Finding You » SuperFlash {5} √

when my hair's all gone

That night, Supergirl, Iris and Alex stood in the conference room of the facility, staring at J'onn shocked when he told them that the psychic outburst was because of Myr'nn. "J'onn, you knew?" Supergirl asked.

"I didn't wanna believe it was getting worse. My father has been using a Martian practice called Ta'ar Ka'riq to move his memories and emotions from the decaying part of his mind to the healthy parts. But it takes tremendous amounts of energy. Sometimes psychic bleeds can happen. And the more powerful the Martian, the more powerful the bleed. Other psychic species, like Kalanorians, would be the first to feel the effects. When an attack intensifies, it can affect anyone in close proximity, and not just other psychics. I brought Myr'nn to the DEO because I...felt I could put a shield over this place and keep you all safe, but...my father's angry about what's happening to his mind. And his aggression was being funneled into all of you," J'onn explained.

"Can't you help him with the dampening technology?" Alex asked.

"He has relied on his mind his entire life. First, as a theologian, and then as a prisoner," J'onn said before he sat down in one of the chairs, "It's what kept him alive for three-hundred years. The White Martians may have had him locked in a cage, but he was still free," and Supergirl also sat in a nearby chair, wanting to get a more personal level with him, "This technology would make him reliant on me. It would strip him of the one thing the White Martians never could. His independence, his, um...his dignity."

Alex slowly nodded before she walked up towards the wall, facing J'onn so that they could be eye to eye, "I remember sitting in my kitchen when my mom got the call that my grandmother drove through a traffic light. By the grace of God, nobody was hurt. That was one of the hardest things my mom had to do, taking away her keys. She told my mom off, and she cried. Suddenly, she's in this position she's never been in before. She's an adult being treated like a child, and it was ugly, and painful. But it's what had to be done. For her protection. For everyone's protection," Alex explained to him.

"I can face down the toughest adversaries without fear, but talking to my father about this," J'onn began, stopping himself when his emotions began to become too much for him. But he gathered himself, "I don't wanna take away more from him than he's already lost. I just got him back. The practice of Ta'ar Ka'riq keeps him as close to the man I've always known, and I...I don't wanna give that up."

"My uncle Jor-El used to say, The son becomes the father, and the father the son," Supergirl said and J'onn nodded as a tear rolled down his face. Iris frowned before placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

———

Back in the training room, Iris was going at it at a punching bag, her feet planted and her wrists straightened, giving better power to her punches when Mon-El suddenly walked in from the viewing room above. "Footworks looks excellent," he said and she tensed up, stepping away from the punching bag, "Just how I told you at STAR Labs."

"Thanks," Iris muttered, turning her back to him so he couldn't see the guilt burning in her eyes.

"So, you, uh...you punched me," Mon said and Iris slowly looked back at him.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"Didn't feel like part of the sparring. Can we talk about it?" He asked.

"Look, I'm...really sorry. I think it was Myr'nn's psychic episode," Iris told him and he nodded, "Why weren't you affected?"

"The Legion ring acts as a shield," He said and she slightly nodded, "Another perk from the future," but he noticed the guilty look in her eyes, "Are you sure that's all it was?"