Dream a Good One Tonight
Chapter 10

There was a heaviness to his chest; so heavy that he felt like it caused his feet to crash into the ground the second it rushed to meet him, far from where he had left Joey. He had control over his body and he braced Payton's unconscious form against his strong torso, absorbing most of the impact of his landing. It was guilt that made him rocky, pain and regret for having abided by Joey's insistence that he leave. Nothing had pained him more in his life than to leave her with the wraith of her friends, people she was weak to, as they were beyond their own sphere of control. For as strong as he knew she was, with the undeniable bravery he had seen once before and again now in her push to get them free first, no matter how much she denied it, he didn't think she could be that strong. He could only imagine what it felt to be placed before his friends in that capacity - if given no other option, he wasn't sure he could bring death upon any of the heroes that surrounded him in his own world. They weren't just heroes to J'onn - they were people of outstanding ability and heart, men and women who gave him faith in the people he was there to help. They were family and Joey, in her self-sacrifice and blatant and somewhat brash loyalty, had earned a place among them.

He cursed himself for abandoning her there, but it seemed the only way to get free and preserve the doctor, whose help was greatly needed to reverse all of this in the first place. Never, however, had J'onn regretted such a decision.

J'onn had gone to the only place he could think of, that Joey might know too, as he had seen so many differences to this world, it was hard to tell what was safe and what wasn't. That was why he laid Payton's form on the black, pristine sofa of the Wayne residence, furnished in a very modern and sleek style. The doctor was unmoving, even as J'onn had shook his shoulder to see if he would awake even slightly. A moment later, J'onn stepped back as the full weight of possibilities crashed down on him. "I do not wish her death. I don't wish any of their deaths." He told Payton's sleeping form, as if the man could hear him, as his eyes glowed. He did everything he could to reach out to her, to find her just to be sure she was still alive. If captured, he could handle it…if she escaped, even better. But if Joey died because of his abandonment, J'onn couldn't live with himself. He reached up and ran a hand across his bald head, letting out a sudden growl of frustration when his efforts to connect with her mind through his own brought nothing but silence.

"Joey!" He hissed, both internally and outwardly as he couldn't separate the two in that moment. He stumbled back again, this time without the grace he was so accustomed to, and his eyes glowed even brighter. "Answer me! Please!" He begged of her and felt his body tingle with distress as it piled up rapidly. "Please, don't be dead…I will save you, Joey. I will save you." He promised firmly, standing up even straighter in his spot as he swept around to the window to disappear through it. He had every intention of just leaving the doctor where he was, to scrounge this Earth - or any other possible one - until he found the fiery little shadow jumper he had grown accustomed to in his time spent there.

It was then, for a split second, that he heard something - a murmur reverberated against the insides of his skull - before her voice exploded inside of him as if someone had suddenly turned the volume back up. It made his ears ring and he froze in his spot, his hand on the window sill of the large window he had intended on phasing through. His mind was scrambled slightly in his worry as he normally would have used the grace of his innate abilities to slip right through the floor. He was peering out at the night, as the sky had long ago been penetrated with inky black clouds, as he tried to decipher some of what he heard. Instead, the sound of a thump could be heard behind him before Joey's voice, much more real than what he heard in his head, filled the room.

"J'ONN!" The shrillness to her voice, the intensity of his name in her scream, was enough to rattle his body as he shot off the sill and turned wildly to see where she was. She was half climbing out from the shadow on the ground, underneath the long table that had cast a sharply angled shadow. It took J'onn but a moment to see the hand around her ankle as little sparks of electricity escaped from its finger tips and soaked into the fabric of Joey's pants as well as the lush carpeted floor. There was nothing else, the rest of the arm disappeared into the darkness but as Joey tugged to get free, more and more skin (and even a head of spiky, sporadic hair) could be seen like a fishing bobber in the ocean.

J'onn leaned forward, dropping onto his hands and knees. He was careful not to touch the shadow as he knew it was likely empty space and didn't want to fall through it. He suspected on the other side that it was solid as Joey was not there to make it more than a representation of light reflected off something. He reached out and caught Ash's hand, as it was clearly Ash's that was attacking Joey. The electrical man's skin was covered in sparks, which zapped J'onn but he didn't relent, peeling Ash's fingers back with his intense strength. In a final effort to break free, Joey gave a kick with her free foot and the shadow solidified. "Son of a bitch." She grumbled, wrinkling her nose. "Where's Payton - I want to tell him exactly what I think about his brother right now." She huffed in irritation. "Which is a slew of not so pretty words." Her exasperated grimace turned to J'onn. "I wouldn't want you to question my lady-like status should you hear the foul language I have in mind for all of them."

"A simple thanks would suffice." He told her with the tiniest upturn of his lips. J'onn, in his relief that she had returned safely, felt comfortable offering the best tease he could, which, for her, was very mild. She blinked and drew her head back, shocked at his attempt at wit.

"You're joking right - I totally saved you in there. Don't make me do it again." She pinched her eyebrows together as she climbed to her feet. Her adrenaline was still running high and it made her bite a little more intense than it might be if she were in her normal lazy and lax mentality. She paused, however, when she scrambled to her feet as if on a second thought. She glanced over her shoulder at J'onn and softened, ever so slightly, "Thanks buddy." She told him swiftly and honestly but almost so quickly that it could be missed, before she headed to where Payton was laying on the couch.

J'onn offered a small nod of acknowledgement to her thanks, but let the sentiment hang where it was meant to. "I lost communication with you. I couldn't reach you; it was like you were dead. What happened, Joey?" J'onn asked as he followed behind her to where Payton was.

"Ash happened. I couldn't hear my own thoughts, it's no wonder you couldn't hear them too. He has a way of doing that when he wants to reallyzap you. Scrambles up everything, it was nothing but buzzing my head. Total pain in my ass, that guy. When the accident happened to him, he fried me. I could feel static on me for weeks. Did I mention he's a son of a bitch?" She said, this time more good natured than the first time when she was angry. "You haven't done anything crazy in the five seconds I left you alone have you?"

J'onn paused, befuddled in that moment. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Murph's emotional scramble often leaves residual effects. You know, like if you feel something, it's heightened. He temporarily, even when not focusing on one particularly feeling, turned the volume up on your emotions." She told him smartly, almost waiting for him to respond and when he didn't she laughed knowingly. It wasn't that J'onn didn't have an answer, or was ashamed of the truth, but merely concerned with how easily it was to turn his feelings to an even higher intensity than he already felt them. "I knew it - you did something dumb. It's okay. You don't have to tell me. At least you're still here. Where's that..."

"Batman?"

"I was thinking coward, but I guess Batman will do." She responded as Bruce's voice echoed back to her. J'onn too had turned, looking for his friend and colleague. Only his silhouette could be seen in the moonlight cast by the window. He was very clearly dressed in what was the garb of the nocturnal crusader. J'onn heard Joey's thoughts, without meaning to as that seemed to be a trend with this particular woman. He glanced down at her briefly, curious about what it was she was thinking. She didn't look pleased, but her inner most mindset was actually relieved. The contradiction was astounding, almost as if the mere image of Batman brought hope to her. J'onn was but once more surprised by Joey as she seemed to have such a hard outer shell with the softest insides hidden underneath. "We brought your bounty. Trust us now?"

"I need Dr. Lionel." Batman said in his grim and somewhat somber tone. "He made these things. He will have more information that could be beneficial." J'onn nodded his head briefly before his eyes turned to the doctor who was still passed out on the leather sofa. He stepped towards him before kneeling on the floor, his massive shadow overwhelming Payton's much smaller body. He gently touched Payton's shoulders while connecting to him through their brain waves.

'Payton...we need your help,'J'onn's voice echoed in the recesses of Patyon's mind, where J'onn was able to find the bits of him that where coherent. The young doctor was still in shock as he was not normally in the heart of the adventure his brother and friends were. He was normally settled behind a lab station where he toyed with the idea of adventure through genetic deviations. He had patched them all at different points from random battles and encounters that left Murphy with a broken arm or Joey with a concussion or Ash with a little but too much spark to his zap; but being in the heart of it, that was new to Payton.

The doctor's eyes popped open and he sank back in the couch when he spotted J'onn with his eyes aglow. He had momentarily forgotten that the Martian was on their side. His face paled before a soft rose colored blush rose on his cheeks for his embarrassment at having momentarily been startled by J'onn. J'onn offered him a sympathetic look as the man was clearly frantic before relief washed over him at the familiar face. As the endorphins wore off, however, he felt a severe headache starting at the base of his neck and radiating up through his head. Payton gingerly placed his palm to his forehead. "What happen..." He began to ask but his eyes landed on Batman and he was struck silent. "You're...alive..." he breathed out in amazement and sheer awe, when he processed exactly who the man was.

"So it would seem." Batman said simply, firmly and with absolute conviction.

"Joey, you found Batman." Payton turned to the woman. She felt one corner of her mouth come up in contempt, but in a vague smirk as well. She offered him a little nod toward J'onn.

"Nope. Our inconspicuous Martian foundhim. Lets just hope he's the Jesus-like savior you all hope he will be. You let us down, I'm taking this straight to the big guy when I'm dead." She pointed at the ceiling and wrinkled her nose. J'onn frowned for a moment, his eyes turning curiously up to her as he wasn't quite sure what she meant. But then again, he found himself often wondering what exactly it was Joey meant by some of her off-color humor. Batman ignored her entirely and turned his attention to Payton.

"Dr. Lionel, you created these beings. They're your creations. You know them better than anyone, you're the mind behind how they've come to be...I need to know exactly that. The how part."

Nothing was more surprising to J'onn than when Payton's mind exploded with a very specific emotion; shame. There was clear regret on his face, embarrassment in his eyes and even an overwhelming cloud of despair that sank into his body as Payton's shoulders slumped. "I didn't mean...I didn't mean to create this, to bring to them this tragedy. My work has become nothing but a mockery to all I've stood for...the hows don't matter so much as the end result which is...it's just murder." Payton dipped his head down, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and his voice laced with self-loathing. J'onn was overwhelmed by Payton's thoughts of his worth, which were upsetting for how little he believed in himself. He had never encountered a person, thus far, so ready to just give up on himself as Payton was. In both a personal and public level; regret for every moment of his life thus far and therefore he placed no value on living it any longer. "I am a murderer...I know this, but I know of no way to stop this. Not for how far its come...

"Nothing but blind greed and misplaced passion was what they were created from; and now, I fear nothing can save them. There is no hope anymore...what does it matter how it happened if there is no way to stop it? If you mean to punish me for it, to give me what I deserve, by all means. You'll be doing me a favor - doing these people, who have done nothing but suffer because of me, a favor." Payton truly believed it too; J'onn could tell as it took all of Payton's effort to keep tears from falling down his face.

J'onn felt Joey tense up beside him all the while Payton was speaking. He could sense that she was alarmed by the way Payton had taken Batman's explanation of the doctor's work. She glanced up at the Martian and shook her head a little. "Payton!" She finally said firmly, cutting him off and stepping between the doctor and Batman. "Listen to me! You need to help with this, we need you here, right now. Batman can help, he has an idea, a plan, but he needs to you to help better understand how it can best be executed. Because he's right, this is on you...but its on you to fix it too. Not all hope is lost. Are you going to keep doing this instead? Are you going to keep standing there and pissing and moaning about what happened? Are you going to let Ash die? Or are you going to rectify what you freaking started?" She took a small step forward and caught Payton's arm. "Lex has Ash...he'll die, just like Amy, if you don't pull it together and focus that brilliant mind everyone talks about. This isn't about you." She told him simply, but firmly.

Somehow her words got into his head, or under his skin, J'onn couldn't be sure which because Payton's mindset shifted. J'onn could feel it as his thoughts bled to nothing but understanding in Joey's words, motivation even. He knew of how Amy had died and therefore knew of her importance; but he was shocked by how Joey's roughness had pushed Payton. In fact, his whole posture straighten as his eyes lifted and his shoulders squared. He could also hear Joey's internal triumph, but it was almost as if she knew it would happen. It was just a matter of how long before she would succeed on working Payton's weaknesses - or his strengths - J'onn couldn't be sure which she'd used as a tool to get the doctor focused.

"What must I do?" He asked Batman with more conviction than J'onn had ever seen him with. Love - in so many forms - was truly what drove those around him. J'onn had seen it in so many capacities that he couldn't help but be intrigued by how fully they, all humans even, were consumed by it.

It was then that Batman explained the serum that he had developed and the effect it would have. He told Payton how it would strike and enhance one of the inner most primal needs of all natural creatures, their flight or fight desire in battle, and how that would break them of Lex's artificial hold on them. He confirmed, from Payton, that they were chemically altered - and that it only worked temporarily - to obey Lex through use of pheromones.

"He's smart, you see. Lex...you must know it already. Pheromones are such a powerful unseen and naturally occurring phenomenon that Lex cashed in on early in the project. He had me engineer an injection that would give the altered creatures the illusion that he was their parent though the use of pheromones, until I could develop a way to genetically embed, in their inherent make up, a gene which would make them perfectly obedient. But I never perfected it and he's been relying on the pheromone concoction."

J'onn could almost sense a sort of smile on Batman's lips, though it was hard to tell on his very stoic face. "Then we're lucky. My 'antidote' won't work against genetic restructuring." Payton gave a small nod in agreement before he continued.

"Inoculating them will take too long though." Payton said. "We would have to inject each one and some might be hostile. To free them, as you suggest, we will need to do it much faster. Lex has eyes everywhere, it will take us too long to inject each creature before he realizes we're even there. I get that you would prefer to work alone and that this is your plan. However, I think you may needour help for what I'm about to suggest." He nodded to the vial of silvery liquid that Batman had produced to explain his plan, and to confirm it would undo whatever Payton had done. "I have access to the ventilation system. If we inject it directly into the air supply it will effect the whole facility in a matter of minutes...maybe seconds. It will release all of the visiugo from Lex's hold immediately, faster than he can regain control. They will have the chance to escape."

"But...if you put it in the air, won't it effect the people too?" Joey asked, her eyebrows pinching together momentarily.

"Yes." Batman said simply as J'onn expected he agreed with Payton's theory as he didn't deny it. "But it won't matter. It won't impact them negatively. It will temporarily instill the same trait in them that it will in the captured visiugo and creatures of Lex, but the idea is only to break the wall down and give them their freedom - not to permanently change them. It's supposed to be natural, unlike what he has done to them. People are just animals with the ability to reason...sometimes. Others, they are pure instinct." Joey's nostrils flared at him. "You think I'm joking? Mobs lose their humanity, I've seen it. Crowds aren't people when incited to violence. Neither will they."

"And you think this is a good idea then - because those people will become a crowd when they suddenly want to get the hell out of there or fight each other to death." Joey said in disbelief.

"Yes." Payton informed her quietly, before Batman could interject. "A few casualties for the whole will be worth it. These people need to be freed. You know that. It's the only way to stop Lex. It's the only way to fix this for good."

Joey, however, already knew that. It was bitter reality that couldn't be missed and J'onn knew it too. It was just that her mouth had shot off without her. "That's why we'll be there." Batman said, in general. "To stop the fights and encourage their escape. Even the employees, the human ones."

J'onn bowed his head softly in agreement. "Then our plan is set." He agreed too before glancing to Joey. It was then that Joey knew this wasn't just going to be a prison break.

This was going to be the end of a war. Someone was going to win and someone was going to lose. The victor was still unknown.

Author's Note :: As always we would like to take a moment to thank our readers, those of you who have travelled this journey with us and those of you who may be new. We greatly appreciate you making it this far. We have written Chapter 11 as well. It is being edited at this point and hopefully will be posted soon. We apologize about the delay in this chapter's being posted. We both were busy with work and school, and when we had time to write we were together rather than at our computers. The beach was our playground this past weekend. If anything, it allowed for inspiration to carry us and give us the creative juices to really invest our time into these next two chapters. We do hope you enjoyed this one and that you will like the next.

To Anahnee, thank you so much for your dedication. We can't say it enough. We appreciate your encouragement and CC. We hope to not disappoint you. Furthermore, I (Mandy that is) remarked at how I feel it's a shame that you have not come across responsible writers as far as OC's go. It's a shame, for almost everyone in fact, as I have the same argument. Jackie was well. We both found it sad that you are duped for the most part into reading a story because the OC seems good and then is changed. I can assure you, if there is one thing we try our very best to do, it's stay true to our characters. Joey will forever be sardonic. Even when she softens, usually briefly, she's still just as cynical. Murphy will always smile and be hopeful, Ash will always be skeptical and distant for his OCD and Payton uncertain of himself. We try to remain true to them and are beyond delighted to hear that you enjoyed Joey in this chapter. Just in general we are glad to hear it. Thank you.

Please, we'd be glad to hear what anyone who's reading this story thinks. If you have a moment, please, please let us know. V/R Mandy and Jackie.