Let Our Bones Collide (When Our Dreams Ignite)
Part 3 of Supercorp: The Marvel AU
“I’m just trying to get an understanding for what you’ve been going through, the last few years. You’ve been through a lot, Lena.”
“And I’ve been handling it just fine, thank you.” Lena smiled without humor, the expression harsh and practiced.
The therapist smiled back, his gray hair and gray eyes seeming to meld together to give the overall impression of dreariness. “I’m sure you have,” he said placatingly. Lena’s shoulders twitched under her tailored suit. “Tell me about a way it impacts your everyday life.”
“You mean other than your prying questions about it?”
“Are you deflecting because the arc reactor itself makes you uncomfortable?”
“I’m deflecting because your line of questioning has nothing to do with being cleared for duty.”
“On the contrary,” he turned and set the infuriating clipboard aside. The action alone made some of the tension in Lena’s frame leak away. “It has everything to do with it.”
She didn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes, feeling the tight pinch of a tension headache forming. They’d been more frequent since they’d broken Astra’s false reality, something Lena certainly didn’t appreciate as a parting gift. She’d had plenty of headaches before Kara’s aunt had meddled in their lives, she didn’t need an increase in them.
“The arc reactor changed everything about my life.” The words surprised her even as she said them. She’d had no intention of opening up to this man at all, and regretted doing it the instant his eyebrows perked up in interest. But, she’d started, and it felt wrong to leave it unfinished. “There is no aspect of my life that it hasn’t touched. My family is what caused it. It puts strain on my relationship. It changes public perception of me. It’s the only reason I’m sitting in your office today, the only reason I’m affiliated with SHIELD at all. It affects my work. People notice it before they notice me. It was the first thing you noticed about me when I walked in.”
For the first time, she felt like she had him on the back foot. He had the good grace to look ashamed, nodding his head in understanding.
“It almost sounds like you resent it.”
