Chapter 3:

It had been hours since the core members of the Legion of superheroes had their confrontation about Brainiac 5.1's current predicament. Everyone except Brainy himself left to get started on their new mission of clearing their friends name.

Brainiac 5.1 sat pondering in the columns of chairs that formed a half circle around the briefing room. He wanted to help his friends but at the same time he didn't want to be a burden. If it became known the Legion was harboring a wanted criminal then their reputation would be ruined, they might even be thrown in prison. That can't be allowed to happen, maybe it would be better if he turned himself in before the bounty hunters got out of hand, life in a maximum security prison couldn't be too bad, could it? Before he could come to a conclusion he heard the sliding doors across the room open and close. Almost immediately he knew it was Omen, she was the only one who could walk that silently due to her choice of footwear.

"Have you come up with a plan?" He asked not looking away from the wall.

"Not yet, but Bouncy and Saturn Girl have got a few good starters. We'll get this sorted out don't even worry about it." Omen walked over to Brainy and leaned on a chair next to him.

"I doubt it will be as easy as you're making it sound."

"I'm an optimist, besides everyone knows what you've done to protect the United Planets, I'm sure if we just explain what happened and come in with a solid case you'll get off with minor charges."

"Minor charges for digitizing everything and everyone?"

"We'll make the argument that it wasn't you, it was a crazy psycho android that took over your mind."

Brainy smiled a bit to himself before looking at Omen, "That doesn't sound sketchy at all."

"Oh please, given the amount of crap we've had to deal with this seems like every other day." Brainy let out a small laugh and Omen took this opertunity to sit down next to him.

"It'll probably be easier for everyone if I just turned myself in."

"Don't you dare!" Omen's sudden outburst caused Brainy to jump back a bit, he took a second to recompose himself then waited for her to explain.

"If you turn yourself in before we have a chance to talk the counsel and President, you won't get two or three years in a jail or a life sentence, you'll get the death penalty. You're human now Brainy, you can't just back yourself up on another drive. You need to actually consider your life." Brainiac thought about this for a few minutes, she was right of course, his punishment probably would take no more then an hour to decide. But then again, did he really deserve anything else?

"It's not like I don't have this coming." he replied looking away from Omen and down to his lap.

"Brainiac 5.1, you've exiled yourself from humanity for three years, been disowned by your people on both planets, lost the body you've been used to your whole life, and now have to live with a guilt that will follow you to your grave. You already got what was coming to you, you don't need anything else." Omen placed her hand on his shoulder and for a few minutes the two heroes sat in silence thinking of what to say next. Finally, Brainiac 5.1 turned his entire body towards Omen and looking her dead in the eyes he said what he had wanted to say since he got back.

"I'm sorry. Not just for not being strong enough to win again the original brainiac and almost killing you, but for everything after. I shouldn't have kissed you then left for three years, I should have made sure you were ok. If I had stayed I might have been able to help with your eyes, or at least help you through dealing with the change-"

"Brainy, breath. I forgave you years ago." Brainiac 5.1 relaxed his shoulders a bit when he heard her say those words, he figured she would say something along those lines but actually hearing them out loud took a large portion weight off his shoulders.

"Besides, I've been through worse." Omen joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I know, but it could have been worse, if I hadn't been stopped or if your hadn't gotten away-"

"I'd have been digitized instead of left beaten up, I honestly don't know why I thought running away would be a better option." Omen chuckled to herself and leaned back in her chair getting a better look at the new Brainiac 5.1. He had gotten taller, not by much, about the same height as her. His real hair a bit more unkempt and a little longer, but it style was the same as before he left. Without thinking Omen reached up and touched the top of his head, it was oddly stiff, not what she was expecting. She brought her hand to the back of Brainy's neck feeling the soft skin beneath her fingers. Omen began letting her thoughts control her actions and soon she was gently pulling Brainy in closer to her lips all the while paying close attention to his reaction to her advance. For a moment it seemed he was going to allow her to kiss him, but before they could touch he pulled back again, returning to his previous position of staring at the wall.

"Sorry."

Omen let out a soft sigh and leaned back in her chair "It's fine, I can wait. But I thought those three years were supposed to help you with your emotions."

"They did, for the most part. But coming back here... "

"But coming back here what?"

"Nothing."

"Brainy-" Omen was cut off by a telepathic message from Saturn Girl asking her and a few others to come to the main hall. Aparently a bounty hunter decided to throw a tantrum in town. Omen mentally replied that she'd be there in a minute and turned her attention back to Brainy.

"I have to go deal with a grouchy bounty hunter, but expect to pick up where we left off." Omen gave Brainy a smile before getting up to leave the room.

"Be careful."

"Always." Omen waved as she walked off leaving Brainiac 5.1 to once again become a prisoner in his thoughts.

Omen walked into the main hall along with Bouncing boy and Triplicate Girl. Phantom girl and Chameleon boy were already in the room waiting for the rest of the members to show up. Once everyone who had been called became present Saturn Girl explained the situation at hand.

"We just got a call saying a bounty hunter and his partner are terrorizing citizens by the old cafe. Why I don't know but we need to get them back in check. Both use electricity to stun their victims, however enough of a shock can be lethal. Let's go in and try to calm them down, if they continue to cause a problem then take them down like any other criminal."

"That won't be a problem, these guys practically are criminals." Omen rolled her eyes and followed the small team over to the transportation pad. Within seconds they were in the middle if a panicked crowd running from a combination of electric shocks and falling tables. Phantom Girl immediately flew over a group of girls who were cornered by a smashed hover car and phased them through. While Cham, Bouncy, and Triplicate Girl followed Phantom Girls lead Omen took a step back and closed her eyes to see if she could feel the two bounty hunters aura. After a few minutes of sorting through the screaming crowd she came across two auras that were way too happy to be in this situation and she figured she found their guys.

"I found them! Go to the left!" Omen called out already running through the crowd, eventually she came across a tall man with a glove that shot out electric pulses and an extremely muscular woman who also had the electric glove. Without giving them a chance to register what was happening Omen turned the dark matter around her solid in the shape of a long pole and swept it under their legs knocking them down. As soon as they were on the ground Omen made the pole vanish and called over to the pair hoping they wouldn't put up much of a fight.

"You two have been causing too much trouble here, either stand down and have an enjoyable rest of your day or spend it in a holding cell." Omen gave the couple a chance to reply but instead of answering the female shot a pulse at her, without a second thought Omen formed a wall in front of her and after blocking the shock she shoved it at the partners knocking them back a few feet.

"Like I said, you can back off or I can ruin your day." Omen smirked at them then gestured for another attack. The two nodded at each other then split up. Omen got ready for an attack on both sides but was thrown off when only the guy came at her from behind. She easily blocked his punch but he used his other hand to grab her arm, before he could shock her with his glove she formed a solid sleeve of dark matter around her arm, once the pulse was done the sleeve moved from her arm to his and formed into handcuffs. The guy tried to pull back but Omen had compete control over the make-shift cuffs, she was about to turn and see where the female went when suddenly her whole body froze and she fell to the ground convulsing. It took Omen a minute to realize she was on the ground paralyzed with two pissed off bounty hunters hovering over her. The girl had managed to come up behind her in the few seconds it took to get the man restrained, she hated to admit it but Omen was a tad bit impressed.

"I think we're gonna have a just fine day, don't you agree Mailie." The man spoke in a low growl like he was part beast.

"I think you're right Net." The girl's voice was the exact opposite if his, reaching a pitch that shouldn't be possible for normal people, but what got Omen was that damned laugh she let out again and again. It started to piss Omen off and soon the handcuffs that were still around the man's arms began to change shape until they were two large spikes pointing at his face. A few more minutes and they might have made contact, fortunatly her team picked that moment to come into the fight. Bouncing Boy inflated and rammed into Net causing the dark cuffs to vanish while Phantom Girl phased Mailie's ankles through the ground. Triplicate Girl went over to see the damage done to Omen.

"You guys couldn't have gotten here three minutes sooner?" Omen joked as feeling came back to her body.

"Sorry, we were dealing with the hysterical citizens."

"Right, anyone hurt?"

"Not that we've seen, their just panicked, and the bakery a block down is destroyed."

"Fantastic, let's turn these punks in before they start causing more trouble." Omen got up from her spot on the ground and looked over at the now restrained couple. The girl looked like she was about scream and the guy's face was turning red with rage. Omen smiled to herself, she loved watching bounty hunters in pain.

"You guys should have taken my first offer and just walked away." Omen crossed her arms and waited for the response that was sure to come.

"Well then I wouldn't have got to knock you into the ground." The girl laughed and looked directly at Omen for the first time since the fight started. "Actually, you do look a little familiar, have I kicked your ass before? Is that why you look so bitter towards us?"

For a split moment Omen froze, but forced herself to relax so as to not draw in attention. "You must have hit your head, I have no idea who you are."

"No, I don't think I did, I swear your face looks hella familiar, Net you see it too right?"

"Leave it Mailie, you're only agitating them." he didn't look up from the ground but Omen could easily tell the veins in this head were about to burst.

"Fine, it just bothers me that I can't pin-point her face. I mean, I know I kicked your ass but I feel bad now. Did you used to have a hit on you?" With that comment the seemingly cool facade Omen had on shattered as beads of sweat started to roll down her face. She quickly turned away from the girl before her powers did somethings she'd regret and walked back over to her friends who looked to be having trouble with the science police.

"What's going on here?" Omen spoke up making sure her voice was even and confident.

"Nothing, the science police showed up and will take it from here." Bouncing Boy replied taking a look at Omen's face. "You okay? You look a little shaken up, did those two do something?"

"No, not at all." Omen realized she answered a little too fast but continued her lie anyways. "I just got a sudden headache. Probably from that girls irritating voice." Omen let out a nervous laugh and turned her attention back to the police doing her best not to notice Bouncy's suspicious stare. "Thank you officers for helping clean this mess up." Omen let out a hand to shake but the two men who were in front of her ignored it and pushed past the small team. Glaring at the so called 'protectors of the city' Omen added "Even though we did all the hard work" under her breath.

"Come on, let's go back. Obviously things are settled down here." Triplicate girl patted Omen's shoulder and began to walk away.

"Yeah, our help is no longer needed, jerks." Phantom Girl floated after triplicate girl all the while mumbling insults at the police-men.

After another moment of watching the science police hall the duo into the backseats of their cars Omen ran to catch up with her friends. If there was one thing she hated more that bounty hunters,it was the science police. They were just as bad as the hunters and they got away with basically everything. Like they were above the law they failed to protect.

Back at the HQ Omen lay across her bed playing on her hollo-computer. She decided not to pursue Brainiac 5.1 and instead went straight to her room when she got back, It took a good hour for her to get the fear out of her system from when the bounty hunter began to question her. Of course she didn't let the legion see her panic, but she knew they were suspicious of her frantic flee. Taking a deep breath Omen sat up on her bed. She grabbed a stuffed flamingo from her pillow and placed it across the bed from herself.

"I'm over reacting right? It was a fluke that girl happened to recognize me. No-one knows who I am except my sister. Right?" she looked at the toy as if it would reply to her questions, when obviously it didn't she rolled off her bed and went over to her dresser to change out of her uniform, all the while talking to the stuffed animal as if it were actually listening. "I just need to meditate, calm my nerves and then focus on helping Brainy get out of this mess. Once it's all cleared up then the hunters will leave and I can continue my days as Tilly and The Omen. Besides the chances of getting recognized are next to none, and if any of them do I can just play it off as them trying to get under my skin" Once Omen changed into sweat pants and a baggy half shirt she made her way back to her bed and crawled under her covers with the flamingo. "Yeah, I'm worrying over nothing, everything's going to be fine. After a quick nap I'll talk to Saturn girl and see if a plan has been made." Omen murmured a few more comforting words to herself then drifted off to a light sleep.

What had started out as a short nap turned into a deep slumber as Omen's troubled mind began to relive certain events through her dreams. She was sprawled out across her bed muttering pleas of mercy into her pillow as whatever was hurting her in her head caught up to her.

Tilly and her sister were surrounded by a group of men holding them at gunpoint. Nina was crying and begging to be let go while Tilly just stared at the floor looking lost. The man holding the gun kept yelling about his money and how they were fucking with him. Nina denied they had his money and Tilly continued to stay quiet, finally the man ordered two men to grab Nina and search her body. A few seconds later a large wad of cash was pulled out from her shirt. When the man holding the gun saw the money he hit Nina with the gun, causing blood to fly everywhere. Tilly could hear the shattering of her jaw and finally broke down in tears. She begged them to let her and her sister go, that they didn't mean to take the money. All that did was get her a hit in the head as well. The side of her head hit the cement beneath her and she could feel blood pooling around her, the last thing she saw when she looked up was the barrel of an old gun, without a word the ma pulled the trigger and everything went black.

Omen's eyes shot open. Her first instinct was to run but when she remembered where she was she stayed laying down. Her eyes stung from tears that had forced their way out while she was sleeping and her chest was on fire as she tried to steady her breathing. Once her heart stopped racing Omen looked away from the ceiling and toward her clock, it was 9:00. Great, she slept the rest of her day away. Sighing Omen got out of her bed and walked over to the corner in her room with all the candles, she swiped her hand over them to get light and sat down in the middle. She wiped the remaining water from her eyes and began to meditate, refusing to acknowledge what she just went through. Instead she closed her eyes and pushed the memory back into the depths of her subconscious, as usual a dark aura formed around her body, only this time it was thicker. Omen could almost feel it on her skin. In a panic she jumped up from her spot on the floor and backed away from the aura that was beginning to look solid, she quickly waved her left hand at it and willed it to vanish. Fear began to wrap it's way around her mind and all she could do was stand perfectly still and stare at the candles that were still lit. What was that? Nothing like that ever happened to her before. All of a sudden her room began to feel unsafe and a shiver bolted up her spine. The sudden feeling gave Omen the ability to move towards her door. At first she took cautious steps as if not wanting to wake a sleeping beast, but as the door got closer she picked up her pace until she was in a full sprint. As quickly as possible Omen shot out of her room and slammed the door behind her, or at least tried to. Sliding doors always took more effort to slam shut. Finally Omen let out the breath she had been holding and shuffled her way to the main hall. It was empty except for two other members Omen didn't ever talk to. They were on look-out keeping watch over the city. Omen silently made her way to the couch and let her body fall onto it. She closed her eyes and tried to get the tight feeling in her chest to go away.

"Man, figures my powers would pick this exact moment to go hay wire." She mumbled to herself. "Maybe I should talk to Saturn Girl tomorrow, see if there's anything going on in my head." She pretended she had no idea why this was happening, but deep down Omen knew the stress and fear were getting to her. Pushing her thoughts aside she curled up into a ball on the couch and forced herself to go to sleep once more, hoping the next time she woke everyone else would be up and she could relax into the daily shenanigans that would no doubt take place.

There you go, chapter 3. If anyone actually keeps up with it I'm sorry it took so long to update. Between studying for finals, then Christmas, then New Years, then back to school I've been pretty busy. But now I'm back on my normal schedule and updates should come very few weeks or so. I also got a review saying need to work on my comma usage, I re-read this a couple times to make sure I do better but I'm not 100% sure yet. So sorry if it's bad. I'm working on punctuation right now so hopefully the future chapters will be better. Omen's back story is also coming up soon for those of you who have been waiting. Anyways thank you to those who have reviewed and critiqued, please continue. If I've made any real bad mistakes let me know I'll fix them and yeah...that's it. Thanks again and I'll get better. :)