I do not own Batman/Bruce Wayne, Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El, Lucius Fox, or Alfred Pennyworth. DC does. Please enjoy reading this chapter for free.

Basement of Wayne Tower Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

Lucius looked between Batman and the now alert, standing, and free of restraints Martian. His eyes were wide as he pointed a finger at the latter. "He's a Martian."

Batman answered in his usual deadpan, "So, he says."

"And we're going to help him get back … to Mars."

"We're going to try. I'm going to go up to the top of the tower and place something that should help with that on its antenna before going back out onto the streets. I've written down what else I think we'll need and instructions on how to create it. We'll have to work on getting him healthy as well."

Lucius glanced at the Martian and then at the papers on the nearby desk before meeting Batman's gaze again. "We're going to send him back to Mars?"

"Trust me. I received these instructions from someone who should know what they're talking about. I then put a great deal of effort into memorizing them."

"So … we're going to create something to communicate galactically, and something to withstand the creation of a miniature wormhole around here …"

"Two actually, that's how the communication device works; it also creates a far smaller wormhole to speed up the communication of messages between different planets."

Lucius was now staring over Bruce's shoulder and nodding. "Uh-huh. 'And' I get to study a real Martian's biology?"

The Martian in question shifted a little uneasily at this, but Batman reached out toward his old teacher and current partner in inventing and running his company and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't hyperventilate Lucius."

The Martian then spoke up, "His brain waves are changing."

Batman sighed. He spun Lucius around toward the papers on the table and a chair nearby them. "Start concentrating on reading the instructions I wrote and diagrams I drew."

"Yeah, yeah."

Batman then turned to the Martian. "You eat and put what you won't eat in that fridge over there." He looked back to Lucius sitting down and picking up the papers. "Lucius, when you get burnt out on your task, you can start talking to our guest about his needs to reach peak physical condition."

"Yeah, yeah …" Lucius picked up the papers and started reading. "I'm all over it."

Bruce sighed. Usually, Lucius' hunger for knowledge and love of a challenge were awesome assets. Right now, though, he may have overloaded him. Suddenly, J'ohn's soft voice broke through his thoughts. "I'll watch him."

Bruce turned a skeptical look on the shape-shifter and mind-reader. The Martian continued, "I owe you much, just for trying this. I 'will' try to do all the good I can while following your instructions for myself until I leave. Thank you again."

Batman nodded. "You can pay us back by telling the truth about all this."

The Martian's face frowned slightly. "I am."

Street Leading Away from Wayne Tower Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

In the batmobile, Batman turned the radio dial to a different channel. "Superman, are you in position?"

"Yep, I can see into the lab. All this time, I thought you'd encased it in lead, so I 'couldn't' do this."

"You think if you get brainwashed or turn evil, the best use of lead will be hiding what happens in the labs you already know about and can just break into?"

"Well when you put it like that …"

"If Lucius and I face a time crunch would you and Hamilton mind doing some of the work?"

"I won't. I don't imagine Hamilton will either. I'll ask him sometime tomorrow evening. He often works late."

"What did you put on the antenna by the way? It looks alien."

"It is, over and out."

Basement of Wayne Tower Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

After satisfying his hunger and putting relatively few leftovers away, the Martian lay back on the cot and stared up at the cement ceiling, but his thoughts were far far away. He hadn't let himself reminisce about Mars in a long, long time … As he did, a certain fear set in. What if … what if he finally went back and she was dead? What if he'd already failed? He had to know but … And what about his brother?

He remembered traveling all those enormous caverns brimming with life under water in the bubbles of atmosphere above the sometimes still sometimes bubbling lakes. Underwater forests brimming with Martian prey and predators, living walls of the homes his wife built to welcome him back from foraging, the gardens they planted and pools they dug and their daughters running through them. None of those familiar things would be there, only charred remains.

Perhaps … Perhaps there were caves of life left somewhere, though. Perhaps … places he had never been before he left the planet still had Martian life. If there were, if Martians still lived in them, surely, surely his brother would want to go back, be home again. Surely, his brother, niece, and he could make a home there again. But what if … What if 'all' Mars was dead? What if they were the last? What if there was no place to return to there? How would he heal his brother without a home to give him renewed hope with?

Even if there was a home to go back to, and his brother would become sane and return home, how would he explain his brother to Bruce? Would Bruce even be able to forgive both of them if he learned what they'd done? Would his brother ever forgive him for what he did to him? And what if … it had been nearly ten years … what if they were both dead and he was the last?

"One thing at a time Martian …"

The extraterrestrial turned his head to look at the back of the Lucius'. "What?"

"Batman helped center me when I was spiraling for a different reason. It's what I taught him to do when faced with a huge project or problem or even passion. One thing, one piece, one part of the project at a time. One task to tackle. Right now, I'm working on this. Next we'll try working on you. Don't spiral thinking of every task or every fear right now. Just get on to the very next thing."

"What do you suggest for me then?"

"Well, what's the Martian equivalent of jumping jacks or lifting weights?"

The Martian gave a slight smile. He lifted a hand. His eyes glowed a little more brightly. Then the stack of papers Lucius had already read and written notes on rose into the air. Lucius turned, stared at it, looked over his shoulder and stared at the Martian. Then he said dryly, "Now you're distracting me!"

The Martian let the papers fall back onto the table as his smile widened. Superman watched from the sky with a smile of his own. Then he got momentarily distracted by hearing and then watching Batman break up a mugging.

Park in London Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

Alfred with bags under his eyes approached the bench on which a man his age already sat holding a newspaper up in front of the lower half of his face. Alfred sat down beside him bent over and set his forehead on his hands which he'd folded together. "Morning Freddie …"

"Morning Alfie, can you tell me what we're both doing here this fine but early morning?"

"Do you remember my most embarrassing assignment?"

Frederick whistled. He only replied as he turned the page of his newspaper. "I say, I didn't expect 'that' conversation starter."

Alfred sighed. "I'm beginning to think it wasn't a joke."

Frederick actually lowered his paper and blinked before straightening it up so it would hide his mouth and muffle his words. "The Yanks putting together a whole department to hunt little green men from outer space?"

"The documents never said they were 'little.'"

"You'd know better than me. I just recall the higher ups thought you were pulling their leg for a good minute and you leaving their office red-faced. Once they believed you, the department decided the Yanks must be pulling one over on the Communists. Distraction tactic and all that. Trying to get them to divert resources to preparing for an invasion from outer space."

"You stayed in the game longer than me. Did you ever hear anything different than that … anywhere, among us or our allies, or our enemies?"

Frederick remained silent behind his paper for a moment, his brow furrowing. Then he said, "Well the Yanks always seemed to take it dead seriously. The department devoted to hunting green men from outer space didn't just continue, but grew over the decades. It got jurisdiction in all sorts of countries due partially to the 'global' nature of the threat. Honestly, I found that another reason to believe it all balderdash, just a grand excuse to poke their noses into any place any time."

"What's being done to catch the green men now Frederick?"

"More countries have contributed and collaborated, more tasks have been assigned to the original agency between bits of clues to follow up on, but it remains their top priority. Its head agent is feared across the globe. I even recall word spreading among us longer-retired agents from the younger retired ones that the Commies and Yanks actually agreed to a sort of joint mission to defend humanity from the little green men. Again, it was generally assumed it was a ploy to gain information from their 'new allies,' but they really went all out to convince them of the need. What is this all about Alfie?"

Alfred furrowed his brows further at his friend before asking, "How did they 'go all out' to convince them Freddie?"

Frederick raised his eyebrows as he appeared to keep reading his paper."Word was, they sent a double agent pretending to be one of the green men who'd infiltrated their space program to Russia, where he met with a supposed 'mind-reader' scientist who specialized in sending poor disgraced members of the party to the Gulag. They traveled together on a train that didn't make it to it's destination on time. Actually, some of the cars never made it. The area around their actual final resting place was torn up. Some living witnesses said two bigger green men had quite the fight and disappeared together."

Alfred then went silent. Frederick actual took his eyes off his paper briefly to glance at him. Then looked back to the small print while saying, "Don't tell me you think you actually 'got' a little green man hanging around Gotham City, Alfie."

"Not little, and not currently green, but some things certainly line up with the 'useless' intelligence I collected in America all those years ago."

Frederick whistles. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't find it so surprising in this day and age since we now have Superman flying around."

Alfred sighed. "Fredrick, could you ask around for anymore information?"

"To find out if we actually have green men who want to invade and have infiltrated your and Thomas' new city Alfie, of course. But if you do have such a threat over there with you on the other side of the pond, do be careful once you get back there, Old Chap."

Whumptober 19th Prompts: One way out and "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, "Radio Nowhere") One way out to Mars and Is there anybody left on Mars is on J'ohn's mind here.

What do you think now?

God bless

ScribeofHeroes