Author's note: I had to edit the last chapter. I just had to do it. I know in the movie that J'onn doesn't know what a kiss is but my God, I just couldn't keep that in my story. I took it out and I'm taking any mention of that out in later chapters to help explain it. In the comics J'onn's has kissed women before. In the JL cartoon M'yri'ah ran over and kissed him in his delusions of her. Even if the two of them never kissed and it wasn't a Martian thing, he has lived on the earth since the 1950s, J'onn loves TV and people watching but for some reason he has never seen someone kiss before? I just couldn't. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
When M'yri'ah and J'onn reappeared in the main entryway Lex gave her a look. She wasn't sure if he was upset that she took so long or if he was wondering if everything was still alright. She tried to reassure him with her smile that everything went well.
Superman was talking with Batman quietly off to the side of the group. They were having a discussion about him coming along with them. Bruce crossed his arms finally, trying to show with his body language that he had made up his mind. He would send them off but he wasn't going to go with them.
"Okay, now that we are all here." Lex took out his dimensional device and began scrolling through the screen to return to his earth. "Let's get going. We'll need to head to the Watchtower first. From there we can make a plan of attack."
"It messes with your eyes," M'yri'ah wanted to warn J'onn before they left. "You may see colors until you blink a few times."
"Hm, I didn't know the jump affected Martians that way." Lex said absently, just now realizing how long it took her to recover from their ride earlier. "I'll have to make a note of it in my log." Part of him was fascinated by this new discovery but he was so busy trying to get the coordinates just right. He shouldn't give their minor symptoms too much thought right now. He gestured to everyone to squeeze in tighter until the cool glow of the dimensional device surrounded them. "This might be a little disorienting."
Everyone felt they were being pulled in several directions at once.
J'onn gasped, this was not completely unlike the sensation he felt when he was pulled through space and time to Dr. Erdel's lab when he first came to Earth. Thankfully the horrible tearing sensation was absent from this particular ride. M'yri'ah had been right, as he was being pulled apart and reformed he could see a rainbow of colors behind his lids. He blinked rapidly and his vision cleared in enough time to see that the Watchtower was infested with enemies.
"We've been compromised." Luthor announced at seeing dozens of the Crime Syndicate's men swarming the station. Owlman and Superwoman were standing near his computer, looking surprised to see him return so suddenly. He was glad he brought Medic with him now instead of insisting she head to their base. If he had left her alone here in the Watchtower she would likely have been dead by the time he returned.
"Really?" Barry asked sarcastically. "What was your first clue?"
Lex ignored him, taking aim and sending a blast through the rogues to scatter them. As much as he hated to do it he sent a beam of energy through his computer. They couldn't get the information contained on it or the Quantum Trigger might not be safe after all.
Wonder Woman went after Owlman. He reminded her of Bruce, and while incredibly smart and skilled she thought maybe, just maybe he wouldn't be that difficult to take on. How wrong she was. When she got in close with Owlman, she realized he was wearing a mechanical exoskeleton that enhanced his strength, much like the one Lex wore. She gasped when he brought her to her knees.
Lex was about to aim at Owlman while he was distracted. He hated fighting so dirty, but Owlman was the brains of the Crime Syndicate and if he could take him down they would have a better chance to win the war. Lex suddenly felt a horrible sensation rip through his chest and his eyes went wide. "Ugh!" He looked behind him and saw a woman with her arm elbow deep in his back.
"Lex!" M'yri'ah was about to rush to his aid, but J'onn got there first, pulling the Gypsy Woman's hand out of Lex's chest. J'onn said something to the woman in a chastising tone before tossing her like one might a used rag. He felt a bit strange fighting her, her counterpart had been his friend in his world.
Lex coughed deeply, trying to recover from someone reaching into his body. The Tower was so overrun, he really wasn't sure they could take it back. He saw M'yri'ah engaging a woman in a cat mask across the crowd and called out to her. "Medic, grab anything you need and get the hell out."
"Okay!" M'yri'ah yelled over the commotion. She flew down the hall before she sank through the floor to go to the hospital below.
J'onn was about to follow after her but a man wearing a ridiculous looking disco uniform jumped in his path. His first thought was just to rush through him, but he stopped himself. He was needed here. M'yri'ah would be fine without him, he was sure.
M'yri'ah found herself in the middle of yet more chaos when she landed in the infirmary. Her eyes narrowed in on four lower level thugs Superwoman and Owlman brought with them. They had looted her hospital and were on their way out, already having smashed through the doors and stole all the drugs of interest from the medical cabinets.
"Look!" One of them called, finally seeing her hovering there above the floor.
Deep down she knew that everything was already over and this place was lost. There were more important rooms being ransacked and destroyed upstairs but there was something about them going through this place of healing that enraged her. She began sucking in a great lungful of air and then released it back out with an almost hurricane like force.
The winds sent two of them sailing through the door and knocking them out cold against the metal halls. One man had managed to duck into a closet before she blew his other friends away. The other had disappeared entirely. "Get out of my hospital!" She roared at him.
M'yri'ah felt herself being hauled backwards. Whoever got ahold of her was strong, but not strong enough. She flipped him over her shoulder and he tumbled onto the floor. He just managed to roll away before she put her boot down on him. He retreated for a moment before he thought better of it and came back at her. His friend from the medicine closet rushed out to join him.
"Where are you?!" She heard Lex yell into her comlink.
"I got tied up." She launched herself at the two men, hammering her fist into the strong one's face and sending him skidding across the ER floor. She grabbed his weaker friend by the collar and sent him sailing into him as he tried to stand up.
Lex made a noise of impatience. "Well get the hell out! Made Men are on their way."
Damn it. She didn't have time to get anything at all. M'yri'ah went intangible and sent herself down through the floor as fast as she could. The Tower was huge, floor after floor zoomed past until she went through the Watchtower's underbelly.
When she finally emerged she could see the sun peeking out from the clouds. The way the sky brightened on the horizon she could tell it was morning. And just as soon as she saw the sun appear, it was blotted out. Wind and rain burst forth from the sky, pouring down from above and side to side. The Made Men were on their way.
"M'yri'ah!" J'onn shouted, trying to get her attention above the storm. He was there with the others some distance away. He looked relieved to see her.
"There you are!" Luthor yelled over the sound of the wind rushing by.
M'yri'ah could hear Lex again on her comlink, it looked like there was some delay. It was disorienting. "I couldn't get anything." She shouted right back.
"Just as long as you're okay that's all that matters." Luthor assured. "If we get separated we'll be meeting back at the Jester's headquarters."
She gave him a thumbs up so he knew she heard him. "Okay."
"Try to stay alive until then." Lex wasn't really looking at her anymore. His focus was on the horizon and what was coming.
"I'll do my best." She felt a strong hand grab her ankle. It was the oldest of the Made Men. He looked like he was about to pull her into him with his other hand when she grit her teeth. "Oh no you don't!" She swung herself around, using the momentum to hurtle him away from her. He didn't bother with her long and went off to torment someone else.
J'onn was busy trying to help Superman. Superwoman and her thugs were swarming him. Diana pulled one of them off Superman and J'onn the other. J'onn grunted as he took a shot to the stomach. They sure hit hard, but that was okay, he could hit harder. His fist swung around and sent the middle aged man into a tailspin.
Diana swung the youngest at J'onn in a well-timed move. He brought his knee up, catching him into the face and launching him into the sky. Hal was there waiting for him and brought down a literal hammer on his head.
The Made Men scattered and reformed together in the distance to strengthen the storm.
"Light 'em up!" Superwoman called to her teammates.
J'onn shuddered as he felt electricity tear through him. Well, not him. M'yri'ah's thoughts suddenly went from very focused to a standstill. He glanced around and found her tumbling limply as she fell from the sky.
M'yri'ah blinked a few times, trying to wake herself up. An arch of lightning struck her, not surprising since the sky was saturated by bolts of electricity. She took a nosedive. She could hear Lex talking through her communicator about a jet but her brain was trying to shut down to recover so it was hard to focus. She struggled to fight against unconsciousness but it was a battle she felt she was going to lose.
J'onn caught her before she fell through the clouds below, taking her back up into the sky with him. "Are you alright? Can you still fight?" He called out over the howling winds and rain.
M'yri'ah shook her head to clear it. She could hear J'onn's heart beating so fast in her mind. Despite his calm voice he was worried about her. She felt her mind begin to focus again. "Yes."
"Be more careful." J'onn warned, releasing her to the air when he was sure she could fly again on her own.
M'yri'ah noticed from then on he didn't stray too far from her side. It was a good thing too, the Made Men were not playing around and she hadn't been trained on how to deal with them. Sure, she could hammer them with her fists, but they weren't staying down and she wasn't strong enough to knock them away like J'onn could.
M'yri'ah was pretty embarrassed. She felt that she was watching J'onn's back for the most part while he dealt with whoever was in front of him. He would then have to turn around and take on whoever she was fighting. She supposed it helped though. At least they couldn't sneak up and overwhelm him.
"Your ride is here." Luthor said over the comlink. "We're right over Superman."
M'yri'ah felt herself being dragged backward, J'onn had grabbed her hand and rushed to meet up with the rest of the Justice League. They all held in formation as a hatch opened up in the middle of the air. It looked like someone had stolen Owlman's invisible jet. When the hatch snapped closed below their feet they all touched down on the floor. The jet gained speed and they all had to brace themselves to keep from falling over. J'onn was still holding her hand tightly and waited while everyone went in front of them. Only when everyone else had gone through to the main cabin did he bring up the rear.
"That was close." Barry said to all of them, he sounded quite happy to have his feet on solid ground. Falling through the air wasn't the most pleasant experience.
"I'm glad we could all make it." Lex sounded relieved after he did a headcount. "I still need access to my information on the network. We'll need to make a stop somewhere so we can make a plan of attack."
While Lex discussed their next move J'onn wordlessly wrapped his hand around her shoulder. She had almost forgotten how big his hands were, it pushed her arm down slightly with the weight of it. J'onn hadn't always been one for public displays of affection but it seemed like he had outgrown that.
At first J'onn listened to Luthor in silence. When it seemed he was finished and the others began chatting J'onn looked down at her. "Thank you for having my back." He said finally. "It was just like old times." Back during the war.
"Yes it was." She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
He moved his arm up around her back and held her to him. He couldn't wait for this mission to be over, when he could have longer than a few stolen moments with her at a time.
Lex led them to what appeared to be a garage or storage locker. "Here it is." He opened the storage gate and waited while everyone walked inside before closing the door behind them. "We are lucky there is anywhere left to hide."
"We aren't here to hide Lex." Superman said.
J'onn looked around the Jester's safe house. It invoked revulsion in him, reminding him of one of Batman's foes. There were giant jack in the boxes and other clown like memorabilia strewn about. His fellow Justice League members felt the same way, but when he heard M'yri'ah's thoughts they were ones of sadness and loss.
The man who was the Jester saved her twice right before he died. She also felt sorry for Lex. He had lost his oldest and dearest friend, and she knew what it was like to lose someone she cared about. J'onn could feel through her, Lex's melancholy as he and the Justice League made their way to the main computer to access his files. The Jester was gone, and he would never see him again.
A small pet monkey jumped on the computer pad and squeaked at Lex in greeting. Another wave of sadness assaulted him. M'yri'ah seemed to sense Lex's emotions deeply enough to pass them along to J'onn. It was curious.
After bringing up dossiers of the Crime Syndicate members on the main screen, Lex tried to explain to his guests how the crime families were set up and how strong the Syndicate was. He tried to impress upon them how they would all need to go together to defeat them and plan attacks to take them down one at a time.
J'onn knew Luthor had no idea what this world's Justice League was capable of and they were going to lose time if they did it his way. He saw Superman open his mouth to speak. Clark was going to explain what they needed to do, but his dislike for Luthor was going to make him sound tactless. It was a pity. Clark was a great motivational speaker on most occasions.
"That's a waste of time." Superman blurted, just as J'onn knew he would. "We are going to hit them in teams of two and three. Lex, you and I will take on Ultraman." He outlined who would go where, all in groups of two until he got to the end and announced there would be three members for the final strike. "I think J'onn, Flash and M'yri'ah should go to the docks together as the final team."
Lex couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But they wiped out my Justice League in a matter of days. You don't know what they are capable of."
"We aren't your Justice League." Superman said, matter-of-factly. "We can take them. Don't worry." He added, trying to sound nicer when Wonder Woman gave him a look.
"If you insist on this foolhardy venture then I believe we should take M'yri'ah with us." Lex said. "I'll need her to help take down Ultraman."
"Well I think she should go with J'onn and Flash." Superman insisted.
M'yri'ah could tell by the look on Lex's face that he was starting to get aggravated. He was the leader of the Justice League in this world and yet their guests didn't really listen to him or his opinions. They didn't treat him quite like the criminal of their world but they weren't being very respectful either.
"And why is that?" Lex asked in a patient voice.
"He hasn't seen M'yri'ah in a long time. He'd probably like to spend some time with her." Clark reasoned. Plus he would probably like to keep an eye on her as well.
"This is a mission, not a social visit." Lex was trying very hard to remain composed.
"I think Superman's just worried if he is busy protecting you he won't really have time to protect M'yri'ah too." The Flash reasoned. "J'onn and I can do that."
"Exactly." Superman knew someone would get it.
"Flash! Superman!" Diana scolded. She knew they were trying to be helpful but they were talking about Lex and M'yri'ah like they were liabilities rather than a help. "You are being rude."
"What? It's true." The Flash quipped. "Besides, J'onn probably cares if his wife gets zapped by heat vision. Do you?"
Lex was furious that Flash called into question him valuing the lives of his fellow Justice League members, especially now on the back of losing his best friend. "If he cares about her so much why was yesterday the first time you've heard of her?" He took a startled breath after he realized what he said. The moment the words left his mouth he regretted them. "I'm sorry M'yri'ah, I shouldn't have said that."
The words stung but M'yri'ah knew he was just lashing out because he was upset. "You don't have to be sorry. It's okay."
"No it's not." Flash said. "He shouldn't speak to you that way."
"In what way?" M'yri'ah wondered and then she realized it didn't really even matter. "You all can do what you like." M'yri'ah interrupted before they began arguing again. "Lex, you are my leader. I'll go where you tell me to go."
Luthor wanted to say that he wanted her to go with him. He wanted someone by his side that trusted him and would help him clean up this mess when everything was over. But if he thought about it, if he really thought about it he knew she shouldn't go with them. Yes she was strong, but Ultraman could seriously injure her and there wouldn't be a thing he could do to stop it. He sighed. He couldn't believe he was saying this. "Superman might have a point. I can lean on him. Go with Manhunter and the Flash."
M'yri'ah nodded at him. "Okay."
Now that that matter was cleared up the other teams left without incident.
Barry gave J'onn a grin. "I'll try to save some for you guys." And just like that, the Flash was gone.
M'yri'ah was about to kick off into the sky when she felt J'onn's hand take hers. "M'yri'ah? " He said softly.
"Hm?" She wondered what was so important that couldn't wait until they were finished.
He took a deep breath and said. "Sometimes I'm not very good at expressing my feelings."
Her smile let him know she didn't think he was ever good at expressing emotion. "Yes?"
"Earlier today at the Watchtower," He said, before clarifying. "From my world." She looked at him expectantly. "Some things were said..."
"You mean how you never mentioned me before?" M'yri'ah guessed, it was easy to deduce considering Lex just blurted that out not but a few minutes before.
She knew what he meant, so it made things easier on him. "Yes."
"It's okay J'onn. We were really just newlyweds." At least in the eyes of their people, who were long lived. "And you've been with some human women longer than we were together." He had given her access to his memories after all and she spent her time going through a few of them.
What she said startled him. "M'yri'ah…"
"It's alright. I'm not mad. You aren't made of stone after all. You've lived a long time and it was so long ago." He had to experience most of those years, she merely skipped ahead in time. "It's been only a few years for me since you died. I don't expect…"
J'onn held up his hand to her in a quieting gesture. "Please wait." She finally stopped talking. "It doesn't matter how long we were together. I didn't mention you because I've only recently began to remember things." Just these last few decades things finally started to come into place.
"Oh?" She decided maybe she should just let him speak for himself.
"After you died I had… memory lapses." Which was a terrible understatement. He had been more insane than anything when K'hym and M'yri'ah died. After Ma'alefa'ak was gone, well, since J'onn killed him, he allowed himself to just forget everything. "I didn't tell them when I remembered because I was embarrassed of how I acted." His personality had changed drastically in the last few years and it often worried his friends. He had been much friendlier when he lived in his delusions. As his memories returned he became more reserved and serious until finally he began to close himself off. "And some things I did remember were just too hard to talk about." How did you explain to others that even though you've had centuries to deal with your issues that there were some wounds that time could not heal?
"I see."
"I loved you and K'hym very much." His voice grew very quiet.
She looked so shy suddenly and glanced away "I know you did."
"I just don't want you to think that our time together didn't mean anything." No matter how long he lived or would live from here on out they had always meant the world to him. "I still love you and I always have." He added.
"I know J'onn." She knew his feelings as well as he did. "I know you love me."
He forgot he really didn't need to explain himself to her. She would know. Turnabout was fair play. "Of course you do."
"It's alright." She said. "You've been among humans for such a long time, so of course you would start to think more like them." She didn't want him to feel like he needed to explain his feelings or his actions to her. "Thank you for telling me. Sometimes, even though we know what the other is thinking, it's nice to hear it out loud. I know that it probably made you uncomfortable."
"Yes... well." J'onn let his voice trail off. He looked in the direction that Flash ran off.
She kissed the side of his mouth, since his head was turned at such an odd angle. "I love you too." Before she told him, "You know the Flash will probably be upset at us for making him wait."
He felt like he was making a lot of people wait on him recently. "I know."
Barry said nothing when they arrived later than they should have, but then again the fastest man alive was used to waiting on everyone else. At least he hadn't tried to take them on his own. They formed a plan together. The Flash would handle the Syndicate members on the docks, J'onn would see to the boat and M'yri'ah would destroy any cargo that hadn't been loaded onto the ship yet.
The Flash made it look easy, zipping around, knocking startled goons into the water all the while joking. He seemed to be having the time of his life.
M'yri'ah spent most of the fight elbow deep in bombs that were still on the docks. She tore out wires and pulled off stabilizing fins, anything to make them useless. She stopped the moment she heard a heavy splash followed by a loud roar.
Much to her amusement J'onn had transformed himself into a water dragon and coiled himself around a villain that was dressed in biker attire. J'onn gave him a good squeeze before flinching at a high pitched sound.
M'yri'ah didn't have long to ponder who was making that awful racket when she was suddenly knocked over onto the ground. She got to her feet but something swift almost knocked her off balance. When she finally righted herself someone was breathing in her ear.
"Hello." Johnny Quick was behind her, she sent elbow backward, trying to strike him in the face. He dodged her easily and briefly sent his arm through her chest before pulling it out. It's wasn't often Luthor let his pet Martian out to play. Johnny thought to himself. He wondered what she could take before he broke her entirely.
M'yri'ah tried flying away but he snatched her up by the ankle and dropped her onto the ground. She tried becoming intangible but he had an answer for that as well, vibrating his body until he was on her cellular level and blocking her escape. He once again shot his hand through her abdomen, eliciting a pained cry from her.
"Not getting away from me, love." Johnny grunted in surprise when he felt a multitude of fists pummeling him, he found himself reeling backwards from the force of them.
"Why don't you try picking on someone your own speed?" Barry was able to knock Johnny off M'yri'ah easily. "You okay?" He asked over his shoulder, keeping himself between M'yri'ah and the other speedster.
"Yes." She managed to say, coughing.
"Good," Flash said. "Keep doing what you're doing, we're almost done." By the time he turned around again Johnny was gone. He supposed that he was cutting his losses and retreating. Now that he could move around more freely without having to worry about Johnny attacking J'onn or M'yri'ah he began tying up villains before they could even figure out what happened. He'd leave the police a few presents to pick up in the morning.
M'yri'ah took a good long breath before she began going zooming through crates again. She became intangible, ripping metal and wires as she went.
J'onn in the meantime was tearing through the ship like a battering ram with his body. He went through every floor on the way down to the water below and then again on the way back up. By the time he was in the air again the freighter was beginning to capsize. "Are you finished?" He asked, seeing M'yri'ah slow down and land on the docks below.
"Yes!" She called up to him.
"Done here!" The Flash shouted, finally stopping.
"Then let's go." J'onn called to the both of them.
"You sure you are alright?" Flash appeared at M'yri'ah side.
"Yes, but I told you I wasn't good in a fight." She joked, still clutching her chest. Having never been on the receiving end of one of her husband's go-to moves she was pretty horrified about how bad it felt.
"You did great." Flash thumped her.
Author's notes: The next few chapters are going to really start veering off from the movie. The plot should stay intact and I'll try to remember that some people have not seen the movie so I'll try to make sure I write out major plot points even if it's brief just so no one is left wondering what happened in the end.