Chapter 5

Thank you to everyone to has been reading my story. I was originally just going to give it up since the person I was writing it for decided they didn't like it all that much. But I got a ton of reviews asking for more chapters so I guess I'll finish it for those people. It really makes me happy to know there are people out there who enjoy my writing and once again thank you so much.

As usual comment and reviews are welcome, just don't be rude. please enjoy!

Brainiac 5.1 had always considered himself over-emotional, even back when he was nothing more than 1's and 0's, he had always been willing to share whatever he felt whenever he deemed necessary. It wasn't until he actually got the ability to feel raw emotion that he understood why most people weren't as open with their feelings as he had been. They were confusing, and usually made situations worse. Hell, they usually started situations. During his time away from the Legion he had encountered countless moments when his anger made him start a fight, or his humiliation caused him to hide away from the world for a few days, or the infinite amount of times his regret had him contemplating his own life. There were even times when jealousy took over his mind, grant it the jealousy was usually short lived as he never grew too attached to anything or anyone during his leave of absence. But what got to him the most by far was when he felt more than one emotion, the struggle to decipher what he should do about his feelings was impossible, and all he could do was guess and hope the decision he made turned out to be the right one. Unfortunately those times with the mixed emotions happened more often than a singular feeling, as was the case in this particular moment for Brainy while he worked on his new project in his room.

For the past few days that he'd been back he kept himself busy on making new creations for his new life. It had originally started with him renovating his room to better fit his human needs, but once he got a small bed in the corner and made a dresser to go at the foot he turned his attention to other things. The endless hours of work Brainy put into his inventions made him forget his feelings towards his situation for the most part, which is why when his friends offered to help he politely declined. However, there were a few moments when he'd get stuck thinking about his past and that one mistake he made which cost him everything. He felt furious at himself for not being stronger, for not being smarter, for not defeating the threat and allowing his friends to get hurt. He also felt sorrow for that exact same reason and guilt for not being able to put it behind him and just be content to be back home with his team. Just about every emotion one could feel was swarming around inside him and they all added up into one big cluster of uncertainty; maybe he hadn't picked the best time to come back, maybe he shouldn't have come back at all, maybe he should have never left. Brainy expected everything to be ok once he was with the Legion again, and by Legion, he meant Omen. During his time away he had spent more than a little time thinking about what he was going to say to Omen once he got back. It had gone so smoothly in his head, he would get back they would talk and then Omen would agree to a more complex relationship. That's how Brainy imagined it, and it's probably how it would of went if he hadn't completely alienated her the moment he saw what he had done to her. Every time he looked at her he felt guilty, he knew she forgave him, he knew his guilt was probably irrational. The moment he got back Omen had been trying her best to strike up a conversation with him, she even made it clear that she would be willing to go into a relationship with him, and her advances weren't by any means unwanted. If only he could just forgive himself, then this whole avoidance thing could end.

Realizing he'd been stuck in his train of though for a good ten minutes Brainy placed a tool he had been using aside and stood to stretch his back out. As he turned his attention back to his project a familiar voice invaded his mind.

'Brainiac 5.1, can you please meet me in the launch deck.'

'Um, sure. What for? If you don't mind me asking.' Brainy began slowly walking toward the door, waiting for an answer from Saturn Girl.

'It's about Omen.' The mention of Omen's name was enough to get Brainy's pace to widen, he hastily made his way down the halls and across the main room. Within minutes he was standing on the launch pad with a few other of his team-mates all gathered around Saturn Girl.

"What's going on?" Brainy asked as he scanned the room, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, and Lightning Lad were all present.

"There was a distress call from Omen's communicator, she is in New Metropolis." Saturn Girl explained, keeping her voice low enough so only the immediate group could hear.

"I thought she was put in time-out, when did she leave?" Timber Wolf crossed his arms and looked over at Brainiac 5.1 "Did you know about this?"

Brainy slowly shook his head "I didn't even know she went to her room in the first place."

Saturn Girl rubbed her temples with her hands, she was doing her best to stay calm but Omen was beginning to ware on her last nerve. "Be that as it may, let's go get her back. I fear what will happen to her, and the city, with her control over her powers being what it is." With that being said, everyone began to walk over to the ship but they only took a few steps before Brainy spoke up.

"Wait, I'm coming with you?" The shocked looked on Brainy's face must have amused Lightning Lad because he was the first react with a laugh.

"Of course, you've been couped up in your room since you got back. We figured we should see if you can still hold your own in a fight." Hearing this caused Brainy to look down at the floor a little embarrassed.

"I'm not sure I can. My armor is gone, and I don't really have any combat training."

"What about that thing you were working on in your room?" Phantom Girl interrupted. Upon seeing everyone's eyes on her she responded by rolling her own. "So I'm a snoop, does that shock anybody here?" Doing his best not to show his discomfort Brainy decided to go with Phantom Girls comment.

"It's not done yet...and I don't have any of the kinks worked out...also...I'm not entirely sure how I'm gonna work it."

"Well consider this a test drive, what better way to learn than to just throw yourself out there." Phantom Girl glided over to Brainy ad threw an arm over his shoulder leading him over to the exit of the launch pad. "Besides, we'll be there to save the day if anything goes wrong. It's kind of our job. Now go get your project and meet us back here, if Imra is going to give Omen a what for she needs her to be alive." before Brainy could respond Phantom Girl shoved him out the door. Letting out a small sigh Brainy ran to his room to grab his latest invention, or more appropriately, put on his latest invention.

In the city:

Omen jumped through the small bar she was currently in trying her best to avoid the small bursts of lasers coming from the bounty hunter's gun.

"What are you doing here Farel? I thought you were doing time in prison." Omen yelled at the man as she summoned up a spear made out of dark matter. Using her flight ring she flipped over his head and attempted to stab him from behind, unfortunately the man, Farel, was aware of her plan of attack and blocked Omen's spear before it could touch him.

"Got out on good behavior, and it looks like it paid off." Smirking at Omen he grabbed her by her neck and threw her through the back door of the bar, knocking it off it's hinges as she went through.

Omen took a minute to lay on the concrete of the ally way the door lead to and tried to catch her breath. She didn't have long as Farel was soon running after her with a small knife, assumingly ready to go for the kill. Omen summoned a wall to block the entry way where the door had been. Finally able to get up Omen ran out of the ally way and down the street knowing the wall wouldn't keep the bounty hunter for long.

"Damn it! Where the hell is my team!" She yelled as her run turned into a full out sprint when she heard a loud explosion come from the bar indicating that Farel had indeed escaped.

Farel took a minute to let the dust clear from the now shattered back wall, looking over he saw Tilly running down the street. Smiling to himself he stretched his arms then went to go get his prize. Catching up to Tilly wasn't too difficult, he had built in boosters on his vest that propelled him down the street after her, but when she noticed he was catching up she summoned spikes out of the ground using that damned dark matter she controlled. He managed to avoid them for the most part but the extra caution he took slowed him down enough for Tilly to remember she was wearing her flight ring and take off into the sky. Allowing Tilly to get a few good meters into the air, Farel stopped and took out a long thin gun from behind him, he took his time and aimed it at Tilly's back. Giving off a small laugh he pulled the trigger and within seconds Omen was falling back down into the streets. She landed on top of a car, smashing it in the process and knocking herself out. She had just come back into consciousness when Farel reached her, she made a limp attempt to get up and run but Farel threw her back onto the car and placed his foot on her chest to prevent her from getting back up.

"I sort of pictured this being a little more difficult, what? Did you lose your edge while you were hiding like a little girl?" He mocked, pulling out the small knife he had earlier. Omen thought about making a snide remark, but she stayed quiet knowing it would only make her situation worse. Taking her silence as an excuse to continue to mess with her Ferel began to explain his disappointment.

"With those powers of yours I expected to have a run for my money, but you barely fought me. You spent all your time running away like a scared child...your summonings weren't too strong either." This comment got Omen's death glare to widen, pleased that he got a reaction Ferel continued.

"Oh, I see. Your powers are just about all used up, is that it? You don't have the strength to fight me." As soon as he finished his sentence he placed the small knife he been twisting between his fingers down to Omen's neck. "Well, I guess it just made my job easier then, huh? Good night Tilly." Ferel began to slowly press the blade against Omen's neck, she gave off a small whimper as it cut the skin and released blood, but before he could slide the knife along her flesh, a purple bolt shot him in the back and sent him flying the opposite direction of Tilly. Slowly, Omen looked over to see who had saved her and smiled when she saw Brainiac 5.1 running over to her followed by Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, and Lightning Lad. Only instead of dawning the street clothes he had been wearing since he got back, Brainy was wearing a purple jump suit similar to the one he used to have. On his chest was a piece of armor that had two wires going down each arm to attach to more armor on his wrists.

"Omen! Are you ok?" Brainy frantically pulled her into him as he looked at the puncture wound on her neck.

"I'm fine." She replied weakly, giving him a smile. "I had him right where I wanted him." She gently pushed Brainy away from her as she attempted to get off the car. After two tries she gave up and turned to face Saturn Girl who was staring daggers into her soul.

"Imra... I can explain. I didn't sneak off because I thought you-"

"Omen, Now isn't the time. When we get back to the ship you can explain, but right now we deal with the situation you caused." Without giving Omen a second glance Saturn Girl turned her attention to the man limping back over to where the team was.

"I don't know your quarrel with Omen, but it ends here." She spoke matter of factly.

"Omen? You're talking about Tilly right? Wait... you're the Legion of Superheros. Oh no, don't tell me... Tilly, are you a member?" He asked turning his attention to Omen and laughing. "Oh my god, how did you manage that? They obviously don't know you're story do they?"

Without letting him say another word Omen forced herself to sit up on the car and summoned a dull spike of dark matter out of the ground and curved it so it would slam Farel into the nearest building with more force than necessary.

"Omen! We're not trying to kill him!" Lighting Lad barked as he and Phantom Girl went to go see if the man they were supposed to be fighting was dead. Upon seeing his hand sticking out of some rubble Phantom Girl phased him out; when he regained his composure Farel swung at her which caught her off guard enough to release him. The moment he was on the ground again Ferel made a dash for it, but Timber Wolf blocked his path. Not bothering to stop Farel took out two small buttons from his person and threw them at Timber Wolf. He dodged them easily but they released several small wires as soon as they hit the ground that tangled around him, growling, Timber Wolf fell to the ground.

"Someone get me outta this!" He yelled, struggling against his restraints. Phantom Girl casually floated over to him and phased him out before she went to go get Farel. However, when she turned her attention to where he had been, he was no where in sight. Phantom Girl silently cursed under her breath and helped her boyfriend up.

"You good babe?"

"Yeah, thanks." Timber Wolf looked around once he got back on his feet. "Where the hell did he go?"

"He ran off, we'll get him back soon, for now let's focus on the problem at hand." Saturn Girl said walking up to the couple and motioning over to Omen who was still having trouble with her footing as she got off the smashed car. She stumbled a bit but Brainy wrapped his arm around her waist to help her. The back of her head was covered in blood and Saturn Girl knew if they didn't get to the HQ's infirmary soon she would pass out. Phantom Girl nodded and the three heroes made their way back over to where Brainy and Lightning Lad were leading Omen to the ship.

Omen could barely make out a coherent thought but she knew by the look on her team's face that she was going to be in real deep shit when she woke up, she also knew that this time her problems would take more than herself to solve.

"Imra...I need help." Omen breathed out, feeling more light headed with every word.

" It's Ok Omen, we're here." Despite Saturn Girls anger toward her friend she managed to give Omen a small smile to reassure her. Omen tried to thank her but she was clean out of energy at that point, so instead she just smiled weakly at her friend before fully collapsing into Brainy's hold.

As the team made their way back into the ship and took off back to the Legion headquarters, a shadow in an ally way a few blocks down was taking pictures of the team. Or more specificity, Brainiac 5.1.

"So that's where my money's been hiding." Ferel whispered as he went over the pictures he just took, stopping on one of Omen. "And it looks like I'm getting a bonus.

Back at HQ

"How does it feel?" bariny asked as he finished up bandaging Omen's head. She had a concussion and two broken fingers, but other than that she was fine, save for the multiple cuts and bruises down her body.

"Fine, thanks." Omen muttered not looking her friend in the eyes. She wanted to ask about his armor, but now seemed like a bad time to talk about... anything. A few moments of silence passed and Omen became hopeful that maybe she wouldn't be questioned, but all hope was crushed when Lighting Lad marched in, obviously on a mission to get answers.

"So are you gonna talk about why you've been acting like a moody teenager lately?" Omen knew he had the right to be mad, but his tone towards her made her forget she was supposed to be sorry and instead she began to pick a fight with him.

"Maybe because I am a moody teenager you ass."

"You're 19, you're passed the moody teenager phase. Now you're just being difficult, and it's starting to get old."

"Not as old as you thinking you need to bark orders at everyone all the time, Imra's in charge now Garth, not you! Actually, were you ever in charge?" The abrupt fighting got the attention of Saturn Girl and she made her way into the infirmary to settle her team down.

"Enough, Garth, please let me handle this. You tend to make people unwilling to cooperate." Reluctantly Lighting Lad walked over to the corner of the small room and waited. The rest of the Legion was outside the door listening in through the giant window that looked over the room. It was only the founding members, as they were her closest friends, but nonetheless, Omen began to feel on edge.

"Omen, I know we all have our problems, and for the most part we should be allowed to handle them however we see fit. But when they begin affecting the safety of others, then we need to accept the fact that others will get involved. You're team has the right to know why you haven't been reliable lately." Omen looked at Imra, then at Brainy, then at her best friends behind the window. Taking in a deep breath Omen decided her only option was to come clean, or at least clean enough.

"You're right, lately my powers have been developing a mind of their own, more so than usual. I told you I didn't know why, but I was lying. The truth is I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but I swear I didn't know it would be this dangerous."

"Do you know if it will get more dangerous? We can handle your powers right now, will they get worse?" Lighting Lad spoke up from across the room. Omen glared at him but answered his question anyways.

"I don't know, the chances of them getting worse are definitely high. But they could also...just stop."

Everyone looked at Omen when she said this. Knowing they would want an explanation she sighed once again and thought of the best way to tell her story without getting into too much trouble.

"Ok, here's the story from the beginning, just promise me you won't hate me when it's over."

Her team nodded and Brainy placed his hand on her shoulder. Relaxing a bit to his touch Omen began.

"It all started when me and my sister joined a group of smugglers."