Archive of Our Own

“Jimmy!” Kara Zor-El shouted, immediately catching him in a super-powered hug.

“Air! Air!” he gasped.

Kara quickly understood what he meant, letting him go so he could breathe, at least for a few seconds. She sat right in front of him on the edge of the mattress, legs crossed, holding a small wooden box tightly in her hands.

That little box was one of the few mysteries Supergirl kept to herself. It had suddenly appeared one morning on the kitchen counter, and it rarely left her side. Whether she decided to sleep at Jimmy’s place or at the Kent Farm, Kara carried her box with her no matter what. It had been two and a half weeks since Lois had promised she would use all of her abilities as an investigative reporter to figure out its secrets, with absolutely no luck so far.

Jimmy stopped thinking about the box when Kara flew up and placed it gently on her bedside table. Kara flew back down to his side, landing with a bright smile. Jimmy reached out and playfully tapped her on the nose. Kara immediately blushed, her cheeks burning red as she relished the brief contact. Having those soft moments of contact with the human had become her morning routine these last weeks.

And then, Jimmy heard the weirdest, loudest sound ever, coming directly from the shadow occupying Kara’s bed. He turned around and saw a shape that was far too big to be one of the multiple stray dogs or cats his roommate usually snuck into the apartment.

“What is that?”

“Our new pet, Jimmy!” Kara said, clapping her hands. “I know you told me not to bring home stray dogs and cats, but it’s not one of those, I promise!”

The animal, whatever it was, let out another booming noise, and Jimmy took a deep breath.

“It’s a baby elephant!” she exclaimed, drawing excited circles in the air.

“No! What… Wait, what? Kara, no!”

His protests had no effect on the Kryptonian. She was too busy lifting the animal right into the air with her. At least it wasn’t fully grown; the little guy was only a couple of weeks old, max.

Wait, why the hell am I thinking about it being a little guy? Jimmy thought, staring in disbelief. That thing is at least three hundred pounds!

“Kara! Just…”

Kara looked down at him, her eyes wide and pleading. Jimmy gulped. Lately, as she grew more comfortable with Earth, she would do something completely wild or misunderstand how things worked, and then he would have to sit her down and explain the rules. It required an immense amount of concentration because the entire time, she would look at him in that amazing, beautiful, and highly manipulative way of hers.

“How?” he finally asked.

“Do not worry, Jimmy Flamebird, I didn’t hurt myself carrying him all the way here!” she declared proudly.

He had stopped correcting her on his name weeks ago. Honestly, Jimmy even entertained the thought of legally changing his last name to Flamebird, considering how incredibly cute and loving Kara sounded whenever she said it.

“... I saw this young elephant at the zoo,” Kara continued. “And before rushing to rescue him, I did exactly what you and Lois always say I should do. I asked an authority! An officer of the law, to see if I could take him!”

A zookeeper, probably, Jimmy imagined, wondering how exactly Kara had bent their words to suit her twisted reality.

“And what did they say?”

“Well, the pig said-”

Crap, not this conversation again.

“Kara, a cop. Remember that word. It’s a cop or a policeman.”

“Lois calls them pigs all the time!”

“If Lois jumps off a building…”

“Kal-El will rush to save her.”

Worst. Example. Ever. Jimmy thought, groaning.

“Jimmy, what does this conversation about buildings have to do with elephants?”

“Nothing. Go on, what did the cop say?” he replied, shaking his head.

“He said, and I quote: 'No human can even lift the little guy, much less take him out of the pit!'”

“And?”

“And I am not human! So that rule does not apply to the amazing Kryptonian warrior that I am!”

She flashed an even bigger smile, clearly incredibly proud of her crime. Because she is a criminal, Jimmy realized in mild panic. Oh lord, my roommate is an intergalactic criminal. I am shielding a fugitive.

Jimmy wanted to say: 'Kara, don’t do this. Take this poor guy back to the zoo and stop stealing exotic animals, please!' He really, really wanted to say that, but this was Kara. There was a much faster way to solve this.

So, he leapt out of bed as quickly as he could, grabbed a nearby pillow, and playfully shoved it right into her face. Kara let out a muffled gasp of shock, then immediately hugged the pillow, fascinated as usual by the softness of those Earthly items.

Jimmy quickly grabbed his phone, pressed the speed dial button, and prayed that the only other alien he knew was awake.

“It’s too early for this,” were the first words he heard on the line.

“Kara stole a baby elephant from the zoo.”

“Good morning to you too, Jimmy,” Clark Kent replied, snorting. “I’m on it, wait, no, Lois, I have to, Lois, come on, let go, I have to do this, Lois, it’s important! Yes, it’s about Kara, no, no she’s not in danger, no, that doesn’t mean we can keep going, Lois, I have to!”

“Tell your alien roommate to stop interrupting my Superman morning routine!” Lois screamed at the top of her lungs in the background.

“The less I know about what those exact words mean, the better,” Jimmy replied.

A blur of red and blue entered the room, and suddenly, the elephant was gone from sight. Jimmy hung up, ignoring Lois’s lingering protests (Horny and Frustrated Lois was among the worst Loises to deal with), and realized two very glaring eyes were now locked onto him.

“You are a very bad Earth roommate, Jimmy Flamebird,” Kara declared, crossing her arms dramatically. “Using your dastardly pillow maneuvers to shut down my nervous system.”

Note to self, Jimmy thought, introduce Kara to the wonders of human theater. She is such a drama queen.

“Would a bad roommate make you hot cocoa?” Jimmy quickly countered.

“Fine. I suppose you’re a below-average roommate.”

“... With two marshmallows instead of one?” he added.

“Perhaps… you are above the median,” she admitted, her tough warrior facade instantly melting into a giggle.

“That’s all I aim for,” he said, smiling warmly at her.

He was finally ready to start his day, but suddenly, he stopped to ask one vital question.

“Kara.”

“Yes?”

“Where did you get that elephant?”

“Like I said, Jimmy. The zoo.”

“The Metropolis Zoo, right?”

“Um…”

Shit.

As if on cue, the red and blue blur was back inside the apartment, giving Jimmy a cheerful thumbs-up.

“Done! And no one noticed a thing, I promise!” Clark said.

“Shanghai,” Jimmy replied flatly, staring at his friend.

Clark froze, shaking his head in total disbelief. He took a deep breath, then said, “Tell Lois it’ll take me ten more minutes to get back.”

“You tell her that!” Jimmy shouted at the open window, but Superman was already out of sight once more.

“Apologies for interrupting your morning routine, Kal-El!” Kara shouted after him, completely ignorant of what her cousin and Lois Lane considered a ‘morning routine’,  bless her heart.

“This is… not good.”

Kara flinched when she heard those words coming from Kal-El. She looked down nervously, ready to be judged and, if necessary, exiled from the Kent farm.

Ma and Pa, on the other hand, simply laughed, which surprised her greatly.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’re not in trouble,” Martha assured her, patting her back. “Clark is just being dramatic.”

“I am not!” the reporter protested, gesturing to the local newspaper article he had been reading for the past ten minutes.

New Mystery in Smallville: Crop Circles at the Kent Farm.

“They know it happened here, they know it’s aliens, and the article is filled with conspiracies about what those symbols could mean!”

“It is gratitude,” Kara interrupted him. At that moment, Clark realized she was nervously fidgeting with her small wooden box.

The same mysterious box Jimmy had mentioned way too many times already, only to be surpassed by Lois, who seemed completely obsessed with the damn thing. Right on cue, Clark's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a frantic text from his girlfriend:

"Did she open it yet? Is it a weapon? Is it a tiny spaceship? ASK HER, SMALLVILLE."

Not for the first time, Clark thought about using his X-ray vision to see what was inside the thing Kara carried everywhere. He dismissed the thought almost immediately. If she wanted to keep a secret, he wouldn’t dare pry.

He shook his head, tuning back in as Kara continued talking to him.

“Gratitude,” she repeated softly. “That is what the symbol means. Gratitude for being the excellent humans they are, for taking care of you, and me, and… well, it is just that. Just gratitude. I thought your parents would appreciate it if I did something nice for them.”

“And we do!” Pa said, still smiling warmly. “Clark is just…”

“Please do not say I am being dramatic again, Pa” Clark cut him off. “I am just worried Kara could be attracting too much attention.”

He sat down by her side, grasping one of her hands softly as he explained:

“We can take care of ourselves, Kara, but if Ma and Pa get involved in a dangerous situation or if somehow someone sees this and thinks they really have some sort of connection to any of us…”

“I understand, Kal-El,” she said, her voice filled with worry. “My stupid decision has put their lives in danger.”

“Now boy, don’t be a hypocrite,” Pa suddenly said. Both Kryptonians looked at him, completely confused. “It’s nice you want to protect us, but if Kara makes a mistake, don’t chastise her this much.”

“Yeah,” Ma agreed, squeezing the young woman’s shoulder and causing a bright smile to reappear on her face. “She can get things wrong once in a while, Mr. Flying Boy.”

Clark blinked. “I am sorry, Mr. What-Now?”

“Oh, let’s just say this whole crop circle thing is not the first time something strange has happened in Smallville in the last twenty years,” Jonathan said, chuckling.

And much to Superman’s chagrin, Martha started to recite:

“There was the whole flying boy mystery, the time our windmill was ripped from its hinges by a strange force…”

“Cows mysteriously levitating,” Pa added. “That night our dear boy caused an earthquake just because he was a bit grumpy.”

“It was a small earthquake! Barely felt!” He protested, then, as their parents chuckled, added, “and I really wanted to go to the Cinema that night!”

“Oh, it was not a minor earthquake, young man! My broken china plates were proof!” Martha replied.

Pa got up laughing and walked out of the room. Kara looked at her cousin and couldn’t suppress a chuckle. A moment ago, he had been so serious and tense about the situation, and now he was covering his face with his hands, mumbling, “It wasn’t my fault,” while tapping his foot against the floorboards over and over again. She set her little wooden box back on top of the table, no longer feeling so nervous.

Suddenly, Kal-El’s father returned, presenting her with a large, flat metal sheet.

“The crops will grow again, and that sign of gratitude will fade away, Kara,” Jonathan said gently. “But if you use that heat vision of yours on this, we’ll always have it.”

“You… still want a gift from me? Even after all the problems I caused?”

The warm smiles both adults gave her were all the confirmation she needed. Still, Kara felt the symbol could be even more special if she had some help. She reached out, taking her cousin’s hand, and declared:

“According to ancient tradition, if two or more Kryptonians are present, they must both partake in the making of the symbol. Will you help me, Kal-El? That is, assuming you feel gratitude too.”

“Of course! For Ma and Pa, and for you too,” he said, grinning at her. Then, in a lower voice, he added, “Sorry for being so harsh on you, Kara.”

“You are forgiven… Flying Boy.”

Clark groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”

“No, you will not,” Kara confirmed, her eyes heating up with playful blue energy as she laughed yet again.

“This is… not an exciting activity, at all,” Kara said, finally fully understanding the human concept of being bored out of her mind.

“Well, we are human,” Lois commented, her fingers flying across her laptop keyboard. “We have jobs to do.”

“This feels like endless torture.”

“Or, as we humans call it, a daily job,” Lois insisted without looking up. “Also, consider yourself lucky. Us humans can’t spend all of our time flying around the planet helping people.”

“Why is Kal-El out there, though?”

“Because Jimmy and him are doing an interview that I promise you is just as boring as being here, girl.”

“Summer,” Kara huffed, staring longingly out the window.

“Bummer,” Lois corrected her. “Also, yes, it is.”

The reporter knew exactly what was on her mind. The poor woman wasn’t used to being confined to a small space, but there was a reward waiting for her.

“Just an hour and a half more of this endless torture, and Clark and Jimmy will be back for our big Friday night hangout,” Lois reminded her. “I can see a great night with our favorite guys and many big juicy steaks in our future, just hang on a bit longer, okay?”

“Then this is an acceptable sacrifice!” Kara shouted and her human friend laughed loudly before starting to type again.

The way Kara smiled back at her could brighten an entire room. Her eyes lit up with that familiar, unstoppable Kent enthusiasm that always reminded Lois of her boyfriend.

“I shall suffer through this boring human labor now, and enjoy destroying Kal-El’s food tolerance at the everything-you-can-swallow buffet later!”

“All you can eat,” Lois corrected her once more. “Also, FYI, my job is not boring, Kara.”

The alien snorted loudly at that, and Lois rolled her eyes.

“Of course it is! All you do is sit in front of a screen, typing for hours and hours, barely moving your arms and mouth to get sustenance every few minutes,” her friend countered. “You look like Fath…I mean, Brainiac.”

“Not a huge fan of being compared to a psychotic, murderous artificial intelligence, you know?” Lois said playfully.

“My apologies,” Kara said softly.

The immediate shift in the tone of her voice made Lois look up from her laptop. Kara seemed genuinely upset, even if what she had said before was just a joke.

“I should not have mentioned that name.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Lois said gently, leaning forward. “He’s the man, I mean, the machine, that you spent most of your life with. For years, everything you knew was through his eyes. He limited you so much. None of it was your fault.”

As she spoke, Lois thought briefly about her own father, General Lane. He was a man who was always keeping secrets from her, looking over her shoulder, and questioning every single decision she made, no matter how small it was. She could sympathize with the Kryptonian, even in her small human way.

“If you ever need someone to talk to about these things, I’m here for you,” Lois said, her report completely forgotten now. “So are Clark and Jimmy, of course.”

“But that is a bad thing,” Kara murmured.

“What do you mean?”

“Burdening you with my past, with my wrongdoings, with everything I have done…”

Kara went silent, her eyes dropping down to the small wooden box sitting right in the center of the table. Lois noticed the movement, but she chose to say nothing. She had the whole afternoon to figure out this mystery, but this was not the time for pushing boundaries.

Part of being a good reporter was knowing when to act as one and when to be a friend, which was exactly what Kara needed right now.

“Your feelings are not a burden,” she said firmly. Kara looked up at her immediately. “You don’t have to share everything, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep everything locked away for yourself.”

“I… did not know that. But I will keep it in mind.”

A comfortable silence fell over the desk, which was promptly interrupted less than a second later by Lois.

“So, what’s in the box?”

Now was absolutely the time to ask!

Kara let out a small grin, her eyes twinkling. “I don’t have to share everything, is that right?”

“Touché,” Lois muttered, rolling her eyes playfully as she turned back to her report.

Among the many wonders of Planet Earth, Kara’s favorite activity was, without a question, hugging.

She had never experienced anything like it under Brainiac’s control. Then again, she couldn't remember having any pleasant experiences back then. On Earth, however, she had become an expert on the subject.

Kal-El’s hugs were fierce but incredibly protective; her cousin seemed to have a sixth sense for detecting exactly when she needed one, and he had never failed to calm her down, not even once. Lois Lane used to put an arm around the back of her neck and playfully squeeze her shoulder, which always made Kara laugh at the human's complete lack of strength. The Kents’ hugs were very similar to her cousin’s, leading Kara to suppose that Kal-El had learned this Earthling art directly from them.

Then there were the hugs of the grateful citizens she saved daily. Most of them could be described as clinging, born out of either pure gratitude or sheer desperation. Many of them could be translated into a sentence like ‘Please don’t let go, Supergirl’, something that she would never dare to do to any of them.

And then they were Jimmy Flamebird’s hugs.

The old version of herself would have scoffed at the image of being embraced by someone as weak and feeble as that young human, but now? Now she couldn't get enough of his high-energy hugs, his endless supply of high-fives, and the sweet, supportive words he said to her practically every time he was around.

And oh, how happy she was when, after a long night of patrolling Metropolis (putting out fires, preventing car accidents, and doing her best to follow in Kal-El’s heroic footsteps) she returned to the apartment to see Jimmy sitting on the couch, with a couple of Chinese food boxes on the table.

She flew in and kicked the door shut. She gulped down her entire meal in one go, realizing Jimmy barely had time to eat a single bite of his own food. Kal-El had once said she should be respectful of human boundaries and learn to read certain situations.

Then again, Kal-El wasn’t here right now. So, she waited exactly ten more seconds, then immediately tackled Jimmy against the couch cushions.

Instead of complaining, Jimmy laughed wholeheartedly at her attitude, his arms wrapping around her shoulders in a massive bear hug. She giggled when she felt his fingers affectionately ruffling her short blond hair.

“What’s on your mind, Supergirl?” he asked.

She wanted to respond, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a content, peaceful sigh.

“What was that?” he insisted, poking her left cheek ever so slightly.

“I just want your company,” she muttered, and in a serious tone, added, “I demand it, actually.”

She liked to pretend she was the brave, imposing, and powerful warrior from Planet Krypton every once in a while, and Jimmy, being Jimmy, loved to play along with the pretense.

“Well, I saw you on the news,” he said nonchalantly, booping her gently on the nose. “You have certainly earned it!”

Kara blushed brightly at the gesture. Recently, she had been doing that constantly. Back on Krypton, getting red-faced like this would indicate that she was experiencing some sort of disease, but no nasty feelings were associated with this attitude of hers, in fact, every time she blushed around Jimmy, she felt incredibly happy.

She stared at him, suddenly realizing that the way he looked at her was very similar to the way Kal-El and Lois Lane constantly looked at each other. Could it be?

Your bad Earth brain is making you act stupidly! the past Kara, the indomitable conqueror and destroyer, would have told her.

But she wasn’t that Kara anymore, and she supposed that was mostly due to Jimmy Flamebird and the way he smiled at her. It was the exact same way he was grinning at her right now.

“Your smile heals me, Jimmy Flamebird,” she let out in a single breath.

There was instant worry in his expression now, and he rested a hand on her shoulder as he asked:

“Are you hurt? Where? Did something happen out there?”

“I feel physically fine,” she said.

Kara had felt Kal-El’s determination in every punch he had thrown at her when they were enemies. She had experienced the agonizing pain that Brainiac’s digital warriors had inflicted upon her body, and she had crumbled under the agonizing pressure of the Eradicator protocol.

And yet, she had never felt anything as powerful as the way Jimmy Flamebird was holding her right now.

“So… What’s on your mind now, huh?” he asked.

Kara decided there was only one way in which she could answer that question.

She flew at top speed across the room, coming back to the couch with her legs crossed and a small wooden box on her lap. She smiled at the wonderful human at her side, then opened her box, ready to reveal the secrets that she knew drove him, Clark, and mostly Lois completely insane every once in a while. 

After a few seconds of silence, she looked at Jimmy and shook her head, realizing he was aggressively staring at the ceiling, averting his eyes in a way that could not be comfortable for any human.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, you have your secret box there,” Jimmy stammered. “I shouldn’t be looking! In fact, I’m gonna go to bed now, it’s been a long day and I…”

She grabbed his wrists and pulled him right back down next to her.

“Silly and thoughtful human! I already told you your smile heals me, and you know your presence comforts me!”

“Yes, I heard that,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, “but I still don’t know what it means, or what it’s got to do with your box.”

“It means I am willing to share my secrets with you, Jimmy Flamebird,” she said.

“Oh… That’s great…” he said, his voice a mixture of surprise and something else Kara couldn’t quite identify. Was he blushing too?

He finally looked inside the box, his eyes moving left and right, inspecting every item. After a full minute of silence, he said:

“Um… What exactly am I looking at?”

Kara smiled at him. Of course this human had no idea what all of this was.

“Souvenirs and mementos from the worlds I…”

She wanted to say visited, but that would have been a lie.

“…destroyed, while under Brainiac’s influence,” she completed, shivering. She shook her head, then continued. “When Kal-El and I defeated him, his spaceship fell into the sun. But I didn’t want these memories to be burned away, so I flew as fast as I could to retrieve as many of them as I could. Kal-El may suspect what is in the box since he has seen some of them before, but he accepts my wish to keep this a secret. I respect him immensely for that.”

“I see,” was the only thing Jimmy said, his voice soft. “Do you know what they all are, then?”

She nodded slightly, first picking up a small, rocky figure.

“The effigy of a Thanagarian warrior,” she murmured. “It was very popular in their society. Thanagarians were not only expert fighters, but they also had an incredible affinity for sculpture.”

Jimmy didn’t say a word, so she continued. This time, choosing an even smaller, cubic-shaped box, she showed it to the human, revealing that there was nothing inside.

“An H’lvenian receptacle… I do not know what it contained, and I am afraid I will never know.”

She felt Jimmy’s hand gently holding one of her own. Smiling softly, she picked up a small bundle of sheets of paper tied with string.

“Euphorix poetry,” she said, making an enormous effort not to break down. “Widely considered some of the finest literature in the galaxy. If you’re willing, could I read it to you? In your language, of course.”

“I would love to, Kara,” he replied, with an intensity and sincerity that surprised the Kryptonian, something about the use of that word shook her to the core.

She coughed a little to clear her throat, carefully looking through the bunch until she found her favorite one.

“Mourn not for us, for we have known the light, and looked on beauty, and lived in peace and love,” she read softly. “Grieve but for those who go alone, unwise, to die in darkness and never see the sun.”

And that was just too much for her. She immediately started to cry. Jimmy was instantly hugging her again, holding her like she was someone who truly mattered, and not a brainwashed conqueror.

“I’m sorry… My attitude… It’s not proper…” she said between heavy sobs.

Jimmy simply shushed her gently, softly stroking her hair as she buried her face into his shoulder.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Kara,” he whispered. “I’ve got you. Cry as much as you need. It’s not improper, it just proves you cared about all those people.”

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when she finally regained her composure, she realized her box and its contents were resting at the side of the couch, neatly displayed. Jimmy (always sweet, kind, and attentive Jimmy) had surely put them there.

“There is one more thing,” she muttered, showing him the inside of the box.

Jimmy looked into it, seeing a small, folded piece of red fabric.

“Alien material?” he questioned.

“Actually, yes,” Kara explained. “Martha Kent sewed it for me using some leftover remains of Kal-El’s cape. But the thing that matters the most is below it.”

She carefully lifted the red cloth, revealing the last of her treasures. Jimmy recognized it immediately. It was a photograph of the two of them from the day they first met in Metropolis.

“There were a few other smaller ones,” Kara explained somberly, her eyes dropping. “They got lost in the debris. I couldn’t save them in time, and that tactical error on my part haunts me to this day. I am sorry, Jimmy Flamebird.”

Before he could reply, she decided to continue.

“The other items in this box are to remind me of the dark places I have been, Jimmy Flamebird. But this single photo? This memory of you? It is a reminder of the human who protected me and held me and…”

She stopped, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“And instead of making me sad like the rest, this one makes me happy, these are all my secrets and now you know them all.”

“Kara…” he whispered.

Her chest tightened. Was he mad at her? Was he going to blame her for saving all those alien trinkets instead of their photos? Was he going to demand that she leave his apartment?

“…Thank you for this, Kara Zor-El,” he said instead.

He hugged her again, and Kara felt such an immense gratitude for this wonderful human that she immediately broke the embrace. She looked at him, leaned in, and placed a sweet, short kiss on his forehead.

Blushing madly once more and realizing his face looked just as red as hers, she coughed a little and declared, “And with that, I retire! I must rest to face the threats of Metropolis once again tomorrow. Have a pleasant night, Jimmy Flamebird!”

And before he could even utter a reply, she was gone into her room, box and all.

Jimmy stayed there, falling back onto the couch cushions as he tried to process everything he had just seen and heard. His musings were abruptly interrupted by the loud, violent buzzing of his phone.

“Hey, Jimmy?” Clark said the moment he picked up. “Do you have those pictures you promised to Lois this morning? We-”

“Yes, yes,” Jimmy muttered, shaking his head. “I’ll send them to you in a bit.”

“Everything okay? You sound a bit off.”

Damn, he’s perceptive, Jimmy thought.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just… Kara just showed me what’s in her box.”

The instant he heard Lois Lane’s piercing scream on the other side of the line, Jimmy realized he had made a terrible tactical mistake.

“James Olsen, you wonderful human being!” Lois shouted. “Tell me everything! Is it alien tech? A map of the cosmos, maybe? Or-”

“It’s a secret,” Jimmy cut her off.

“But-”

“And it will stay a secret,” he added firmly. “Because it’s important to her.”

“Ugh, fine! I’ll let you and your crush keep your little secrets!” Lois grumbled, before unceremoniously hanging up.

“I’m not…” he started, but the call was already dead. There was no one left to answer.

He sat back on the couch, his eyes drifting between the empty corner of the table where the small wooden box had been just moments ago, and the closed bedroom door, beyond which some very loud Kryptonian snoring could now be heard.

He blushed, shaking his head rapidly. He didn’t have a crush on Kara Zor-El. Absolutely not. She was just his roommate. Nope, no crushes at all!

Then, the realization hit him harder than one of Supergirl’s actual punches.

Crap.