Chapter 66: Beyond the Silent Night

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

THE GREATEST POWER

A Daily Planet Editorial by Perry White, Editor-in-Chief

Yesterday the entire world listened to an emotional statement by the woman rightfully regarded as our world's greatest hero. Almost a decade after we had first heard about the alien world of Krypton, we listened in rapt attention as she told us about the death of her first home. She also told us about the machine intelligence known as Brainiac, who knew it was happening and did nothing to save the people who had created it. Instead it saved itself, determining through cold logic that it was more deserving of survival than everyone else. We also learned that Brainiac has apparently decided that Earth, our home, is to become the new Krypton and that we are to be ruled by the last daughter of Krypton as our queen.

Learning all this was certainly a shock. The idea that some kind of alien computer has been doing its best to influence us towards happily embracing a life of slavery is sobering to say the least. Especially considering how well it has already worked. One need only look at organizations like the Church of Hope for evidence. Is it better to hope that we were victims of alien influence or been so naïve all by ourselves?

Either way, I am certain that there are people out there right now who are ready to blame it all on Superwoman and her family. It is one of the worst aspects of our nature that we like to group all that is 'other' together, so if one thing from Krypton is bad, than certainly all of Krypton must be bad, right? If a Kryptonian computer wishes to make Superwoman queen of the world, then certainly she must be in on it. No matter the actual facts, there will still be conspiracy theorists fully willing to believe that Superwoman is part of some alien agenda. It is a sad state of affair that there are always people willing to believe the worst of others. Even of those who have worked ceaselessly to improve our world.

Before we pass judgement, though, we should all remind ourselves of a few facts: Superwoman is without a doubt the most powerful person on this world. For a full decade now she has ceaselessly used these astonishing powers in service of humanity. Countless people owe her their lives, many several times over. She has never asked for any sort of reward or recognition. Had she wanted it, there is little doubt that she could have set herself up as ruler of planet Earth years ago. Were she to do it today, many people around the world would welcome her doing it, would even cheer her on.

People admire and worship Superwoman for her magnificent powers, but many fail to see what is truly her greatest power: that for all her superior abilities and alien origin, she embodies the very best qualities of humanity. Empathy. Compassion. Restraint. Dedication to helping others. We would probably be lucky to have someone like her ruling us, but looking back on a decade of altruism by the woman in question, I believe we can rest easy in the knowledge that it will never happen.

Kara and Kona dropped down from the sky directly over the Kent farm. A quick sweep of super-vision showed no observers or nosy neighbors, so they touched down right in front of the main house. Jonathan and J'Onn (wearing his Cousin John form) were busy stacking up wood for the traditional Christmas bonfire, while Martha was busily at work in the kitchen.

"Hey, you're back," Jonathan said, walking up to them. "How did it go?"

Kara put her hand on Kona's shoulder. "We did three complete sweeps with the Fortress scanners, looking for any kind of anomylous growths or other organic oddities. All three came back clean. No further surprises."

"That's good to know," Jonathan said, giving both of them a brief hug. Kara noticed that Kona stiffened a bit, a habit the girl had almost managed to break before this whole thing with Brainiac had gone down. She once again cursed Brainiac internally, that damned tin can had a lot to answer for. Back in the fortress, Kona had confessed that she had nightmares about Brainiac forcing her to turn her power against those in her family who could not survive a full-power punch from a Kryptonian. Kara knew those fears all too well from her own first few years on Earth, when everything had seemed utterly fragile and breakable to her.

"So it looks like all the excitement died down just in time for us to enjoy a nice Christmas," Jonathan told them. "Kona's first as a family member, too."

"Yeah," Kona said, the misery in her voice making Kara's heart clench. "Hey, is... is Clark around? I... I haven't had a chance to... apologize to him yet."

"I believe he is in his room, Kona," J'Onn said.

"Thank you!"

Kara watched her go into the house, keeping an eye and ear on her with her super senses. Not that she made a habit of spying on her kids, but... actually, she was doing that fairly often, come to think of it, but in this case she felt it was justified. Clark and Kona's relationship was important to her, she was glad that Clark had accepted his sister so quickly after his initial distrust, and she didn't want Brainiac's machinations to destroy it all.

Kona knocked on Clark's door. Clark was sitting at his desk, typing away at his computer. He looked up as Kona came in. His jaw was almost back to normal, but there was still a faint trace of a bruise to be found.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi, Clark," Kona replied, standing in the door and shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I just... how does your jaw feel?"

Clark chuckled, motioning for Kona to come in and sit down on his bed. "It hurt quite a bit when I woke up after that punch, but sunlight and a day's rest has pretty much taken care of that."

"I am... I am so sorry, Clark. I..."

Clark got up from his chair and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her. "Hey, no need to apologize. That wasn't you. Which I know for a fact, because the real you would never have managed to sneak up on me like that."

"I so could have snuck up on you," Kona muttered.

"Keep dreaming, sis!"

Kona looked up at meet his eyes. Hers were shimmering with unshed tears, but there was a hesitant smile on hre face. "So we are... okay?"

"Well, I think I can forgive you, as long as you never tell Wally that you knocked me out cold with a single punch. He'd never let me forget it."

"Wally?" Kona asked, frowning.

"Oh, Flash Boy. His real name is Wally."

"Wally? Really? I'd have taken him for a... Jay. Or maybe a John."

Kara relaxed her senses and left her two kids to their own devices. It seemed things were going to be just fine. She was so very proud of Clark, he was already so mature for his age, but she still felt bad that Brainiac had done this to them. They were siblings. The first time they slugged each other should have been about Clark making fun of Kona's first crush or something similar. Not because a sociopathic AI was trying to make their mom queen of the world.

"Kona and Clark doing okay?" Jonathan asked.

"They'll be fine," she assured him.

"Good. Hopefully Kona can leave this episode behind and enjoy her first Christmas. How did things go with Luthor?"

Kara sighed, sitting down on the porch. "Pretty much as expected. I personally delivered him back into prison, I told him that I would tie him into a pretzel if he ever even thinks about hurting Kona, and talked to the district attorney, too."

"Did he really help you get rid of Brainiac?" The disbelief was very evident in Jonathan's voice.

"Well, kind of. Mostly because it was to his own benefit, of course."

Jonathan nodded, sitting down beside her. "And he's really Kona's father?"

"If by father you mean the donor of the human DNA that was used in Kona's in-vitro creation, then yes. I took a cell scraping from him at super speed and ran it through the computer in the fortress. The DNA is a match."

Jonathan nodded. "How is Kona dealing with that?"

"I don't think she has really processed it yet," Kara answered. "The thing with Clark was on her mind the most, and the question of whether she was still in danger of being used by Brainiac. I think the Luthor thing... it will probably come up soon."

"And how are you dealing with it?" Jonathan asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Kara ran her hands through her hair. "Good question. We knew that there was some human man out there who had contributed genetic material to her, but to find out that it was Luthor? I feel... I don't really know how I feel. Angry, mostly. I was... I guess I was hoping that, if we were ever to find out who it was, it would be somebody with whom Kona could actually have some kind of relationship. Maybe not a full-blown father-daughter one, but at least... something good. You know what I mean?"

Jonathan nodded again. "I understand, believe me. I doubt Luthor is the fatherly type."

Kara scoffed. "That creep is the least fatherly figure I can imagine."

Jonathan chuckled. "Well, maybe Kona can claim a few million dollars inheritance money if he should kick it."

Kara snorted. "That would be an idea. Not sure how it would work legally, but can you imagine Kona spending Lex' money on something like a foundation for promoting human-alien relations?"

They both laughed, the stress of the last few days falling off a bit. Kara looked up when Kona was coming back out to join them. The girl stood before her with a very uncertain look on her face.

"Mom," Kona began, wringing her hands. "There is... well, I know it's Christmas and I'm really looking forward to it. It's my first, after all. But... I think before I can really enjoy it, there is something I want… need to do."

She looked up to meet Kara's eyes and without any further need for words, she knew what her daughter meant. She quickly shared a look with Jonathan, who seemed to understand as well.

"Okay, Kona. Let's go then."

LEX LUTHOR BACK IN PRISON

A Daily Planet Editorial by Lois Lane

After a tumultuous series of events that involved an averted alien invasion, an attack on Superwoman and her family, and the crash of numerous datanets worldwide, one man who was at the center of all these events has now returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Here are the facts we know: Lex Luthor did not break out of prison, as was previously thought. He was kidnapped by the Kryptonian machine intelligence known as Brainiac. Brainiac then used him as a pawn in his plans, which included the infamous battle at Metropolis Stadium, as well as the confrontation atop Lexcorp Tower just two days ago. Superwoman herself has given a public statement that, to the best of her knowledge, Lex Luthor only participated in these attacks under duress, not out of his own free will. She has also stated that Lex Luthor was instrumental in preventing Brainiac from completely destroying Earth's computer systems.

As of now, the courts are still debating what to do with this new information. Will additional charges be brought against Lex Luthor? Will he receive a partial or total pardon for his recent actions? Will his previous sentence be reduced in light of these events? Right now, all of this is on the table and it will probably be months before a decision is reached.

I have never personally met Lex Luthor, though as a resident of Metropolis I certainly know of him. Ever since it was revealed that Luthor attempted to kill Superwoman, as well as being guilty of numerous other crimes, many have regarded him as evil incarnate, a dastardly villain, the worst of humanity personified. As little as two days ago, I might well have fully agreed with that description.

Yet when push came to shove, Lex Luthor sided with his archenemy, the woman he had sworn to destroy, to help save the world. Was it in his own self-interest to do so? Certainly, no doubt about that. Yet I cannot help but think back to the images we have seen from Lexcorp Tower, when Lex Luthor seemed poised to kill a helpless Supergirl. When he decided not to do it, to break away from Brainiac's control, I would like to believe that it was not cold calculation we saw in his eyes. That it was, as prosaic as it may sound, a flash of humaneness. The look of someone who made a decision not because it was the most logical or beneficial one, but rather because it was the right one.

None of this excuses Lex Luthor's previous criminal behavior, of course. It does not suddenly transform him into a decent human being. The only thing it does is show that none of us are absolutely good or evil. None of us are pure heroes or pure villains. We all contain multitudes. And even the worst of us are capable of doing good now and then.

Even Lex Luthor.

"Are you sure you want to do this on your own?" Kara asked.

Kona nodded, doing her best to look brave and confident. "I think I have to."

Kara looked her in the eye for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. I'll be right outside if you need me."

Kona scoffed. "And you'll use your super hearing to listen to every word, never mind using your super vision, which I still don't have, to keep an eye on me."

"Of course I will, honey," Kara agreed, hugging her.

"Thank you."

Walking through the door, Kona nodded to the guard keeping watch and then sat down before the bulletproof glass, taking the receiver off its hook.

"How are you settling back in?" she asked after roughly half a minute, seeing as her opposite refused to start the conversation.

Lex Luthor, back in his orange prison jumpsuit, looked back with a sour expression on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to...," she began.

"Let's skip the pleasantries, kid," he interrupted her. "You are here to ask me about those 30% of your DNA that happen to come from me, correct?"

Kona grimaced. "Yes. Why... I mean... why?"

Luthor raised an eyebrow. "Please be more specific, kid! Why did Cadmus want my DNA? Why did I consent to give it to them? Why can someone with my genius DNA not form complete sentences?"

"Start with the first one!" she said, forcing herself to remain calm and composed. She didn't want Kara to come bursting into the room if it seemed like Luthor was upsetting her too much.

He leaned back, chuckling. "Simple, really. I convinced Westfield that only the best DNA would do for his planned custom-made superior being. He wanted to use his own first, the idiot. All I had to do was mention his lactose intolerance and asthma, and he practically begged me to provide him with a sample."

"And why did you want to do it?" Kona asked.

Luthor shrugged. "I was in prison. I was bored. Come to think of it, I am back in prison and bored once again. Think your mother would want another kid?"

"Don't make fun of this," she growled.

Luthor chuckled. "Kid, what exactly did you expect to hear here tonight? That I always secretly wanted a daughter? That you are the result of my unexpressed love for Superwoman? Oh, please! It was an interesting experiment, that's all. You share my DNA? That might mean a lot to the little people, but I know better. I have four ex-wives and racked up about a hundred mistresses, so there might well be a couple of sprogs of mine out there somewhere. My dear parents were stupid idiots who never had an original thought in their lives. DNA doesn't mean anything. Blood relations don't mean anything."

Kona knew that he was trying to hurt her with those words. He succeeded, too, but she pushed those feelings aside.

"Then why didn't you kill me?"

Luthor shrugged. "Simple, really. If I had, your dear mom would have ripped me to shreds. That was Brainiac's plan, I saw through it, and I had no interest in dying. Certainly not at the hands of that alien. That's all, kid. That's why you're still alive."

"If that's all, why did you tell Superwoman about the chip in my neck?"

Luthor scowled, hesitating for a moment, but then continued in his usual, condescending tone. "Same reason, kid. As long as that chip was in there, you were Brainiac's asset. Brainiac wanted me dead, so I saw no reason to leave him any more tools to do it than necessary."

Kona looked at him, trying to see past that inscrutable poker face he had. It was not like she was a great judge of character. Her experiences with people were still rather limited. What had she expected to hear from him? Some confession of fatherly love? All the reasons he cited were perfectly logical and fully explained his behavior. So why wasn't she simply accepting it? Was she just a fool, looking for something that wasn't there?

"There is no chip in your neck, by the way," she said after a moment.

"What?" Luthor asked, apparently not having seen this change of topic coming.

"I heard it when Brainiac told you about the chip in my neck. If I had been in your place, I'd have wondered whether there was one in mine, too. Whether he had made me a puppet as well."

Luthor said nothing for a moment, but then he nodded. "Well, it was a logical worry, wasn't it?"

"Mom analyzed the remnants of the bio chip in my neck," Kona told him. "Best she could tell, they need to grow along with the host body. Mine was probably implanted when I was still a fetus inside a test tube. She thinks it would be impossible to make them work in an organism that's already fully formed. Brainiac couldn't have used them on you."

Her eyes might not be up to full-blooded Kryptonian standards, but they were still superior to normal human eyesight. She saw the slight widening of his pupils and her fully developed superhearing easily picked up the jump in his heartbeat. She liked to believe that this was relief.

"Well, if our beloved alien all-mother believes so, who am I to question her?"

"Why do you keep saying that stuff?" she asked. "You know that mom doesn't want to take over the world. You know that it's Brainiac, not her. She is fighting against him."

"Maybe," Luthor conceded. "Doesn't change anything, though. She is an extremely powerful being on a world that might as well be made from cardboard. Her mere presence is diminishing all of us that are merely human. Sooner or later she is going to ruin us, one way or the other."

Kona blinked. "Do you really think that?"

"Oh, are you going to cry now?" Luthor asked. "I mean, you'll be just as powerful as your mom one day. Maybe even more powerful, who knows? And now you fear that your 'daddy' doesn't love you because of it? Boo-hoo!"

Kona ground her teeth. She wouldn't cry. Not because of Luthor.

"It was a mistake to come here," she said.

"First smart thing you've said today. I wonder what genius move you're going to pull of next, kid."

She looked at him. "I'm going to go home and spend Christmas with my family. While you return to a cold, empty cell. How is that for genius?"

Luthor didn't reply, just glowered at her. There was an icy silence, before Kona finally had enough and rose to leave. She stopped in mid-motion, though.

"One last thing," Kona said.

"Yes?"

Kona hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking. "Merry Christmas, Lex!"

Putting down the receiver, she rose from her seat and headed towards the exit. She was almost out the door when her super hearing picked up a muttered "Merry Christmas, Kona."

THE MEANING OF THE SEASON

Smallville High Gazette, editorial by Clark Kent

My cousin John once told me that there are as many different traditions regarding the winter season as there are stars in the sky. Whenever the nights grow cold and long, people will huddle together, share their warmth, and pray for the return of the light in whatever manner they see fit. We give it different names, put up different decorations, speak different prayers, and sing different songs, but in the end they all have the same meaning.

It is the season for families to come together, no matter whether they are family by blood, by marriage, by adoption, or simply by deeply held feelings of friendship and camaraderie. Families come in all shapes and sizes, created under a myriad of different circumstances, and they are the most important thing in the world. There are always times when one person, no matter who, needs help and support from others. That's what family is for.

The last few weeks leading up to Christmas have been tumultuous and stressful for us all. Which makes it all the more important that we use this time to rest, to recharge, and to remind ourselves of what is really important in life. To look at the people around us, those that mean the most to us, those who have stood by us through thick and thin, and tell them "I love you!"

Whatever challenges the new year might throw at us, we can face them as long as we stand together. Merry Christmas to you all.

"This was the best Christmas dinner ever, mom," Kara told Martha, feeling happily stuffed. Her solar-powered metabolism didn't really need food, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it.

"Well, I wanted to impress our first-time participant," Martha replied, winking at Kona. "Did you like everything, honey?"

"It was great, Martha," Kona replied. She still couldn't quite bring herself to call Martha grandmum, it seemed, but that was okay. Martha was really still a bit young to be called grandmum, after all.

"I read the article you wrote for your school newspaper," J'Onn told Clark. "Very impressive."

"Thank you," Clark replied. "It was the first time I got to write a front page article for the paper. I really enjoyed it."

"Are you thinking of making a career out of it?" Jonathan asked.

Clark shrugged. "It's possible. I mean, it's one of those things where our super powers don't give us an unfair advantage over others, so..."

Kara smiled at him. "I think you'd make a great journalist, Clark." She knew that her son wanted some kind of 'normal' occupation; running a company like K-Solutions was not something he was really interested in. Maybe Kona would one day be interested, she seemed to have more of a scientific inclination than her brother, but she was still young. There was a lot of time for her to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

The evening progressed in the usual Kent family traditions and the worries of the past days and weeks began to fade away for all of them. Laughter, good food, and loving company were the best remedies, after all. Even Kona slowly came out of her funk. After dinner they went outside and lit the bonfire (Kona huffing a bit that she still didn't have heat vision) and then sung Christmas songs from three different worlds. Kona stumbled over the Kryptonian words a bit, she was still learning the language, but she had a passable singing voice. J'Onn also sung a new song for the new year in his deep baritone voice, once again bringing everyone who listened close to tears.

"When J'Onn joined out family," Kara finally said when the bonfire started burning low, "we introduced a new tradition for our Christmas celebration. We thought that, with another new family member, it was time to add another tradition as well."

Martha and Jonathan looked confused, it was the first time they were hearing about that. Kara and Clark handed them two packages.

"What is that?" Martha asked, opening it. A piece of rolled-up fabric fell out, almost transparent, yet incredibly tough.

"It's a space suit, mom," Kara told her, smiling.

Twenty minutes later the six members of the Kent family were floating high up in the sky, at the very edge of space, and watched as the sun slowly crested over the curve of the Earth. The long, cold night was over. New light dawned over the world below, bringing new hope and a new start.

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Martha said, moved to tears by the magnificent sight.

"Happy Kar-Datra!"

"Blessed S'Aran S'an!"

And to all a bright new day.

End Chapter 66

Author's Note: Well, I did not manage to write a Christmas episode at Christmas time, but I hope there is enough spirit of the season left to enjoy this one. Or maybe you actually are reading this at Christmas time. If so, happy holidays.

The chapter title is taken from Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, the issue where Supergirl dies. I originally intended to use it for the chapter where (my) Supergirl almost dies, but it didn't quite fit. I still liked the title a lot, though, so I decided to use it for the epilogue of this arc, seeing as it's set at Christmas time.

Fair warning, I am not yet sure whether I can keep up the weekly updating cycle for this story, as I have now fully caught up with my writing.