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Parents and Children, chapter 5

Match was in pain. His last meeting with the two torturers had been particularly brutal. He was fairly certain that he had serious injuries that could grow to be life-threatening if left unattended. He hadn't seen Luthor today; he wondered if he had angered the man enough to convince him to give up on his attempts to break him.

He heard alarms. A small smile formed across his lips. It looked like his captors had intruders.

Superboy was knocking down groups of guards. He was a little anxious since he hadn't seen Match. He and Nightwing were partnered as a pair, while Robin and Superman were another. The Martian Manhunter was off on his own, looking for Match.

"Superboy, to your right!" Nightwing called out.

Kon turned to face another squad of guards.

J'onn reached out with his telepathy, searching for Match's mind. The base's telepathic shielding was only effective when the shielding was between him and his subject; in the base, he could scan regularly. He caught traces of Match's thoughts and homed in on its location, disabling guards on the way.

He arrived at a door and ripped it down. A very injured Match was behind it, strapped to a metal chair. J'onn was shocked at the extent of the young man's injuries. He ripped off the straps and tried to rouse him with his telepathy.

"How bad is it?" J'onn asked. "Who did this to you?"

As J'onn wrapped Match in his cloak, Match whispered, "Luthor. It was...Luthor."

'I've found him,' J'onn's mental voice informed the others. 'He's alive.'

Conner breathed a sigh of relief. His brother was still alive.

'What shape is he in?' Superman asked via the telepathic link.

'Not good,' J'onn admitted. 'He said it was Luthor that was behind this.'

Superboy grimaced. He wanted to find Luthor and smash his face in.

'I'll bring him, but I'll stay back from the front line,' J'onn sent. 'If we have to leave in a hurry, he'll be with us.'

The five subdued all of Luthor's mercenaries in a relatively short time. Unfortunately, Luthor was no longer among them; he had either somehow known that they were coming and abandoned his men or was lucky to have happened to be absent.

Kon looked anxiously at Match. He was still huddled underneath J'onn's cloak. He looked so small and fragile.

Superman muttered, "He's got broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a ruptured spleen. He needs better medical attention than a hospital can give him."

"The Watchtower is not in any condition to treat his wound," J'onn said. "What about your fortress?"

Superman nodded. "It's the best place to take care of him. I'll recalibrate the medical bay for his physiology. Can you bring him there when I've finished?"

J'onn nodded, and Superman left.

After he left, Match somehow acquired one of the mercenary's guns and pointed it at two of the prisoners who were wearing lab coats.

"What are you doing?" Kon shouted. "Where did you get that gun?"

J'onn looked at Match, and his eyes widened. "They're the ones that did that to him."

"What?" Kon asked, shocked.

"Match, put the gun down," Nightwing coaxed him. "You don't want to do that."

A hologram of Luthor appeared.

"Don't you?" he asked. "Go ahead, Match. They're the ones who hurt you. They enjoyed hurting you. Make sure that they'll never hurt anyone again. Take your revenge!"

"Don't do it," Robin urged. "They're not worth it!"

Match looked at the two cowering men with cold, merciless eyes. Luthor's hologram smiled.

"They deserve it," he said. "They'll do it again if you don't stop them. Maybe they'll hurt someone you care about. They'd do the same thing to Superboy."

Match released the safety. Conner stepped towards him, but Match continued to aim the gun at the torturers, ignoring their cries.

"Do it!" Luthor ordered. "Prove you're worthy to your father!"

"That's it," Nightwing said in realization. "We were led here to witness this. He wants us to witness this; he wants to have made Match a murderer!"

"Shoot!" Luthor commanded.

Max held the gun on the torturers for another moment before he replaced the safety and handed the gun to Superboy.

"That's the right thing to do," Kon told him.

"You worthless dolt!" Luthor raged. "You soft-hearted weakling! You should have killed them!"

"I...I won't let you win," Match managed to say. "It's my choice...not yours."

Luthor's hologram disappeared.

"I thought he was going to shoot," Robin whispered to Nightwing.

"So did I," admitted Nightwing.

"If Luthor hadn't said anything, I might have," Match told them. "His propensity to gloat is one of his weaknesses."

J'onn gathered Match in his arms. "Superman's prepared his equipment to take care of you. I'll take you there. Superboy, Nightwing, Robin, please wait for the authorities to take the prisoners in custody."

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The final chapter will be the epilogue.

Any and all comments welcome!