Disclaimer: No I don't own the characters, D.C. does. But that's stating the obvious so yeah. On with he sure
Chapter 1: Why don't you start at the beginning?
It's been several months since Imperiex was destroyed. The Legion has pretty much fallen back into it's usual routine, which wasn't much different from before, except now they had a lot more free time. There was no eminent threat to the universe currently flying around, at least not one that reared its ugly head, so aside from the usual bad guys things were rather peachy and peaceful. Brainiac 5 had returned to the Legion, having sorted himself out for the most part. See it was during his time away that he came to realize that man could only understand themselves so far in so much time. Were he to totally sort out his emotions, his thoughts, his everything, it would take him years, he would have never returned in that case. So he came back to his friends who rejoiced.
The only thing that bothered Brainy was the fact that Superman was not among them anymore. He had returned to the past soon after the whole Imperiex deal. It unnerved him that his feelings toward Clark now, as an organic life form, had increased. Where before it was safe to say that he was totally crushing on the Man Of Steel, now he was flat out pinning for him. He figured it had something to do with the fact that now he had real hormones, and a real body, with rather human physiology. In other words he was like every other male now, two heads governing one body. A crude way of putting it but he felt a little better joking about this because then he wouldn't have to face it. Which was another bad habit he was starting to pick up. He was loving every minute of it though.
His favorite thing to do was sleep and eat. There is a big difference between going into stasis and going to sleep. Brainy saw it like this, the humans were just like robots. Their bodies are programmed to handle and dish out x amount of things. It has ways to fight of things within and outside of it's self and was kept a live do to functions run solely by the brain and out of the humans hands. You don't think about breathing, you don't have to. However there are times when your brain dose things the wrong way. Which brings us back to the dreaming, Brainiac 5 found that the mind often tricked itself into believing that what it created was real. That was something that never happened to him before. With nothing but a flat out computer as a brain, the difference between reality and fantasy was not hard to confuse.
This brings us to the present where the organic little Brainiac is happily laid out on the couch, dreaming away. Unaware that his sleep was about to be interrupted by a rather familiar individual. One minute Brainiac 5 is listening to a confession of love from Superman. The next he's wide awake and drenched to the bone. The blonde haired, green eyed Brainy frantically began to scan the room for the intruder. He didn't have to look far. Cham had fallen over behind the couch, rolling around on the floor laughing. Brainy was not at all amused.
"Cham! That is not a humorous matter. I was enjoying my nap!"
Cham choked on another bout of laughter before managing to respond between breaths," What did I interrupt you and Superman?"
Brainy pouted in reply. He really couldn't deny it, he hadn't gotten the hang of lying yet. Sadly he still wore his heart on his sleeve sometimes. Doesn't mean he couldn't try though.
"No!" He said in an indignant tone. Cham only laugh harder.
Brainiac 5 pouted further, agitated with Cham. Turning to face forward he did so just in time to see the TV screen in the lounging area go on. He blinked for a moment, knowing that it was not suppose to do that on it's own. That's when he heard Lightning Lad greet the still laughing Cham. The young blonde was just about to say hello and warn the red head about the seat, when Lightning Lad hopped over and sat down with out a second thought. Once it registered in the rather temper mental boy's brain that the seat was wet, he rounded on Cham.
"What the hell man! Were suppose to be watching a movie in here right now remember. It's the Legionnaire movie night. Now where are we going to sit!"
Cham sobered up real face. The shape shifter stood and peeked over the couch wincing as he looked at the drenched cushions. He knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that the other Legionnaires were going to kill him.
"We could always set some pillows down on the floor." Chameleon boy suggested. With a glare Lightning Lad agreed, the two of them stood up and headed out the room. Before he left Lightning Lad suggested that Brainy return to his room and change his clothes.
"After all," he said, "the air conditioning is on and you'll catch a cold or something that way."
"Alright, I meet you guys back here in about twenty minutes." Brainy replied with a smile, then he too stood and left the lounge.
On his way to his room Brainy began to contemplate his dream. Chameleon Boy really had ruined a rather intimate moment. One that Brainy really wished could be real. But he knew better then that. Clark was in love with Louis Lane, a women from his own time. Their love was legendary. Clark was also one of the heads of the Justice League, as well as an invaluable member. On top of that his past was important to this future's existence. Yup Brainy was quite sure that all his dreams would simply remain dreams. Still it didn't hurt to wish.
With a heavy sigh Brainy opened the door to his room. Raising his now green orbs up from the ground and stunned to find that his room was not empty.
The first time he had come to this time, no alarms had gone off. And now that he was a Legionnaire there was no reason for the systems to view him as a threat. That also meant that Brainy shouldn't view him as a threat either. However Brainy was less worried about his standing with this man, instead he was more worried about why he was here. It was general truth that whenever anyone time warped it was never for a good reason.
"Kel-El what are you doing here? Is there Something wrong in your time? Is there another threat?" Brainy asked as he cam further into his room, a look of concern on his face.
Kel-El didn't answer, the superman clone merely stared blankly at the organic Brainiac. Then he blinked and shook his head, the empty look that was on his face vanished and was replaced by a coy smirk.
"The only problem with my time is that I'm in it. There's nothing to do anymore now that Imperiex is gone. The universe is at peace again, so I'm bored and out of a job."
"So you missed the Legion then," Brainy replied with a teasing smirk as he went to open the closet.
"No...I was just bored and thought that maybe I could stay here for a while..." Kel-El's words drifted off.
Pulling out a t-shirt and some sweats Brainiac 5 walked passed Kel-El and placed his clothes down on the bed. He debated on whether or not he was to shy to change while Kel was still in the room. He didn't want to seem like a girl to the guy, especially since Kel was worse than Lightning Lad when it came to teasing. But he was very much uncomfortable changing in front of the guy, he was uncomfortable changing around anyone. It didn't help at all that Kel, being a clone and all, looked almost exactly like Clark. No changing in front of Clark, as romantic as such a scene could be, was not an option. There fore neither was changing in front of Kel. Sides only Shrinking Violet was allowed to hang around while he was changing.
This line of thinking brought Brainiac to another problem, what the hell was Superman X doing in his room.
"Why are you here?"
Deadpanned look, "Are you serious? I just told you."
"No I mean why are you in my room Kel." Brainy replied a little agitated. He felt as though he had just be insulted for some reason.
"..." Kel didn't seem to have an answer. The sight of the normally quick clone at a loss for words left a pleasant feeling in Brainy's stomach. He felt as if he had just won some sort of battle.
'Now who's the idiot.' he thought, letting a smug smile grace his lips. A smile that Kel noted and really didn't like.
"Stop smiling like the freakin' Cheshire Cat. Where's the rest of the Legion?"
"Not in my room." Brainy shrugged still looking rather smug.
Kel gave Brainy an irritated glance before storming out of the room without another word. Brainy shook his head as the door began to slide shut. The last thing he heard from the hall was, "OH MY GOD KEL!" Followed by a loud thud.
"There's no place like home."
Brainiac quickly changed into his dry clothes and threw the wet once into a bin. With a sigh he looked around his room to make sure was in place. It wasn't that he thought Superman X was a thief, but he wanted to have some clue as to why the clone had warped himself into Brainy's room. Maybe it was an accident, he thought, after all you weren't always able to control where you ended up. Brainy knew that for a fact. Perhaps Kel had walked into the portal and simply found himself in the wrong room. It was a logical explanation.
'Too bad it wasn't the real Superman.' Brainy berated himself for that thought, and continued to do so as he sped down the halls to the lounge. Upon entering he found many of the Legionaries scatted across the floor, with pillows and blankets at hand. People who had known each other since childhood paired up while others plopped them selves near those they knew well. Couples snuggled up together, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. Only one person seemed out of place in the whole mess, and that was because he was the only one battle ready. Kel appeared to have been forced to sit dead smack in the center of it all, where every Legionnaire who knew him could see and speak to him. And many of them did so, most of them at the same time, which left Kel with a sour look on his face. Somethings never change, but Brainy didn't mind because somethings did. It was just a matter of figuring out what about Superman X had actually changed, if anything at all. Perhaps he had gotten some attributes from Clark when they combined their minds to save him. For a moment he allowed himself to think that it would be niece if Kel had acquired all of Clark's traits, then he again chastised himself for thinking such things.
"Oi Brainy sit here! Lightning Lad's about to put on the movie!" Bouncing Boy called to him. It wasn't hard to spot the guy, aside from the fact that his arms were waving in the air, there was always the fact that Bouncing Boy was pretty...large. It also just so happened that Bouncy was near Kel and that the spot he wanted the 12th intelligence being to sit in was right next to the unhappy clone. Kel himself looked to Brainy when heard the green boys name. The sour expression on his face vanished and the new look that replaced it was unreadable. Brainy dismissed it and found his way around and through the many bodies on the floor, saying hi to someone every now and then. When he reached Kel's side the Coluan plopped down and smiled ruefully.
"Know what we're watching?"
"One of the movies Superman left here for us to check out. Can't remember the name of it though. Suppose to be good,"Bouncy yawned out the last bit.
The two males began to talk to each other about their day and the few missions they had gone on lately. They pretty much ignored Kel-El who really didn't care to complain. He was being nagged at by so many other Legionnaires that he saw their neglect as a blessing. When Lightning Lad finally got the movie in though the whole room began to quite down. The movie turned out to be much older then Superman had said but nobody cared. The only thing there was objection to was the fact that it was Alice In Wonderland a "Girly Movie" that the guys in the room knew would not sate there manly urge for blood, gore, and sex. In the end they wound up liking it more then the females in the room, mostly because of the drug related jokes they could crack. Hey they were Super Heroes not saints, even they had their immature moments.
Brainy had fixed himself so that he was laying on his stomach and facing the TV. Shrinking Violet had thus rested her head on his legs, while Phantom Girl rested her back against his side. Kel, who sat to his right, hadn't move from his position. Brainy was hard pressed to believe that the guy was either frozen in place from sitting that way for so long or was really uncomfortable. Heck the green legionnaire was feeling uncomfortable just looking at him.
"Loosen up will you." He whispered to Kel.
Kel didn't respond, though he did give Brainy a side glance.
"Lay down, stretch out, stand, I don't care just do something, your making me stiff!" Brainy explained, whispering a little louder this time.
"THAT'S WHAT HE SAID!" Cham cried from some place. The whole room snapped at him. Kel had gone red.
"Idiot," he grumbled. Then he got to his feet and floated over the bodies and out of the room.
"Weird," Bouncy remarked. The rest of the night went find. Though Kel-El never came back into the room and no one bothered to go see where the clone had wandered off to. In fact no one left the lounge. Instead everyone had simply falling asleep there. All of them curled up together in a mass of pillows, blankets, and bodies. Brainy knew this because he woke up and was shocked to find that he had not left the lounge. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep. Though he was sure the Superman in his dreams should have been a dead give away. Ah well he thought. Of course after that thought his groggy mind was able to immediately cause another to follow it.
'Bathroom!' Hopping up as quickly and as carefully as he could , Brainiac 5 rushed out the room and down the hall to the bathroom. Once that business was done he began to make his way towards his own room. That's when he spotted Kel laid out on a nearby bench. These were scatted all over the place in the legions headquarters, all of them near windows so that when you were sitting around on your off time you could have a nice relaxing view of the City. Apparently Kel-El had found it really relaxing.
Brainy knew from experience that the bench was not really comfortable to sleep on. He also knew that Kel-El hadn't told him the whole truth as to why he was here, in this time. There was tons of work to be done in the 41st century. Many worlds had been completely devastated! So there were cities to rebuild, people to heel, things to drag from one place to another. Unless of course all that had been done already. After all Superman, no matter which one your talking about, is incredibly fast. But even Chameleon Boy would agree no one was that fast. At least no one currently living.
With a determined look Brainiac 5 marched on over to the bench ready to shake the sleeping hero and then interrogate him. Of course he changed his mind when he reached him. Brainiac 5 always did have an very kind heart, besides Kel-El looked entirely to cute to bother. When he was awake you could tell the difference instantly between Kel-El and Kal-El, one had blue eyes one had green, one smiled the other not so much. But in his sleep there was no difference. At least not one Brainy could notice at the moment. And he noticed a lot now that he hadn't noticed before. Like the fact that Kel-El's hair was shorter which made him look exactly like clark in his sleep, or that the male must have been losing sleep because their were bags under his eyes and stress lines on his face. Or that Kel-El had gained quite a bit more muscle compared to last time. He looked older to. About two or three years older. Perhaps Kel-El had helped fixed his time. Still why exactly was the 41st century Superman here?
"Kel-El, Kel-EL, wake up." Brainy spoke in a soothing tone, not wanting to alarm Kel-El.
Kel-El wasn't alarmed at all, in fact he had rolled away from Brainiac 5 and on to his side facing the window.
'He should not fit on that bench!' Brainy's mind screamed.
"Kel! Wake up, go lay down in a bed!" Brainy insisted, still trying to sound soothing.
"I'm awake, no thanks to you, and I'm fine here Brainy. Why don't you scurry off to bed." Kel was not a morning person.
"Come on Kel-El you can't possibly be comfortable here. Get up I'll lead you to a room, I mean if your as exhausted as you look then sleeping on this bench is the worst idea."
"If I'm as exhausted as I look then this bench is a Godsend. Which, incidentally, it is and I am."
Brainy remained silent and stared at the back of Kel-El's head. As for Kel-El he actually allowed himself to believe the little Coluan had left. then he felt a weight pressing against his back and a shock ran through his system. He stiffened up, not daring to move. Brainy was oblivious to this, he hung his head in thought, gathering his words so that when he opened his mouth they would flow out. When he was sure of himself he raised his head a bit and smiled softly.
"Tell me about it Kel. Your gonna have to get whatever it is on your chest off it sometime."
"There's a big S on my chest," Kel-El's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Seriously Kel."
"Seriously Brainiac 5. I have a big S on my chest. A symbol that stands for something, and my people, my time have come to love and hate that sign. Because I've done what they wanted, they've gotten their freedom and peace back. They have their homes and cities back, now they want me gone, because I'm not necessary. They fear I might bring more trouble rather then anymore solutions. So they want to put me to sleep. And take that anyway you want." Kel-El snaps and Brainy finds his admission hard to believe. Why would any body do that to their hero. How could anyone treat the person who saves them so bad. Then he remembers Superman and the many stories of how people sometimes treated him. Looking at the Historical files you'd never believe it was possible. But they were all true and it was all so sad.
"Your going to stay for a long time huh?"
Kel-El nodded.
"Is there anything else bothering you?" Brainy asks and puts his hand on Kel's shoulder.
Kel shivers in response to the touch. Yes, he thinks, there's definitely something else keeping my mind preoccupied.
"No. Come on Brainy I'm feeling a little cold, help me find a bed and a blanket."
Brainy smiles and gets Kel-EL settled in, ignorant of anything else wrong with his fellow Legionnaire. He remains oblivious even as his head hits the pillow and his mind fills with thoughts of Clark.