Garth Ranzz looked through the glass window of the infirmary to see his old friend. Curled up in a little ball in the corner of the room, Rokk had barely moved in the past three hours. Still, he figured it was better than him bashing himself against the walls like a madman trapped in Arkham. He hadn't been keeping track of how much time he had spent simply watching like this. It wasn't guilt that was keeping him here that was for sure. Rokk had been out of control and dangerous, the blast to the back was the only reasonable way of keeping him from harming others... Especially Irma.
"How's he doing?" The telepath asked walking in
"With the amount of sedatives we gave him I'm amazed he's still concious!" Lightning Lad replied "What about you?"
"Shaken. As always..." She replied
"The medecin's getting less affective..." Garth sighed grimly "I guess his body's getting used to it."
"It's him though..." She confirmed after briefly scanning his mind
"Does he know we're here?" The winiathian asked
"No. The glass is one way and the walls are soundproof." She declared "Besides... He's retreated into the backs of his own mind. We could probably be having this discussion right next to him and he wouldn't even know about it."
Lightning Lad let out a pained sigh and contemplated the little plastic tube of pills in his right hand. They had belonged to Rokk. On the side was squibbled some instructions about how often to take the pills and how. He easily recognised Brainiac 5's perfect handwriting. After all, the medecine had been his invention. He glanced inside the tube, there was only about three left anyhow. He would run out soon, especially considering that they had had to double the dosage to calm him down. He doubted that Brainy had all the materials required to create more on board the ship...What would they do then?
"What happened to us Irma?" He asked aloud
"What happened? We grew up."
"I mean, how did things get so bad?" He clarified looking at his robotic arm "Do you remember when we first founded the legion as kids? None of us ever thought that we could end up like this..."
"Garth, we were all aware of the dangers. We've all made sacrifices for the better good. Do you have any idea how many lives our Legion has saved?"
"What's the point if all of our Legion gathered together can't save our children?!" He asked her "We can't even save Rokk from himself!"
"We're going to get the children back!" She told him "As for Rokk, he's not beyond help yet..."
Lightning Lad let out a sigh and gave his old friend a brief glance. He wished that he was able to possess Irma's optimism when it came to Rokk. He no longer recognised the young lad that he had befriended on that ship all those years ago. True, he hadn't always seen eye to eye with the Braalian but they had still been close, almost like brothers. Seeing him like this hurt the same as seeing any loved one suffer would. If the old Rokk could see what he had become... Garth suspected that it would have hurt him more than anything else.
"Do you ever think about what would have happened if things were different?" He asked "What if I'd sent Rokk to the past when Brainiac attacked us. What if I had been the one killed and brought back as a clone? What if Dark Lightning hadn't-"
"You could fit the universe into a bottle with ifs Garth." Irma told him "Things turned out as they did. We can't change them."
One last if rested on the tip of Garth's tougue however. It was one that he dared not even mutter. What if you had picked me? He accepted that Irma loved Rokk but that didn't stop the occasional twinge of jelousy when he saw the blonde Titanian in his arms... Of course, he loved his family, more than anything else in the world. He would die a thousend times over and still not give up Drake and Elbe. Irma was smiled softly after a few moments.
"You too eh?" She spoke
"Things would be very different." Garth replied
"Yes, they would." She agreed
Lightning Lad had only ever confessed his attraction to Saturn Girl to one person : Phoenix, Drake and Elbe's mother. By then of course, it no longer mattered. He had learnt to love a new. His heart clouded over suddenly whilst thinking about it. Sensing her friend's distress, Irma placed her hand on his. He looked to her greatfully. The telepath had always been there for him, just like he would always be there for her. Theirs was a bond stronger than mere friendship and one that he desperatly hoped they could include Rokk in once more.
"What does Zephyr think about all this?" Garth asked her
"I think, he thinks that Rokk is epileptic or something." She replied
"He can't remember?" Garth asked surprised
"No." Irma replied shaking her head "The mind's a curious thing, he banished all memories of that night to the depths of his mind. He idolises his father."
"Probably better..." Lightning Lad muttered "I'm going to tell Drake and Elbe when I find them again, it's only right that they know about Pheonix."
"You're doing the right thing Garth."
He nodded. They both turned back to look at their mutual friend. Rokk still hadn't moved. You would have said that he were a statue were it not for the fact that it was just about possible to see him breathing. Irma dared not extend her telepathy for fear of upsetting her husband any further but at the same time she knew that they couldn't leave Rokk like that indefinatly. Every second he spent locked away within the confines of his own mind, they lost another piece of the man that he used to be...
"You took all the metal out of there, didn't you?" Irma asked
"Yes." The winiathian replied "He can use any metal as a weapon."
"I know... Listen, I've got to go in there and talk to him." She declared
"Irma?! Are you insane?! You know that when he looses it, you don't mean anything to him. He'll kill you as easily as he would a member of the fatal five!"
"He's not lost it..." Irma assured him "Garth, every second he's like this Brainiac's residual programming destroys more of who he used to be. We can't let him, the real him die..."
"Okey..." Lightning Lad eventually agreed "But at the first sign of trouble, I'm taking him down!"