The Healing Curve (Part 1/2) - Secret Santa for Grey on a Sunday (Mon-El, Supergirl)

[gingerdean]

 
Hello, @Grey on a Sunday! I'm your Secret Santa this year   I sincerely apologize for being late on this! I thought I was going to slide in right under the wire, but my crappy internet connection wouldn't cooperate with me the other night. I'm very sorry!!

So, this was a little different for me, considering the fact that I've never written for any other fandom except Supernatural! And I wasn't familiar with any of the fandoms you mentioned in your request form.  But! I gave myself a crash course in all things Supergirl (pretty great show, by the way!) so I could try my hand at writing you a Mon-El sickfic.  I'll admit that I'm a bit outside my comfort zone here, but I hope it turns out okay! I tried to include your preferences  as much as possible - if you don't see them yet in part 1, they should definitely be in part 2! I was really hoping to have the whole thing done by the deadline, but unfortunately I'm not quite finished yet. (I feel really bad about that, mostly because there's no sneezing just yet in the first part. And I can't just throw it in gratuitously either, because of how the rest of the fic is laid out.) But I promise to have the next part up as soon as I possibly can, and that part 2 will have Mon-El bearing the brunt of his illness in all his glory, lol.
 .


(For anyone else who may read this: SPOILER ALERTS for all episodes through 2X07! Also, there will be a v-warning in part two, you've been forewarned .)

The beginning scene takes place in Season 2, near the end of ep 7 (" The Darkest Place"), during the scene in Kara's apartment, after Mon-El and Kara get rescued by Jeremiah from Cadmus.

 

 

The Healing Curve

 

 

Mon-El lets himself sink deep into the couch, and sighs as he twists the top off of his beer. The drink burns his throat just a bit as it goes down, and he winces slightly as he swallows.

He turns tired eyes towards Kara and smiles fondly, as he watches her use her heat vision to zap the potstickers back to an edible warmth. Her powers returned several hours ago, and she is back to her usual bubbly, perky self, as strong and as radiant as ever. Mon-El finds himself in a brief moment of envy, as he wonders, not for the first time today, how much longer it will take for his lead-inflicted leg wound to heal, so he can regain his own still-drained powers, and return to living out his new-normal here on Earth. Not to mention, all of this hobbling-around-on-crutches nonsense was getting really old, really fast.

Alex emerges from the kitchen and doles out plates for the pizza, then plops down on the floor next to Winn, in front of the television. She's uncharacteristically quiet at the moment, has seemed distant and distracted ever since Maggie stopped by earlier to visit with her. Her shoulders are slightly slumped, as she stares ahead at the used-car commercial blaring away on the television, as if it's the most interesting thing going on in the room right now. 

 

Kara passes around the food, including what's left of the potstickers, and the group quickly polishes them off, as well as most of the pizza. Winn's six-pack is gone within a half-hour, and the houseguests quickly move on to the cheap, generic beer that Kara keeps in the back of her fridge for when company comes over.

 

The five of them chattter off-and-on as they watch the news, and the conversation mostly revolves around the many shocking revelations that have recently come to light- the discovery of Lillian Luthor as the head of Catniss, the revelation of Hank Henshaw-turned-Cybourg Superman, and the discovery of Jeremiah being found alive, and being held at Cadmus. It's an overwhelming amount of information for all of them to take in, and they barely have the time or energy to superficially gloss over each topic before moving on to the next.

 

As Kara starts to bring up the subject of Gurdian again, James suddenly stretches his arms over his head, and announces that he's calling it a night. "I'm beat, guys, and I need to be up early. Long day tomorrow," he explains.

 

Mon-El look up at James and frowns. "Why? I thought tomorrow was your day off."

 

"Yeah, it was supposed to be. But I've got a deadline to meet." James shrugs. "I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

 

"Wow, that's terrible. Sorry to hear that, man." Mon-El shakes his head in pity, as  if the concept of going in to work on a would-be day off was the most horrendous thing that he'd ever heard of.

 

James smiles, can't stop himself from chuckling at that, just a little. "What can I say, Mon-El. It's all part of the gig." James bids a quick farewell to rest of the group, and Kara raises an eyebrow as Winn jumps up to walk James out-  not just to the door, but out into the hall, with no indication of a prompt return. She shrugs it off, then glances at Mon-El, who is adjusting his position on the couch, a noticeable grimace on his face. She glances down at the Daxamite's injured leg, bites her lip and frowns. "Are you alright, Mon-El? You look like you're really hurting."

 

Mon-El appears caught off-guard by the question, and he straightens himself up and nods, a bit over-enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, I'm fine...It's not too bad, really. I just need a little more time to- Ah!" Mon-El gasps, then hisses loudly, as Kara tries to adjust the pillow that's propped beneath Mon-El's injured leg. Kara pulls her arms back quickly in response, wincing apologetically. Mon-El looks up sheepishly at Kara's concerned face. "Ok...it still hurts pretty bad, I guess," he concedes.  "I'm not healing quite as fast as I'd hoped. But I can definitely sense an overall improvement from earlier today, so I guess that's something."

 

Kara nods. "Well, I'm sure you'll be back up on your feet before too long. Both of them." Kara smiles, then looks thoughtfully at Mon-El for a long moment. "You know, you were really brave back there, Mon-El."

 

Mon-El smiles shyly at the praise, and Alex suddenly jumps up to walk the dishes to the sink, leaving him and Kara alone for the moment. He lowers his head a bit, with an uncertain smile. "To be honest...I was really scared back there, Kara," he admits quietly. "After I was shot with that lead bullet- I thought for sure I was done for. I mean, geez, I would have been done for, if Jeremiah hadn't shown up right when he did." Mon-El's face suddenly darkens. "And trust me, Kara - death by lead poisoning is not an easy way for a Daxamite to go."

Kara shudders a little at the thought.  "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Mon-El. I was scared, too. You know, you can be scared and still be brave, Mon-El." Kara smiled, and gave Mon-El a friendly pat on the shoulder. "There just might be a hero in you, after all."

 

 Mon-El smiles thankfully at Kara's words, then wearily rubs his hand over his face as he leans back into the couch. It's only at that moment that Kara begins to take notice of how tired and drawn Mon-El's face appears to be. Dark circles have appeared beneath his eyes, and he looks to be a few shades paler than normal.

 

Kara reaches out and touches his check lightly with the back of her hand, and Mon-El's eyes flash open in surprise. "What is it?"

 

Kara shakes her head, frowning. "Nothing.  It's just...you look really tired, Mon-El. Are you sure you're alright?"

Mon-El flashes a tired grin. "Of course I am. Or, I will be, anyway." Mon-El shrugs. "Healing a lead-inflicted wound...it's very energy-consuming for a Daxamite."

Kara nods gently. "Have you ever been exposed to lead before this?"

Mon-El nods, as he rubs an index finger several times beneath his nose.  "Just one time before. In the line of duty, when our planet was being attacked by the Durlans."

Kara nods knowingly. She had been told about that particular Daxamite battle by her father at one time, although there was little that she actually knew about it. "What happened to you?"

Mon-El clears his throat as he stares off for a moment, thoughtfully. After a few moments, he shakes his head a little, smiling  sadly. "Sorry, it just...wow. It seems like several lifetimes ago, now."  " He rubbed at the back of his neck, then shrugs, eyes downcast. "It's a long story, Kara. For another day."  Mon-El reaches forward to pull the lukewarm ice pack from his leg, and holds the bag towards Kara with a wide grin on his face. "Geez. Ice on this planet sure doesn't stay hard and cold for very long, does it?"

Kara grins. "I know, right? It's kind of an annoyance, but you'll get used to it." Kara blows gently on the ice bag, using her freeze-breath to solidify the bag once again. "Or just keep me around in a pinch, and I'll take care of it for you." Kara winks as she gently lowers the bag onto Mon-El's wounded leg, appears pleased when Mon-El doesn't wince or gasp in pain this time around. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Well, since you're offering..." Mon-El flashes an innocent grin, and wiggles his bottle in the air. "Maybe another beer?"

Kara rolls her eyes as she swipes the bottle from Mon-El's hand. "Oh yeah, you better enjoy this while it lasts." She shakes her head as she heads to the kitchen, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Mon-El rests his hands behind his head, with his own grin plastered across his face. Kara definitely wasn't wrong, he was definitely enjoying this particular aspect of his injury, just a little. Being enthusiastically waited on hand-and-foot could certainly be considered a perk. Besides, Mon-El would do the same for Kara, if she were in the same position.

Winn's voice suddenly booms out from the other side of the room. Mon-El hadn't even noticed that he'd come back into the apartment, but he turns to see Winn standing next to Kara's DVD collection.

 

"Alright, Mon-El. I've got our movie choices narrowed down to Steel Magnolias or My Best Friend's Wedding. I'll let you decide which one we'll watch." Winn holds up the two movies in the air for Mon-El to see. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how much hysterical crying and melodrama are you willing to sit through in one sitting? And remember, nothing in Kara's DVD collection ranks any lower than a seven on that particular scale."

 

"Hey, I heard that!" Kara's voice rings out as she emerges from the kitchen, with a fresh beer in hand. "You are so full of it, Winn. You only wish that you had my DVD collection."

 

Mon-El is slightly confused at this point, but he just rolls along with the conversation, the way that he usually does when earthly banter starts to go over his head. He clears his throat. "Um, I guess I'll go with...whichever movie the 'seven' is?"

 

Winn nods. "My Best Friend's Wedding. Good choice, my friend."

 

-+-+-+-

About a half-hour into the movie, Alex is the next one to say her goodbyes, and Kara walks her to the door. As soon as Kara leaves her spot on the couch, Winn jumps up, grabs a cold piece of pizza from the box, and plops down next to Mon-El in the previousy-occupied seat. He throws his legs up on the coffee table, then looks over at Mon-El, inquisitively.

 

"So, Mon-El...how long did it take you to heal? The last time you were exposed to lead, I mean?"

"Um...To be honest, I'm not really sure." Mon-El taps the mouth of the beer bottle to his chin several times as he ponders the question. "It was months, I guess. By Earth time, I mean. Things got...Well, it was pretty bad." Mon-El takes a long, exaggerated swig of his beer, knocking out half the bottle in one fell swoop.

 

Winn sees that Mon-El isn't eager to embellish on the subject any further, so he moves the conversation on. "Well, your recovery time here on Earth should be exponentially faster than on Daxam, I would imagine. But it's mostly going to be a wait-and-see kind of deal, unfortunately." Winn guestures over towards Kara, who is still chatting with Alex by the front door.  "Obviously Supergirl is our best measure of comparison here, but despite your similar physiology, there's  bound to be some be some innate differences between the two of you, in terms of recovery time and...."

Winn continues to babble away next to him, but Mon-El has mostly tuned him out at this point. There's been a faint twinge of pain in his head that has been growing steadily worse as the night went on, and the pain has now graduated to a constant, dull throbbing in his head, set deep between his eyes. It's an odd quality of pain that doesn't feel familiar to him.  Mon-El rubs his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose, and briefly allows his eyes to flutter closed.  A wave of fatigue suddenly overcomes him, and he needs to rest his eyes, just for a few minutes, he thinks.....
 

 

-+-+-+-

 

"Mon-El?"

 

-+-+-+-

 

Dude, come on. It's time to go.  ...Mon-El?"

 

-+-+-+-+

 

"Come on man. You're starting to worry me, here. Will you open up your damn eyes, already?"

"Hmm...what?" Mon-El's eyelids feel heavy,  and it takes him a great amount of effort to pry them open. He glances around the room with blurry eyes, and it takes him several moments before he finally remembers where he's at. He feels mildly disoriented, and he finds the feeling unnerving and disconcerting.

Winn is standing over him, looking concerned. "Dude, I've  been trying to wake you up for over half-an-hour now. You passed out on us."

Mon-El rubs a hand over his dampened forehead, and frowns up at Winn. "I passed out on who?"

Winn shakes his head. "No dude, I just meant that you  fell asleep during the movie. Kara went to bed almost an hour ago.  She didn't want to wake you up - she said you needed the rest." Winn raises his eyebrows at the exhausted Daxamite. "She definitely wasn't joking about that, was she."  Winn glances down at his watch, then back at Mon-El, with a look of mild impatience. "Anyway, are you ready to go now? Kara doesn't want me to leave without making sure that you're able to hobble your way back to your apartment okay."

Mon-El scratches at the back of his head, then looks down at his chest, appearing confused. "Yeah, sure man, I'm ready. Except...did I spill my beer, or something? I feel...wet."  Mon-El looks down to see his beer tucked securely between his legs, but his chest and neck feel strangely damp, and he can't quite figure out why. He rubs his hand across his neck and down his chest, and wipes the damp residue off on his jeans.

Winn peers closely at Mon-El with a critical eye. "Yeah... that's sweat, Mon-El. You're sweating." Mon-El can practically see the internal panic button going off in Winn's head. "Should you be sweating? I don't think you shouldn't be sweating, dude. I mean...do you sweat?"

"Yes, I can sweat, Winn,"  Mon-El mutters in annoyance. Although in truth, Mon-El can count on one hand the times that he's ever had it happen, and he's certainly never broken into a sweat just sitting around on a couch like this. He feels sticky and gross, and wants nothing more  at the moment than to put on some fresh clothes and sink into his bed. "Can you hand me my crutches, Winn?"

Winn complies with a look of hesitance behind his eyes. "Hold on a minute, Mon-El...Maybe we should take you over to the DOA. Just to make sure everything is alright, you know?  We should probably do an analysis, to make sure that no traces of lead were left behind in your body."

Mon-El shakes his head. "Not a chance. Winn. I'm going home and going to bed. Don't even bother trying to talk me out of it."  Mon-El moved into his new apartment just a week prior, and had practically cried with joy when he was sprung from his dismal, dreary living quarters at the DOA. Going back there is the last place he wants to be right now. Not to mention, the thought of being poked and prodded and hovered over by the DOA staff is making his stomach turn a little. "Seriously, I'm fine Winn. Just a little wiped. I'm sure the sweat is part of the healing process, or something...And besides, if there was even a trace of lead left in my body from that bullet wound, I'd be dead as a hangnail by now."

 

Winn rolls his eyes. "You mean dead as a doornail, Mon-El."

 

Oh...right." Winn frowns as he struggles to pull himself upright on his crutches. "That makes even less sense, actually." 

 

-+-+-+-

 

Mon-El appears dead on his feet (or foot, really) as he struggles to make his way out the door, down the hall to the elevator, and then back to his own apartment, which is located two stories above Kara's, in the same apartment complex. Winn sees him to the door, appears hesitant to leave as Mon-El makes his way inside.

 

Winn crosses his arms as he stands in the threshold of Mon-El's front door. "I'm just going to go on record as saying that I think it's a bad idea for me to leave you alone in here right now."

 

Mon-El offers him a quick salute, and a nod. "Your opinion is duly noted, Winn. Now get out of my face, so I can go to sleep."

 

Winn waves off Mon-El with one hand, and grumbles as he turns to leave. "Fine. Whatever. I'm not gonna stand here and beg." Winn starts to walk away, but turns back around one last time. "Hey, Mon-El? Just- text me if you need anything tonight, okay? Seriously, anything at all."

 

Mon-El smiles. "I'll do that, Winn. Thanks, man."

Edited January 5, 2017 by gingerdean

[SweaterWeather]

*Wheezing*

Ohhhhh of all the fandoms you did the one I, A. Totally thought was gonna be that "out there" one so I didn't expect it to be picked, especially since I mixed up the name of the CHARACTER after sending it (Mon and Kal, very different, how do confuse two?!) and B. The one that I REALLY was hoping by some shred of luck dipped in chance would be picked and GAH YOU DID!

Okay there is just, so much to love about this - first of all, fetishy stuff aside, oh your characterization: Kara's general cuteness but also feisty side and caring, Winn being so long-winded but also that kind of caring where it's like, 'Don't make me find you dead from lead in the morning!' kinda way??? And ALEX MY PRECIOUS CHILD SO SULLEN UGH her heart right now. And even James, with his gotta bounce once this Guardian talk starts up because YUUUUP noping on that train, noooo way.

You just managed to give everyone such a home in only the first part! Ugh, I really do love the characters on this show, you know? It's one of the few where I actually love seeing them all together because the cast works so well?! I mean that chemistry is on, and it's super on here. Seriously, spot on.

BUT now on to the other lovely bits: MON-EEEEEEEL MY PRECIOUS, CLUELESS, BUT ALSO PLAGUED BY HIS PAST DAXIMITE !

Okay no but, ghhh, sweaty Mon-El? Who didn't even realize he WAS sweating and fell asleep and is woozy and just, generally ill feeling?! Oh you so got me in a frenzy with how built UP this is! 

Also, that subtle finger rub to the nose? Yeah, um, can someone hand me a bag to scream into because JEEZ it spells such yummy things to come. 

I honestly like that this part didn't have sneezing in it - it gives the whole 'tired/exhausted/kinda funky feeling/oh god i'm dying' transition which makes the anticipation for it even greater. But I'm a sucker for malaise in general, and boy, did this part have PLENTY of love for that. I'm still kinda swooning over here so, sorry if my words make little to no actual sense XD (dat v-warning oh oh, good stuff hhhh *grabs popcorn* )

OKAY BUT YAY YOU LIKE SUPERGIRL, honestly, it's my favorite among tv shows and I haven't really had a favorite in a long time. But, something about it is just... Good? Good. Yeah, still good. But holy jeez, thank you so much for this gingerdean, honestly, I was just so excited to see Supergirl fiction at all but, Mon-El. Sigh. You kinda made my dreams come true. You're the best! 

[daystar428]

I just discovered Supergirl and binged it in like a few days. Oh my, I really love the idea of a Mon-el sneezefic. Sorry I'm so late on replying but I'm totally crossing my fingers that he will get more fans on here because I'm just sitting here drooling as I picture him all allergic sneezy or sick sneezy... Anything Sneezy hahaha. Thanks for getting the ball rolling and sharing with us!

[Elyze]

While I've only seen the first season of Supergirl so far, and don't actually know this character, I'm absolutely 100% certain I'll like this version better than the original! Can't wait for the next part!

[Rook]

I'VE BEEN BLESSED MON-EL