Author's Note: BRO I WASN'T EVEN RECOVERED FROM EPISODE ONE AND NOW WE HAVE EPISODE TWO! ARGHHH MY BRAINIA HEART!

So soooo many things to say but first off that PEP TALK?! UGH so much Brainia Season 4 energy in that whole interaction an it. Like, could not have asked for more (except maybe a hug. Wouldn't have minded a hug ;)

The real inspo for this particular chapter, though, was that ending bit where Brainy broke his keyboard. My poor bb D: D: I wanted a Brainia tag scene like Alex and Kelly got but sighhh apparently that's still too much to ask of the Supergirl writers.

So, as usual, that's where I come in!

Summary: Nia and Brainy have a much needed heart-to-heart after Lex's acquittal.

Spoilers: Spoilers for 6x02, but if you read the author's note it's kind of already been spoiled for you rip XD

That keyboard had not been cheap.

At least, that's what Nia assumed, because nothing in the Tower seemed all that cheap. But there it was in the only trashcan in the room, twisted and split far beyond repair.

"Brainy?" Nia asked, peeping into the dark room. "J'onn? Is anyone here?"

There was a pizza box lying on one of the meeting tables and she strolled over to it to see if there was any food left inside. She was starving. Andrea, of course, had had no idea she'd spent the day busting her butt as Dreamer and hadn't cut her any slack for coping out of an assignment. She and William had a lot of follow up work to do on Lex's case and Nia was ready to crash, but she knew that her friends were still plugging away at the Kara issue.

Or… she'd thought they were still plugging away, but the room appeared to be dead empty.

So too were the pizza boxes. Nia huffed and shut the cardboard lid. Maybe there'd be snacks in the little kitchenette Kara had installed for nights just like these.

But instead (or, rather, on top of) finding snacks in the kitchenette, Nia found Brainy. He was standing at the glitchy popup toaster one of the members of the team had bought at a very low price and was pressing the depression lever over and over again. "Just work," Nia heard him muttering under his breath. "Just. Work. Please."

"Brainy?" Nia asked hesitantly, unsure if this was the best time.

Brainy flinched and spun around, letting out a sigh when he laid eyes on her. "Nia," he said, turning back towards the toaster. "I did not hear you arrive."

"Is that thing broken again?" Nia asked, coming around side of him to peer at the toaster. She let her body drift almost close enough to touch him, feeling his warmth through her suit, which she always wore in the Tower in case of emergency or attack. Brainy stilled, his hands falling to rest on the counter top, and she could feel him looking at her.

"Aha!" Nia cried, spotting the problem almost immediately. She picked up the power cord and stuck it into the wall outlet. "You weren't plugged in. I don't think that the toaster can stay down unless it's plugged in." She pressed on the lever, testing her theory, and Brainy's toast sank out of sight and stayed there. "There we go! Problem solved."

"If only all problems were resolved that simply," Brainy murmured, staring pensively at the toaster.

Nia hopped up on the counter, tilting her head. "You worried about Kara?" she asked sympathetically. She certainly was, and having to make excuses for her friend to poor, dejected-puppy-dog William Dey really hadn't helped. She had almost told him what had really happened to Kara four times, and probably would have slipped up at some point had they spent the whole day reporting together like Andrea had wanted them to.

"Hm?" Brainy glanced up at her, looking surprised. "Oh. Kara, yes… I am concerned about Kara, but I…" He shook his head. "I was speaking of Lex Luthor, actually."

Nia slouched, though she had the presence of mind to be pleased that Brainy had just opened up to her, and so quickly. "I can't believe he got acquitted," she said bitterly. "It's bad enough that our justice system allows so many false convictions, but a false acquittal? And after everything he's done?"

"And yet, after everything he's done," Brainy added, glaring at the toaster like it had somehow influenced the jury's decision, "he gets to return to society with barely a raised red flag. After everything he's done he's cast in a flattering metaphorical golden light. After everything he's done he's- people think he's good."

His fists clenched, knuckles draining of blood. For a second, Nia thought he would throw the toaster across the room. The memory of the mutilated keyboard came back to her and her eyebrows furrowed sadly. "Hey…" she murmured, putting her hand on top of one of his. "How are you doing with all of this? I know you and Lex have a… painful recent history."

"Lex Luthor ruined my life," Brainy said quietly, not looking at her. "His presence, his dastardly plans… they forced me to isolate myself from everyone I love, to hurt the people closest to me, to- to destroy everything I'd built with you." He shook his head before glancing up at Nia with glassy eyes. "And he's done that and worse to so many people and he just- he just got away. Clean slate. Whereas I know that I will have to work so hard to regain everyone's trust and to- to win back your love."

"You don't have to win anything," Nia countered firmly. "That's the thing about love, Brainy. If it's done right, it's given freely. Unconditionally. That's what's so hard about it, but… that's what's so beautiful about it, too. Look…" She picked up the hand she'd covered and gave it a squeeze. "The thing about making a big difference is that, when you make a mistake, those are big, too. But if I -or anyone in the Superfriends- just held onto what you did when you were trying to get close to Lex… that wouldn't be fair. You've moved past that. We've moved past that. Heck- even Lex has moved past that. So maybe… maybe you should use his clean slate as yours. If he gets one, it's only fair that you do, too. Especially because yours is actually deserved."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Brainy murmured, moving a step so that his torso brushed her knees.

"Everything," Nia replied fondly. "Absolutely everything."

Author's Note: Hrmmm that was short. Short enough that it could have been smooshed into the episode, amiright?!