Disclaimer : I don't own J'onn J'onzz, or any of the other Justice League characters. They all belong to DC comics. I do own a few copies of the comics, and my tape of Secret Origins.

Authors note : I am so pleased with all the reviews and support I've had for this fic, this chapter is meant to be an extra long one to make up for all the short chapters before it. Hopefully they'll all be this size, or more, from now on. Thanks for this chapter must go to all my reviwers, and Artemis Hawk for listening to me rabble over AIM *hugs* go read her Hawkgirl fic now ^^ It's good :-D

And now for our feature presentation *grins* and yes, I suck at battle scenes, as you will see :-p [and coming up with chapter names beginning with 'r' ^_^;]


Recovery
Chapter seven - Refusal






"Coma...but how could that happen?"

From his last words, Batman had stunned the entire league. Even Flash was dumfounded by this sudden, and unexpected news. It all seemed too much for any of them to accept. That one of their friends could be affected by something so badly, that it threatened their life. Perhaps it was the fact that most of the group were in some way, invulnerable to almost anything, and had such powers, that would be unimaginable by the normal population of the world.

It did not seem right that this should happen.

And even more so that it had not been as a result of a direct confrontation with any villain...but a seemingly unnoticed foe.

Fear.

J'onn had always seemed so distant from them, more so when there was nothing to fight against. In those times, the gap seemed wider than ever. None of them could say with absolute sincerity that in that first battle, against the Invaders, when they had met him, that they had not doubted him. That then, they had not thought he could be trouble, or not to be trusted.

All could say now, that whatever feelings they had then, would not apply now.

They could all say, that they trusted him completely, as they did each other. It didn't matter that J'onn was not human... Superman wasn't, neither was Hawkgirl [and some even, jokingly of course, suggested Batman couldn't be human] and they trusted them! But it was easier to get closer to them. Superman, or Hawkgirl did not have the weight of seeing their planet overrun, their families killed, and then being alone. The former knew what it was like to have a planet destroyed, and the latter being in turmoil, but Superman had been too young, and Hawkgirl not to the same degree. And she seemed more able to bear negativity than J'onn.

Despite his ferocity during battle, outside of it, J'onn was sensitive more so than any of them. He often seemed unable to joke, though would sometimes come out with a humorous outlook or suggestion. But for the most part, he felt, and appeared, alone.

And all of them were determined to change that.

If he recovered.

That thought was too horrible to think about.

- - - - -

Watchtower duty.

Which literally meant what it said, watching the tower.

Which was, quite unsurprisingly, boring.

Especially when the life of one of your friends was hanging over you whatever you were doing.

Batman would never admit it, but he was worried, and his expressions, firmly folded from years of crime fighting, and the events of his childhood, would not let anybody know what he was feeling.

The only person who had ever been able to tell, without asking, what was wrong, had been J'onn. Even Alfred had sometimes been clueless about such things, but his Martian friend had no such trouble.

If you were to take the telepathy into consideration, it made perfect sense.

Except that he knew with absolute certainty that J'onn would never do that.

For one, he would not violate his privacy on any costs, unless it was a matter of life and death. For example, some sort of demonic possession [which was more likely to happen than it seemed] He didn't know if if was some sort of code for his race, or simply a part of who he was, but it stood that J'onn would never, ever do such a thing.

Which made what happened next, slightly unexpected, to say the least.

The other thing, was that, for all the seemingly distance he would put between them, J'onn trusted them with his life. And he in return, trusted J'onn. When you looked at the fact of destroying the philosophers stone to save them, instead of holding onto the hope that LeFay's promise would still ring true, it showed just how deep his trust would go.

Batman's time was now divided between his stints of heroic venture in Gotham, in the black garb that had served him so well for many years, and remaining at the watchtower, and then usually in the med-bay.

He knew that somewhere, somehow, there was a solution that would help J'onn.

But so far, he had not found it.

It was close to midnight when it happened. Though with their base being a floating satellite type construction in space, above the Earth, it could be considered to be any time of the day. But as they all had met in America, and most had either been brought up, born, or now lived there, it was the obvious time zone to have as the Watchtower. It actually was tuned to the same part of the US time zone that had been the site of their first meeting, on the mountains close to the facility where J'onn had been held captive.

He had been hunched over a computer console, trying to work out something that could help, when he noticed the readings for the brain activity fluctuating.

Slight changes could be attributed to when he had been ill...

But in a coma, the readings should not have been changing at all.

Studying it closer, Batman could see that they were the only readings with any sort of difference. Breathing, heart rate, metabolic reaction, they all stayed exactly the same.

In any normal human in a coma, when brain readings changed, their physical condition would make a change also.

Wait a second...

It made sense.

Physical condition...

The only way that J'onn's brain readings could change, without any other life signs doing the same, would be if his telepathy were being used. When the Invaders on Earth had held him captive, he had been able to send a telepathic message to Superman, even when secured with restraints, and under sedation. He had no control over his physical body...

But his mind...had been left free.

Not completely...J'onn had said that while captive, he had been fitted with a device that would send a pulse throughout him whenever he tried to use his telepathy, in an attempt to block it from his use. But with supreme strength, and force of will, he had overcome it, and sent his message.

So why not now...

Perhaps his body was weak, and the punishment he had put himself through had taken it to the point where he had fallen into the coma...but his mind was still there.

Maybe he could reach J'onn...

But how was he to accomplish this...

When J'onn used them to contact his friends, he did not have to physically touch, which made it possible to do it from a great distance. But when he himself had been held captive by Lex Luthor and his 'Injustice gang', after breaking the machine that held him, Batman had been able to reach J'onn simply by thinking it in his mind.

Well, it was worth a shot.

But it didn't work, and he slammed his fist onto the table.

"Why..." he muttered; now pacing around the room.

The problem was simple, when he thought about it. J'onn's condition did not help much, and that he was not on the alert for Batman to try this.

Also, he had a sneaking suspicion that when he had left to spy on Lex Luthor and his gang, J'onn had created a telepathic link between them, but carefully hid it to avoid detection.

So what now...

Perhaps, he thought; since J'onn was not strong enough to initiate telepathic contact on his own...some sort of physical contact was needed. The somber fact was that it appeared to be the only thing left to try, and if he didn't find any way to get through to J'onn, he would remain in the coma...and it could be for a very long time...

Batman glanced over at the monitors once more, hoping for some sort of blip, a waver, something to indicate that he was recovering.

But there was nothing.

When his hand came into contact with the green forehead, he felt a small spark shudder throughout his entire body, from the hand, right through to his feet. It was a totally eerie feeling, not at all painful, and in essence was like the static shock one would have after rubbing against material, then touching something metallic in nature. It could be a sign that his suspicions were correct, and this made him more hopeful.

Encouraged by this sign, Bruce then opened up his mind, just as he had done when held captive by Lex Luthor, after tricking Grundy and destroying the force field which had meant to prevent him from contacting J'onn. It was almost impossible to place into words how telepathic contact worked, and even that short message he had sent then took a great deal of concentration, and also information discovered when he had discussed it with J'onn once. The best way to describe it, was to liken the whole process as thinking what you wanted to say to whoever the target was in your mind, then trying to...send it to them.

It sounded strange, and difficult, but it was completely true.

Inhaling deeply, for there was nobody around who could see this small lapse in his character, and if any had been there, they would have most probably tried to prevent him from doing it.

'J'onn, can you hear me?'

He spoke it mentally, aiming it at the mind of the Martian who lay in the bio-bed in front of him. Batman kept his hand on the long forehead, and could feel a slight throbbing, from one of the blood vessels underneath the skin. This in itself was normal; a human could put their hand on his or her forehead and feel their own as well.

For a minute he didn't hear anything except his own breathing, that of his friend, and the slight noises of the various machines in the room.

It happened gradually, but he soon found himself becoming aware that all the sounds in the room became more muted, dimming down in volume. Even his own breathing started to fade into the background. The sensation of actually taking in air to his lungs was still there, but the sound was not. In fact, every single other sound around him was gone, and nothing but a dead silence remained.

"J'onn?"

Still nothing, and doubts emerged inside, was the experiment working, or had it all just been a empty hope...

Then he felt the spark again, and without anything else to distract him, no breathing, no noise of any kind, and now he didn't feel in any physical sense of the word, Batman was able to follow it.

"tman..."

"J'onn?"  That voice had not been his own, not from his mouth or his mind, and though there was no face to put to it, and the word had been left unfinished, he knew it was him, how could it be anyone else...diving in deeper, his mental self grasped at the tiny spark as it drifted further away. He had no hands to catch it with in the mental plane of existence, no idea of what would happen when he caught it. But that didn't matter at that moment; nothing seemed to matter except finding it, catching it...

He caught it.

Not with his hands, or his feet, or any part of his body, it was caught in his mind, where determination, perseverance and courage dwelled, and the place in which all his strength to complete his duty as Batman lay. Where as Bruce Wayne, his analytical, intelligence, and good humour had a home.

He caught the spark, what he believed completely and absolute, to be the essence of J'onn J'onzz...

...with his will.

The moment he did, everything around him faded, and a disorientated feeling flowed throughout him.

"atman..."

"J'onn, where are you?"

"tman..."

"J'onn?"  He strained his hearing further to try and grasp what was being said, the voice became stronger, but each time he heard his name being called, it was cut off, or not completed. Feeling himself being drawn deeper and deeper into a strange void after capturing the essence, any attempt at struggling out was in vain.

It seemed all at once that the void halted.

The disorientation ebbed away, his thoughts becoming clearer. Batman could feel his heartbeat again, stretching out his fingers, and inhaling and exhaling. All of his physical feeling was back after the strange experience.

But what was to become after he opened his eyes was even more bizarre.

Batman found himself standing on warm red sand, gazing around he saw mountainous peaks edging towards the sky in the distance. Hills more nearby. Then, much nearer, there were buildings of difference shapes and sizes, which to an architect would seem strange. Some were tall and thin, others short and rounded. Many had balconies jutting out from the tops, and most were of a tinted blue. In the sky was the sun, and though extremely faint, two moons could be seen.

Somehow, he had entered J'onn's memories of his home and family. For he had no doubt where he now stood.

On Mars.

He knew it wasn't possible to physically be on the red planet, which obviously meant that this was a product of J'onn's memories.

Hearing a sound, he turned to see that the peaceful serenity of the planet was being disrupted, as explosions raged throughout the landscape. His dread increased as from the smoke came the form of the spindly legs of the large structure that had landed on earth after being thought to be a meteor.

It was the tool of the Invaders, who had tried to use them to destroy the Earth, but failed.

The same could not be said of Mars, and Batman realized that this must be the memory contained within J'onn of when the Invaders were taking over the red planet.

Seconds later he had made it into the center of the city, and terrified Martians, female, male, children, young and old were running frantically in every direction. They seemed not to notice Batman walking amongst them, and when one ran straight through him, it became obvious that here he had no actual form.

His hearing caught the sound of a cry.

"M'y'ria!"

The name seemed familiar, and he had to think hard before it registered in his mind.

He had heard it at the home of Henry Moss, one of the remaining living archeologists who had excavated the castle where the philosophers stone had been for centuries. They had been searching for the stone in hopes of getting it before LeFay, but she had come looking for it as well. But whilst he and Etrigen had fought her, J'onn had fallen into the same delusion that the sorceress had inflicted on him when he had tried to connect with her mind.

Just before Etrigen had angrily connected a blow to try and get him out of it, J'onn had uttered that name, arms reaching forward to what must have been an illusion.

Etrigan had reached into J'onn's mind when he was first attacked mentally by LeFay, and obviously knew what had gone on there, but had said nothing.

Turning to the direction the sound had come from, he could see a group of Invaders, in their original forms, advancing on a Martian. Of those, three held prisoners of another adult, more slender than the other, obviously a female, and two much smaller, children.

Realization dawned on Batman at that moment.

The way he had heard J'onn call out that name...

It held tones of protectiveness, sincerity...and love.

M'y'ria was his wife, which meant the Martian being forced backwards towards a wall, must be J'onn, and the two smaller Martians, his children.

They were struggling, and crying out. But even more distressing was the fact that the grip of another, M'y'ria was not moving at all. Her head hung down, eyes lifeless, and her arms and legs lay limply.

For a moment Batman was reminded of the sight just after his own parents had been killed...he could imagine exactly how J'onn's children had felt right then. And to know that this was just an illusion, and that they would not survive into the future, was even more chilling.

J'onn was obviously just as distressed as it could be.

The invader closest to him, like the others was holding a weapon, and pointing it at him. Then he spoke, with no mouth it was impossible to tell. He said something, but it must have been in Martian language, or their own, because he didn't understand it.

Whatever it was, J'onn understood it, and his eyes flashed with anger, his posture tensed and fist clenched.

"You will not get away with this!" he shouted, and the Invader seemed to chuckle.

"Brave words for someone who shall not live long" it said, slipping into Martian, which Batman could understand from the mental link.  It then motioned to the two who were holding the children, who then let go and they ran towards him.

But before they even got close, the Invader who had spoken to J'onn motioned again to their captors, and both raised their arms, and aimed their weapons at the running children.

Batman could see what was coming, and so could J'onn, who tried to run to them, but anger crossed his face as more Invaders grabbed his arms and stopped him from going any further. He struggled against them, but they took their weapons and fired a small shot at him. He fell to his knees crying in pain, and was soon firmly in their grip.

Just as the shots were fired, and both children fell.

The cry of anguish was so great, that J'onn was able to throw his captors away from him, and run across to where they lay.

Lifeless...just as M'y'ria was.

He cradled them, tears spilling from his eyes, which he closed as he cried.

Then, gently, he lay them both down, and stood, eyes flaring at those who had just killed them.

And he attacked.

He took out the first three without any difficultly, phasing when they tried to shoot at him, then connecting with his fists afterwards.

Then as he was dealing with the fourth, another, behind him, was creeping up stealthily. Unconsciously, Batman reached into his utility belt, pulled out a batarang, and flung it at the Invader, flinging his weapon from his hands, and causing it, the others, and J'onn, to look at where it had originated.

J'onn's expression was one of shock, and slight relief, since he had been helped, and the Invaders seemed confused, though it was hard to tell. Whatever they were feeling, they obviously deemed him a threat, and began firing. The next few minutes were spent trying to get the remaining Invaders away from them.

During this heated battle, both were moving around so much that soon they found themselves back to back.

Which was when Batman got yet another surprise, as J'onn looked at him, not with confusion as to who he was, but more of a confusion to as why he was there. A spark of recognition in his eyes and he uttered the other's name with some surprise. But there was no time to stop at the moment, there were still more of the Invaders left to fight, two in fact, for each fighter [Ok...I've been reading too many DBZ fics ^_^;]

But they did not seem as confident as before, now that their companions had been felled, and it wasn't long before both lay in the dirt, send sprawling by the combined attacks of Batman and J'onn.

The sky above was darkened, as the Invaders had done to Earth, since they lived in perpetual darkness, but there was still enough of a light to fight, and to see.

It was unlikely this peace would last for long; more Invaders would surely be coming to find what had happened to the others.

J'onn looked at Batman.

Batman, looked at J'onn.

"How is it you are here?" J'onn finally asked, after a few seconds of silence, which seemed to stretch out more than they had actually been.

"You know me?"

A nod.

"Yes, we fight together..." he trailed off "...but I cannot understand why I am here" his head hung, and eyes dulled, he glanced back to the bodies of his family, which, despite what had happened, only looked as if they were sleeping. It seemed better this way.

"I have failed them" J'onn murmured, "It is because of this I deserve to see it again, I must not be allowed to be happy"

Batman swore "Like hell you don't!"

J'onn said nothing

"You didn't fail them!" Batman growled, "You did the best you could to save them!"

"But it wasn't enough..."

He swore again, clenching his fist and sending a glare at the Martian, who kept his downcast expression.

"I know what it's like to see someone you care be killed..." Batman began, for once, letting his guard down. Normally he would not let it down for anyone, but in these circumstances, he would permit it. And for somebody who had helped him countless times, even when he had been unwilling to accept he needed it, he felt it was his duty to help.

"I know that feeling, and I kept thinking that I could have saved them" he paused "But I know deep down, that I couldn't, that I did everything possible, and that I can't change the past"

He looked at J'onn, who met his gaze uneasily.

"But I can change the future"

For a brief moment, it seemed as if what he was saying was getting through.

Only for a moment.

Then J'onn turned away "No... you were young..." he knew about what had happened, and this only made him more anguished "But I am an adult...I did not try hard enough!"

"J'onn!"

The Martian said nothing, simply walking away, until he became nothing more than a figure in the distance, obscured by the swirling sands. Batman made to go after him, but it had only been a few steps taken before he felt the disorientating feeling, washing over him again.

It was too late, as he found himself back in the watchtower, in the med bay, and his mind no longer connected to J'onn's own.

He felt angry, with himself, and with J'onn. He had hoped to convince his friend not to give up, but it had not worked then.

But now, he did have a plan, and next time, he was sure it would work.

And now, he admitted he needed help.