#virus verse

[winterskywrites]

(VirusVerse) Brainiac is always left completely alone at the DEO, after everyone goes home. Thus Kara thought itd be a good Idea to invite him to game night. Though he thinks she only does it out of pity and not bc she actually wants him there, so he tries to decline but Kara isnt accepting a 'no' (and he's actually really bad at all games they play). Thank you so so much

This takes place in the Virus verse.

Kara clears it with everyone else first, of course. She wants to extend the invitation, and she thinks she should, but she doesn’t want to do it if it’ll make other people uncomfortable.

But everyone agrees, so the next day, as the work day finishes up, she goes up to Brainiac and says, “Why don’t you come to game night tonight?”

Brainiac offers her a tight smile that doesn’t even pretend to reach his eyes. “No, thank you.”

“Why not?” Kara asks. “You’re always here alone after everyone else leaves, and I know you’re not working on anything specific for the DEO. I asked Alex, and she says you don’t have any assignments you could be working on. Why can’t you come to game night?”

“Am I not allowed to simply be uninterested?”

“You should at least try it out before you decide that.”

Brainiac’s mouth twists a little. It’s the same expression Brainy makes sometimes when he thinks someone is keeping something from him. “I would rather not.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need your pity,” Brainiac finally says, spitting out the last word with more anger than he normally has in his voice. “I am perfectly fine working at the DEO at night. I don’t require an invitation to your game night because you feel bad for me. I’m fine.”

Kara blinks, then shakes her head. “This isn’t pity. I’m asking you because I think you could be a friend if we put a little effort into it. Come to game night and we’ll find out.”

Brainiac gives her a sideways look, one that appears a bit mollified. “You will not take no for an answer, will you?”

“Nope.”

“Then I will go to game night once.”

“We’ll reevaluate next time,” Kara agrees. “Come on, let’s go!”

Brainiac hesitates for a moment, then he stands. “Very well. Let us go.”

(He loses spectacularly at charades, but Kara thinks he actually had fun, even if he won’t admit it.)

[winterskywrites]

Virus-verse Clark and Louis reaction to Brainiac, pleaee

This takes place in the Virus verse.

Kara told Clark that Brainiac was apparently good now, but Clark wasn’t sure he believed it. It was Brainiac, after all. Clark wasn’t sure there was any good in him at all.

Watching him now, as he works with Brainy and helps out around the DEO? Well, it’s definitely surreal.

“That’s Brainiac,” Lois says, her eyes wide. “Clark, that’s Brainiac.”

“Didn’t Clark tell you that Brainiac was working with us?” Kara asks.

“I told her, but neither of us believed it,” Clark replies. “Kara... I’m not going to insult you by asking if you know what he’s done, but...”

“I know,” Kara says. “He’s hurt a lot of people, and he’s done a lot of bad things. But he’s trying to make up for that now. As long as he actually wants to change, I’m not going to stop him.”

Clark looks up at Brainiac again. He’s fought him before, battled him to a standstill, almost died at his hands, but now...

Lois’s eyes meet his, and Clark knows they’re thinking the same thing. Brainiac did bad things in the past, but that doesn’t need to dictate his future. If he’s changed, then he’s changed, and they’ll treat him accordingly.

So when Brainiac comes over and apologizes for everything, a look on his face that makes it very clear he expects no forgiveness for his actions, Clark just smiles.

“I’m ready to start over if you are,” he says. He holds out a hand. “Clark Kent, aka Kal-El, aka Superman. And you are?”

Brainiac looks at his hand for a long moment, then he takes it tentatively. “Vril Dox, also knows as Brainiac.”

Clark shakes Brainiac’s hand firmly, still smiling. “Nice to meet you, Vril.”

“The same to you, Clark.”

[winterskywrites]

(VirusVerse) Brainiac talks with Kara and Clark about Kandor. Nyssa (their grandma) is still alive in the bottled city

This takes place in the Virus verse.

Brainiac has been acting a bit... off for the past few days. Not suspicious, necessarily, just strange. Kara’s tried to talk to him about it, but whenever she brings up the topic, he puts her off, saying he’s not ready to speak yet. Kara accepts that, but that doesn’t make her any less curious.

Then, finally, Brainiac asks her and Clark if they can talk, and when both of them arrive in Brainiac’s room in the DEO, he sets a bottle down in front of them. “This,” he says, “is the city of Kandor.”

It takes a moment for the name to register for Clark, but it only takes a heartbeat for Kara to realize what he means. “This is Kandor?” she asks, staring at the bottle with reverence.

“You mean, Kandor the bottled city?” Clark asks, finally placing the name.

“The city I bottled,” Brainiac agrees. “I... don’t know what can be done with it now. I’ve been trying to figure out a place to release it, but I don’t know where. I’ll keep looking, but I thought you should know it was here.”

Kara stares at the bottle, then looks up at Brainiac. “Our grandmother, Nyssa. She lived in Kandor. Do you know...”

“I believe she is inside, yes,” Brainiac agrees.

“Our grandmother?” Clark repeats. “She’s alive?”

“She’s in the bottle,” Kara says. “Now we just need to figure out a way to open it.”

“I’ve been looking for the right place,” Brainiac says. “But we need to be careful. An uninhabited planet would be best, but it needs to have the right conditions for Kryptonians to survive.”

“We’ll help you look,” Kara promises immediately. “And if we find a place...”

“Then we will release Kandor,” Brainiac replies.

“Wow,” Clark breathes. “I never thought there would be another surviving Kryptonian city.”

“Thank you for telling us about it,” Kara says to Brainiac.

“I was the one who stole it,” Brainiac replies. “You don’t need to thank me for giving it back.”

Kara shrugs. “Thank you anyway.”

Brainiac inclines his head slightly, but it’s not quite enough to hide the small smile on his face. “You’re welcome.”

[winterskywrites]

Virus verse. Clark cant really be around Brainiac without getting angry or feeling on edge all the time. He talks to Kara about imprisoning him. She says no (bc Brainiac is more useful in the DEO than in an cell). Then Clark talks to Brainiac even if he cant stand looking at him. Thank you sweetie😘❤

This takes place in the Virus verse.

Clark believes that everyone deserves a second chance. He doesn’t want to be someone who can’t forgive.

But he’s fought Brainiac so many times, and even though he knows Brainiac is an ally now, Clark still can’t quite relax around him.

“You’re sure Brainiac is on our side, right?” he asks Kara after a team-up. He’d overheard Brainiac’s voice over the comms, and it had distracted him so much he’d almost lost focus completely.

“I’m sure,” Kara replies. “He’s actually really helpful. Between him and Brainy, all of our problems get figured out really fast.”

Clark nods, not quite sure what to say. He doesn’t want to not trust Brainiac, but...

“Look,” Kara adds gently, “I get it if it’s hard for you to trust him. It was hard for me at first too. But maybe you should talk to him. It might help.”

Clark sighs. “I just feel so tense around him. I know he’s on our side now, but...”

“Talk to him,” Kara urges again. “I think it’ll help.”

And so, after they get back to the DEO and debrief, Clark seeks out Brainiac.

It takes a while to find him, although once Clark does, he figures this is probably the place he should have checked first. Brainiac is working in a lab, apparently running some sort of test on a slab of concrete. Clark has no idea what exactly he’s doing, but he firmly tells himself that, despite his first instincts, it’s probably not actually sinister at all.

“Brainiac?” he asks tentatively.

Brainiac turns, quickly setting down his equipment. “Superman. Or would you prefer I call you something else?”

“Superman is fine,” Clark replies. “I... wanted to talk. Well, Kara told me I should talk to you.”

Brainiac frowns. “About what?”

About the fact that you terrify me, Clark doesn’t say. Instead, he carefully replies, “I wanted to know more about how you joined the DEO.”

“Ah.” Clark isn’t entirely sure Brainiac believes him, but he goes along with it anyway. “I’m not exactly proud of it. I infected myself with a virus to appear remorseful, and I gave myself up to the DEO as part of a plan. The virus loosened after a set period of time and I made my escape, but it never fully went away. It grew stronger and stronger, and I came here with true remorse. My descendant and I created a second, more permanent virus in case this one fails, but as of yet, it hasn’t.”

“And you’re sure it won’t fail?” Clark asks.

“Not entirely, but if it does, Querl will infect me with the new virus.”

“But how will he know?” Clark protests. “If you hide it-”

“There’s a reason I created a virus in the first place,” Brainiac explains. “I wasn’t good at appearing remorseful. I believe it’ll be fairly easy to spot if I return to my old self.”

“So we’re just supposed to trust you on that?” Clark asks, the words coming out a big more belligerent than he meant them to.

Brainiac looks at him for a moment, then sighs. “Superman, if you don’t trust me, I don’t blame you. It took the others a long time to trust me, and even now, I’m not sure I deserve it. If you can’t forgive me for what I’ve done to you, you’re well within your rights.”

“I want to forgive you,” Clark admits. “I see the way you are now, and I want to put it behind us. But...”

“But it’s not so simple, is it?” Brainiac asks quietly.

“No,” Clark agrees, “it’s not.”

They both stand in silence for a few moments, then Clark says, “We’ll go slow.”

Brainiac blinks. “What?”

“We’ll go slow,” Clark repeats. “We’ll work up to me trusting you. We’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t have to trust me,” Brainiac replies. “I don’t deserve it.”

“I believe in second chances,” Clark replies. “I want to give you one. We’ll just have to do it slowly.”

The slightest hint of a smile appears on Brainiac’s face. “I believe I can do that.”

Clark smiles back, just a little bit. “Me too.”

[winterskywrites]

I'd like to ask for a prompt, if that's alright! Virus Verse. Brainiac has a nightmare, torturing all the people hes now acquainted with. This nightmare follows him for the rest of the day. Throughout the day he gets asked multiple times if hes fine, and after Kara asks him that exact same question 2times throughout the day, he raises his voice a little but snaps right out of it. But he sees every agent in the Deo has their hand on their gun.

This takes place in the Virus verse.

It was just a dream. It shouldn’t be sticking with him like this. It was a dream depicting events that have not occurred, and Brainiac should be able to set it aside.

Instead, it’s haunting him. Illogical, but apparently unstoppable.

It must be clear that something is bothering him, because he’s been asked multiple times if he’s alright. His descendant Querl asked him, and Brainiac dismissed him. (He tried not to think about the moment in his dream when he electrocuted Querl until he screamed.) Kara asked him, and Brainiac told him he was alright. (He tried not to think about the way her sobs echoed through his dream.) Alex asked him, and Brainiac lied to her. (He tried not to think about the way her blood splattered over the walls.)

And now Kara is asking again, and his voice is sharper than he means it to be when he tells her, “I’m fine. Stop asking.”

Kara blinks, and Brainiac immediately regrets his temper. “I’m sorry,” he says, feeling his shoulders slump. “My sleep last night was unsatisfactory.”

“Okay,” Kara says, her voice a little tentative. She sounds almost nervous, and Brainiac thinks about how her voice shook in his dream-

(Every DEO agent around him has a hand on their gun. He tries not to think about it too much.)

“You can take the rest of the day off, if you’re tired,” Kara offers. “We’ll be okay.”

Brainiac isn’t quite sure if it’s an offer or a dismissal. Either way, he accepts it. “Thank you. I can return if you need me.”

“I’ll give you a call if we do,” Kara agrees, offering him a smile he feels incredibly undeserving of.

Brainiac nods, and he leaves the room. He doesn’t check to see if the DEO agents are still ready to draw their guns. He doesn’t think he wants to know.

He hopes his sleep is better this time around. He’s not sure it will be.

[winterskywrites]

Is it okay, to ask for another part of the virus-verse? (I don't want to be annoying, so if you dont want to write it that's fine of course!) Maybe Brainiac standing in the middle of the night on the street, while its pouring like hell. Kara sees it from her apartment and hurrys down with an umbrella. Maybe he feels like he doesn't deserve any of the kindness and forgiveness hes gotten. (Again, sorry if I'm annoying in any way) Thank u so much, Winters! Have a good morning, afternoon or night!

Of course you can ask for another part of the Virus verse! You’re not annoying at all. :)

“Is he sleeping?” Kara asks Alex quietly.

Alex’s gaze flickers to the couch, where Brainy is lying on his side, a blanket tucked over him. “Finally.”

Kara sighs and sinks into a chair by the window. “Thank God.”

Ever since getting hit by a taser during a fight an hour ago, Brainy’s been trembling and clearly in pain. If he’s finally sleeping peacefully, hopefully that means it doesn’t hurt anymore.

“He’ll be okay,” Alex says, sounding more confident about that fact than Kara feels. “He told us he’ll heal.”

“I know,” Kara says, looking absently out the window. “It’s just- Wait, is that Brainiac?”

Alex joins Kara at the window and looks down at the bedraggled figure in the middle of the street. “I think so,” she says, clearly confused. “It’s pouring rain. What is he doing out there?”

Kara goes over to the door and grabs an umbrella. “I’ll go down and find out.”

It’s a bit chilly outside, but not too bad as long as you’re dry. Kara opens her umbrella and makes her way over to where Brainiac is standing in the street, staring up at her apartment window.

“Brainiac?” she calls, a little warily. “What are you doing here?”

Slowly, Brainiac lowers his gaze to look at Kara. “I heard about what happened to Querl,” he says. “I wanted to make sure he was alright.”

“You should come in,” Kara says, gesturing towards the door. “It’s pouring out here, and you’re soaking wet.”

Brainiac looks at Kara and sighs. “I do not deserve your kindness, nor your forgiveness.”

Kara blinks, not quite sure how the conversation got here. “You should come inside,” she repeats, not knowing what else to say.

“I will go,” Brainiac says instead. “Just- Is Querl alright?”

“He’s sleeping,” Kara says. “He said he would be fine.”

Brainiac nods slowly. “Thank you, Kara Zor-El.”

“Are you sure you won’t come in?” Kara asks. She doesn’t know why she’s so worried about Brainiac’s condition - a few weeks ago, she would bar her door against him, not invite him in - but she still doesn’t feel entirely comfortable leaving him out here on his own.

“I will return to the DEO,” Brainiac says. “Take care of Querl.”

“I will,” Kara promises.

Brainiac turns to go, and Kara watches him take a few steps, then she rushes forward and holds out the umbrella. “Here, take this.”

Brainiac blinks at her. “What?”

“Take the umbrella,” Kara clarifies. “I’m just going back inside, so I don’t need it. But it’s a long walk to the DEO, and you might as well try to keep dry as much as possible.”

Brainiac stares at Kara for a long moment, then he wraps his hand around the umbrella handle, carefully not touching Kara’s hand. “Thank you, Kara Zor-El,” he says again, this time with a hint of wonderment in his tone.

Kara offers Brainiac a small smile. “Take care of yourself, Vril Dox.”

[winterskywrites]

Virus - Verse Brainiac is now a good guy and Querl slowly starts to trust Brainiac. But he and Kara run into each other. Brainiac nervously tries to apologise about everything he's done to the kryptonians, though he knows its unforgivable. Kara doesn't know if she's ready to accept the apology just yet, but she also doesn't want to be too mean to him, because she really feels like he's good now.

This takes place in the Virus verse.

Kara’s still not quite sure what to think about Brainiac. She knows him primarily as a terrorist, as a threat to the universe, as the man who bottled Kandor and ripped it from the surface of Krypton like it was nothing. She knows him as the ancestor Brainy only spoke about in a low, pained voice, the person who’s attacked them on multiple occasions and apparently wanted to see all of them dead.

And now…

Now, he’s working alongside Brainy, apparently with at least some modicum of trust. Now, he’s living at the DEO without hurting anyone. Now, he seems to be expressing guilt for the things he’s done before.

And Kara doesn’t know what to do.

She settles for avoiding Brainiac as much as she can, which works until it doesn’t. When Kara finally runs into Brainiac, it’s in a hallway deep in the bowels of the DEO, not too far from Brainy’s lab. Normally, she’s more careful about where she walks here, just in case, but today, she was distracted, and now she’s face-to-face with Brainiac because of it. Maybe J’onn had a point when he said she had to work on her focus.

“Supergirl,” Brainiac says, inclining his head towards Kara.

“Brainiac,” Kara replies, her voice as emotionless as she can make it.

“I’m glad to run into you,” Brainiac says. “I want to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

“For everything I did to your people,” Brainiac says. “I know what I did to Krypton was unforgivable, but I still wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I should never have done what I did.”

Kara stares. Part of her is tempted to agree that what Brainiac did was unforgivable, and thus she doesn’t even need to try to forgive him. Another part of her argues that everyone deserves a second chance, even people as awful as Brainiac. And if he’s good now, which she’s started to believe...

“I don’t know if I’m ready to accept your apology yet,” she says.

Brainiac’s shoulders slump. “You have every right to say that.”

“But,” Kara adds, “I might be ready to accept it someday. Maybe you could try again, when I am.”

For a moment, Brainiac is silent, then a small smile spreads across his face. Kara has the feeling this should be terrifying, but it’s not. It’s just a smile.

Maybe he’s not that bad after all, not anymore.

“Whenever you are ready, then,” he says. “I will apologize as many times as you wish to hear.”

And that doesn’t erase what Brainiac’s done, doesn’t bring back the Kryptonians he snatched from the surface of their world... But at least it’s something. At least it’s a start.

You can go anywhere, as long as you have a start.

[winterskywrites]

Part 3 of the Brainiac virus fic. He can't get rid of it. There's nothing he can do, than switching back and forth. When the DEO gets attacked by some dangerous aliens, he saves them. "In one moment you are good and help, in the other you're normal again. Which one do you really want to be?" Asks Brainy, infront of the entire DEO. "I don't want to hurt anyone, not anymore. Even if it means being locked up for eternity." And Brainy knows, it doesn't come from the virus, it comes from HIM.

This takes place after these two pieces.

Querl doesn’t know the backstory. He doesn’t know that, ever since Brainiac infected himself with a virus to appear repentant, he’s been swinging back and forth between his normal self and the virus-induced goodness. He doesn’t know that the virus side seems like it’s starting to win.

All he knows is that the DEO has just been attacked by aliens, and at the eleventh hour, when they thought they were doomed, Brainiac swooped in and saved them.

And he doesn’t know why.

“What are you doing?” he demands, glaring at Brainiac. He knows half the DEO is behind him, and he knows they’re all watching, and he knows he probably shouldn’t do this now, but none of that is enough to stop him. Querl needs answers, and he needs them now.

“Rescuing you,” Brainiac says. “You would not have been able to save yourselves otherwise.”

“And why do you care?”

“Because I care about you,” Brainiac says, then his face spasms and he spits, “Because you’re pathetic and useless, but you’re the last of the Brainiac line, so I can’t let you die quite yet.”

Querl stares at him, watching as Brainiac’s face spasms again and relaxes into the more worried, penitent expression it was wearing before. “What is happening to you?” he asks, a little more warily than angrily. “In one moment you’re good and helpful, in the next you’re normal again. Which one do you really want to be?”

He can see Brainiac’s face spasm as his two sides apparently battle for control, and when he finally relaxes, it’s with an expression that’s so unreadable Querl has no idea which side won. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, not anymore. Even if it means being locked up for eternity,” he says, and there’s a ring of truth to it that Querl can’t help but hear. Could it be that he actually means this? Could it be that this is the real Brainiac, not just the virus? Could this really be true?

“Locking you up for eternity seems like a logical course of action at the moment,” Querl says, keeping his voice carefully steady.

“Then do it,” Brainiac says, lowering his head. “I will not stop you.”

There must be more to it, Querl thinks as he watches Kara handcuff Brainiac and lead him away. There must be a plan here, some sort of plot. It seems strange for Brainiac to use one that’s similar to his last plot, but maybe that’s all part of the plan. Because there has to be a plan. This has to be part of some big plot, some nefarious scheme of Brainiac’s. No matter how truthful he seemed, it can’t be real.

Can it?

Querl is determined to find out.