A/N: Prepare yourselves.
"There's not much we can do."
The infirmary of the Watchtower was a clean, white room with multiple beds and shelves after shelves of medication. State-of-the-art equipment was present at every bed, to be used at anybody's disposal for any reason. Dozens of cures for dozens of diseases were catalogued, available for easy access. Had the Watchtower been located on Earth, it would be the most advanced medical facility in the world. The universe is another matter entirely, though.
However, despite the available research and technology, not a thing could be done to save her.
M'gann had finally accomplished her goal. She could density-shift, and just in time for another important mission. It had been a simple enough mission, but, as things tended to do when the Team was involved, it went miserably, horribly wrong.
The device that they were supposed to disable had been a nuclear reactor. And, while Robin had managed to shut off most of the power, the main core generator was located deep within the facility. So far, in fact, that Robin wouldn't be able to get there and shut it off before it exploded.
Kid Flash had volunteered to go, instead.
"Just give me the codes, and I'll run in and be out before you know it!" he'd said, a heroic grin on his face. But Robin didn't want to run the risk.
"We don't know when that thing's going to go off. Best play it safe."
"Safe how? We can't just run and let that thing explode! We have to try something!"
"I can go." Miss Martian had offered.
The wide-eyed looks that her words had received were almost comical.
"Really," she'd said, "I can. Now that I can density-shift, I can go straight through the walls to the generator. Robin, you can give me the codes through the mind-link."
It had seemed like a foolproof plan. The Team would wait, outside of blast radius, inside of the bio-ship. Even if the reactor did go off, M'gann's density-shifting would keep the blast from affecting her. Right?
But, of course, something went wrong.
"M'gann, radiation levels have spiked astronomically! Abort mission, come back now!"
"No, wait! I'm almost there, I-"
"Explosion imminent! Abort the mission!" Robin stared, wide-eyed, as the computer in his glove indicated the reactor explosion. In the same instant, a psychic cry resounded through their heads.
"M'gann! What happened? Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," came the weak reply after a moment, "I just… something feels… off."
"Can you make it back to the ship? Or do you want us to come get you?"
"No, I can… I can make it."
When she did make it, though, she barely maked it into the bio-ship before fainting. Kid Flash was only just in time to catch her before she hits the ground. He ignored the fact that, for a second there, it felt like she was falling through his arms. She was immediately taken to the small med bay in the back of the ship while Robin, who was piloting the ship, wasted no time getting her to the Cave.
When Black Canary, Batman, and Red Tornado saw her condition, the decision to take her to the Watchtower for examination was unanimous. Red Tornado contacted Martian Manhunter, and the Martian promised to be there right away.
Tests were run. Diagnoses were made, disregarded, and then evaluated again. A thousand possibilities were ruled out, until Batman comes to the only solution.
She was disappearing.
"The energy of the blast managed to irradiate your body whilst you had become intangible. While the specifics aren't clear, it is obvious that you are slowly disappearing, as each and every cell of your body becomes intangible to the point that it vanishes, completely and forever." Nobody ever said the Dark Knight wasn't blunt.
Her fingers bunched up the sheets as tears streamed down her face. How depressing that the one thing that she had worked so hard for would be the thing to kill her.
"So, I'm dying." She looked up. "How long?"
Batman shook his head. "There's no way to be sure. There's no set rate of disappearance." It could be days, it could be weeks. But he didn't say that. She understood.
When she didn't say anything else, he gave her the single shred of possible good news. "You do have options."
"What?" she said, confused.
"There is a way to postpone the effects of the radiation. A drug, that will help you maintain a full physical form, so long as there is one complete cell in your body. However, should that last complete cell begin to disappear, the effects of the drug will be obsolete, and you will disappear completely.
M'gann sniffed, mulling this concept over. "So, I can die slowly, every day from now until the last cell in my body fades, or I can live a while longer, and then die quickly?" she said, facing Batman, "I don't think there's really a choice, then."
Batman nodded and administered the drug, one of many rounds that she'd be subjected to. At that moment, Martian Manhunter arrived. Batman pulled him into the hall and explained the situation. Thankfully, he could shed a little more hope on the subject.
"It is… uncommon, but not unheard of on Mars. While it is rare, there are ways to treat it."
"Exactly how reliable are these treatments?" Batman asked. Martian Manhunter shook his head.
"Only around half of those treated survive. But we could always try."
"How long would it take you to acquire the medication?"
"A while. A month, at the soonest. And there is no way of telling when her time will come, so I must leave immediately."
Obviously, M'gann wasn't expected to participate in missions anymore. And, by "expected to", Batman really meant "allowed to". For two reasons: One, it would be detrimental if she were to suddenly disappear in the middle of an assignment, but more importantly, if she were to die, on a mission, in front of the team's eyes, they would be traumatized.
And so, she spent her days simply wandering the Cave. School was another thing she wasn't allowed to attend. However, she was never bored or alone. The Team had been informed of the situation, and everything being done to help. They were constantly supporting her, assuring her that she would be alright, and for a while, she believed them. Conner was always there, to comfort her until the very end. Everyone was holding on for Martian Manhunter's return, and the hope that it would bring.
It wasn't to be.
A couple of weeks after the initial diagnosis, she awoke in the middle of the night, a tight feeling in her chest. Terror seized her as her breaths came out panting and shuddering, and she wildly flailed her arms, trying to find something, anything, to hold onto. Tears rushed to her eyes, and she opened her mouth to scream, but she could no longer breathe. She was falling, falling through her mattress, and with her last panicked heartbeat, she mentally cried out.
"Conner!"
His eyes shot open. As he sat up, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone had called him.
And then, it hit him.
"M'gann!" he called out, mentally and vocally, as he jumped out of bed and rushed to her room, fearing the worst.
When he opened the door, her room was dark, but he didn't need a light to see.
Her bed was empty, and unmade.
A/N: What? What? Why did I write this?
The idea just came to me, I guess.
Please review, even if you hate me!