It was Two Weeks
By Inspirationbynight
Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited or the characters that star there. JLU and characters belong to DC Comics and those with commercial rights.
It was Two Weeks
How time flies…when you fight every minute for your life.
J'onn: Once I opened my mind to the city of Metropolis in search of Lex Luthor. I was overwhelmed by the inner thoughts of the people; by their selfishness, greed, and self-centered perceptions. I was also touched and relieved to know they care about their fellow man and how far they would go for strangers and loved ones to be safe.
I have lived for a long time by Earth standards and have seen the horror of war, death, destruction, loss and betrayal. I have the faces behind each. But through all of my experiences, I never imagined that the faces would be those that live around me, walk beside me, talk to me on a daily basis. I never imagined that I would coexist with those faces while knowing what they were.
"Find anything J'onn?" Flash asked his alien friend.
Flash, J'onn, Superman, and Batman were searching the ruins of Gotham's docks after the Penguin and his hired hands had blown the place up when their deal went bad. Rather than have their illegal and stolen cargo taken in, everything went up in flames. The reason they were there was to search for a powerful and possibly dangerous item which the police couldn't give a description of because the owner suddenly ceased to communicate with the officials.
Zatanna and Dr. Fate were with other League members elsewhere on the globe aiding in natural disasters and Commissioner Gordon had declared the situation important. Gotham was strange and dangerous as it was and an item that added fuel to the fire was not welcomed.
J'onn was using his telepathic abilities, or superbrain as Flash called it when he thought J'onn didn't hear him, to search for the item in question. If it was out of the ordinary, which it was said to be, he would be able to find it.
"J'onn? You ok?" Flash asked, waving a hand in front of J'onn's glowing eyes.
"Yes.." J'onn answered as he continued to concentrate.
The Martian Man Hunter began to pull debris away from the place where a warehouse had turned to ruin and ash. Something was hiding. Something was trying to escape his searching mind. J'onn probed deeper while at the same time, pushing charred wood and broken metal out of his way in urgency. It would not escape him, whatever it was.
It could think.
"Hey Bats, tell Superman J'onn's found something," Flash said through his comm-link.
"Where are you?" Batman asked, already on the move.
Flash bent down to help J'onn as soon as he noticed his friend digging in earnest. "We're—"
"Flash, no!" J'onn shouted, pushing the red-costumed hero away with more force than he had intended or thought he had.
Him. The thing had said telepathically. J'onn could make out a box under the remaining debris as he continued to mentally search for the thing that attempted to elude him. In the speed of thought, J'onn knew it was trap. It had lured him into searching for it with gusto so that Flash would join in. Flash did not have the mental abilities J'onn did and that made Flash the better target to devour into its world. J'onn reached for the box at the same time he pushed Flash away, not wanting him to be caught.
"J'onn!" Flash cried out once he stopped skidding on the ground.
J'onn was gone.
When the Martian's mind began to regain consciousness he realized many things, some at the same time, before he opened his eyes. The box contained a world—it sealed it. The world was alive: it had a vivid and obvious flow that J'onn could feel as if he was touching an exposed heart. The world preyed on the weak of mind so it tried to take Flash.
J'onn opened his eyes and thought that someone had dimmed the lights. The sky was there but without a moon or sun or any stars. It was perpetual twilight.
Where did that strength come from? J'onn wondered. It had been a Superman-worthy push and he hopped he had not hurt Flash.
"Get up!"
J'onn saw a girl—rather a figure of a girl. She was a shadowy blur slowly taking on a form J'onn could identify.
"We have to run," she said urgently as her hands pulled him to stand up. She was an adolescent, fair of skin with dark hair.
J'onn stood and ran with her as he marveled at his senses. He heard her words clearly and could tell she had some superpowers but what astounded him was how he felt her urgency the way he felt her hands grab his arm.
Just as J'onn could read a person's mind without him or her feeling him intrude or knowing he had done so, J'onn could read the girl beside him without making an attempt to do so. That was what it felt like. The sensations, the knowledge simply came to him and he found her mind was blank, empty of anything and everything except to get them both to safety. There was no worry, no fear, no excitement.
"It's amazing for you, but don't think about it so hard or they will find us," she pleaded. Again, J'onn could feel her apprehension as well as her pleasure that he noticed he could feel these things.
J'onn centered himself, pushing these strange and wonderful revelations to the side for later. As soon as he had done that it was if their speed had doubled. The teenager holding his hand was focused on one thing: get away.
The twilight landscape rushed past them or they rushed past it. Trees, houses, grass, roofs, streets, fences, all came and went until the girl slowed to a stop in front of a door that belonged to a small wood and brick house. Once inside, the atmosphere changed. Like being inside a bubble, J'onn realized how menacing the world was and how threatened they had been before stepping through the door into sanctuary.
"Sit with me," the dark-haired girl invited as she walked into a brightly lit room. There were several cushions piled in one corner of the room and a low chair next to the door. Small tables were backed against the wall holding several treats, foods, and drinks.
"I come in here when I don't want to be anywhere else," she explained.
J'onn sat in the chair and found it comfortable. He accepted a coffee mug of water but declined to eat. The girl lay on her pile of cushions like any person would after coming home from a hard day's work.
She and J'onn remained in comfortable silence for an untold amount of time until J'onn wanted to ask his questions. He could feel the adolescent's attention on him though she did not move from her position or open her eyes.
How had she found him?
"There's something you should know about this world," she said to J'onn, breaking the silence. "It's alive."