Chapter 8: Broken And Mended
He couldn't move. Could barely even breathe as he was pushed into the floor and felt the rock biting at his face. Conner scrambled for words, something to yell, whisper, beg if he had to. She was supposed to be better then this, different from what L'aonn was telling her…But nothing was coming out of his mouth other then a few desperate gasps for air.
Conner heard M'gann's footsteps through the rock long before he saw her move into the corners of his vision. She bent down next to his face, resting her fingers on the crown of his head. His heart tried to work up to pounding from her touch, but the claws in his neck didn't allow it. His thoughts moved sluggishly, but they were all coiling into a tense knot that was waiting, any second, for something to wipe them away as he stared at M'gann
Her fingers stayed resting on his head, and gently brushed at his bangs before she curled down next to him and touched their foreheads together. Her contact was gentle, almost like a balm compared to the pressure still digging into the base of his head and neck. When she breathed out, it was with a faint whisper that he could barely hear, even with his ears.
"Conner…No matter what, I love you. Always." Before he finished processing those words, her touch was suddenly off his skin. She was a blur in his vision, there one second, gone in the next.
A shock ran along his neck as those claws were wrenched loose, and suddenly his lungs where back in full working order. His shoulders twitched as he wrenched them forward when he pulled in air, his hands trying to twitch into fists and digging at the ground. A few warm drops spattered the back of his neck and shoulders, and he managed to turn his head and eyes up to look. M'gann's claws skimmed through the air in a vicious pale arc, as a pair of rents opened in her brother's face, deep and gouged.
L'aonn's eyes were wide, trying to focus on his sister as he began to stagger back. M'gann didn't let him, as she plowed into him with a low hiss as her body finished the shift. When his claws tried to scour her back, they scrapped off of bone and plate that she grew before Conner could blink, and swept over L'aonn's path of attack.
They clashed together in a snarl of white and red sinew, clawing and twisting as they both tried to tear up the other with tooth and claw. Even with them both in their white skins, rippling and thrashing, it was easy to pick out M'gann. More gaunt then her brother…And Conner couldn't keep from noticing, smaller as well. He felt a shudder move through him at the blows L'aonn aimed at her neck, although she kept managing to just twist out of the way, or toughen her skin in time to catch and turn his claws.
His legs gave a twitch as he watched, and Conner let his heart keep pounding. That sour taste in his mouth made his every muscle in his neck pulse from how fast he was breathing…But it was also urging his limbs to start listening to him, instead of staying dead and unresponsive.
M'gann threw herself against L'aonn, pitching them both off balance so they smashed against the ground a handbreadth from him, and with enough force that he could feel the impact through the floor. Another scrape of claws on the floor and a flurry of dust, and they were both upright as L'aonn tried to hook his claws into M'gann and throw her backwards into the wall. Instead, she twisted low and darted out of the way…And then she pulled back, and he wanted to yell at her to do anything but that; not give her brother space to attack, as he swung around and tried to pull her to the ground-
But then she flickered out, intangible, as L'aonn's claws passed through that space where her head and neck had been. He tried to blink and shake the blood out of his eyes in the same instant, snapping at the air in confusion as he failed to make contact with anything.
M'gann moved forward…Too cautiously, he thought. And when she paused to grow solid again, those teeth chewing at the air lurched around, and bit into her. They sank deep into the muscle of her upper arm, hard enough that Superboy winced as he watched. M'gann's throat pulsed, fluttering as a long high pitched keen skreeled out between her teeth. She lurched, trying to tear loose as her brother rolled, forcing her downwards again to the ground.
That was when his legs finally listened to him. It wasn't flying, and it wasn't leaping, either; just that one second he was on the ground, the next his arms had pushed himself off and catapulted him forward, closing the distance in a blink. L'aonn didn't have time to turn, or even blink, when Conner slammed into him. His shoulder scrapped off tough skin, while his fist slammed into something that felt like stone for a brief second…Before his arm contracted, and L'aonn crumpled away underneath his fist. The Martian's jaw went slack as he reeled from the attack, before his eyes blazed as they focused on Superboy.
And not on M'gann. She pulled her arm free from his teeth, almost ghosting away from him. Conner gave himself a moment to breathe when he saw her breaking free, although his eyes caught on the blood running down her arm from the bite.
An angry jolt, as something twisted out of L'aonn's side, and Conner found himself staring at a talon arcing towards his head…Ready to dig back into his neck, he knew. He tried to yank back, already knowing that it was too slow to put him out of reach from those arms. First one talon connected and pressed into the skin under his ear, while another twisted around to put his head in a vice.
"I'll tear your head open if I have to, Kryptonian." L'aonn's voice was a snarl in his mind, trying to beat away at his skull from the inside. Outside, those claws contracted, pressed down on skin that didn't feel as tough as before-
"NO!" The shout made his head spin, while L'aonn's grip on his head went slack again. Conner felt a thread of something warm and with a coppery scent make its way down his face as he slid between the Martian's fingers. His feet chose just then to give up on holding him upright, and he slumped as the rest of his muscles followed suit. L'aonn wavered, not able to move fast enough to seize him again, or do much other then regain his balance as the yell echoed in their ears. The third arm growing from his ribs fell slack against his side, stunned.
M'gann, however, didn't hesitate at all when her arm snapped out and caught her brother across the temple. Her claws hooked onto a spur of bone jutting out from his skull, acting as the perfect handhold as Conner watched her wrench around. She pulled L'aonn with her, all her muscles snapping and uncoiling as her breath cut out between her teeth like an angry snake hiss. Her motion was furious, and she could have thrown her brother for yards…If that rock wall hadn't stopped him first.
Superboy heard the heavy thunk of a body hitting rocks as he lurched forward, eyes focusing on the ground rushing towards him. That fatigue his adrenaline had pushed to the corners of his mind came rushing back in, drowning any orders he was trying to give his legs or arms.
"Conner-!" A blur of white in the edges of his vision, and something snapped around his waist, cutting his fall short before he ever hit the floor. A second grip curled around his shoulders, steadying him.
"I've got you, Conner." M'gann's voice was hushed in his head, surprisingly gentle compared to that shriek she'd caused heartbeats before. Her fingers shifted so they weren't digging into his skin, holding him carefully.
"L'aonn?" He managed to rasp the name out as those long clawed hands lowered him to the ground.
"H…He's out." M'gann's voice was also rough and halting, and he could hear her vocal chords shifting back, along with the rest of her once his back was resting on the floor. His vision blurred for a moment, before he could pick out her face hovering over him, framed by smoothed red rock and red hair. Her skin was back to green, although paler then usual. "I guess that punch and throw Superman used on me worked just as well on him." Her eyes started to glance to where Conner knew her brother was sprawled across the ground, before she stopped herself with a long blink. "He'll be up eventually…But not any time soon."
"Okay…Good." He managed, noting a few footsteps from where his ear was resting against the ground. Tilting his head upwards (and with plenty of protest from his muscles) he could just make out a familiar green shape running down the tunnel. It was moving side by side with a paler form, rushing towards them, and followed by a few more vaguely J'onn and M'gann like faces.
"Everyone…" M'gann whispered as she turned to look at them, and Conner felt his fatigue win against his eyelids when it came to the argument of staying open or drifting shut. While blackness closed around him, he could just make out M'gann murmuring his name, and something that sounded vaguely like 'don't worry' and 'it will be okay.'
'I'm not worried, and I know it will.' He wanted to say, but he plunged into sleep before the words ever had a chance to work their way to his tongue.
-o-o-o-
Once M'gann saw Conner shut his eyes, things started to go by in a blur of green, a few splotches of white, and large amount of telepathic shouting and pushing about. She found herself getting herded by her mother, away from the scene of her fight with L'aonn, and through twisting passageways that eventually started to look familiar.
She might have nodded off on her feet as well, a few times. Or at least tuned out everything outside of moving forward. By the time she slipped back into awareness, M'gann found herself surrounded by a familiar set of walls. The lighting had been turned back to bright, giving her a full view of the posters taped up on the walls, giving a bit of blue to the sand color of her old room.
A low murmur, and she turned to see that Conner was resting close by, in the alcove that used to be her bed. His breathing was deep and regular, filling the room up and drawing in all of her attention. On impulse, she drifted over to sit down at the edge of the carved rock, glancing down at him.
He was alive, and still had his thoughts. They both were still alive, somehow.
"I fought my brother," the words numbly lurched off her tongue in a hushed voice. "…And won."
She kept her hands clasped together in her lap, although a part of her wanted to run them over his face. Instead, she started to look down at her interlocked fingers, and paused at her upper arm. With a quick thought, the sleeves on her body suit melted away, to show the skin of her arms. M'gann could pick out a collection of dark gashes running over her skin, spread out in a half circle that was mirror for that bite she'd received.
"Wish you hadn't gotten those," Conner's voice floated into her ears, tugging her attention back to him. She found herself looking into his eyes…Which still had that same fire in them as before, she was glad to see. "…But I guess it could have gone worse. At least we're alive, and you're okay?"
"I'll live," she murmured, as, he rolled onto his side. His motions were all slow, but his voice stayed steady. "It's different, waking up and seeing you watching me." He rubbed at his head as he spoke, blinking slowly as he eased himself up onto his elbows. "I think it's been the other way around, the last few days."
His eyes flickered from her face to her arms, and she followed them back to those cuts.
"There might be scars," she kept her eyes on the still healing gashes running along her arm. Mostly beginning to scab over, although her shape shifting apparently didn't carry over to healing; she kept her skin green everywhere else, but the edges of her cuts stayed that bone pale white.
"You can heal from scars. Trust me on that," Conner spoke frankly, making her duck her head before feeling his fingers under her chin. "It hurts…But you can work through it."
"I guess you're an expert on that, aren't you?" Largely thanks to HER, M'gann knew. She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice, or feel it seep back into the front of her thoughts. But before it could fully take root, those fingers under her chin lifted her head up. She found herself looking back at Conner, and it shocked her to see how soft his eyes were; no trace of that bitterness she felt in them, or harshness. "I've had time to learn…But it does help when you know there's a chance things will get better."
She couldn't figure out how to respond to that, so she settled for using her lips to kiss him instead. Shyly at first, just on the edge of his cheek and brushing against his skin; just a slight tickle of affection. M'gann felt hesitation start to burn along her cheeks, making them go pink and trying to make her pull back for air.
Instead she stayed still, waiting for his response. Conner's answer was to turn into the kiss fully, so their lips were touching and she could feel him sigh into her mouth. Her skin quivered where his hands brushed along her back and combed through her hair. Her own hands mirrored that, surprised at how similar the sensation was under her fingers.
"Short," it had been forever since she'd heard that hint of laugh in his voice, either in her head or from his mouth. Her own giggle turned into a satisfied hum that lasted until they slid apart so her head was resting on his shoulder, and his cheek was brushing against that short hair he'd been so amused by.
"I…Think I see what you're talking about." M'gann hummed against him, as he carefully traced his other hand over her arm. Her cuts stung a little under his touch, but she still found herself not wanting the sensation to stop.
What she got instead was a low hum undercutting that feeling, as someone started to nudge at her thoughts. It was enough to make her lift her head up, glancing into an empty space of air in her room.
"M'gann?" She could pick out her name, along with a request to open her mind a little further. All in a familiar voice, too. Conner was glancing at her, apparently not catching the sound, and she found herself filling him in. "News from my family…" Her voice was quiet as she turned all of her thoughts to focusing on that thread from her father.
"Link me in, too." Conner met her eyes as he spoke, before adding on "…Please. I want to hear, too." She brushed her forehead against his, letting that act as the foundation to patch a new link between them. She could just pick up his presence, as she heard her father starting to speak.
"I'm glad you're both okay," his voice was a low, gentle thrum, soft where her brother's and uncle's were tougher. "R'aon is busy with being called into the trials that are getting set up…And there hasn't been an attempt to arrest me a second time." M'gann felt a bolt of relief running through her at that…Although tempered with nervousness as she thought back over the events.
"What about me? I…Was actually linked to the attacks, and there's other things they could use against me."
"It's a sticky point for the government. On the one hand, there's the fact that you were and still are masquerading as a green Martian, which calls for charges of deception. But on the other…You've also been acting as a diplomat on Earth. And you just apprehended a…Dangerous criminal." Pain in her chest, both her own and her father's at that.
"Ordinarily, there should be a squad moving towards our home, to bring you to speak and answer for all of this."
"But…?" She found herself asking.
"But…J'aal tells me that any armed forces are slow to respond. And no one is trying to hurry them along, either. No one stopped me when I went to have a look at your ship, either."
M'gann tensed up before forcing each muscle in her back to relax as her father continued.
"She can make the trip back. I did what I could to make sure of that, although I'm not sure about staying around much longer. I think we're both treading on cautious ground with them…Though I can at least stay low key, and shouldn't have to worry about much. But you-"
"…I need to leave now, don't I?" M'gann's hands moved to grip at each other, nails cutting at her palms for a second before Conner covered both of them with his. "I…I wish I could say goodbye to everyone in person."
"I'm sorry." She could almost feel her father laying a hand across her head at that, trying to gentle her thoughts. "But focus on reaching the ship, while people are turning a blind eye. And maybe we can manage something."
She didn't have time to ask what he meant by that, as his presence faded out of her head. Conner, on the other hand, was giving her a confused blink as she eased them both up.
"Do you remember where the hanger is?" She asked as her feet touched the ground, next to his as they walked towards the house entrance.
"Yeah, roughly; almost straight up above us-" Conner stopped right in the doorway, as that hum picked back up in both of their minds, and M'gann just remembered to dampen his portion of the link. She could pick out not just the warm tones from her father, but her mother, shifting in color and tone as her siblings chimed in as well. There were not really any words that she could sift from that flood of voices and presence, but the emotions were as clear and sharp as cool water splashed against her face. A sensation of being held for a moment, and trying to push a little strength and luck into her to take with them on the flight home.
"…So that's how you say good bye?" Conner spoke, his voice low and a little tense, while his eyes watched her with open and clear interest.
"Not always, but when in a situation like this…I think it's the best anyone can do." She tried to summon up some focus through that gentle hum in her head, enough to get her and Superboy into the air. Conner simply wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close as he lifted her into his arms.
"I should be the one flying us," she pointed out as Conner pushed off, not even slowing down as he listened.
"You've got enough to worry about, and I can manage this again."
"And you like it," she pointed out wryly, with a low laugh building in her chest. She felt the same from him, as he nodded. "Yeah, that too. Let me keep handling the flying, though." To her surprise, he added in a more subdued voice, "I've been wanting to do this for a long time, anyway."
She didn't say anything else to that as they flew back to the ship, listening to her family leaving that final presence in her mind. Mentally holding on in one last goodbye hug, before she dropped out of their range completely. Superboy held her close as they flew, and M'gann found herself glad to be able to soak in the feel of being close in his grip, and not being isolated in her own mind.
-o-o-o-
Everything around them felt muted as they climbed higher into the air. In the city below there were less lights on then before, an acrid taste still in the air…But not as much smoke, at least. The fires were over, and so was the screaming; it felt like the entire city was trying to gather its breath after everything that had happened.
When Superboy thought about it, he was still getting his breath back too. And without having to worry about walking, all of his muscles felt intent on getting an inventory on what was still working, after what he'd gone through. His shoulders couldn't shrug off that bit of left over tenseness, even in the air…Which M'gann seemed to pick up on. She blinked up from that hum that he could just pick out between their link, long enough to glance at him.
"We should be okay. I don't think we're on the radar at all, right now." Even though they were well out of earshot from anyone on the ground, M'gann kept her voice low. "I can't feel anyone registering that we're flying…" She shook her head, and her words came out in a sigh against his ear. "So I guess it is good that you're handling this. No one can pick up on telekinesis that way."
"Huh," he wasn't about to argue with another reason that let him fly, but Conner found himself still asking, "What about your family?"
"Static noise, mainly. I don't think anyone could pinpoint us through everything they're sending." M'gann glanced over his shoulder, and he knew that she was looking back towards the city. "…They're also probably busy with my brother, too. Too busy to go looking for me." Her voice was low, still heavy with regret as she sagged against his chest. The whispers from her family also felt like they were getting more muffled, as they city dwindled to smaller and smaller specks of light and stone.
"M'gann…About what happened before." He didn't have to specify what part of before, judging by how her cheeks lost most of that green and she froze up in his arms. He still forced himself to continue with that thought.
"You could have made that same choice as before…But you didn't." She wasn't meeting his eyes, and his hands were to busy with holding her to lift her chin back up. "…Actually," Conner found himself admitting. "You saved me."
"…Conner. I…" She trailed off and didn't say anything else for the longest time. From the way she intently looked at his shirt, it seemed like she was trying to pick words out from that or from the air rushing around them. His eyes could make out the entrance hanging in the ceiling above them, before she spoke. And by then the farewells from her family were completely gone from his ears…And likely from her head as well.
"I…Learned a few things about myself, too." One of her hands let go of his shoulder, as she started to tick them off on her fingers. "About my powers…What the limits of them are, and not just what I can and can't do. But also what I shouldn't do. That I'm not…What I'm sometimes afraid of." That last was so low he almost lost it over the air rushing around them. But just on the edge of her voice, he thought he could hear an 'and' hanging between them.
"And…?" He said it out loud for them, and saw M'gann blush.
"And…I know that I've done some horrible things. But I love you. Still."
"Always," the thought drifted between them, making her go even brighter.
"…I remember hearing you say that." He found himself speaking. "Before you fought your brother." His thoughts still felt frayed at the edges from that, being pulled and strained to the breaking point…But, it was also a reminder of what the girl in his arms hadn't done. "I learned…To be honest, if I did learn anything about myself, it didn't compare to what I found out about you."
"O-oh?" She was still tense, and coiled up a little tighter as she listened.
"Yeah. I found out that you're strong…Which I had a hunch about already. And I learned about you and your family." He took a deep breath before continuing. "And…That I think we can work through this." That made her go still against his arms, and he could almost her heart pause before she finally relaxed and took in his words. "I want to try, at least."
M'gann nodded, almost shyly…And then ducked her head as he tilted his forehead towards her, and let her feel some of what was still curled up in his chest. Their foreheads brushed together right as he felt his feet touch down on the stone. But he didn't let go of her right away, instead soaking in that feeling of being together. And a slowly mending hurt that had been settled chest deep. He hadn't focused, or wanted to focus, on that gap that had been in him for a long time. He'd been trying to cover it up with anger and focusing on their missions for the team, until they'd been forced back to working together on the red planet.
But just then, keeping their foreheads brushed together and feeling M'gann's fingers find his, he thought he could feel something starting to fill it in again.
"It's the same for me. I haven't stopped loving you."
-o-o-o-
With her feet back on the ground, M'gann set a quick pace. The voices from her family had gone still, leaving her with M'aal's advice; get out of Mars and back to Earth while she had that waver. It was close enough to exile, either long term or temporary, she knew…Which made her feet move that much faster. Trying to outrun the regret over leaving her family, while still holding onto those last goodbyes.
Conner stayed with her, at least. He didn't falter or fall behind as they darted into the tunnels. He didn't break their contact, either, and she kept a tight grip on his fingers.
"I'm going to have an interesting time explaining all of this to Gar." M'gann gazed down at their hands, still clasped together as they moved towards the hangar holding her ship. She thought that she could pick out a guard or two doting the area…But they appeared blind to her and Conner. It helped that they both walked in the darker portions of the tunnels, but even then there were points where she thought she could see a green glancing at her before immediately averting their gaze or simply not holding her in their sight for long.
"They were right, that there wouldn't be anyone trying to stop us." Conner glanced at her, catching how her voice halted for a second. It took her a second to get her breathing and her words even enough to continue, and by then they were drawing up next to her ship. "The last time I left Mars, I had to do everything I could to hide. But…Now, everyone is willing to overlook me. I should probably be grateful-"
"It's hard to be happy about people ignoring you." Superboy cut her off, his hand tightening around hers. M'gann gave a small nod, brushing up against him as they waited for her ship to unfold and wake up.
"Not everyone, though." She managed that, and a smile. It did help, that they were back to talking, moving together…And holding hands, she thought as her fingers moved against his. Her ship yawned open then, and they stepped inside.
It was quiet on board the bio-ship, compared to the time she and her former-now-mended ex had spent on Mars. Just a low hum as the engines stirred back to life and pushed them free, first of the caves and then out of the atmosphere. Away from her family, and all that she'd experienced with and because of them; her head was quiet, as even the background telepathy of Mars faded out.
Conner did his best to make up for the silence, though, resting easy against her side and letting her start mending that mental link between them. It was frail compared to before, but she was determined to mend it as the bio-ship drifted back to Earth.
The End
