Kara knew that she should have been enjoying the moment far more than she was. This was, after all, the culmination of four years of hard and laborious work. Hours upon hours of studying, working, and taking exams. But as she sat in the crowd of students, the hot early summer sun glaring down on her, in the uncomfortable and stuffy cap and gown, she wanted little more than for the entire thing to be over.

She knew that Percy was feeling the same way. Probably even more so. She at least didn't have the difficulties with sitting idle that he did. Craning her neck, she peered up the rows in front of her and sure enough, she could see Percy impatiently bouncing his leg up and down as he slouched in his chair.

Sighing, she leaned back as she did her best to tune out the voice of the guest speaker.

She didn't particularly want to hear what Lex Luthor had to say about much of anything anyways.

Really, she was pretty sure that nobody in the crowd of students really wanted to be there. Sure there might have been the odd student or two, but they were most definitely the exception and not the rule. Kara was convinced that graduation ceremonies were more for the families and less for the students.

That was at least true of her own family at any rate.

Glancing over to the stands, she caught sight of her own adopted family in the stands. Kal was sitting, camera in hand, a proud and beaming smile on his face. Poor Lois looked about as bored as Kara did, but caught her eye and winked conspiratorially in her direction. Beside on Kal on his other side were, of course, Martha and Johnathon, beaming with pride. Martha caught her eye and threw a small wave in her direction.

More surprisingly, however, was the person sitting beside Lois. It had been some time since Kara had seen Wonder Woman in civilian clothes, and Kara had almost mistook her for someone else entirely. She felt a flutter in her chest as she realized that she must have been there for Percy. That was an incredibly sweet gesture. Kara knew that Diana and Percy had kept up a steady relationship with one another, even though Diana's work with the Justice League almost made it impossible for her to see her cousin from another dimension regularly.

Pulling her phone free from her clutch, she rapidly typed out a message to Percy,

"Did you see who stopped by?"

"No, who?"

"Fifth row up on the right side, sitting beside Lois,"

She watched as Percy's head looked up from his phone and began scanning the crowd. A bright and happy smile broke out over his face and he waved enthusiastically, eliciting a soft giggle from Kara.

"I wasn't expecting her to show up!" Typed Percy,

"Why wouldn't she? She's family isn't she?"

"Well…yeah, I guess when you put it like that."

Kara giggled to herself before typing,

"This is the most boring thing I've ever done in my entire life,"

"I don't know," typed Percy, "To be honest, I'm kind of happy to be here right now."

"Why?" Typed Kara, "I'm like ten seconds from falling asleep,"

"I don't know…" typed Percy, "Guess I just never thought I'd ever actually manage to graduate college…Kind of like a dream come true, you know?"

Kara's stomach constricted painfully. Percy had told her all about what his early childhood had been like and what school in particular had been like for him, especially after he'd discovered exactly why he had such difficulties in school. You pair a kid with ADHD and they're already going to struggle academically, you pair that with some of the most brutal dyslexia Kara had ever seen and school administrations that had never so much as tried to be understanding and it was not a winning combination.

"I'm sorry hon," typed Kara, "I didn't even think about how important this would be to you. I'm so proud of you!"

"It's okay!" Typed Percy, "Just wish mom was here to see it, you know?"

Kara bit her lip as she nodded to herself. She herself knew precisely how he was feeling there at least. Granted, she didn't think schools on Earth stacked up to life on Krypton, but it still hurt knowing that her mother and father weren't there to see her walk across the stage.

"I know babe," typed Kara, "I feel the same way,"

"But at least we have each other, and we have the Kents," typed Percy, "It's nice to have family here."

Kara's chest soared as a deliriously silly smile spread across her face. They'd spent every major holiday with the Kents over the last couple of years, and it would be no exaggeration to say that Percy truly had become a member of the family. Even Kal had somehow managed to get over his own reservations and had finally embraced Percy. It warmed Kara's heart to see Percy interacting with her adopted family. In spite of the fact that Kara wasn't really sure what they had in store for them after graduation, she was reassured that regardless of what happened she and Percy would be able to tackle everything together.

She was brought out of her reverie as the first group of students in the front row all stood up, and began parading across the stage. It took twenty minutes, but finally Percy's row stood up. He waved excitedly at her as he passed by, a dopey grin on his face. Kara matched his expression, and when Percy's name was called and he strode across the stage, Kara let out an excited whoop, which was matched by the high-pitched whistle that Johnathon used when he was wrangling cattle.

The future might have been uncertain, but Kara was excited nonetheless.

BREAK

"…so we get there, and Grover is just standing there, wearing this tattered little wedding dress with a fake eyeball duck taped to his forehead and the cyclops just shouts, 'that's not a satyr, that's my wife!'"

Johnathon let out a wolf-like cackle, leaning back in his chair and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Kal and Lois had taken them out to a nice post-commencement dinner after which they had retried to Kal and Lois' apartment in the heart of downtown. Kara knew a number of her friends were out having a night of getting as absolutely hammered as humanly possible in celebration, but Kara was happier here with her family.

"So," asked Lois casually as she poured herself another glass of wine, "What's next for our hotshot college graduates,"

"The million dollar question," sighed Percy, taking a pull from his beer and slouching back in his chair,

"I have an interview with S.T.A.R. Labs next Thursday," said Kara, "Working with their biochem department,"

"That's wonderful Kara," said Martha, "Congratulations!"

"Biochem huh?" Said Johnathon, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully, "That sounds…interesting."

Kara chuckled and took pity on the poor man, "Don't worry Pa, I promise not to bring it up too much," She grinned and winked conspiratorially at Martha, "Unless you ask me to muck out the stalls again,"

"You haven't mucked in years," said Johnathon, rolling his eyes in exasperation as he jerked a thumb in Percy's direction, "Not since you dragged this one home,"

"Speaking of," said Kal. Kara's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she stared intently at her cousin,

"Have you had any luck finding work, Percy?" He asked, and Percy sighed,

"Not so much," he admitted, "I've already submitted resumes to every school in the district, but they're all full to capacity. Not much need for a high school history teacher these days I suppose." Percy glanced quickly over at Kara, biting his lip slightly, "At this rate, I'm going to have to start looking outside the city,"

"Would you be opposed to working outside the city?" Asked Kal, he was trying to appear casual but Kara didn't buy it for a minute. Her cousin was plotting something, and she didn't think she was going to like where this was going.

"I'd rather not," said Percy, once again looking over to Kara, "I don't think we necessarily want to move out of the city yet."

Heat rushed to Kara's cheeks and her chest fluttered happily at the way that he said "We," it was always a nice reminder that Percy really did look at their relationship as an equal partnership.

"That being said," said Percy wearily, "I don't know if I'm going to really have a choice in the matter,"

"And what if you didn't have to worry about commuting?" Asked Kal, "Would that change your answer at all? Like if you could work outside the city without worrying about having to move, would you be willing to work in…say Gotham?"

"Okay Kal," said Kara hotly, "Where the hell is this going?" She felt as Percy reached under the table and wrapped his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze,

"Easy Kara," said Kal, raising his hands placatingly in the air, "Nothing nefarious, just…hang on," he reached down below the table and into his bag. After fishing around for a moment, he pulled a small letter out and slid it across the table at Percy.

Frowning somewhat, Percy glanced at Kara with confusion. Kara didn't have any answers for him either and shrugged in confusion. Opening the letter, Percy's frown morphed into an expression incredulity and awe.

"What is it?" Asked Kara,

"A job offer from Gotham Academy…" said Percy softly, "They're one of the best private schools in the country…how?" He asked, looking up at Kal who smiling, looking thoroughly pleased with himself,

"I have a friend on the board of directors," he said with a shrug, an incredibly smug and self-satisfied smirk playing at his lips, "And since we recently got the Zeta-tubes up and running…"

Kara's eyes widened as she understood what Kal was implying,

"You'd really let him do that?" She asked,

"Uh…what's a Zeta-tube?" Asked Lois, staring meaningfully at Kal, who scratched at the back of his head bashfully. Percy was matching her expression, though he was staring patiently at Kara for an explanation,

"You know Star Trek?" Kara asked, looking at Percy and he nodded, "You know the teleporter they use? Basically that."

"Oh…" said Percy, leaning back in his chair, as a slow and dopey smile on his face, "Okay, I take back every bad thing I've ever said about this dimension. Teleporters are so godsdamn cool,"

"Language," said Martha idly, and Percy flinched,

"But we weren't going to be telling civilians about it, at least Batman didn't want us telling them," said Kara raising her eyebrow meaningfully at Kal, who flinched,

"That was an…unpleasant conversation," he said, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head, "But I managed to talk him into letting Percy use it." He smiled smugly, "Believe it or not, he sometimes does trust my judgement,"

"After you gave him a full psychological profile on Percy, no doubt," said Kara, feeling her jaw twitch in agitation. Kal's only response was to flinch.

"So I would use on of these…tube things and it would just teleport me to the school?" Asked Percy,

"It would drop you off at one of the tubes near the city, but there is a tube a block away from the Academy," said Kal, looking thankful for the discussion to return,

"I don't know what to say…" said Percy, looking back down at the letter in awe,

"Thank you would be enough," said Kal, smiling softly,

"Thank you, Clark…thank you Kal," corrected Percy in Kryptonian, and the man's smile only grew wider at hearing Percy say it again in his home language.

"You're welcome," said Kal in kind,

"I don't mean to sound unappreciative," said Percy cautiously, "But…this is so much…why go to all this trouble for me?"

Kal flinched, and scratched at the back of his head again,

"I guess you could call this a gift and…and an apology," said Kal, "I was…I treated you very poorly when Kara brought you home…That was wrong with me. I was just…"

"I get it," said Percy gently, "She's the last blood you've got and you were looking out for her. You were a dick, true," Kal flinched again and Johnathon chuckled, "But your intentions were good. So…I guess what I mean to say is apology accepted."

Kara rolled her eyes, but as she traced her thumb along the back side of Percy's hand she didn't fight the swelling of happiness in her heart.

Life was good.

As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week

All My Love,

LilDB