10.

Resting on the red, rocky soil of Mars, M'gann's Bioship gave off a white smoke as it lay at an angle upside down. Behind the ship some hundred yards out was a deep trench where it crashed and slid along the ground until colliding with a slanted boulder buried halfway in the dirt. Marks from where it was struck with the heated energy blasts and soldier's spears were blistering over in an effort to heal as the fire slowly came to an end, mostly in part to the wave of sandish dirt flying on it from the impact and the other from the living vessel taking care of herself.

Groaning, J'onn slowly crawled out from underneath a pile of dirt he was buried under. As the soil fell away, he clutched his side, wincing from the pain while getting to his feet.

"Carter?" the injured Martian asked. "Carter!"

Grunting as he stood from a hunched position, J'onn hurried back to the ship where he saw the boy exiting the cargo area. Looking disoriented, Carter took a few stumbling steps before looking up and spotting his uncle.

"Carter, are you okay? Are you injured?" J'onn asked. He looked over the child and saw no injuries.

"I'm okay. Just a little dizzy from the, the spins." He then bent over and threw up.

Going over his mind with his telepathy, J'onn saw he was right. His Kryptonian side must have protected him from any injury, save the nauseating feeling he received from the ship spinning as it fell through the air. Then there was his father's piloting to avoid being hit that made it worse.

"Just take it easy for a few minutes." Helping the boy to a nearby rock to sit on, J'onn headed to the ship to check on Conner when the Kryptonian made his way out.

Covered in red dirt, Conner brushed himself off and coughed several times. His eyes stung from when the windshield shattered upon impact and soil covered the inside of the cockpit. As he looked back at the crashed ship, he sighed angrily with their fastest way of traveling down for the time being.

"Great," Conner muttered when he felt a very familiar mental presence. "Carter?!"

"Uh oh." If there was a time Carter wished he had the ability to camouflage himself like his mother, this was really that time.

Seeing his father with an angry look on his face, Carter stood up and retreated behind J'onn as if the Martian's legs could ward off his father or hide him. Instead, his uncle gave a sigh and stepped to the side, shaking his head as he looked down at the boy.

"What are you doing here?" Conner demanded.

"Um," Carter answered as he tried to stay out of his father's grasp.

"Carter, get over here." Watching the child give up at his order, Conner stood with his hands on his hips. "Why didn't you mind me and stay at your grandparents house?"

"I, I wanted to help get mom," Carter answered quietly as if he were afraid to speak.

"I told you to stay at your grandma and grandpa's house for a reason," Conner growled. "This is too dangerous for you to be involved in."

"I just want mom."

"I know that!" Turning back to look at the ship, Conner gave a huff and shook his head. He then looked back over at J'onn. "How long before the ship repairs herself?"

"At least twenty-four hours until she is able to fly again. The damage she sustained is serious."

"So we fly."

"Dad." Carter said.

"Hold on," Conner told him. "Have any idea where Mal-whatshisname could be going?"

"Dad."

"None whatsoever," J'onn told him.

"Dad!"

"What, Carter?" Conner huffed. Trying to figure out their next move while attempting to discipline his son was trying his patience, especially when it involved his wife being at the mercy of an evil Martian.

Pointing off in the distance, Carter drew the attention of his father and uncle. Several soldiers under Ma'alefa'ak's control were flying towards their position. Stepping in front of the others, Conner squinted his eyes and switched to his infrared vision, giving him a clearer idea of how many there were.

"How many?" J'onn asked.

"I count five flying close together," Conner answered. "Maybe six. It's hard to tell with how close they're together."

"We need to know where M'gann is." Stepping beside his nephew-in-law, J'onn made sure his side was covered by his cape. His injury was bleeding again from both the fight and the crash and he did not want him to know he was hurting like he was.

"Can you read their minds?" Conner asked.

"If they are unconscious, it would be easier."

"Consider it done."

"This mean we're gonna fight, dad?" Carter asked hopefully.

"We're going to fight. You're going to hide." Grabbing his son by the back of his shirt, Conner lifted him up and carried him towards the ship.

"But I-"

"Not but's. I told you to stay at your grandparents and you disobeyed. That was stupid of you to do that, Carter."

"D, dad?"

Reaching the ship, Conner looked around the area before putting his son down. "Now do as I say and stay hidden until we get what we need." Making sure Carter was within the cargo area, Conner grabbed a large boulder and rolled it far enough to block any view of his son with only a small gap between the wall and rock. "Stay here. Stay hidden. Stay out of trouble."

Watching his father leave, Carter's lip quivered. He had never heard his father say anything like that to him. He then sat on the floor and hugged his knees close. "I'm not stupid."

Jogging back to where J'onn was, who had taken position within a crevice in the rocky surface, Conner slid next to him and watched as the incoming Martians came closer.

"Do you think you are being a little harsh with him?" J'onn asked once Conner was beside him.

"It's not like I spanked him, J'onn," Conner replied.

"No, but the way you spoke to him. He is just worried about M'gann, like we are."

"He should have listened to me and stayed with M'gann's parents. I'm trying to get M'gann back, thinking of a way to stop this Malific without dying, and now I have to worry about him." Conner gave a sigh. "I'm trying, J'onn. I'm trying to keep him safe and he refuses to listen and do as I say. You know as well as I do that he should not have been born, it should be impossible for him to exist. But now that he is, that M'gann and I actually conceived a son…I will not lose him. I will keep him safe and make sure nothing happens to him."

"As long as I have known you, Conner," J'onn said. "It has never failed to surprise me how much you have embraced fatherhood like you have and how much you care for my niece, the way she deserves to be cared for."

"I promised I would always be there for them. To protect our son. I swore it. M'gann wanted a family we thought we couldn't have, but now that we do," keeping low, Conner saw the group of soldiers land, "I will gladly give my life for them."

He was the first one out of the trench to fight the group.

(-)

Standing with shackles around her wrists and ankles, M'gann was surrounded by handmaidens with two Martian soldiers guarding a large hole carved into a slab of rock. The females around her carefully cleansed her body after she attacked Cy'an, making sure all traces of dirt was washed off and applied lotion to her skin for softness. Two, each with a hand of hers, made sure her knuckles were taken care of after the fight she put up. Others covered her in perfumes, giving her the scent of a Martian flower known for being an aphrodisiac. She was being pampered, her every need taken care of to look her best.

She hated it.

Wakening while being taken to the military Bioship, she played 'dead' and sought to find a way to escape. She remembered hearing Ma'alefa'ak speak about the way he had the maidens form her body to suit his tastes, making her feel sick as she could feel his eyes go over every inch of her. Unlike Conner, Ma'alefa'ak's ogling was disgusting at best. Conner loved her for who she was first, his attractiveness to her for her looks came shortly after, and she did of course enhance herself for him when they were intimate in their private moments together, it was all through the love they shared. Ma'alefa'ak was the complete opposite and made it clear as she overheard him proclaim her abilities would serve him once she was under his control with her body serving his needs as he reigned. It made her feel extremely cheap, dirty, objectified, and worthless.

"Now, let us shift your linen into what our master has chosen for you," one of the handmaidens said softly.

Rolling her eyes, M'gann sneered as she could only imagine what Ma'alefa'ak wanted her to wear. There were too many maidens to fight through, the guards were armed with their spears, facing out into the hall but able to respond at a moment's notice with a long way back to where she was telekinetically carried in from. She just had to bide her time. How much she had was unknown though.

Placing her hands on the white dress M'gann wore, the handmaiden concentrated on changing its appearance. Shrinking, the dress took on a skimpier appearance. Forming something resembling a red thong bikini, M'gann felt even more objectified as it was obviously meant to show off her new voluptuous shape. A golden metal wrap formed around her waist, showing off her hips as it formed a long blue loincloth reaching to the floor in front and back. A Martian design decorated the front of the metal piece signifying she was a claimed woman with Ma'alefa'ak's 'Y' shaped crest on the plate. The bra piece formed golden metal designs over the red material used for royalty, symbols that had not been seen since before she was born as there was no Martian king and queen or had been for a few hundred years. Her new outfit did not stop there as gold bangles formed on her wrists with a white sheer material stretching from their sides to her back where it attached to her inhibiter collar to form an inverted 'Y' shaped cape for her. Gold bangles were added to her biceps with another one forming a garter on her right thigh.

"There now, just as our master requested. Ornaments to peak his interests before he claims you as his queen." As one, the handmaidens looked M'gann over, each expressing their approval of their work.

"Disgusting," M'gann muttered as she turned her head. She only wanted her husband to see her in such an outfit, for him to look at her the way she was sure Ma'alefa'ak would.

"Now, we just need to remove the ring from her former mate and she will be ready for our master."

Clutching her left hand to her chest, M'gann glared at each of the handmaidens. "You can try, but you will fail. I won't hold back."

"Neither will I, M'gann."

With several gasps, the handmaidens turned and quickly knelt down on a knee as Ma'alefa'ak entered the room. Like she anticipated, M'gann was right in the way he looked her over, licking his teeth as if she were a meal for him. She never felt more disgusted and angry as she had in that moment.

"Neither will I."

(-)

"This is stupid." Hiding behind a boulder, Conner and his son watched as J'onn shifted himself to resemble one of the soldiers they had fought.

The battle was over quickly as both heroes got the drop on the soldiers, taking them out with one left over. Like his Martian uncle-in-law stated, it was easy to read his mind and they soon had the information they needed to get to M'gann as well as other information they desperately needed to pull a rescue off.

Keeping out of sight, Conner kept his eye on J'onn as he headed for the front entrance of Ma'alefa'ak's mountain hideout. The plan had been simple, J'onn would disguise himself as a soldier, gain admittance, and grant Conner inside as Carter hid outside the mountain until they got M'gann out.

"Why is it stupid?" Carter asked in a voice that seemed far away.

"It just is. He should have phased us in and we go from there."

"That sounds stupid."

Turning to his son, Carter raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The boy did not say a word. He only held his head down.

"What's wrong?" Conner asked. When his son did not respond, he asked again and received one heck of an answer as Carter began crying. "Whoa, hey, what's wrong?" he said as he got down to a knee. "Carter?"

"You said I was stupid," Carter cried. "Why am I stupid?"

"What?"

"You said I was stupid."

"I never said you were stupid-"

"Yes you did," the boy angrily said. "You called me stupid because I want mommy."

Sighing, Conner moved so he was in front of his son. "Carter, I never called you stupid. I called what you did stupid. I told you to stay where you would be safe and you didn't listen."

"I just want mommy back."

"I know." Taking his son in his arms, Conner stroked his hair. "I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I need to keep you safe. That's why I told you to stay at your grandparents' house. When I said what you did was stupid was about you making the wrong choice and putting yourself in danger. We don't know all of your powers yet and don't want you getting hurt. I'm sorry. I just don't want you hurt."

Hugging his father, Carter held on tight for a few moments when they heard gravel being disturbed. Looking up, the adult Kryptonian saw J'onn.

"There were two guards," the Martian League member told him. "We are clear to go in. M'gann is on the third floor being prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Conner asked.

"To become Ma'alefa'ak's wife and queen of Mars. He wants her powers for himself and seeks to mind wipe her to be obedient to only him. I have gained more information from the guards I came across, Conner. We must hurry."

Looking down at Carter, Conner sighed heavily. All these years of hearing what others said about him came back to him with how his son refused to stay put. He was just as hardheaded as he was. The familiarity had him form a small grin. "Let's go get your mother, son."

"Y, you're letting me go with you?" Carter asked.

"If I know where you are, I don't have to worry about you. Stay close to J'onn and he'll keep you camouflaged. If there's a fight, get away and we'll take care of it. Mind me this time."

"Okay," Carter said excitedly. "I promise." He then changed his outfit, molding his Biosuit to resemble what his father was wearing with a shield on his chest. Inside the red shield was a red 'X' like his mother wore. "I'm like you, daddy. A hero."

Grinning, Conner nodded. "Let's go SuperMartian."

J'onn could not help but pick up on the pride Conner felt and the excitedness of Carter as they made their way into the mountain to rescue M'gann.

As the group headed off, the near invisible shape of Cy'an came into view. Sneering, the Martian woman clutched her fists. J'onn had to be lying. Ma'alefa'ak promised to bestow M'gann's powers to her and make her his queen. He had told her so over the years she had been tending to him in his prison cell. For anyone to think differently was blasphemous and would suffer a painful death. She could have killed the three while they dealt with the soldiers, but an idea formed in her head. Maybe she could test the dark headed Earthling and her love, Ma'alefa'ak. She just needed to take care of J'onn and the kid first.