“Hey,” Alex hugged Kara tightly, smiling. “How was your vacation?”
“Cat proposed!”
Alex reared back, looking down to her ring-finger, which held a modest gold and diamond-band ring. “What? Oh my god, Kara, that’s-”
“Amazing, I know – you’re the first I’ve told,” Kara bounced up and down slightly. “I invited Eliza up this weekend, so we’re going to tell her then. How have you been?”
Alex opened her mouth, about to say ‘fine’, before remembering exactly what had happened this week, “Uh…you’re going to be a…an aunt?”
Kara stared.
Alex watched as it processed.
“Aunt?” Her voice was tight, and Alex could tell she was slowly becoming delighted – very soon, a grin graced her face. “Oh my god, Alex! Have you told Eliza yet? Whose baby is it? When are they going to be born?”
Alex bit her lip at the barrage of questioned. “I haven’t told Eliza yet, but I might as well tell her this weekend when she comes. And the dad is J’onn, so I don’t know when it’ll be due – Martian’s are different.”
Kara flushed, “J’onn? So your baby’s going to be green?” Alex’s cheeks turned red.
“That’s the first thing you latch on to? Not the fact that I’m having J’onn kid, but that it’s green?”
Kara waved at her middle, “No, I’m freaking out about that in my head – but seriously, will it be green?”
“We don’t know, we haven’t really talked about it – he had to get back to the DEO. He’s been stuck there ever since, and put me off duty,” she said the last part in a flinty voice, before digressing, “Though it’s all been making me feel off, so he might as well.”
“Morning sickness?”
“No,” Alex shifted from foot to foot, glancing at a nearby article of clothing that most definitely didn’t belong to her. I should get my apartment cleaned up a bit. Clearing her throat, she looked back to Kara. “I’ve just been out of sorts. I figured it was the baby, unless I’ve actually been affected by something in the line of duty.” Kara’s eyebrows knitted together in obvious worry.
“Are you okay? You don’t look like you’re sick.”
Alex shook her head, “No, I’m fine, really, it’s just this headache, and back pain – and this feeling like something’s crawling all over my skin.” She shuddered, rubbing her wrist as it surged to remind her.
“Maybe it’s because Hank’s a shapeshifter,” Kara offered, prompting Alex to frown.
“I’m not sure it works like that.”
Kara shrugged awkwardly, “I’m just saying, his DNA would be with the baby…” she motioned to her again, “And they’d get his powers. He’s a shapeshifter-”
“-and a mind-reader.” Alex put a hand to her forehead, eyes widening a fraction. Kara bounced slightly.
“It’s trying to communicate with you! Aw, that’s adorable!”
“Painful, more like,” she murmured, wincing as her headache spiked. “Humans aren’t meant for telepathic communication, Kara. We don’t have enough synaptic engrams.”
“You totally stole that from Doctor Who,” Kara immediately accused, before crossing her arms. “I was actually being serious, Alex. You could be getting Martian powers!”
Alex rolled her eyes, before walking over to her sofa, dropping down, feet going up to rest on her coffee table. “If I am, then I’m going to be royally fucked up. Imagine me becoming a Martian version of Bizarro.” She smirked a little as Kara huffed, coming to sit down beside her.
“Not funny, Alex.”
“Yes it is.”
“No it’s not – so you haven’t been able to talk to Hank- I mean, J’onn?”
“No,” Alex muttered, before turning on the television. “Game of Thrones?”
“Go for it.”
Later, when Kara left, Alex’s doorbell rang. She opened the door to find Hank standing there, holding a take-away bag.
“Hey,” she greeted, smiling slightly, leaning up to kiss him lightly. “Come on in, set it out on the tabe.” Opening the door wider, she moved out of the way for him, before shutting and locking it again. “You know, radio silence isn’t cool.”
“My apologies,” he replied, before crouching in front of the coffee table to take out the food. Alex went to her kitchen, grabbing cutlery and plates for them both, as well as serving spoons once she smelled curry. Mouth watering, she settled down on the sofa opposite him, leaning over to serve out her own stuff. “How have you been?”
“Fine. In pain – Kara visited. Cat proposed.”
“She told me,” he nodded, giving a strained smile. “You told her that you’re pregnant.”
“Yeah, what did she say to you, because you know, she can’t exactly give you the shovel talk – for all she says that she was born first, she’s still the younger sister.” Alex pointed out, before digging into her take-out.
Hank shook his head, moving from his position to sit down properly. “She raised some concerns about how it affects you.” Alex slowed. Oh.
“I’m not sure whether we should worry yet,” she replied slowly, “I mean, unless they make my brain explode, or destabilise my biology-”
“Don’t,” he cut in, wincing, “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Alex looked at him, frowning slightly. He’s really worked up about this. “J’onn, I’ll be fine. How did pregnancy work on Mars anyway?” J’onn glanced up from his plate.
“It didn’t. Children were born from eggs.” Alex’s mouth went dry. Ah. “Mothers lived in caves with others expecting, guarding them together. Each mother had one egg each, that mentally latched onto them from conception. It explains your head-pain.” Alex nodded, seeing the logic.
“I’m not telepathic though.”
“No…” he hesitated, “I could help though – it happened sometimes. Sometimes, children weren’t strong enough to latch on, or mothers were too young and didn’t have enough grasp over their own minds to stabilise the connection.”
“So, you could stabilise us?”
“In theory,” he hedged, before eating more food. Alex thought on it, and they didn’t speak for a little. Then she nodded.
“After we’re finished?” J’onn gave a tight smile, before nodding. “What are you worried about?”
“Your humanity.”
“Will you not be able to do it because I’m human?” Alex challenged, making J’onn purse his lips.
“Human-kind aren’t meant to hold the weight of another’s mind. It can be debilitating – crippling. I’ll link it to both of us.”
Alex frowned, “Is that safe?”
He flashed her a smile, “As long as I am near. Too far, and it all falls on you.”
“Don’t go too far away then,” she joked, before finishing her meal. J’onn cleared the last of his own, before taking her dirty dish and cutlery, taking them to the kitchen, while Alex cleaned up the table. “So what will happen?” She called out.
He exited the kitchen, coming over to sit beside her. “You will feel discomfort. Maybe even pain. I’ll induce sleep, before connecting the child to me – the weight of their being should lighten at that point. When your mind adjusts, you will awaken.”
“Cool,” she breathed, before leaning over to kiss him lightly, “Anything else I should know?”
He smiled a little, “Physical contact helps. Mothers held their eggs close. When fathers became part of the bond, they often held them too – it wouldn’t be possible in this case, obviously, so the alternative would be to-”
“Hold me. Nice,” Alex said wryly, before brushing her fingers across his jaw. “Any chance you’ll need to change to yourself?”
He gained an odd look, “You like me in my Martian form?”
She gave him a dumb look, “It’s you. What’s not to like? But you don’t have to change if you’re uncomfortable, if that’s why you haven’t.”
Hank shook his head, “I thought you might prefer it.” Alex snorted.
“I might have known you as Hank Henshaw for the majority of the time I’ve known you, but you’re still J’onn J’onzz, you’re still a Martian. You don’t have to hide from me. This apartment – my apartment, it’s a safe place. You don’t have to worry, unless my landlord makes a surprise visit.” Hank chuckled a little, before nodding. In front of her, Alex watched as he changed, red light sparking along his torso until he was as he was supposed to be. Smiling a little, Alex kissed him briefly before getting comfortable.
“So how does this work?”
J’onn didn’t answer, instead taking her hands and lacing her fingers with his oddly, before placing them on her torso, connecting their foreheads.
“Just breathe as you would normally, close your eyes, and keep your mind open, even when you feel uncomfortable.”
“Okay,” she muttered. For a moment she felt nothing, and then her headache got…weird. It didn’t hurt, but it was…it was like when you were deep underwater, and the pressure made your ears pop, and your body was being squeezed in every direction. But it was only at one part of her head, about an inch, an inch and a half into her forehead. She grimaced, wincing as it became stronger and stronger, until she could barely breathe.
“It’ll be over soon, Alex,” J’onn whispered to her, desperation in his voice. Alex whimpered, pushing her head harder against his before she felt something- felt something latch on, before the pressure, the pain, abated, and she felt an almighty sleep overtake her, just as a heavy weight pressed down on her, making her head feel at the same levels as her shoulders-
“Alex.”
Alex blinked woozily, squinting in the direction of the voice.
“Alex,” the voice came through stronger, and Alex recognised it coming from J’onn’s mouth.
“J’onn?” She questioned blearily, “What happened?”
“I settled the bond between you and our daughter,” he murmured, kissing her lightly. Alex leaned into the kiss, still half-asleep.
“Daughter? We’re having a girl?”
She felt a rumbling of satisfaction from his chest, “Yes. Our daughter.”
Alex kissed him again, stronger than before. “We’re having a baby girl.”
“Yes we are,” he kissed her back, arms wrapping around her. Alex reached up, pulling herself onto his laps, legs straddling his lap. She pushed into him, bringing their bodies flush together. He said something in Martian, which Alex tried and failed to translate, none of what he’d ever taught him coming to mind.
“I don’t know what that meant,” she muttered after she took a second to breathe, kissing him again. J’onn’s arms tightened around her, before he replied.
“Marry me.”
“And steal Kara’s shine?” Alex breathed. “Ask me again later, when we’re not sure this is going to dramatically fall apart because of my human-ness.” She leaned to kiss him again, but he stopped her.
“Don’t say that, Alex,” he spoke in a frustrated tone. “You don’t know that anything will go wrong.”
Alex scoffed, arms loosening from around his neck, “We just fixed the fucked up telepathic bond. You don’t say that. I love you. And you love me. But while I’d love to be optimistic and happy-go-lucky and live the dream with two point five kids and a house with a white-picket fence, I prefer being realistic. Don’t ask me to marry you again until we’re sure nothing’s going to go wrong with all this. Promise me, J’onn. Please.”
He huffed, breathing through his nose before nodding stiffly. The good moment lost, Alex climbed off his lap, feeling hungry. Going to her kitchen, she looked through the fridge, grimacing at the contents. Her headache might be gone, but now she was dealing with a new symptom: cravings. She had not been looking forward to this.
“J’onn, what time is it?” She shut the fridge, looking through her cupboards. I eat take-out too often, she internally grumbled as she found nothing she wanted right now. “J’onn-”
“It’s early in the afternoon,” Hank’s voice echoed in the empty kitchen. Alex glanced around, heart dropping and grip increasing on the handle of the cupboard as she saw him looking like Hank Henshaw. “I just got a text from Director Lane. I need to go.” Something panged in her chest.
“Go then. No point in staying here if someone needs saving.” But he didn’t move.
“Alex-”
“Just go.” She bit out, before grabbing the keys to her motorbike and brushing past him in search of some clean clothes and shoes. Her mission: get some fucking craving food without the help of extraterrestrials.
Hank left.