It had been two weeks since Brainy had been rescued from Leviathan's ship. He had been released from the hospital a day ago and Nia had taken him to her apartment. No one had questioned her decision after seeing the way Brainy held onto her after they left.
Alex had figured Nia would be able to get Brainy to relax now that he was safe. Out of all of them, she had the best chance of being successful.
But the next time she had seen them, Brainy was still tightly holding on to Nia. Nia had walked away for a moment to greet Alex, and she had seen the panic on his face for a split second. It didn't go away until Nia came back to him.
Nia had noticed the increase in Brainy's need for physical contact. She wasn't going to do anything about it at first. He had been through a terrible ordeal, and she was going to do everything in her power to make him feel better.
Three days after leaving Catco, Nia returned to Catco. She had taken several days off to take care of him and had visited the hospital a lot, so she was quite behind on her work.
He had taken the news of her going back fine, saying he didn't want to get in the way of her job. Nia had reassured him that he wasn't getting in the way, but the truth was, she really needed to get back or Andrea would most likely fire her.
Supergirl and the rest of the team still couldn't find Lex or Lillian Luthor. Lena was at the Tower almost every waking hour trying to track them, but so far had found nothing.
Nia arrived at Catco at eight and immediately got to work. There had been a stack of files left on her desk. Kara had been trying to do some of her work using her super-speed, something Nia was very grateful for.
She worked with relatively no interruptions for about two hours. She looked at what she had left to do. Most of it could wait, so she opened another window on her computer.
She used her Catco database to research Lex Luthor. Maybe there was something on this earth that had been covered by Catco that would help her find him.
Most of the information she found was about awards he had won, accomplishments, and Nia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
She continued to scroll through the information when there was a commotion by the elevator.
Someone was being escorted away from the desks by armed security guards. Nia leaned in her chair to get a better look at the intruder, and was shocked by what she saw.
It was Brainy.
Nia raced over to the guards and asked "What are you doing? He's not a threat!"
"Since the failed launch of Obsidian Platinum, Ms. Rojas decided to tighten security here. This man is not a faculty member and needs to be removed from the premises," replied the guard.
Brainy had been struggling against the two men, but when Nia approached, he stopped for the most part.
"I think there's been a mistake," said Nia calmly. "He's my boyfriend, and I can take it from here."
"I'm sorry, but I have to follow protocol," replied the other guard.
Nia sighed. She hoped Brainy had a good reason for showing up.
"All right," she conceded. "I'll be accompanying you out, though."
The guards didn't bother arguing with her, and they rode the elevator downstairs in silence. Brainy was escorted out of the building and into the bright sunlight outside. Nia followed and waited until the guards had gone back inside.
"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" asked Nia urgently. Kara had been at Catco all day with her and Nia hadn't heard from the Tower at all.
"You were investigating Lex Luthor," said Brainy. It was a statement, not a question.
"I figured Catco's database might have some information on him from this earth. What were you doing looking at my work computer anyways?" asked Nia.
Brainy ignored her question. "You need to stop doing that. It could be traced back to you and we still don't know where he is. There is an eighty-seven percent chance that at least three people in the Obsidian North building have ties to Lex and any one of them could be watching. You could be killed, why can't you understand that?" He was anxiuosly pacing.
Realization struck Nia. Brainy was worried about her.
"Brainy, listen to me," she said gently, taking his hand. "I'm going to be okay. I'm Dreamer, remember? I can take care of myself."
Brainy said nothing for almost a full minute. When he did speak, it was so soft she could barely hear him.
"I can't lose you again," he said.
Nia didn't know what to say at first.
"You're not going to," she reassured him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a tight embrace.
"Let's just go back home for today," she suggested.
"That would be great," said Brainy, sounding more relaxed than he had in months.
"I need to get my stuff from upstairs, I'm a little behind on my work," said Nia, letting go of his hand.
Brainy looked like he was about to panic, but he let her go. Nia gathered her things as quickly as she could, not wanting to worry him.
When she returned outside, he was waiting for her and immediately took her hand once she was close to him.
They walked back to her apartment. Nia sat down on the couch and opened her computer. Brainy sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. Nia gave him a small smile and snuggled closer to him.
They stayed like that for a few hours, with Nia working and Brainy using his abilities to scan for any sign of Lex Luthor, on the web or on security cameras.
Nia's phone chimed, and she saw a text from Kara to the group chat inviting them to lunch at the Tower. Lena responded immediately, saying she'd be there.
Nia looked at Brainy.
"How does lunch with the Super friends sound?" she asked, willing to stay home if he didn't want to go.
"I would love to attend, if you will be there," he replied. Nia replied to the chat saying they would be there.
They left the apartment and arrived at the tower fifteen minutes later. Brainy had held her hand for the entire walk. Nia was beginning to get used to the constant affection, but it had been hard to adjust to at first.
J'onn, Alex, Kelly, and Kara were already there and had gotten takeout from Noonan's. Lena was still at the computers running a new scan to attempt to find Lex, but was clearly not making any progress.
Nia watched Kara gently move her away from the screen, taking her hand and pulling her to the table J'onn had set up. Nia smiled, remembering all of the times she had needed to drag Brainy away from his desk at the DEO.
At least, when the DEO was still standing.
Alex spotted the two of them.
"Nia! Brainy! It's good to see you both," she said.
"How's life as a vigilante?" asked Nia. So far she had only been able to join Alex on patrol once since she had left the DEO, but Alex had seemed to be adjusting well.
She smiled. "I didn't think I could ever leave the DEO but... I love this. It's fulfilling, which is something I had needed after leaving."
"That's great," said Nia.
Alex noticed how Brainy hadn't let go of her since they had arrived. She had hoped that Nia would be able to help him recover from the past few months, but it seemed that it would take more time.
There was a knock on the door of the hidden room.
"I'll get it," said Nia. Without thinking, she let go of Brainy's hand and walked across the room to the door.
Alex saw Brainy's face go pale, and he stepped forward as if to stop her.
Nia opened the door and M'gann came inside. She had taken afternoon patrol, so it was no surprise that she had been late.
The tension in Brainy's face subsided a little, but didn't go away until Nia was at his side again.
Alex met Kelly's eye from across the room. Kelly approached her wordlessly, sensing that her girlfriend had something on her mind.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
Alex took a deep breath.
"I think you should offer to give Brainy therapy," said Alex, not sure of how else to put it.
Kelly nodded, seeming unsurprised by this idea.
Alex went on, saying, "I mean, you saw the look on his face when she left him to open the door. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack. I just want to help him heal, and I know you can do that better than anyone else here."
"Of course," said Kelly. "I'm happy to help in any way I can."
"Great," said Alex. "Now we just need to explain this to Nia and Brainy." She sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.
"I've got this," said Kelly.
Kelly approached Brainy and Nia, who were engaged in conversation with Kara.
"Can I talk to you two for a minute?" Kelly asked Nia and Brainy.
"Of course," said Nia, concern showing on her face.
Kelly led them to a quieter room in the Tower where the meetings were usually held. She noticed Brainy made sure he entered the room before Nia, as if to protect her from anything inside that could hurt her. He also hadn't let go of her since M'gann had arrived.
"Brainy, I know what you went through in the months before defeating Leviathan must have been horrible. You had needed to cut ties with everyone you cared about and isolate yourself with the enemy," Kelly began.
Brainy nodded wordlessly, not wanting to remember.
"That's why Alex and I thought that, with your consent of course, I could help you recover and heal," said Kelly.
"My health is in perfect condition," said Brainy, either ignoring what she meant or not comprehending it.
"I don't doubt that," said Kelly, "but I think there may have been some harm done to you that statistics and vitals can't see."
Understanding dawned on Brainy. "You want to give me therapy."
Kelly nodded. "Yes. You may not think you need it, but it's good for anyone, even people who have suffered lesser trials than what you went through."
Nia listened to what Kelly was saying. It made sense, and she hoped maybe this would be the key to helping Brainy recover.
Brainy looked to Nia for advice.
"Nia, what is your opinion on this matter?" he asked hesitantly.
"It's completely your choice," said Nia. "But I really think Kelly could help you more than I ever could in this."
Brainy thought for a moment.
"My calculations have come to the conclusion that there is an eighty-seven percent chance that this will be beneficial.
"So I will accept your offer and take therapy from you," he said with a bit of uncertainty.
"Great." Kelly smiled. "I can get you an appointment on Thursday at four. Nia, you should come too." She knew Nia would have probably showed up anyway, but might as well make her feel welcome.
They rejoined the Superfriends, and as Nia walked out of the Tower beside Brainy, she was filled with hope that maybe he would be able to return to his old self with Kelly's help.
A/N: Someone commented that they liked Brainy being protective, so I pulled this from my other account. I hope you enjoyed it! I tried to write a part 2, but couldn't really get it to go anywhere. I might try again though!