A Meeting of Minds
Ch 1: Secret Revealed
Mark was cleaning the counter when he saw the man walk into the shop. A smile lit up his face as he walked up to where the man had sat down. Mark took out his pad and gave the man one of his most dazzling smiles. The man looked up at him and gave him what counted as his own smile. It was a slight lifting of the corners of his mouth. Even though it wasn't that much it still made him feel giddy since it made the man's eyes come to life.
"Hey Jonn are you going to have the usual?" Mark asked.
Jonn looked over the menu and decided that nothing else looked worth trying and looked up to Mark. Mark was a young man that looked no older then eighteen. He had brownish red hair that went down to his shoulder. He had the body of a swimmer and skin that was so white that it seemed to glow. Jonn shook his head to draw his mind away from its wandering.
"Yes, I think I will." Jonn said. Mark smiled at him and shook his head.
"Jonn, you need to learn how to live a little try something new every once in a while." Mark said as he grabbed a pot of coffee and a cup and brought them to the table. He put the cup down and filled it with coffee. He looked into Jonn's eyes and said with mischief "Who knows you might like it, might even rock your world." Mark said as he gave a little extra sway to his walk as he walked back to the kitchen.
"I don't think my world could handle anymore shaking." Jonn said as he took a sip of his coffee. He had just come back from a mission with Wonder Woman in the middle of what could be considered a war zone. They had been responsible for getting the innocent bystanders to safety as Superman and Hawk Girl dealt with Grundy. It had been a stressful day and Jonn had decided to come to the Mind Café in New York. He had stumbled on the café by accident.
He had been wandering aimlessly down a random street when he had seen a sign for the café and after seeing the name had to go in and try it. He had been shocked to learn that the place was owned by the young man called Mark. He was barely seventeen back then. He had told him to grab a seat saying that the first coffee came free with a good quote. Mark said that every quote was written down and taped onto the wall. He said that it helped a little bit of everyone who came in here remain after they had left.
After that meeting Jonn just kept on coming for some strange reason he felt extremely comfortable in Marks company. It had taken him a few visits before he noticed that he couldn't read Marks mind he couldn't even hear the stray thoughts that he usually picked up around humans. Jonn thought that it could be a side effect of Mark being one of the most disciplined people he had ever met. He was in some ways more disciplined than most humans he had met.
Mark walked back to his table and put down a plate on his table and said "Oh you say that now but I can guarantee you that you won't be complaining when I get through with you." Jonn felt his cheeks warm he knew that he was blushing. It was a strange new feeling that he was not used to. As a Martian he was
not able to blush, but since he had been studying human anatomy he had been able to shape shifting more accurately apparently well enough were he could actually blush. Jonn decided that changing the subject would be the best way to stop the blushing.
"Mark that is a very nice shirt is it silk?" So it might not have been the smoothest of subject changes but Jonn was not used to this feeling of nervousness that had overcome him. Mark looked confused for a second before looking down at his shirt. It was a silk button up shirt that shined a light green color. It was tight and showed every muscle of Marks chest.
"Yeah, I just love it." Mark looked up and gave Jonn one of his most mischievous looks before continuing, "Don't you think green is one of the sexiest color there is?"
Jonn choked on the coffee that he had just taken a sip of. If he didn't know better he would have thought that Mark was talking about something besides his shirt. Jonn finally stopped coughing and was able to say with a red face "Well it sure looks sexy on you."
Mark blushed a startling red and looked down at the floor. They both looked up when the bell attached to the door rang. Three men dressed in dark clothes walked in. Jonn looked at Mark and was shocked to see that he looked angry and worried at the same time.
"Excuse me Jonn I have to deal with this." Mark walked up to the men and started whispering with them. Their conversation heat up into what looked like a very heated argument. The men scowled before storming out of the café. Jonn couldn't help but read one of the men's minds as they left the café. 'Marky you're going to help us whether you like it or not.'
Mark walked back over to his table and said "Sorry about that."
"Is everything alright?" Jonn said trying to keep most of his worry from his face.
"Yeah everything is alright. They're just some trouble makers trying to cause a ruckus." Mark said trying to pull off a carefree look and failing miserably.
"It looked like you knew them, who where they?"Jonn asked.
"Oh they're just some people from my past that refuse to grow up." Mark said. Jonn decided to let the subject drop since he knew that Mark wasn't going to tell him anything. He had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to Mark tonight and he wasn't going to let it happen.
Jonn was standing on the roof in his true form waiting for Mark to finish closing up the café. He was so into his task that he didn't notice the flash of white light behind him.
"Jonn are you alright, you didn't report back to the watchtower when you were supposed to three hours ago. You know it's your turn to watch over the systems." Wonder Woman said as she walked up to him.
"Something came up."Jonn said as he continued watching the café. He watched as Mark shut and locked the front door. Mark started to walk down the street when the three men from earlier came out of an alley and surrounded him. They seemed to have a heated argument were it looked like Mark was saying he wouldn't do something.
Jonn and Wonder Woman watched as one of the men roughly grabbed Marks arm and started dragging him down the street. Wonder Woman turned to ask him what was going on to see that Jonn was already on his way to the men. Wonder Woman quickly flew down to help her friend. Jonn flew down and sank into the ground. He slowly rose out of the floor behind the man that was dragging Mark. He grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him up into the air.
Wonder Woman took care of the remaining two as Jonn tightened his grip on the man's throat. He didn't notice that the man had stopped moving. All he could see was the pained look on Marks face as the man had dragged him down the street. He ignored Wonder Woman's cry for him to stop all he could think was how dare this man grab his Mark in such a cruel manner.
He finally was broken from his rage when he felt a gentle touch on his arm. Jonn looked down to see Mark looking up at him with compassion in his eyes.
"Jonn please let him go." Mark said.
Jonn looked at him like he couldn't believe what he was asking him to do, this man had hurt him. "Jonn he's not worth you becoming a killer." Mark said as his hand rubbed Jonn's arm softly. Jonn sighed and let the man fall to the ground.
The three of them stood there staring at each other for a few minutes before Mark said "I knew you were even better looking in your real form."
Wonder Woman and Jonn were both shocked. How did he know that Jonn was actually the Martian Manhunter.
"How did…" Jonn tried to say. Mark gave him a look that clearly said don't finish something that stupid.
"Come on Jonn I know you already know the answer." Mark said.
Jonn stood there a few minutes before saying in amazement. "You're a telepath."
