Chapter 5

"But why can't she remember?" demanded Cosmic Boy in a fierce whisper outside the room, after he and Lightning Lad had been pushed out by Dream Girl.

"It's a normal reaction", Dream Girl explained. "It happens in about 76% of people who have experienced great physical, mental, or emotional trauma."

"All right, now you're scaring me", said Lightning Lad from near the door.

Ignoring him, Cosmic Boy hissed, "This – is - normal? This is amnesia!"

"Admittedly, it would have been better if it didn't happen, but I'm not surprised it did", said Dream Girl.

"And since when did you become the resident medical expert?" asked Lightning Lad in confusion.

"Since Brainy left and someone had to fill the post!" retorted Dream Girl. Her response evicted an uncomfortable silence. Most Legionnaires tried to avoid talking about their former teammate. A few who weren't so close to Brainy felt like he should have had better control over the dark side of his mind, but they all understood it hadn't truly been his fault, and didn't mention him because of the emotional gap he'd caused when he left.

"Look, it's an ordinary defense mechanism that the body employs when something bad's happened to it", Dream Girl continued in a gentler tone. The brain blocks out the memory of the incident to preserve its sanity."

"Sanity?" gritted Cosmic Boy.

"Saturn Girl's not going to go mad", Dream Girl said, impatient once more. "Her mind's stronger than that."

"Still…amnesia…not a good time…we need to know what happened!" exclaimed Cosmic Boy.

"And you will", Dream Girl told him exasperatedly. "Just as soon as Saturn Girl remembers it."

"Which is when?" demanded Cosmic Boy. "Are you even sure she's even going to manage to?"

"Most defensive amnesia victims recover their memory eventually", Dream Girl said. "She'll remember. And sooner than you think."

"That doesn't really answer my question", Cosmic Boy groused.

"I know. But it's the best I've got."

"Is it important enough to merit telling her what we saw?" asked Lightning Lad, a bit hesitantly. He didn't really want to have to describe the scenario to Saturn Girl, but he knew how important it was for her to remember. "Maybe that'll jog her memory."

"Uh-uh", Dream Girl deflected. "No way. Her mind blocked that memory for a reason. It will let her remember it when she's ready for it – usually in bits and pieces. For now, it's best we don't tell her anything."

"You're acting as if her mind has a mind of its own", grumbled Cosmic Boy. "And no pun intended."

"The brain is a powerful thing", said Dream Girl. "In some ways, it does have a mind of its own. It knows what's best to protect itself. Just be patient. I'll work with her a bit; see if I can get her to recreate the force field."

"Are you insane?" Lightning Lad demanded. "After what happened the first time she did it? There is just no way –"

"She's going to need that extra power for something in the future", Dream Girl told him. "I had another dream. She needs to be able to generate those force fields."

"Can you be more specific about what she's going to need force fields for?" asked Lightning Lad.

"I just saw her using a force field, that was it. Nothing else. But she needs to master this new power. Don't worry. I know how to do it. Now shoo. I've got to begin her therapy."

"Therapy?" grated Cosmic Boy.

"Analysis! Recovery! Call it whatever you want!" Dream Girl was starting to get seriously irritated. "I know what I need to do and how to do it. And if you two don't get away from here right now you're going to experience the advanced end of my hand-to-hand combat skills. Go tell the others Saturn Girl's awake, but stay there and let me do my work."

And with that, she went back inside the room and closed the door on them.

"What do you remember, Saturn Girl?" Dream Girl asked.

Saturn Girl frowned in concentration as she tried to piece her memory together. "There was trouble – in downtown Metropolis…the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains had escaped from jail. And I was fighting Esper…" She closed her eyes; this was where her memory failed. "There was a – a table, a metal table…" she managed to recall, "…and – and Esper was there too, and Emerald Empress, and the Eye, and…" She sighed. "I can't remember anything after that."

"It's all right", Dream Girl assured her. "That's a remarkable amount of information you've managed to retain, considering what happened."

"Then you know?" asked Saturn Girl.

"I know what happened in the beginning and end of it all", Dream Girl said cautiously. "But only you know the middle of it."

"I'll try to remember", Saturn Girl promised. "But right now I feel really tired."

"It's only natural", said Dream Girl. "Get some rest – you don't have to stay in sick bay anymore, but you shouldn't exert yourself. I'm sure the others are waiting to see you, but if you want, I can chase them away with threats of horrifying fates for them if they disturb you."

"Would they believe you?" asked Saturn Girl interestedly.

"Maybe, maybe not", Dream Girl admitted. "But if they don't, I can always kick them away – with force."

She laughed, as did Saturn Girl.

"Thanks for the offer, Dream Girl", said the telepath. "But I think I'll be all right."

The next week passed rather slowly for Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and the other Legionnaires. There was still no news of the Fatal Five or the LSV, as a scouting party discovered that they were no longer on Rawl, and though Dream Girl worked with Saturn Girl daily, the Titanian was still not remembering the important parts of her ordeal.

"It's only bits and pieces", said Saturn Girl. "I can only recall bits and pieces of the minor details, but I can't shake the feeling there's one major thing I'm missing."

"You'll get it in time", Dream Girl assured her.

But Saturn Girl couldn't remember the whole thing until almost ten days after she'd woken up. Lightning Lad was busy discussing the most recent development in the Fatal Five/LSV case with Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf and a computer image of Star Boy when he heard an anguished cry coming from Saturn Girl's room.

"Noooooo!"

Lightning Lad bolted, Timber Wolf following close behind, while Cosmic Boy uttered a hasty, "Call you back later", to Star Boy and chased after them.

Typically, Lightning Lad reached the room first, only to have a half-sobbing Saturn Girl tumble into his arms.

"What in the name of – Saturn Girl, what happened?" he asked in alarm.

"What's going on?" Timber Wolf inquired as he entered.

"I was about to ask the same thing", added Dream Girl as she came in from the opposite direction.

"What happened?" asked Cosmic Boy, catching up to them.

The last to arrive were Bouncing Boy and Element Lad, the former of whom wheezed out, "Heard…shout…what…?"

"No, no, no", Saturn Girl was saying. "No."

"Saturn Girl, what is going on?" Dream Girl demanded.

Looking around tearfully, Saturn Girl replied, "I – I remember now. I remember everything."

"Do you?" said Cosmic Boy, looking relieved. "Well, if that's the case…"

"It's not good", Saturn Girl said, as she stopped crying. "I – they – she entered my mind. She was looking for information. I tried to stop her, but it was too strong…"

"Who's 'she'?" asked Lightning Lad, though he thought he had a pretty shrewd idea.

Saturn Girl didn't answer that, but her eyes told him his guess was right – at least partially.

Now I'm really going to kill Esper, he thought vengefully.

"And?" prompted Cosmic Boy.

"They know", Saturn Girl said dully. "They know how the Legion was founded, they know parts of the Code, they know the location of our back-up headquarters, and they know how to avoid our search parties. They were going to get my memory of the building of Legion HQ, as well, but…"

"But?" inquired Bouncing Boy.

"I stopped them", Saturn Girl said, and her eyes flashed with newfound determination. "I managed to – to concentrate, and somehow, I think I created a – a force field…"

Dream Girl and Lightning Lad exchanged glances.

"That, at least, is a relief", said Cosmic Boy. "It would have been a disaster if they knew the secrets this place holds."

"And it also explains why we haven't been able to find any trace of them since we rescued you", said Element Lad.

"I'm sorry", Saturn Girl said softly.

"What are you apologizing for?" asked Timber Wolf. "This isn't your fault. Considering how long they kept you, that's only a little bit of information."

"Timber Wolf's right", agreed Dream Girl. "You shouldn't blame yourself for this. If anything, we're grateful you managed to protect the secrets of Legion HQ."

Saturn Girl smiled wanly. "Thanks."

"I still need to work with you, though", Dream Girl continued. "If we take it slowly, and if we work hard enough, we might be able to develop your force field generation to the point it could actually be a new power."

"A new power?" Saturn Girl repeated.

"We'll take it slow, Saturn Girl", Dream Girl assured her. "But I have a feeling you're going to need to be able to generate force fields. It'll help against the Fatal Five and the LSV, since they might not know about it. If we're lucky, when they saw you generate that force field back in Dr. Londo's lab, they'll pass it off as a one-time occurrence that happened as a result of all the stress you were under."

Saturn Girl hesitated a moment, but then she breathed deeply and said, "Okay."

Even though they now knew why they hadn't been able to find anything, but the Legionnaires were no less frustrated or worried. This development left them particularly vulnerable, and the Fatal Five still kept them on their toes, attacking every week or so (without the LSV, oddly enough), but always disappearing. Saturn Girl never went along when the other Legionnaires fought them, partly because she hadn't yet fully recovered, but mostly because Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy were adamant about her staying safe in Legion HQ.

Meanwhile, Dream Girl was patiently trying to train her in getting control of her new power. They followed a specific routine: during their sessions, Dream Girl would attempt to trigger a force field by attacking in such a way Saturn Girl never knew if she would be hit or not without telepathy, which she didn't use during that one hour. If she was hit, the injuries were never serious, as Dream Girl knew how to control her attacks. Once or twice, Saturn Girl managed to produce a weak force field that could deflect Dream Girl just long enough for her to duck, disappearing almost instantaneously.

But slowly, her force fields became stronger and more lasting, and she managed to gradually accustom herself to sustaining them so that it didn't put such a strain on her mind anymore.

"That's great!" Dream Girl exclaimed encouragingly during one of their sessions three months later. She picked herself up from the floor. Saturn Girl's force field was still going strong, shimmering in the sunlight that streamed in from the window of the room. The golden rays illuminated her form, and for a brief moment, Saturn Girl seemed to shine – not just glow – really and truly shine with brilliant light. In that instant, Dream Girl had a sudden, passing premonition that disappeared as soon as it came, but it left her with a strong feeling that some big things were going to be happening soon – with Saturn Girl in the middle of them.

"Dream Girl? Are you all right?" Saturn Girl was no longer bathed in light, and Dream Girl wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing.

"Yeah, I'm fine", she replied. She smiled. "I think you've got it."

"It still feels a bit weird, though, having another power", mused Saturn Girl. "I'm not sure I'd think of using it in an emergency."

"You'll get used to it", Dream Girl said confidently.

Suddenly a loud siren wailed and red lights flashed, signaling yet another problem for the Legion to sort out. The two Legionnaires raced to the main room, skidding to a stop short of the monitors.

"Is it the Fatal Five again?" asked Dream Girl. "Because I swear, if they've messed with the same department store again…"

"They're not at the department store this time", said Lightning Lad, looking grim. "They're right outside Legion HQ. And they've got the Legion of Supervillains with them."

A/N: Dun-dun-dun! Another battle! And Saturn Girl's got a new power - yay! I'm telling you, this chapter was not easy to write. I think I stalled on it for about a week and a half. Good thing I completed the story before posting, huh? Thanks to xXKazaneXx, The Violet Rose, and Lillywhitecherub for reviewing! If you guys want your name here, click on that button below and review (hint hint).

Disclaimer: Another disclaimer! No, it's not the same as listing my reviewer's names, because I sincerely want to thank them. I don't sincerely want to do this because I don't own Legion of Superheroes.