twilight, he found no reprieve from the burdens he had left down below.
Let them follow him home, he thought, let them haunt him until the end of his days. Because when Brainy closed his eyes, it was already Nia’s face that looked back at him, the pain he had caused crystalised to her cheeks like shards of glass.
He would resolve this. One day soon, it would all be over. Leviathan would be destroyed, Lex would be behind bars and then… then he would set about putting things right with his friends. With Nia. He had to.
Logic be damned, as Brainy flew towards the bleak reality of his present, it was the only hope that he could cling onto.
so i had this idea about before nia and brainy are together where the super friends see the romantic tension between the two but they haven’t said anything yet. So the super friends set up a secret date for them
anyways yeah simple concept, but it’s a cute ideas
ps: love ur content, your one of the only souls who focuses on brainy and nia that i can find <3
Thank you so much! And sorry it took so long, but I've been rewatching season 4 and had an idea to place this little scene somewhere between 4x12 and 4x13. Let's start 2026 with some Brainia! Hope you enjoy! 😊
“She should be here by now.”
Nia flicked through her messages for the fourth time since sitting down, hoping that by announcing it, she’d actually see a text pop up this time around. But, nope, just like before, there was nothing new to see.
It had been Kara’s idea for them all to meet at Noonan’s for coffee in the first place, and yet Nia hadn’t heard from her all morning. She’d kind of figured they’d be heading over from CatCo together, but when Kara failed to show, Nia had made the short trip alone. What was even the protocol for making plans with superheroes, anyway?
“Alex, too,” Brainy observed from his side of the table, hand poised over his phone as his eyes darted somewhere ahead of himself. “This is strange. For social gatherings, she averages at arriving ten minutes and fourteen seconds later than the agreed rendezvous.” He frowned, blinking out from whatever techno-bubble he’d been locked in. “It has now been fifteen minutes, twelve seconds.”
Honestly, Nia was relieved she hadn’t been the first to show. She and Brainy had bumped into each other on the way inside. After an awkward attempt at chivalry where Brainy had held the door open for her and about nine other patrons, they’d found a table by the window, hoping to catch Alex and Kara when they arrived. They’d been waiting now for, well, the exact amount of time Brainy had just announced, actually.
Nia grinned, leaning her chin against her palm. “That’s a cool trick. Can you do that with anyone?”
Brainy raised a brow. “Of course. As long as I have the necessary data.” He gestured to her phone. “For example, Kara is more likely to fluctuate. However, her average time of arrival barring any,” he lowered his voice into an unconvincing stage whisper, “Supergirl emergencies is around three minutes, twenty-two seconds later than stated. Given that she is able to fly, of course.”
“Of course,” Nia echoed. She was still getting used to that. “Okay, so, what about me?”
“Ah.” Brainy smiled, leaning forward. “You, I believe, prescribe to what is known as the fashionably late approach. For rooftop drinks, you were twenty minutes late, you were ten minutes late to game night and an impressive fifteen minutes early to Thanksgiving dinner.” He eyed her suspiciously. “Perhaps I do require more data. Your pattern is – ah - somewhat inconclusive.”
Nia laughed, rolling her eyes. “There’s no mystery to that, Brainy. I wanted to help set up.” She shrugged. “Plus, my dreams had been keeping me up at night; I was afraid if I left it too long, I might fall asleep and miss the whole thing. So, better to be early, I guess.”
Brainy appraised her with a subtle interest. “A strategy, then. I will have to factor that in next time. It is also something that we can work on.”
Nia pressed her knuckles against her lips. She could already feel the blush creeping along her cheeks at the prospect of spending more time with him, even if it was strictly for training purposes. It was what she’d wanted to focus on, after all, and Brainy had taken that to heart with immediate effect. It was endearing how quickly he’d committed himself to her request, even going as far as getting permission from Kara to use Superman’s renowned Fortress of Solitude as their training grounds. She got goosebumps just thinking about it.
And maybe that wasn’t just about the Fortress.
Honestly, it was kind of crazy how comfortable she felt in Brainy’s company already. Outside of that one wires-crossed dinner date, this was the first time they’d ever sat down at a table together, just the two of them, and yet Nia didn’t feel all that weird about it. If anything, it felt natural.
She cleared her throat suddenly, realising that she must’ve been staring at him for a while. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d assume she was still out of it from using her powers. It wasn’t exactly untrue – since she’d started leaning into her visions, certain points of focus had started getting a lot blurrier around the edges. Although, right now, she was a little too aware of what was going on.
Nia fumbled for her phone again, snatching it from the table. “I’ll text Kara,” she murmured, swiping quickly through her contacts list. “Maybe she forgot, or there was a superhero emergency or something.”
Brainy hummed, unconvinced. “I can confirm that there is currently no threat in National City in need of Supergirl’s attention.” His brow furrowed, his mind lost once more to cyberspace. “Nor the DEO, for that matter. Alex should be here.”
Just as he’d spoken, Brainy’s phone buzzed twice on the table, at the exact same moment that Nia’s pinged in her hand. She blinked in surprise. “It’s from Kara,” she said slowly, reading the text aloud, “won’t be able to make it, trouble in the city. Have fun.” Her mouth fell slack. “Um?”
“Mine is from Alex,” Brainy announced in equal bemusement. “Meeting running late, won’t be able to make it. Have fun.” His frown deepened as he scanned the text again, this time lifting the phone closer towards his face, scrutinising every detail. “That is impossible. Alex’s schedule was clear all morning. They are lying to us.” He blinked up at her, expression forlorn. “Why would they do that?”
Nia only half registered his question; she was far too immersed in the one clue that Kara had left behind. “Uh, did Alex put a little winky face after have fun?”
Brainy shook his head. “Alex does not favour the language of emoji.” He peered over at her curiously. “Why?”
“Well, Kara did.” Nia sighed, turning her phone screen for him to see. She couldn’t help the knot of embarrassment that had started to twist itself through her stomach. If this was really what she thought it was - and she was pretty certain that it was - then this was low, even for Kara.
No wonder she hadn’t wanted to show her face at CatCo that morning, her bluffing skills were majorly lacking. It was like her Supergirl secret drained her of the ability to hide literally anything else. Nia fought the urge to roll her eyes.
“Mm.” Brainy studied the screen for a long moment before glancing back at her. “Is she mocking you?”
Nia jerked her hand away, a surprised laugh catching in her throat. “What? No! Wait, is that what you think that means?”
Brainy straightened, fixing her with a serious look. “Winking faces can allude to various intents. Jokes, whimsy, cruelty. Although, recently, I have learned that winking in conversation can often signify the reference to one thing, when in fact meaning another. Especially in the realm of secret keeping. They are hiding something from us.” He inhaled sharply, making to stand. “We should investigate immediately.”
Thinking fast, Nia grabbed for his arm, all but yanking him back into his seat. She smothered a laugh with her free hand. “Brainy, hey Brainy, just stop a second, okay?”
Brainy fell back into his seat with a confused clutter. “You are smiling,” he noted distantly. Then, he blinked. “Why are you smiling?”
Nia groaned. “Because I know what this is.” She snorted, tipping her head back. “I just can’t believe Kara actually got Alex to go along with it.”
“Along with… what?”
“They set us up, Brainy. They were never going to show - because they wanted us to go to coffee together.”
Brainy fell silent, twisting his fingers over one another, as though he was trying to figure out a complex algorithm. “But we have drunk coffee many times together.”
Oh god, she was really about to spell this out for him.
Nia shrugged, feeling her face begin to warm again. “Sure, between training or grabbing them before work, but not like this. Y’know, like a…” She hung onto the word for as long as she could before closing her eyes, hissing between her teeth, “Date.”
“A… date?” Brainy scoffed, rearing higher in his seat. When Nia only met him with a tired smile, his face fell. “You think so?”
“Yup.”
“Is that something you want?” Brainy asked. He lowered his voice nervously. “I thought that after the first time— and-and then with Valentine’s Day--”
Nia flinched. “Okay, so we’ve both been pretty bad at the whole date thing. Maybe that’s why Kara and Alex thought we could use the push.”
“So it is, then, something that you want?”
She smiled. “Maybe not this exact scenario, but, yes, Brainy, it is. Is it something you want, too?”
Brainy seemed to relax a little as he considered, folding his hands beneath his chain. “Dating is not so different where I am from, although there is a severe lack of anti-gravity bars in the twenty-first century.” He shrugged. “Coffee seems a fitting substitute.”
Nia laughed, feeling her own embarrassment begin to fade. There was still a tingle of something like anticipation in her stomach, although she decided she liked that feeling a lot better. “Okay, great. It’s a date, then.” She cringed. “Or, it will be, we should probably order first.”
This time, Brainy did stand. “Allow me.”
“Wait, I didn’t tell you what I—” She trailed off as she watched Brainy march away, rolling her eyes. “Right,” she muttered to herself. Brainy had had her coffee order memorised since before they’d met again on that rooftop. Even if she did decide to change it up, she was pretty sure he’d still get it right somehow. Differential calculus or whatever.
She settled into her chair instead, watching with a smile as Brainy headed to the counter to order.
She was excited - in a way she hadn’t felt on a date in long time. She knew it was just coffee, and it was just one date, but it was the best shot either of them had taken since whatever was going on between them had begun to register.
Nia may have only just started on her path as the Dreamer, but she was pretty sure her dreams had never alluded to anything like this before. She kind of hoped they never would. For right now, it was more fun to live in the present, and for the future to remain a pleasant surprise for them both.
Idly, she tapped back into her phone, typing out a quick but deliberate response to Kara’s text.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandoms:
My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon)
Legion of Super Heroes - All Media Types
After years alone aboard an empty ship, Kara is desperate for a friend. When Father finally agrees to her request, the result isn't quite what she expected.
Who is this strange green boy? And why does he go by the name 'Brainiac 5?'
I love re-watching Supergirl and catching little comic book nods that I hadn't noticed before.
Like, take 2x15 (which is a banger of an episode for a lot of reasons anyway). But, I never caught this little conversation between Alex and Jeremiah before. So, Jeremiah is trying to justify his actions in helping Cadmus, saying that the aliens that they're kidnapping are being sent somewhere they can find 'passage home'.
Now, not only is this a bullshit line that is very reminiscent of current world politics when it comes to immigration, he also says this about the ship the aliens have been put on:
Which time out for a second here, because did he just say Takron-Galtos? As in the prison planet?
Cadmus were going to straight up send these alien refugees to an intergalactic internment camp. Again, very much a nod to the real world.
The kicker and honestly darkest part about this episode is that it never actually tells the audience what Takron-Galtos is, it just relies on those who would understand the reference to sell its meaning. It adds an even darker spin to an already dark story line about what Cadmus is doing, and that was definitely intentional.
After reading set in stone from ur ao3. I was wondering about what happens after brainy is released. like how brainy would start to assimilate into the group and even get his nickname. I thought it would be a cool and even angsty idea, yknow, considering he is a teenager. (i gotta say, i rly like moody brainy)
anyways that’s rly it. i hope u have a wonderful day
Aww, thank you so much, hope you're having a lovely day too!
I love seeing some love for my little Set In Stone fic, and honestly it is something I have wanted to expand on. We never got the strongest impression of any of Brainy's relationships with his fellow Legionnaires in Supergirl so it's really just a blank canvas waiting to be painted.
I think if I wrote more on it I definitely would like to expand on Imra and Brainy's friendship, I am a firm believer that she would be one of the people that got him to come around in the early days. In many ways, the characters are quite alike in how they think, and Imra is one of the few Legionnaires who could truly understand what it would feel like to be feared by people for simply, well, existing.
Honestly there's a lot of fun dynamics I'd love to write for, plus manipulate a bit of comic book canon in there too to fit my version of events. In my tie-in fic When Dreams Come True Nura mentions that it was Brainy who cured Mon-El of his lead poisoning, and I'd love to write my own version of that scene too, as well as the build-up of distrust prior to that between the Legionnaires and a newly recruited/house arrested Querl Dox.
Also, any chance to write some more Moody!Brainy is one I will gladly take. 😉
But yeah, it's definitely something I want to write at some point!
Hi!! I made a brainia playlist and I wanted to share it. Different songs, different moments of their relationship. Hopefully, by listening, you’ll be able to see the similarities through the music and their relationship.
- I love your writing. Please never stop writing for them. Thank you. Have a good day/night :3
Give this playlist a listen: brainia 🤍 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5bQvFqNRGjkRZ3gvFWutbT?si=ML94v96yTZOeD7LOlskJSg&pt=bac9b7d8689e12cc92b267c40117d70f&pi=JW2Yz-iGTrCf_
Oooo I'm really liking this playlist! ❤️ I'm definitely picking up some of those Brainia moments with these songs.
just realized that in a few weeks, it'll be 10 years since the Supergirl TV show premiered, and about 4 years since season 6 ended! Do you have any thoughts on where the characters would be a few years after the finale, like what kinds of things they'd be doing with their lives?
Don’t make me feel old 😭 I can’t believe the show’s been over for 4 years already. Where did that time go??
While I have my hang-ups with how season 6 was handled, I do appreciate the show leaving the finale open-ended. Comic book stories really can just go on forever and so it’s easy to imagine hundreds of stories for the characters long after that final chapter was closed.
I’ve woven a lot of little ideas into my fics over the years, small snapshots of what the characters might be doing or how they got there. I’ve written a lot about Brainy and Nia’s wedding of course, and snippets of their life post season 6, and I love imagining the two of them settling into a proper life together where they can finally relax instead of fearing how much time they have left with each other.
One idea in particular that I wrote a bit about quite recently was that Nia would have way more responsibility on the whole Super Friends front, especially after the new DEO was established.
In season 6, the show stressed that there would always be a need for a split focus regarding the team structure: the close-to-the-ground community hero vs the superheroes taking on extreme, sometimes world-ending threats. Not to say those two things can’t overlap – world ending threats are definitely an all hands on deck sort of endeavour - but I couldn’t imagine Nia, Kelly or Lena ever working for the DEO in the same way as Kara, Brainy or Alex. Nia and Kelly especially are heroes who are on the ground, present with their communities and backing their corners to make every fight count. Lena doesn’t trust the government, end of discussion, and even with new direction, you can’t really remove the military element from an organisation like the DEO.
But yeah, even though we didn’t get the scenes to fill in the gaps, I always imagine that Nia took on a lot of Supergirl and Kara’s roles while she was in the Phantom Zone, and so Kara would absolutely see it as a natural progression for Nia to head her own superhero team. It probably took a bit of convincing before she accepted, but once she’d settled into it, she would rock it. I also think Nia would have been recognised for the work she put in at CatCo, especially while Kara was MIA, and with a glowing recommendation from Kara, she would definitely be given a more senior role there.
I also like to imagine her growing even more confident in her powers. Working with Brainy and Maeve to hone her skills and incorporating the lore we got with that one Flash crossover ep as well so that she can tap her powers from their source and not be afraid to give into them anymore. She gets more comfortable with her visions, not fearing the lack of control that comes with their spontaneity but instead relaxing into them so that she can confidently decipher their meaning.
In kind, Kelly and Lena would also take up that community focus, working out of the Tower with Nia as well as Andrea. Yes. Andrea. She wasn’t given nearly enough of a story arc in the show and I do think that she could have made a pretty decent superhero with the right encouragement. For comedy effect, I also like imagining her as the Super Friends’ official-ish social media manager, but giving her a positive environment to do good and give back to the community could have really turned her around.
I think she and Lena would become business partners on the non-superhero side of things, separate themselves from the Luthor and Rojas names respectively, everything their families did to tie them down. Instead, they’d work on Lena’s foundation to help fund the next generation’s minds and secure a better future for everybody.
Alex being the Director of the DEO was such an important role for her character because it enabled her to balance her work and life and so I do think that with the new DEO open, she would continue to take a front-facing role as Director. I picture J’onn as a co-Director of sorts, although he’d still lead his classes and workshops through the DEO, helping to separate that scary military persona with a more community-friendly environment. In a weird way, Lex sort of already did some of the legwork by making the DEO a public entity post-Crisis, but it was still an organisation owned and led by the guy who wanted to mind-control the world, and then when that didn’t work he nearly destroyed it, so—like—I’m imagining that was a pretty hard sell. J'onn would also be there to help out with smaller cases that the DEO might have otherwise overlooked, as well as being ready to help Nia's team with anything they need.
I do think that Kara probably had to do a lot of fighting post-finale just to keep the military off her back. Just because the President gave them permission to build a new DEO with their own ideals doesn’t mean that everyone would be on board with that. I always think back to the stand-off that happened in 6.19, where Kara and Brainy stood against the military while very blatantly trying to damage the sun and thereby the planet. Doesn’t matter that they changed their minds, something like that (despite the world-saving that took place afterward) is sure to raise some questions. And surely the military finding out that a journalist has been Supergirl this whole time would cause all sorts of drama. I think Kara and Brainy probably had to put in a lot of work to regain the people’s trust there, but hey, that’d lead to more bonding between them at least. 😂
And speaking of Brainy, he’d always be devoted to the cause, and would split himself wherever and whenever he was needed. The Legion were community heroes that also had to deal with interplanetary politics and every obstacle in between, so Brainy would be more than ready to jump between both areas of expertise to assist on any front he could. Still, being at Nia’s side would always be his preference. I’ve also pretty much convinced myself it’s canon now that he has sessions with Kelly to help with his emotional stability post-inhibitors, and I like to imagine those continuing so that he can fully embrace the true expanse of his mind.
On the cuter, domestic side of things, Esme would continue to have two kick-ass mums who love her dearly and a whole family of superheroes to shower her with affection. Lena, Nia, Brainy and Kara take the babysitting rota incredibly seriously and would do all and anything to get stickers on the board. It overtakes game night in competitiveness. And, as Esme grows older, she’d gain better control of her powers, learning the tricks of the trade from all the aliens in her family, although the talk of her trying to be a superhero like her parents would definitely be a not until you graduate sort of conversation.
This sort of became an essay. Can you tell I’ve thought about this before? 😅 Anyway, despite the paragraphs these are just a few spit ball ideas, but if anyone wants to share their own go right ahead! My ask box is always open. 😉
Prompt from kara-night-light:
During 6x02 What if Nia called Brainy saying she got arrested and was at jail, like William called Andrea to bail them out and Nia called Brainy just to let him know. Especially with everything that had gone on so recently.
[x]
“Okay, so don’t freak out, but I’ve been arrested.”
Phone clenched tight to his ear, Brainy felt a flutter of unease stir at the base of his sternum. Of all the scenarios he had envisioned as a cause for Nia’s tardiness, that had not been one of them.
He bared his teeth, a nervous chuckle forcing itself from his throat. “I-I’m sorry—y-you’ve been what?”
“It’s gonna be fine!” Nia insisted, in a light-hearted tone rarely attributed to those of the recently incarcerated. “Andrea’s dealing with it as we speak, we’ll be out of here in no time. I’ll just be a little late, that’s all.”
Exasperation welled inside of Brainy’s chest. “Nia.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is—this isn’t ideal. And I know what you’re gonna say - if I wanted intel on the trial, I should’ve just astral projected. But William was with me, and I didn’t know what else to do!”
Brainy’s mind was already racing in tandem with his heart. This would not do. Training had to commence that afternoon. There was no room for deviation; Nia had to be prepared for the next stage of their plan. Why, she was the linchpin holding everything together, without her…
Without her.
Panic clamped down suddenly on Brainy’s chest, the shock of it nearly rendering him immobile. Tears sprung to his eyes without warning, blurring the edges of his vision, and yet he had no idea why—
“Brainy, hey, are you okay?”
Nia’s voice broke easily through his mental tribulations, her concern for him clear. Brainy cursed himself inwardly. Just how long had she been talking, how long had he been filing her words away without proper recourse?
Brainy cleared his throat, struggling to compose himself. “I’m fine.”
“That doesn’t sound fine,” Nia countered. “Listen, deep breaths, alright? Just like we practiced. I promise, nothing bad is gonna happen. I’ll be there soon.”
Brainy sniffed, wiping awkwardly at his eyes, flinching when his fingers came away damp. If the prickle of perspiration along his brow was any indication, it appeared he was beginning to leak from more places than one.
He had to get a hold of himself; if nothing else, the plan counted on that. Nia was right - while her unanticipated arrest narrowed down their window by a significant margin, they would still have time to train. So long as no other inconveniences manifested in the meantime.
Already, his mind began to branch outward, simulating all unfavourable outcomes given Nia’s current predicament. Delays at the courthouse, Andrea’s bailout falling through, William’s proximity offering no easy exit without suspicion. It was all too much, and with so little time left to get things right…
Brainy closed his eyes, exhaling sharply, trying to dispose of his runaway thoughts as quickly as they presented themselves. It felt about as useful as scooping water out of a sinking ship.
He swallowed down a groan, forcing his thought tracks back into line.
It was true that he hadn’t been handling things well since being reinstated with his uninhibited mind, and after spending the last few days on nanite-induced bedrest, he had to admit that he still felt somewhat out of sorts. It was also true that, on the first night Nia had brought him home, he’d experienced a panic attack. Still partway delirious from the radiation sickness, Nia had guided him through some rudimentary breathing techniques until he’d been able to settle at her side. It had been a routine he’d clung onto with a dependency he hadn’t quite anticipated.
It was manageable, of course, merely a learning curve. He had spent months trying to bury everything removing his inhibitors had unearthed to maintain his cover, it was only to be expected that he would experience some minor teething issues in the interim. So expected, in fact, that he had already employed a temporary solution.
Focus. All he had had to do was focus.
Not on his emotions, of course, not when Kara’s life was hanging in the balance. Not when any break in his resolve might affect his calculations, leading to disastrous consequence. No. They could not be allowed entry. All that heartbreak, pain, rage had no place inside his mind right now. Yes, they might agitate at the walls he’d constructed to keep them at bay, or call to him as enticingly as the voices that composed his ancestral memory, but so long as he kept them boxed up and strictly regulated, they had no say on his actions.
He had been doing it for so long already, what was one more day?
Just one day. That was all. In twenty-four hours, the Phantom Zone portal would be open, Nia would have divined Kara’s location and Supergirl would be reunited with the mortal realm. Failure was not an option.
They had a mission to carry out. And Nia— she—she—
She had been arrested, for something as trivial as investigating Lex’s trial.
Lex.
Brainy swallowed again, his heart racing inside his chest. An unease disturbed his stomach, enough that he feared he might lose the first meal he’d been able to keep down in days.
A snap in his eardrum forced him back to the present, and he realised with belated surprise that his hand had clenched hard enough to shatter his phone screen.
“Brainy?”
Fortunately, the speaker had not been damaged, and Nia’s concern for him was received well and clear. Brainy dipped his chin, realising yet again that he had left her waiting for far too long. “Apologies. I-” He held his tongue, drawing in a deep breath before continuing in a forced monotone, “You are right. I am sure Andrea will have you out with immediate effect. I-I’ll see you soon.”
He faltered, tripping over his last words with a faint but perceptible tremble.
“Definitely,” Nia said in a placating tone. Sprock, she’d heard it, then. “And I promise, once I get there, training will be my only focus. Hang tight, okay? I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Brainy closed his eyes, allowing his voice to soften around those words.
A hysterical bubble rose in his throat as the call ended. Nia was the one currently compromised by the law and yet she was telling him to hang tight? Why, he should have been reassuring her! Not that she appeared to be in need of it.
No, he supposed she had accepted the risks of her day job long ago.
It was ironic. While the thirty first century had abandoned the concept of alter egos, Brainy had come to expect that those who chose to lead double lives in the present would have preferred a safer career for their civilian identity. Something that was easier to shed when the city needed them. And yet, more often than not, a superhero’s identity was never far removed from their civilian life. The need to help people in any way so intrinsic to their being that it far outreached a single narrative.
He inspected the crack that webbed out from the centre of his phone, a blemish that marred the photo of Nia that he kept as his lock screen. Her eyes that usually stared up at him with such warmth, instilling comfort whenever he needed, had been shattered into a dozen fragments.
He hesitated, running his thumb over those cracks. Perhaps his fears were not entirely isolated to Kara’s situation. He was well enough acquainted with the bleakness of a cell to not wish it on anyone, especially Nia. The thought of losing her again, no matter how trivial the circumstance, had clearly stirred something inside of him, enough that it had nearly upended the mental box he had barely been able to tape down in the first place.
She would be fine, he told himself, hoping to assure at least his own psyche. Left alone again on the Tower’s training floor, he kept that mantra going, looping it on a single thought track.
He tried to return to his work, to calibrating the dream sensors he’d constructed specifically for their training together, but when he lifted his laser tool from its holster, he found that his wrist was too unsteady to cut a straight pathway.
Brainy released it with a hiss of frustration, wringing out his hands, hoping to alleviate his nerves. When that didn’t work, he took to the training floor again, pacing absently, anxiously, narrowly missing the coffee table still set out from their earlier talk with Silas.
He massaged his jaw as he moved, hoping to lessen the chances of a tension headache. It didn’t work, and soon his head was pounding just as hard as his heart. His breathing was too shallow and no matter how many times he tried to remind himself that his fears were unwarranted, he still couldn’t draw in enough air. To lessen the pressure.
His tongue felt thick inside his mouth, making it difficult to swallow. To merely think about it made it harder to recall how he was meant to action those simple functions at all. Desperately, Brainy rubbed at his throat, reaching for his ring finger, twisting it in the rhythm Nia had shown him, holding each breath for as long as he dared before forcing it out between his teeth.
It still wasn’t enough.
Dizzy and light-headed, he didn’t even realise he was back at the coffee table until a donut from that morning’s briefing was touching his lips. Brainy startled at the sensation, biting into the crisp shell instinctively. Though he still felt vaguely nauseated, the cushion of something sweet filling the pit in his stomach was surprisingly well received.
He closed his eyes, trying to sink into that easy motion as his mind blurred to static, crunching to a halt. He didn’t have to think to eat, the act of chewing came more naturally than anything else, helping to regulate his breathing, silencing the angry cries that had started to creep out from their mental cages.
He kept chewing and, when the first swallow met no resistance, he took another bite, relishing in the first sense of calm he’d experienced since waking to Nia’s face that first morning home. For the moment, it was enough to steady him, and when the donut was gone, he felt a little of his strength return with it.
He polished off his hands, sniffing away the last of his tears. Satisfactorily refuelled and somewhat emotionally stabilised, he retrieved his laser tool, continuing his work where he last left off.
Focus, he reminded himself again. Nia would need the dream sensors fully calibrated for when she returned to the Tower. It was easier to concentrate with an approaching deadline. As he worked, he honed in on his boxes, drawing in every unruly emotion that had tried to wriggle loose, sealing them to the furthest recesses of his lesser used thought tracks.
They were packed in too tightly, he knew, the seal fit to break before he’d even stamped it shut, but it would have to do.
For the time being, his emotions held still within their confines. He was under control. For this plan to succeed, he had to be.
Some days, it felt like everything was just waiting to go wrong.
Nia tried not to show it, tried not to care, but sometimes, things moved way too fast for her to keep up with. She knew it wasn’t anyone’s fault – the new DEO took precedent if it was ever going to meet the public’s expectations. It was just… her duties laid elsewhere nowadays.
Duties like the Tower. Like leading the base of operations for all Super Friend activity going in and out of the building, upholding the community aspect of what they could achieve on the ground. She headed campaigns, ensured visibility at rallies and protests, set rotas for patrols by hacking her way into local feeds to see where trouble was most likely to lend itself. It wasn’t exactly glamorous work, but with Andrea’s help she was getting better at the whole public facing side of popularity, even if that did involve managing some of Andrea’s more extreme visions of what the Super Friends were meant to represent.
Mostly, she had ears out on the streets, trusted sources that were willing to talk with her and share their stories. The DEO’s reach was vaster, sure, but they couldn’t slot themselves into the nooks and crannies of the city like her. J’onn might have been able to phase through doors, but Nia knew how to seek an invitation.
Besides, even if they had her journalistic tenacity to bolster their approach, the DEO was way too busy to deal with every detail. Building an organisation from the ground-up wasn’t easy, and delivering on a promise like civil servitude under a military-level once-secret took a lot of work. At least the Tower could stand on its own two feet.
J’onn had already set up shop inside one of the new DEO buildings, opening a community safe space for aliens who were new to the planet where they could meet and interact. The space was open for hobby classes, yoga, public speaking seminars - practically anything. It was a place for all Earth citizens and visitors alike to learn and build trust with one another.
Needless to say, everyone was busy. Brainy especially. With help from his holograms, he’d been dividing his time between the DEO and the Tower, but even then, Nia hardly got to see him during the day. His prime copy was usually stuck somewhere in the DEO’s sub-level, tied in some way to an unavoidably physical project.
It wasn’t normally an issue, but today she’d been waiting on him all morning to help with a signal failure that had dragged the Tower’s systems to a standstill. She couldn’t get a sound image on anything from satellites, nor could she access interstellar comms. Considering she was meant to be touching bases with M’gann’s ship in the next hour, it was kind of a tight window.
Worst case scenario, the DEO could reach out to her with their equipment, but she’d only get delayed gaining clearance to land, and considering she was meant to be getting briefed on the Tower’s new team structure all afternoon…
But it was fine. Totally fine. Just another obstacle Nia would have to overcome given her new position.
At least she wasn’t alone. Lena had been with her all morning trying to fix the signal problem, but the Tower’s systems were an amalgamation of Martian and Coluan ingenuity, not to mention the 31st century tech Brainy had infused with J’onn’s computers the second he’d got his hands on them.
Which led to the crux of the problem. Future tech required a future solution.
Lena was still wrestling with the Tower’s central computer system when Nia’s phone pinged. She snatched it up with bated breath, hoping to god it was an ETA from Brainy.
One look at her screen told her otherwise. Nia groaned the second she clicked open the notification. “I don’t know how many times I can tell Andrea that the Super Friends’ Insta is for community updates only, not selfies.”
“According to her, they generate clicks,” Lena said with a long-suffering smile. “And, unfortunately, she’s right.”
Nia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, at least she isn’t posting clickbait about your relationships. Did you know hashtag DreamerDox was trending all last weekend?”
Lena shrugged, casting an unapologetic glance over her shoulder. “At least the pictures were cute.”
When Nia only glared at her, Lena’s expression softened. “Sorry, bad joke. The Luthor name doesn’t earn much in terms of positive press. But you’re right, Andrea has certainly crossed a line; not only does this jeopardize your identities, it’s a flagrant violation of privacy. Beyond that, it’s just… tacky.” She raised a brow. “I can talk to her, if you want?”
Nia breathed out slowly through her nose, shaking her head. “It’s fine, I can deal with Andrea.” She laughed stiffly, gesturing broadly with her phone. “It’s my fault anyway, I’m the one who agreed she could be our social media manager in the first place.”
“She makes a mean bargain to get what she wants,” Lena considered. “At least you have Acrata on the team now.”
Nia bared her teeth. “Is that a good thing, though?”
“Well, it’s certainly better than having her unaccounted for. Or lurking in the shadows.” When Nia didn’t laugh, Lena released her keyboard with a sigh, swivelling fully to meet her. “Hey,” she prompted, “chin up, you’re doing great.”
Nia smiled wryly. “Thanks.”
“I mean it,” Lena said. “This signal failure is a minor setback at best, Nia. We’ll get it fixed.” She hesitated. “Speaking of which, has Brainy got back to you with an ETA?”
Nia tried not to flinch. Instead, she tossed her phone onto the table, sitting down heavily in front of it. “Nope, but I’m guessing remote access is a no-go, otherwise he would’ve done it already.” She pushed her face into her hands. “Who knows, maybe we’ll even get a hologram.”
“Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?”
Nia’s head shot up. “It’s not that,” she insisted. “It’s just…” God, how did she explain it? It wasn’t like their situation was entirely normal. Who else could say that their boyfriend had almost relocated to another century where he’d fully intended to relinquish his physical form and merge brainwaves with an impersonal collective unconscious?
Just one of those things, right?
At least she had him back. Most days, that was even enough.
“Sometimes it still feels like a dream, y’know,” she muttered, pushing her hair back behind her ears. “There’s just been so much going on.” She snorted. “I mean, who wouldda thought I’d be leading my own superhero team?”
“Me, for starters,” Lena said frankly. “Nia, listen to me, you have flourished with every new challenge you’ve been set. Kara wouldn’t have encouraged you to do this if she thought you weren’t ready. Sometimes, we need a push from someone who can see us outside the lens of our own insecurities. You have the makings of a leader, don’t discredit yourself.” She winked. “Besides, doubt is the greatest downfall to even the most stringent leaders. Don’t let it win out.”
Somewhere through her speech, Lena had made her way to the table, planting herself firmly on the other side. Her pale eyes were like steel, impossible to evade.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nia said, unable to hide her smile. “Is that patented Luthor family advice, by the way?”
Lena’s returning smile was measuredly sharp. “Who do you think were dethroning those leaders to begin with? Luthor values were all about planting doubt, not falling prey to it.” She lifted her chin. “Fortunately, this Luthor is on your side.”
“And I’m grateful, really.” Nia picked restlessly at her dream bracelet, clenching her arms tightly across the table. “I try not to doubt myself, but it’s just a lot, all the time. And I know we’re a team, but I guess I’m just not used to us being spread so far apart.”
“He’s not going anywhere this time, you know.”
Lena’s tone was so incisive it could’ve been deadpan. Nia sighed, feeling her cheeks flush. “Was I that obvious?”
Lena shrugged in consideration. “Compared to Brainy’s pining? Not at all.”
Nia rolled her eyes, although she couldn’t help the flutter in her heart knowing Brainy had been going through the same. That was another thing – between CatCo, the DEO and the Tower, late nights had become the standard. Nia was lucky if she could stay awake for even five minutes after getting home. Just getting the time to talk about it with each other was proving an impossible task. “It’s just all so new,” she admitted. “This position, the DEO, us… it’s like we’re finding our feet all over again. Now there’s no more uncertainty and we have our whole future together… I know it sounds silly, but I thought we’d have at least a little time together to settle into that life before--”
Her phone pinged again.
Nia groaned, pointing at it emphatically before grabbing it from the table. “Before stuff like this! I mean what could—oh come on!”
Lena frowned, instantly alert. “What is it?”
Nia was still scanning through Alex’s text when she answered. “Looks like something major’s going on downtown. Some sort of anomaly, Alex thinks. It already set off a local EMP that’s fried the DEO’s network.” She pulled a sour face, pushing back from the table. “And – if there’s no power, then there’s no comms for M’gann’s ship. Great.” She looked up to Lena apologetically. “Alex wants us to combine our efforts. Can you grab Kelly and portal over there? I’ll stay here until systems are back online. Shouldn’t be long, I think we just got bumped up to priority one.” Automatically, she headed over to one of the downed computers, grabbing a spare tablet from the desk. They couldn’t do much without satellites, but she could at least take a peek around the city with some of the local security cameras she’d… acquired.
She felt Lena at her shoulder a second later, studying the feeds she’d just opened. “Are you supposed to have access to all of those?”
Nia kept scrolling. “Nope.”
Lena’s lips curled in silent approval. “And Acrata?”
“If you can pull her away from her phone, then be my guest.”
Lena laughed drily. “I’ll do my best. See you soon.”
One portal hop later, and Nia was alone again.
She kept her head bowed low, trying to keep herself busy with the tablet’s feeds. Anticipation buzzed hot in her chest. Holding back while an active threat was taking place halfway across the city was not her normal style, but until she had comms up and running with M’gann’s ship, she didn’t have much of a choice. Guess that was another thing about being a leader – what you wanted and what was necessary hardly ever came hand-in-hand.
When something moved suddenly in her periphery, Nia’s stomach clenched. She hadn’t felt a breeze, hadn’t heard his approach, but even without seeing him, there was no denying who it was.
“Took you long enough,” Nia breathed, lifting her head. She traced him with her eyes as he approached oh-so casually from the balcony, with all the pretence of someone who had actually flown here. “Talk about multi-tasking,” she continued, throwing her tablet aside, “does Alex know you’re holo-projecting in an active—” As he got closer, she squinted, searching for the tell-tale shimmer of his outline. “Wait, are you--?”
Before she could finish, Brainy’s lips had already found hers. His hands – his very solid hands – took her by the waist, drawing her in towards him. Nia’s eyes fluttered shut appreciatively as she melted into his chest, her fingers digging into the rough fibres of his suit, raking downward until her palm rested over the dazzling heat of his closest projector.
“Not a hologram,” Brainy murmured against her lips, pecking her once more on the cheek before they parted.
“Smooth.” Nia laughed, trying and failing to disguise her blush. “How long have you been waiting to do that?”
“Too long.” Brainy’s brow furrowed. “Nia—”
“It’s not your fault,” she said quickly, tasting the markings of his apology from a mile away. She pressed her forehead to his instead, the warm reality of his skin as welcoming as a second home. “We knew it’d be like this to start with; just part of the job, right?” She closed her eyes. “Besides, it won’t be forever.”
“No,” Brainy said seriously. “It will not.” He squeezed her arms before drawing away, turning towards the computer that Lena had abandoned. “Once the DEO can operate without relying on my intellect as a training manual for technical support, I surmise that I will be able to split my time much more efficiently.” He waved his hand ahead of himself, and the screen nearest to him snapped online, a Coluan symbol presenting itself at the centre. He studied it impassively, folding his arms. “Besides, the Tower’s systems are in dire need of an upgrade.”
Nia watched in fascination as Brainy worked. While he touched nothing physically, his mind was clearly imbedded deep within the computer’s network, his dark eyes flickering from screen to screen as he corrected the error from inside. Nia’s reading comprehension was pretty basic when it came to Coluan script, but she’d read enough of Brainy’s notes to recognise the symbol as some sort of rebooting sequence. Maybe even a countdown?
A few moments later, Brainy blinked out of his trance, smiling proudly. “There. That should do it. Systems should be back online in three minutes.”
Nia pursed her lips as she joined him at his side, bumping his arm affectionately. “So. Upgrades, huh?”
“Mm,” he hummed, tucking his nose into her hair. Nia grinned, resting her head against his shoulder, Brainy’s voice a soft buzz in her ear. “Alongside another vastly more important factor.”
Nia’s grin broadened. “Well, I can’t wait.” She winked up at him. “The Tower’s been looking pretty sorry for itself the last couple months.” She cleared her throat. “We’ll be able to contact M’gann’s ship now, right?”
Brainy cast his free hand outward, scrutinising empty air. “I am comprising a message as we speak. Explaining the situation, the DEO’s power failure, and… sending co-ordinates for the area of disruption downtown. Now.”
“Right,” Nia said. Just like that, it was back to business. She lifted her head, checking her phone for any new updates. She worried her lip. No texts from Alex – or anyone for that matter. In both her journalism and superhero careers, she’d learned very quickly that no news was never good news. “No time to waste, then,” she decided, tugging Brainy’s arm. “Kara and the others will need us both on the ground. Or – uh – the air first. Definitely the air first.” She eyed his ring. Not that she had to, Brainy already knew what she was implying. “What d’you say; partners?”
Brainy was already looking towards the sky, planning their trajectory as he followed her lead towards the balcony. He grinned, squeezing her hand. “Always,” he agreed.
