I do not own Batman/Bruce Wayne, Martian Manhunter/J'ohn J'ones, Lucius Fox, Superman/Clark Kent/Kal El, Big Barda, Miracle Man/Scott Free, Oberon, or Dr. Leslie Thompkins. DC does. Please enjoy this chapter for free.
Wayne Tower Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths
When the basement started shaking, John grabbed Bruce with one arm, Lucius with the other and flew them up through two floors. Then he took them through walls to the side of the building opposite of the Boom Tube before setting them down in an empty bathroom.
Bruce didn't know how to describe what he felt while going through solid objects. Right after being set down, he felt tingly but that began to fade. His attempt to process what happened went on till Lucius' voiced attempt cut through his own in his consciousness. "How can you do that?"
Bruce lifted and stared at his hands and knees to see if they were transparent. "I didn't know you could do that with other people …"
The Martian's voice caused Bruce to turn his gaze to him, "Going through solid objects is the only ability I can temporarily transfer to others, but only when touching them. Should we not be more concerned about what happened to your building?"
Bruce huffed. "My guess, an unforeseen consequence of a Kryptonian having absorbed an abnormal amount of radiation going through a Boom Tube made by a Motherbox."
The Martian who might have saved their lives nonetheless stared at the floor body lax and face drawn. "Bruce … I begged you to let him try …"
Bruce sighed. "I won't say it's fine. This complicates things, but it's not insurmountable."
Lucius murmured, "We'll have to see what the overall structural damage was … We can't open until we have …"
The alien went invisible and both men held out their arms toward where he used to be saying "Wait!"
As Barda, Scott, and Oberon discussed what to do while Superman moved debri accidentally crushing some of it in his stronger than usual hands, John became visible among them. "Barda, Scott, Oberon allow me to apologize."
Barda looked to the Martian and then looked away again shaking her head. Scott, though, gave him a small smile and shrug. "We survived. That's good."
Oberon sighed. "Thanks for the apology. Help would be more appreciated."
The Martian turned his gaze on Superman. "Did you find her?"
Superman, still glowing, winced. "I saw the place you described ..."
John took in a shuddering breath. "She's dead?"
Superman shook his head. "No, no! I didn't see a body. She wasn't there."
This grabbed the attention of Scott, Barda, and Oberon, who asked, "You didn't see the girl?"
Superman shook his head.
Barda asked "You're sure you looked at the right place?"
Superman turned his gaze on the Martian while answering her question, "I saw the landmarks, the chamber, but I didn't see her. The ice where I think she was looked broken in some places and melted in others. I didn't see metal. I scanned the area around it, but ... didn't see much else."
John clenched his fists, shook his head, and disappeared. Superman shouted, "Moe," but received no response.
South Side Gotham City Red Light District
Batman was watching the last group of women being escorted to their apartment building in the Red Light District, when he deadpanned to the seemingly empty rooftop, "You scared us …"
A Martian in the human form he'd first known him in, even having shed the years he'd shown upon returning, stepped out of the shadows. "Bruce, before you return to your home, may we go back where we parted ways the first time together?"
Batman turned and raised an eyebrow.
Central Gotham City Across the Street from the Former Location of the Soup Kitchen Destroyed by Arson Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths
The Martian in the form of a man and Bruce in the Batsuit stood on an abandoned building looking at the still empty lot where they survived a fire together years before. Batman spoke first. "What's this about John, are you coming back and letting us help you or not?"
The Martian went silent. Batman waited him out. Finally, John said, "You've always wanted to know what happened in the freezer."
"Now, I want you to get somewhere safe, because now I know you're running from Amanda Waller."
"Perhaps … she deserves justice …"
"You were taken and held by the American government without having committed a crime other than accidentally landing a spaceship in America. Then you defended yourself. That doesn't warrant the punishment she will give you."
"You haven't said Superman saw any signs of life on my home planet. So, I assume he did not."
"He did not, but he also didn't look as deep as he could have. He concentrated on the ice caves looking for your niece."
"So … I stranded three others and endangered them, you, and Lucius Fox for nothing."
"Not for nothing …" After John turned a stare on him, Batman continued, "We made a mistake. We will learn from it. Superman saw evidence you've been telling us the truth. As for your niece, we know she's not there now. She could be alive …"
"Don't." Batman turned his stare on the Martian, who had looked away. "Don't give me hope. I have clung to that hope for decades … You are right. I know more now …"
"And what you learned shouldn't have taken all hope away."
"She 'starved' Bruce! She must have awoken hungry and looked for food. Her people's hunting grounds were destroyed. She would not have been welcome among Green Martians. She would not have had much strength! So tell me how has she survived!"
"I can't say. I can only say we can't be certain she is dead."
"Don't …"
Batman sighed. "Whether she is alive or not, we also don't know about your brother's fate. You still seemed concerned about him."
"Either he fell into the hands of enemies and they hurt him, or men freed him after their dogs found him, and he hurt them. He may even now be seeking to hurt me."
"So … this is your pity party. And you invited me to it. Why?"
The Martian stared at him for an even longer silence before continuing, "You wanted to know what happened. How you survived, why I left. Do you still?"
The Batman squinted. His mouth twisted. Then he said, "Come back to the manor with me. Get into my car invisibly, at least until we get underground, and tell me there."
"I'm not going back to live in your house again … You've done enough."
Batman turned to John and gestured briefly with gloved-hand and cape toward the abandoned lot. ""You saved my life down there. You kept me alive, when I imagine no one else on earth could!"
John replied softly, "You saved my life first. Twice. I owed you that much."
"Come back to the manor and show me."
Another silence between them lasted five seconds before the Martian replied. "We will compromise. I will let you take me into the tunnels beneath the city that no one else travels though. There, you can park, and I will show you what I did. And I would do it again. I will demand nothing more from you, because of it, though."
Tunnels Under Gotham Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths
The sun was already beginning to rise, so it was no great inconvenience for the Dark Knight to go underground. He did radio to let Lucius know. The man was relieved to hear the Martian had been found, which sent a shaft of guilt through John's heart. But then, the Batman turned to him. "Alright, tell me what happened in the freezer."
"It would be easier and more thorough for me to show you. Will you trust me in your mind?"
Bruce removed his cowl and stared at the Martian. John looked back and let the form of the human Bruce had known back then fall away before reaching up and laying his green hand on Bruce's head.
Inside the Freezer in the Burning Soup Kitchen Two Years after the Waynes' Deaths
Things snapped back into focus. It was cold. He was in a small room in which ice crystals covered much. It was actually familiar, even comforting. It was not the sort of place he'd been born into, but his white Martian War-brothers had. They had lived in such places at times, during the war. It was far, far preferable to him than where he just had been. Yet, his human-mimicking flesh began to feel the cold and his instincts begged to become his Martian form. So, it was no surprise when he heard the lament from his smaller-bodied and human companion.
"What did I just do? We're just gonna die slower in here."
His learned instincts fought him for a few moments. His fear told him "No." But his eyes took in the already shaking child rubbing his arms, sitting down to become a near ball to keep himself warm. Bruce saved his life, again. He was worth the risk.
He walked over to him. "No child." He reached out and gave his head the usual ruffling hair rub, but despite his comforting words real anguish filled his heart and came out in his voice. For these were the last words he'd speak to him. "We're going to be fine …"
Then gently, he performed a brain blast that should cause the child to be unconscious for several hours. The child went limp. He picked up his limp form and held it to his chest pressing his fingers to the back of Bruce's neck.
He let his own human form fall away, first becoming a green Martian, and then taking on the form of a white. I don't know how long we'll be in here, I might as well use the biology of a Martian born in the cold … You though, child, are not. And you were right, there is a limited supply of air in here.
He had to do this carefully … He had never done it before, but … He had heard stories of humans surviving for long periods of time, sometimes with lasting harm, but sometimes not … in the cold, caught temporarily in a place without air.
Meddling with conscious thought was one thing, but he delved deep first into his own mind and then tapped in to Bruce's now low-functioning nervous system. He focused not on thoughts, there were none, but on the unconscious commands to the organs sustaining life.
Slow … Slow … he doesn't need you much right now … slow … slow down …
The heart, which had already been beating without haste began to beat so slow some might have believed it had stopped after thinking they took long enough to check. The breath likewise became almost indiscernible. He also began to notice especially with the blood flow so sluggish and metabolism slowed Bruce's flesh was truly growing cold, he was no longer shaking and becoming blue.
The Martian looked around. Then he shut his eyes, concentrated, and recalled lessons from White Martians. The frozen water crystals around them trembled and became liquid. Then they flew to him and reformed, refroze, into a bubble around the martian adult and human child. He sighed and looked down after this was done.
There … now our body heat, what little there is, will be caught and held around us, but I'm afraid it won't be much. I think I have to go into a near hibernation state as well, because you were right. There is not much air. We both need it for things like moving and even thinking. I need not move for now, but I cannot become unconscious. I must monitor you, and be aware if help arrives.
He lost most awareness of his own body, which he first caused to mostly shut down as he had with Bruce's, but he spread the awareness of his mind in two directions. He continued to be aware of Bruce's body, its temperature, its breathing, its heartbeat. All these things almost became background noise, but he'd become alert if their continuous patterns ceased or Bruce's flesh grew too cold. He also grew aware of the silence, the lack of thoughts around him including beyond the walls of their refuge. He noticed when that changed.
He lifted his head, and realized how hard that was for him. He was stiff. He examined Bruce more closely. He was alive, but not healthy. His skin was now very, very blue from cold and lack of oxygen. His breathing and heart-rate though slow and weak were present, though. He was alive, and help was just outside.
He concentrated more on the minds outside their refuge. They were worried, almost despairing. He flinched at the images of flames, but on attempting to process them realized they were smaller now suppressed, going out, nearly harmless. It was time. Bruce might not have much left, but what to do?
First, he vibrated the air and shield of ice around them, he guided the melting water around and away from them. No reason to be wet on top of being cold. Bruce's body became warmer from the vibrations as well.
He set him down on a dry part of the floor. He turned to the door they'd come in through and pushed against it. It refused to budge. Metal, thick, heavy … probably it had melted together ... of course.
Alright … You still have strength. Come on! Strongest of all Green Martians. Warrior of Mars! Crusher of machines! It's metal … you've conquered metal before.
He gathered his strength and pushed. It resisted.
No matter. Push! Push!
He felt his energy draining. Fear crept in. Two branches of thoughts began to fight within him.
You're using up the air! You'll kill the child not save him! You're using up your strength! How will you hide? It doesn't matter! Push! Push!
He actually emitted a shout and then, the door gave way. It fell.
The sound of it hitting the floor made helmeted heads spin. Turning invisible was an instinct. His body though, told him it couldn't keep it up long. He weaved his way carefully through the firemen's bodies as they entered the freezer. He didn't have to read their minds. He heard their excited shouts even through their masks. They had found Bruce.
He stumbled through a broken door down a few alleys. Then, he became once again, John, the homeless man in rags. This time he added long hair and a long beard. Finally, he collapsed.
I cannot go back … but it was worth it.
Tunnels Under Gotham Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths
"And it still is Bruce. I still consider that one of the most worthwhile things I've done on earth. If anything, it's one more thing worth thanking you for."
What do you think now?
Whumptober 25th prompts "being monitored," and "it's for your own good."
God bless
ScribeofHeroes