Author's Note: Okay okay so READ THE SUMMARY PLEASE because you'll be cunfuzzled otherwise XD

Summary: Brainy doesn't get rebooted, and then goes and saves his girl :)

Spoilers: Spoilers for 4x21 and maybe 4x22?

Brainy's hands were invisible, covered up with metal domes. He could feel the technology itching the back of his brain, waiting to be hacked.

But there was too much going on. They had Nia. That was literally the only thing that mattered. His brain was completely consumed by the one happening, and the fact that he could do absolutely nothing about it.

Nothing but beg.

"Please," he cried, feeling tears pooling along the bottom part of his eyelid. "Please- don't hurt her. Do- do whatever you want to me but just- don't. Hurt her."

"Don't worry." One of Lex's men, helmet-less and with neat dark hair and some thin scruff, was standing in front of him. He seemed to be the only one authorized to speak, even though there were four other guards in the room. "She's next."

Brainy felt a spike of pure, unadulterated rage sear through his stomach. Nia, the most caring, wholesome, kind, incredible, beautiful woman he had ever known had no part in this. They had no reason to harm her.

He jerked against his bindings so hard he nearly felt his shoulders dislocate. "You will not hurt her-"

He was suddenly slammed in the face with a slate of something. His head bounced off the back of his chair for a moment Brainy couldn't think or see. His head buzzed and his ears rang, and he couldn't focus on anything in front of him.

"You... hurt... no..." he mumbled, tasting his own blood. He must have bitten his tongue. His head slumped sideways, darkness invading his vision.

"He's done," the guard said, voice through a tunnel, turning his back and walking away.

They were going to get Nia. If they left him, right now, they would kill Nia Nal.

"No." Brainy's eyes flickered. The blue AI globes on his forehead were buzzing. "No. NO! You cannot- you will not- don't- hurt- her!"

The guard turned slowly back around and waved at one of the other gunmen to lower his weapon.

Brainy wasn't sure that he had ever been so angry in his life. His brain had gone from fuzzy and busy to suddenly razor sharp. He was buzzing all over. His mind was clear. He could feel the technology, at his fingertips for him to use.

"You have made... a catastrophic mistake." Brainy grit out, his voice hollow.

"Yeah?" the guard took a step forward. "And what is that?"

Shutting his eyes briefly, Brainy sent his mind into the mainframe. In seconds, he felt the clamps on his hands release. "Yes," he said flatly. "You underestimated me."

With that, Brainy burst out of his bonds. All of the guns raised and fired but Brainy dodged and weaved. He flitted out a few fingers and slammed pressure points on the guards shoulders, jugulars and chests. Soon, they were on the ground, unconscious.

J'onn J'onzz came running into the room at that moment. "Brainy!" he cried. "What happened?"

Brainy ignored the question. Everything was irrelevant except Nia. "I must find Dreamer," he said shortly, turning away from J'onn so he could focus on breaking into the computers again. He forced his brain between firewalls and passwords and soon had her location in the front of his mind. "I will rescue her. You... wait here."

He jogged off, leaving J'onn to stare after him in amazement and look around at the mess of bodies he'd left strewn across the ground.

Nia was being held in a shipping container. Brainy opened the doors easily and stepped inside. "Brainy!" Nia gasped, amazed.

"Nia Nal." Brainy stepped carefully into the room, mind already working into the mainframe of the technology holding Nia captive. "I have come to rescue you. Give me... four seconds to get you out of your bindings."

"But... how did you escape?" Nia asked, looking down in astonishment as her cuffs popped open. "You can hack a network now?"

"Yes," Brainy told her, coming to stop in front of her. "My brain is... clear, suddenly. But- but that is unimportant because... there's something I have to tell you."

He knelt down and held out his hand. "Brainy?" Nia asked, a blush fluttering across her cheeks. She carefully reached out her hand and placed it in Brainy's.

He covered it with his other one. "Nia Nal..." he murmured, gazing up at her. "I have come to a conclusion..." He stopped, and jumped to his feet. "No, no, that's not how I want to say it."

Nia was trying hard not to laugh. "Brainy, what's up with you?" she asked. "First your say that you're asking how tacos work and then you're wanting us to be alone and now...?"

"Yes, yes, there is something up with me." Brainy knelt back down and took Nia's hand again.

Nia's eyes went wide. "Holy crud- you're not proposing, are you? I mean- I don't know how it works in the future but usually two people date for awhile before they jump to-"

"What?" Brainy looked taken aback. He leapt back up to standing and hopped away a few steps. "What? Oh no, no, no- I am not... I am not proposing, Nia Nal. Not yet. I mean- I mean, no. I am not proposing."

Nia let out a breath. "Okay, good," she breathed, giggling nervously. "So then... what were you going to say?"

"Uh..." Brainy muttered, reaching up his hands and messing up his hair with a frantic rub. He spun around a few times in a short, pacing like motions, but then came back to Nia's side. "Over- over the past few months, I have gotten to know you. Obviously. Obviously I have gotten to know you because, well, we were working together. Are working together. We are still... working together..."

Nia's eyebrows raised slowly and she leaned in a little, making a 'go on' face.

Brainy messed up his hair again and suddenly looked near tears. "I cannot- I cannot say it!" he cried. "All of my big- useless- brains- and I can't even tell you that I love you!"

Both of them stopped and Brainy blinked a few times. "Oh," he muttered, looking away. "Oh, I guess I just did, didn't I?"

Nia laughed, giving him an amused look. "Yes, yes you did," she said, shaking her head.

Brainy let out a sigh and went from his knees to a sitting position. "I must admit that I had an entire speech planned," he winced. "That clearly... did not end up happening."

Nia giggled and reached down to wipe Brainy's cheek. "Stop crying, goofball," she murmured affectionately. "I love you, too."

He looked taken aback. "I'm not- crying-" He pressed his fingers to his cheeks and found them damp. "I really need to work on not leaking like this. It's not very... manly."

Nia laughed again. "I don't need you to be manly, Brainy," she told him. "I promise. A manly Brainy would just... be weird. I just want you to be nerdy, adorable, awkward you."

"I thought that..." Brainy frowned. "I thought that the general preference of woman was men with good abs, who- who sang in boy bands."

Nia shook her head and got to her feet. "Come on, you big dork," she said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "I would love to have a conversation with you about women and their preference in men, but I think that we have to go save the world first."

Brainy's eyes went wide. "Ah!" he cried. "I left J'onn J'onzz and said I was going to get you! I'm afraid I may have been a bit... short with him. I was rather worried about you, after all."

Nia shook her head again, fondly, and stopped him before they could leave the container. "Hug?" she offered, hair sliding over her shoulder in the most endearing way possible.

Brainy opened up his arms and she stepped into them, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "I am... extremely glad you're alright," Brainy whispered, petting her hair in a slightly stiff, unpracticed way.

"You too," Nia murmured, and reluctantly pulled back. "Come on," she urged, taking hold of his hand. "Let's go save the world."

Author's Note: OMG OKAY WHO WANTS ME TO DO A PROPOSAL SCENE UHH ME WANTS ME TO :D :D XD