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Zor-El
J’onn stared at him with an undecipherable expression. He had not moved an inch for the past five minutes. Zor-El tried not to fidget but his hand was itching to adjust his spectacles.
Zor-El knew that the Martian acted as some sort of father figure to her daughter. He knew that J’onn had succeeded to protect her daughter in ways that he had failed miserably. The familiar guilt churned in his stomach and he clenched his fists.
“What do you mean make it up to your daughter?” J’onn crossed his arms. “Kara had forgiven you for any mistakes you made, ages ago.”
Zor-El sighed. “I do not deserve her forgiveness, son of Mars. I am not the man she thought I was. When I found out about the Medusa virus, I was so ashamed. I could only imagine what Kara felt.”
The Martian’s expression cleared as he finally understood what Zor-El is asking for.
Lips quirking up at the corners, J’onn offered, “Have you tried talking to her about this?”
“No?”
J’onn chuckled, “You’re not a bad man or a bad father, Zor-El. If you want to be a better one for Kara, you can start with getting her what she likes and spending time with those she loves.”
Watching the son of Mars walk away, a plan formed in Zor-El’s mind.
Alex
Alex rubbed her eyes tiredly. She could not believe that being a DEO director involved so much paperwork. No wonder J’onn was grumpy all the time. She was already stress-eating her way through a bag of chips, which left a trail of crumbs all over the papers. Kara’s bad habits were finally rubbing off on her and she did not like it. Reaching out for the next report, she made a mental note to restock her snack supply soon and charge it under DEO’s expenses.
The agents milling around her gave her a wide berth, as they should. She groaned as she signed off on yet another expense incurred from Supergirl’s recent fight. Alex knew that destruction of property was an inevitable by-product of saving the city, but she wished that Kara would put some care into not leaving dents on pavements every time she lands.
A huge pile of papers dropped onto her desk and she looked up, ready to snap at the agent’s imprudence. Her tirade caught in her throat when she saw Zol-El standing in front of her. Quickly regaining her composure, she smiled at the Kryptonian, “Afternoon, Zor-El. How can I help you?”
Zor-El nudged the papers he put down. “These are some blueprints that I have made, of Kryptonian equipment that can be adapted to Earth purposes. This is a portable water-sanitisation that can be easily assembled with a few cheap materials. This here is an altered version of vaccines we have on Argo that will help with some of the more evolved forms of viruses. And you can find here, a birthing matrix…”
“Wait, hold on,” Alex’s eyes widened. “Why are you showing me all of this?”
Zor-El’s grin widened. “Because Kara said you are the best scientist and the best sister in the world. Only you are worthy of continuing Krypton’s scientific legacy.”
Kara
Kara guffawed at Lena’s re-telling of her latest experiment gone south. The Superfriends were trying to come up with an efficient mode of transport – so that those without the power of flight did not have to balance dangerously on Kara’s back or hang from her limbs whenever they needed to get somewhere fast.
Lena nearly had an aneurysm the first time she saw Kelly clamber onto Supergirl’s back while Alex pushed herself into the hero’s arms. It was a sight she could never forget, no matter how much she wanted to.
So, they needed a new way to fly for the non-Kryptonians.
Brainy and Lena wanted to create something like the Legion rings, since they were efficient and unobtrusive to wear. However, the rings were made of Nth metal and incorporated with technology from the future. While its design was easy to crack with their combined intelligence, they were unable to procure any tool precise enough to weld the metal.
In a moment of recklessness, Lena used her magic to liquify the metal. However, she lost control halfway through when Kara flew into the tower with bags of food. Her abrupt appearance caused the metals to solidify into an amorphous shape that vaguely resembled a piece of macaroni.
Kara sheepishly raised an arm, a familiar bag of takeaway in her hand.
That was two hours ago, but Kara had already made two trips outside, coming back with even more food. In that span of time, Lena had only eaten a single bowl of salad. Kara pouted. That did not seem enough, even by normal human standards.
“You need to eat more, Lee,” Kara needled again. “I know you skipped breakfast. And you need to eat something other than vegetables. I swear you’re going to look greener than Brainy or J’onn.”
“I really can’t eat any more, Kara,” Lena rejected her for the fifth time.
Kara scrutinised the younger woman, “Are you finally having a villain arc? Do I have to save you from yourself?”
Lena spluttered, “Wha – Kara, what.”
Shrugging, the hero smiled as she shoved more fries into her mouth.
“You’re way overdue for a rebellious phase.”
“My whole life is one big rebellious phase.”
“Eating those terrible green things is weird!” Kara said.
“You’re weird,” Lena countered.
“Stop deflecting. Eat some fries, come on!”
Lena shook her head fondly. “No, Kara, the salad was rather filling.”
Undeterred, Kara crawled onto the couch until she was practically on top of her, hand holding up a single fry over the brunette’s mouth.
“Kara?” Zor-El walked into the room, eyes widening when he looked up from his phone.
Lena’s face flushed a brilliant red as she tried to back away from Kara, only to hit the side of the couch. She tilted dangerously over the side until Kara grabbed her thigh to prevent her fall.
“Ukr! I didn’t see you there!” Kara deposited Lena safely back on the couch before flying towards her father. “Have a fry, it is one of the best Earth foods!”
“You’ve mentioned,” Zor-El smiled as he continued tapping on his phone with a single hand. Blindly, he walked towards the control table at the centre of the room and set down a huge tub of pineapple tarts. “You say that about all of Earth’s food, Kara.”
Kara started to laugh too, “Well, it’s true! The only thing better than them is Yeyu’s dishes!”
“Well then, we should visit again soon!” Zor-El finally put his phone down on the console.
Kara quickly opened the tub of goodies and dug into it, fries forgotten. From the corner of her eye, Kara noticed Lena walking over.
“Good evening, sir,” Lena greeted.
Zor-El grinned, “Good to see you too, Lena Luthor! You should join us on our next trip to Argo!”
“I…If it’s okay with Kara...” Lena trailed off, surprised at the sudden invitation.
Kara’s grin stretched beyond the boundaries of her head. Her heart threatened to burst with happiness at her father’s suggestion, knowing how much the gesture would mean to Lena. She always wanted to bring Lena to Argo, to see the remaining city of Krypton, but she was not sure how to start the conversation. She thought she would feel a little bitter at how her father beat her to it but all she felt was warmth and love for the two people in front of her.
“Kara was telling me about you, and your House. The Luthors,” Zor-El continued.
Lena visibly stiffened. Kara wiped her hands on the front of her suit, before scooting to Lena’s side and grabbing Lena’s hand. Rubbing circles into it, Kara waited for her father to continue. Despite knowing that Zor-El harboured no animosity for the younger woman, Kara shot a glare at her father for his unnecessarily ominous opening.
Abashed, Zor-El quickly continued, “She spoke about how influential your family name was and how you managed to make the name mean something good again, despite your family’s transgressions. Kara also spoke well of your wit and your place as one of the best inventors on Earth. You were one of her favourite subjects to talk about, and I feel like I know you, despite our few interactions.”
Kara felt her face heating up. Looking at the ground, she was determined not to meet the two sets of eyes on her. She held onto Lena’s hand. It was soft and warm and letting go would be a travesty.
Zor-El’s voice softened, “What I am trying to say, is that you, Lena Luthor, are like a honey badger.”
That got Kara to look up. She stared incredulously at her father.
“Hm?” Lena tilted her head in question.
“You are a honey badger.” Zor-El repeated with a smile.
Kara’s eyes bulged out of her sockets. Is her father hitting on Lena? Right in front of her salad? Right in front of her fries??
Kara looked around for something that would explain the situation. Her eyes landed on Zor-El’s phone on the console. Its screen was still on and it was so bright Kara wondered if her father learnt how to adjust the settings.
She choked on her saliva when she read his most recent search online.
‘The most fearless animal in the world’ was typed into the search bar, with ‘honey badgers’ being Google’s illuminating answer.
The world suddenly made sense again.
“Yes, Lena. A honey badger.”
“Thank you?” Lena was still understandably bewildered.
Zor-El looked proud of himself for giving such an eloquent compliment. “Yes, I am also here for an offer. We Kryptonians have an algorithm that decides who we – What’s the Earth equivalent here, Kara?”
Kara let go of Lena’s hand and floated behind the brunette. She flailed her arms around before crossing them one over the other in the universal symbol to stop.
He frowned before continuing, “Marry? Yes. I am here to talk to you about marriage. You see, the house of El is one of the most influential houses on Argo. I would say it is comparable to the Luthor house on Earth. That is why I am here to propose – “
Lena’s eyes widened at the word. Kara furiously made a cutting motion at her throat before remembering that certain body gestures are universal only to Earth and Earthlings alone.
Chocking on her own spit, Kara flew in front of her father and blocked Lena from his view. Turning around, she frantically explained to the brunette, “Honey badgers are apparently the most fearless species on Earth! Did you know that, Lena? You probably know this, you’re so smart and everything. My father is still new to Earth and so he googled what the most fearless species is, and Google said honey badgers! And you are like them! On Krypton, Luthor would be a noble house, for sure! My father is talking about… A marriage of customs! Between humans and Kryptonians! To facilitate the transit between Argo and Earth. English is hard for us, Ukr just had a mix-up of words.”
Zor-El, standing by the side now, raised an eyebrow. Kara just nodded her head profusely. Lena’s expression fell somewhere between confused and flattered.
Zor-El beamed, satisfied with himself. Kara eyed him warily as she put an arm around the other woman.
Shaking his head fondly, the older man picked up his phone and walked away.
Nia
Nia groaned as she eyed the word count that refused to go down, no matter how much she paraphrased. Glancing around, she quickly searched up an online thesaurus.
“Good morning, Nia Nal.”
Yelping, Nia quickly hit the tab key and whipped around. The chair nearly toppled with the motion and Nia felt a flush creep up her neck.
A bemused Zor-El entered her range of vision.
“Hi! Are you looking for Kara?” Nia quickly regained her composure.
“No, I am actually here for you,” Zor-El smiled gently.
“What’s up?”
“Pardon?”
“Oh no, sorry. How can I help you?”
“I am here to get to know you, Nia Nal. You are Kara’s apprentice, in your craft and in your mantle as a hero of National City. As Kara’s father, I have a duty to help you.”
“Shhhh… We are keeping that low-key!” Nia hissed.
“I apologise. I do not understand what that means.”
“Okay, first I am going to introduce you to urban dictionary. Wait no, bad idea,” Nia spun around and tapped on her keyboard.
“How about I craft you your very own dictionary! We can add on to the list of phrases Brainy collected!” Nia rubbed her hands in glee.
“As you wish, Nia Nal. Are you available now for this endeavour, though?”
“Oh of course, this seems way more important.”
A little break couldn’t possibly hurt her.
Kara
“Father? Is something the matter?” Kara frowned. “You have been behaving rather strangely.”
“Kara! Nothing is up!” Zor-El beamed as he relaxed into the sofa. Kara’s heart swelled at the sight. Just a year ago, having her father alive and casually hanging out at her apartment would be a far-fetched dream.
“I just want to hang.” Zor-El continued.
“Huh?” Kara asked eloquently mid-potsticker.
“Nia has given me a book to improve my Earth language. It has given me massive brains and made me seen the light.”
“Yeah, please stop trying to use millennial slang.” Kara replied.
Zor-El had somehow mastered the skill of using chopsticks and made eating potsticker somehow look like a regal affair. Looking down at her own mess, Kara surreptitiously wiped off some of the crumbs on her pants.
“Anyway, father. Why were you with Alex and Nia? Why are you being so weird around Lena?”
“Did I not treat them well?” Zor-El looked confused and halfway to devastated.
“You did! I mean, you weirded them out a little but it was all good, I swear!” Kara hurried to dispel any notion that his presence was unwelcomed.
Zor-El stared at her for a beat, visibly trying to collect his thoughts. Kara shifted in her seat, not sure why she suddenly felt nervous.
“Kara, I have done many wrong things in my life.” Zor-El expression was solemn.
Kara gulped. She was not prepared for this tangent of conversation.
Half a mind to run, only the weight of her father’s attention forced her to stay rooted to the spot.
“I have so many things to apologise for, for how things were dealt with Krypton, for sending you off, for not being the honourable father I should have been.” Tears welled up in Kara’s eyes as she thought back to a dead planet, a distant red sun and a set of arms forcing her into a pod. Frustration and grief welled up, both familiar friends. Her anger at her father seemed blasphemous a while ago but now, it just felt pointless. She had her father back and he paid his debt tenfold during his stay in the phantom zone.
Kara’s love for him and relief at his return far triumphed any residue blame she harboured.
Scooting closer to her father, she slowly reached out for her father and pulled him into a side hug.
“Father, I had no idea you were feeling this way.”
“I want to be the best version of myself for you, Kara. I want to make it up to you.”
Kara wanted to protest, wanted to sweep it under the table and wanted to say that everything is fine. However, she knew better than anyone that these thoughts never do go away. She looked back at her own mistakes and her mind wandered, as it often do, to Lena and her attempts at repentance.
The path to forgiveness is a hard fought road, laid brick by brick and it is a labour of love and devotion.
Kara fought back a sob and tightened her hug. “Okay.”
She could learn to forgive her father. She did not even realise she needed to.