But thankfully, she hadn’t died, there was no need for thousands to mourn, and she could tuck her newly-created Funeral Playlist into a notebook on her desk. It had taken her two days to find her cell phone from where Alex had tossed it, and Kara furrowed her brow that Monday morning when she switched it on and found five voicemails. She dialed quickly.
Each successive message made her stomach churn, but this time, it wasn’t the flu.
“Miss Zor-El? This is Director Nia, just trying to get in touch with you.”
“Ma’am? Nia Nal again, are you all right? I need you to call me as soon as possible please.”
“I don’t know where you are, but please call; I’m not sure what… just call.”
“Miss Zor-El, Nia here. Please excuse me, but what the heck do you think you’re doing? Where are you?”
“Okay well I guess you’re not coming back until your next inspection. See you then. … She’ll probably still be here, though I doubt you care.”
The car squealed out of the driveway of her home, and ten minutes later, into the parking lot of Midvale House.
“No.”
Kara stared at him. “Excuse me?”
The orderly folded his arms over his chest and looked down at her. She didn’t look like much of a Domme, he thought. Tiny and thin, even if her legs did seem to stretch for miles clad in blue jeans, topped with a simple blue blouse. But who could she dominate, a midget?
“I’ve been instructed not to let you in.”
“Oh really.” Kara took a deep breath, and drew herself up to her full height. Which, okay, yes, five foot eight wasn’t much, but she could make it work. She stepped forward with a smirk and felt a twinge of triumph when the orderly actually stepped back.
“I am Kara Sophia Zor-El, employed by the National City government, in the agency that is the Department for Rehabilitation Services. Do you see this badge?” She held it up, shoving it into his face so that he could well see her identification picture on the front. “This badge guarantees that no one will be ‘instructed’ not to let me in. Now you will step aside, or I will bring the full force of the government down on this House, on Director Nia, and you.”
Kara tilted her head and then smoothed her blouse, smiling pleasantly at the orderly and softening her voice.
“And I’ll call your Dom.”
The reaction was instantaneous; the orderly stepped back hastily and Kara walked straight into the House.
Her first glance was to the corner, and what she saw made her heart plummet to the floor. Y/N was sat in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. Her sweatpants and tee-shirt were dirty; her hair was greasy and unwashed, her eyes cloudy and lost.
“So you finally showed up. Is it Adopt an Orphan Week again?”
Kara turned to Director Nia, fire flashing in her eyes. “Back down,” she said sternly, and then reached into the folder she held at her side. “Verification of doctor’s visit, showing that I have been suffering from the flu for the last week.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small medicine bottle. “The medication I took this week to help lessen my symptoms and speed up the healing process.”
She turned her gaze back to Y/N, and it took all of her effort to keep tears from trickling down her face.
“She waited for you. The whole day, at the games table. She had it all set up. And you. Didn’t. Show.”
“I was sick.”
“Too sick to pick up the phone?”
Kara sighed, and looked back at Nia. “I made a mistake,” she said softly. “And now I’ll fix it.”
“And how do you plan on doing that? Look at her.”
“I see it,” Kara said. “I’m sorry, Nia.”
Director Nia offered Kara a half-hearted smile. “Go on,” she said, giving Kara a gentle shove. “Now you’ve got even more to prove.”
“I know,” Kara said, almost to herself as she walked over to Y/N. Rather than choose the bench, Kara picked up a chair from the games table as she passed by it, setting it down in front of Y/N and taking a seat. Kara wrinkled her nose; Y/N really needed a bath. But she ignored that for a moment, and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she looked at her.
“Y/N,” Kara said quietly, her voice unsteady. “Y/N, look at me.”
She didn’t.
All right then, Kara thought. They were going to do this the hard way again. She could handle it. Once again she pulled the papers out from the folder and the medicine bottle from her pocket.
“Y/N… I am so sorry. I was sick, really sick with the flu. But that’s no excuse for not calling here and finding a way to let you know that I didn’t just… that I wasn’t… Y/N, I didn’t leave you.” She was aware that her voice was sounding slightly panicked, and so she cleared her throat.
“I handled this all wrong. I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk to me and then stop talking to you the moment I get a little stomachache. Although it wasn’t really a little stomachache, I swear I felt like I had been run over by-“ Kara stopped short with a gasp, and she palmed her forehead with her hand.
“I am such an idiot,” she said, and a tear finally did streak down her cheek. She looked up at Y/N, who was still staring off into space.
“I was sick,” Kara said again. “I was sick; I should have found some way to call. I didn’t leave you, and I am so, so sorry, Y/N. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
There was no response, and Kara leaned back against the chair, sighing. What are you doing, Kara? She asked herself. Why are you doing it? Do you think you can save her? You’ve never even had a submissive before. And it wasn’t like she even wanted Y/N as hers. She just wanted Y/N… to be better. To be out of that chair. To smile. To laugh. Maybe even to sing. Then again not everyone could sing. And they especially couldn’t sing like Kara Zor-El. Wait, she was getting off track.
“You deserve better than this,” Kara found herself saying. “You deserve better than this, than him, and I’m trying to… help you see what you deserve, but I need you to tell me if you want me to continue to be here. If you don’t want me to, say Red and I’ll be gone, I won’t bother you anymore and you won’t have to worry about me being sick and too stupid to call. But if you want me to stay, well. You know what to say. It’s your choice, Y/N.”
She looked up and met the girl’s eyes, whether Y/N was really looking at her or not. “It’s your choice,” Kara repeated.
There was silence. Kara just sat there, looking at the residents playing their board games. She remembered Monopoly, how easily Y/N had defeated her. How a little bit of light had come back into her eyes. How she seemed… if not happy, at least easy, comfortable. She glanced at the television, where some silly teen show was playing. Stay away from him, Kara thought, watching the female lead pine after some boy. He’s not good enough for you. She wished she could go back in time, shake some sense into Y/N’s parents.
Keep him away from her. He’s not good enough.
“Green.”
Kara’s gaze whipped back to Y/N, who was staring at her with wide, still somewhat fearful eyes.
“W-what?” Kara whispered, barely able to believe what she’d just heard.
Y/N hesitated. “Green,” she repeated.
Kara wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, laughing a little as she did so. “I owe you a lot of board games to make up for it, don’t I?” she joked, but smiled at Y/N. “Are you all right?” she asked. “Have you been eating? You um… clearly haven’t been bathing.”
Y/N shrugged. “No point.”
Kara quirked an eyebrow. “There is always a point to bathing, and I think you need to rediscover that.” She stood up and moved around to the back of Y/N’s wheelchair, settling her hands on it. She could see Y/N tense in front of her, and Kara nodded.
“I want you to bathe,” she said. “We can get Ruby to help you, or you can do it yourself, but you’re going to take a bath.” She paused. “Green, yellow, red.”
Again, a hesitation, but the answer came, soft and unsteady. “Green.”
Kara smiled. “Good girl, Y/N. Good girl.”
It didn’t take long for Nia to locate Ruby Arias, as she was giving dance lessons in one of the other rooms down the hall. She moved towards Kara on long, lean dancer’s legs, and Kara marveled at how graceful she made the simple action seem. Her silver collar glittered in the bright lights of the common room, and she respectfully tipped her head towards Kara as she came to stand with her and Y/N.
“Thank you for your help,” Kara said. “I know Y/N here hasn’t let you give her a bath lately, but I think that’s about to change now.” She winked at Ruby. “I guess you wear many hats around here.”
“Not really?” Ruby said, her head tipped in confusion. “Sir doesn’t really like me in hats, and besides, they’d fly off while I’m dancing…”
Kara blinked in confusion. “That wasn’t… really what I meant, but all right. So you have a Sir?”
Ruby nodded happily as she, Kara, and Y/N made their way into the elevator and up to Y/N’s floor, to the bathroom at the very end of the hall. “Sam,” she said. “And he’s the best Dom ever. I love him so much.”
It always made her feel glad to hear about submissives who were happy with their Dominants; in Kara’s line of work she really didn’t get to see that side very often. But it was nice to be reminded that there were good relationships out there, ones based on mutual love and understanding, where both parties took care of each other. The kind of relationship she wanted to have, eventually.
Kara peeked inside the bathroom, making a small hum of approval when she saw the ample space, punctuated by an old-fashioned, claw foot bathtub in the center. Done in classy black and white, towels lined the walls, as did all the shampoo and soap or body wash you could ever need. She wouldn’t have minded having a bathroom like this at her house. Maybe a redesign was in order…
She wheeled Y/N into the bathroom, but placed a hand on Ruby’s arm when the other blonde moved to start the water running.”I’ll do it,” Kara said, and knelt by the tub to turn on the faucet. She ran her hand under the stream, judging the temperature with her fingertips. When it reached a level she was satisfied with, she quickly plugged the drain, and then stood up to select one of the bottles of body wash. She looked at the labels, then back at Y/N.
“What scents do you like the best, Y/N?”
“It doesn’t-“
“Y/N.”
“… mango.”
Kara’s eyebrows flew upward, and she couldn’t help but grin. “Mango’s always a good choice,” she said. Taking the bottle, she quickly squirted some under the stream of water, and watched for a moment as the tub began to fill up with bubbles.
“There we are.” She nodded at Ruby. “Let’s get her undressed.”
“Y-yellow.”
Kara quickly held her hand out to stop Ruby again, and moved to squat down in front of Y/N. “What is it?” she asked.
Y/N looked from her, to Ruby, and back again. Kara nodded, understanding. “Ruby,” she said pleasantly, smiling at the girl, “Thank you for your help, but I think Y/N and I have it from here.”
Ruby shrugged. “See you later, Y/N!” she said, and then nearly bounced out of the room.
Kara chuckled, and looked at Y/N from her position still half-kneeling in front of her. “She has a lot of energy, doesn’t she?” She turned serious then. “Would you like to bathe yourself?” she asked. “I can stay right outside the door if you need me.”
She moved away for a moment, but only to shut off the water rushing into the tub. She checked it to make sure it was still an acceptable temperature, and then Kara wiped the suds off her hands with a towel.
“Or,” she said carefully, “I can stay and help you. I can’t lift you, so you’ll have to work a little bit, but I’ll… I’ll take care of you.”
“Y-you won’t let me fall?” Y/N stared down at her useless legs.
Kara shook her head sadly. “I won’t let you fall,” she promised. “Green, yellow, red.”
Then Y/N nodded. “Green,” she whispered.
“All right,” Kara said. “Good girl. I’m just going to… help you with your shirt off. Lift your arms up, Y/N.”
In seconds the Y/H/C girl was divested of her dirty blue tee-shirt, and Kara found herself rocked back on her heels, staring in shock. If it had been a different situation, Kara might have noticed how tan the skin was, how it seemed to fit her. She may have noticed Y/N’s breasts, small but still beautiful – and Kara might have commented (to herself of course) how they were perfect for hands, her hands. She would’ve noticed how Y/N’s nipples hardened into stiff peaks in the cold bathroom air, how the skin around them puckered into tiny little bumps and made them stand out all the more.
But all that Kara could see, all that swam before her eyes as best they could with the tears rushing into them again… were the scars. Y/N was thin, too thin, with her ribs prominent and over them, a few scars that crisscrossed or seemed to run down to her hips. They weren’t many, but they were long, and they were old. Clearly inflicted by someone who didn’t know what he was doing. Or care.
“Oh, Y/N,” Kara breathed, her voice cracking. “Y/N, I’m so-“
“R-Red?”
Kara froze, her gaze shooting to Y/N’s face. Y/N was shaking a little; she seemed to be mouthing the word, as if she was unsure she could say it. “You can,” Kara assured her immediately. “You can say red.”
“Red,” Y/N said again. “About…” she gestured towards her chest. “Red, Miss Kara, please.”
“Okay,” Kara said, sniffing and blinking past the tears for the second time that day. Y/N didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe she would eventually, but not now, not yet, and Kara wasn’t going to force her. Standing up, Kara dared to reach down and rest her hand on Y/N’s bare shoulder.
“I need you to help me get you stood up, Y/N,” she said. Looking round she saw a metal bar on the wall nearest them, and she gestured towards it with her chin. “Do you think you can help by holding on to that, just until we get your pants and underwear off? Then we’ll get you into the tub and wash you all clean.”
“Clean,” Y/N echoed, her eyes taking on a sudden faraway look. Then it cleared and she swallowed, nodding at Kara. “I can do it.”
Kara beamed and maneuvered the wheelchair over to where Y/N could grasp the bar, and then leaned down again. “I’m going to put my arms around your waist,” she said, “Then I’m going to help you up.” Catching a little glimmer of fear in Y/N’s eyes, Kara touched her shoulder again. “I will never do anything you don’t want me to do,” she reiterated. “I’m just going to help you up. Ready?”
“R-ready.”
She was so thin and weak that really, it was easy for Kara to hoist her up, as small as she was herself. She felt Y/N waver; when she pulled back she could see the girl’s face straining with the effort.
“Hold on, Y/N,” Kara said, her hands moving to the waistband of the sweatpants. “This will just take a minute. Green, yellow, red.”
“G-green.”
Quickly Kara had both the pants and the girl’s underwear down around her ankles; gently she lifted each foot to pull the clothing free, and she tossed it to the other side of the room. Three more seconds and Y/N was seated back in her wheelchair, now completely naked in front of Kara, and looking everywhere but at the tall blonde.
There were more scars on Y/N’s legs, across her hips, but Kara said nothing. Instead she willed herself to smile. “Good girl, Y/N,” she praised. “Thank you for helping me. Are you ready to get into the tub now?”
Y/N was breathing heavily from holding herself up, but she nodded.
“Use your voice, Y/N. It’s time for you to stop being quiet.”
Her eyes widened, but Y/N immediately responded. “Yes, Miss Kara.”
It was going to be a little harder, she knew, to get Y/N from the chair to the bathtub, especially since there wasn’t really a rim of the tub for Y/N to settle herself or anchor on. But after a few missteps and some strategy, soon she was lowering herself into the water, and Kara giggled when a happy sigh escaped Y/N’s lips as she rested her back against the tub.
“Does that feel nice?” Kara asked.
Y/N nodded sheepishly. “Thank you, Miss Kara.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t have to stay,” Kara pointed out again. “I can wait outside until you’re finished and ready to dry off.”
“P-please don’t go.”
“All right,” Kara agreed, and then knelt by the tub at Y/N’s side. Quickly she unbuttoned the sleeves of her blouse and rolled them up past her elbows, then reached out for the cup that had been sitting on the sink. “Let’s start with your hair,” she said, dipping the cup into the water and gently wetting Y/N’s blonde locks.
She ran her fingers through Y/N’s hair; even though it was dirty she marveled at the length, at the apparent softness of it. It was as though she had, at one time, taken a great deal of pride in her appearance. Kara wondered if that was born out of an actual want to look good, or a necessity for her Dom. She decided not to ask, and continued until every strand of hair was soaking.
Y/N’s eyes were closed as Kara squirted some shampoo in her palm and began to work it into lather before gently smoothing it through her hair. She didn’t miss another quiet sigh that Y/N gave when Kara massaged her scalp and temples, and so she did it probably for longer than was necessary. But Y/N was enjoying a simple pleasure, and Kara felt like she could do it forever if it made her happy.
“You need to bathe regularly. It’s essential for good hygiene, and not only that, it’ll make you feel better. I’d really rather not visit again and find you in the state you were in today.”
“You said you’re not my Dominant.”
Kara’s hands stilled for a moment, before taking up their ministrations again. “No, I am not. But I think in the end you will see that I’m right. I’m always right, except for that one time five years ago. It’s a very rare occurrence, my being wrong.”
Kara giggled, and was heartened when Y/N did the same, even though it was soft and not as buoyant as her own. But that was all right; it was something.
She had to wash Y/N’s hair twice to get it clean, but Kara’s effort was rewarded when the wet tresses took on a shine, and she wondered if Ruby had ever spent this much time bathing the other girl.
She absurdly hoped that she hadn’t, and that Kara was the only one.
At last she put some of the mango body wash on a cloth, and gently pushed on Y/N’s shoulder. “Lean forward and I’ll wash your back.”
Y/N didn’t move.
“Y/N?”
The girl leaned forward, and Kara’s breath caught in her throat. Kara had seen a lot of things, in her time with SETS, but nothing could have prepared her for the mass of scars that was Y/N Y/L/N’s back. They had been built up over years at the hands of her former Dom, but though they were old, it didn’t make it any better.
She itched, no, Kara craved to jump up out of that bathroom, to hunt down James Olsen and have him dragged before the judiciary for abuse… but two words, echoing in the stillness of the bathroom, stopped her.
“They’re ugly.”
Kara flexed the fingers of her hands, then, as gently as she could possibly muster, she began to wash Y/N’s back.
“You’re beautiful.”
“Miss Kara?”
“Yes, Y/N.”
“A-am I… am I a good girl?”
Kara tilted the cup over Y/N’s back, watching as the warm water pushed away the remnants of the soap, wishing it could heal the scars. All of them. Tentatively she reached out and laid her hand, palm flat, on the girl’s skin. Feeling its roughness. She could feel Y/N flinch away from her, but Kara’s hand stayed.
She wondered if Y/N had ever been touched gently. She wondered if she was the first. Somehow, the thought made her happy.
“You’re a good girl, Y/N,” Kara said, and only then did she remove her hand. She moved slightly so that she could look at Y/N’s face, and was surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks. Kara touched her again, this time her fingers closing around Y/N’s forearm.
“You’re a very good girl.”
She’d only heard about this, she’d never experienced it herself. But seeing Maggie’s interactions with Alex clued Kara in to the fact that some submissives needed to feel as if they were good, needed to constantly be told that a person was proud of them, a person was pleased with what they were doing. Kara imagined that with Y/N, it was multiplied hundredfold, because she doubted that her Dominant had ever made her feel as if she was valued.
“M-miss Kara?” Y/N hiccuped a little and wiped her eyes with the back of her other hand before turning back to Kara, her hazel eyes glistening.
“Yes, Y/N.” Kara said again.
“If you… i-if you have to be gone again, c-can you find... some way to let me know?”
Kara’s eyes lit up. What was this? Was Y/N asking for something, and more importantly, asking for something that Kara knew she could give her? This, Kara thought, this was progress.
Even if it did make her feel guilty again for not having called the House while she was sick.
Kara opened her mouth, about to promise that she would always call if she couldn’t make it for a visit. About to give Y/N her phone number, just in case Y/N ever needed to call her.
But then she tilted her head. “I think,” she said slowly, “I think I have a better idea.”
