I do not own Lucius Fox, J'onn Jonzz/Martian Manhunter, Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Scott Free/Miracle Man, Oberon, or Amanda Waller. DC does. So, please read and enjoy for free.

Undisclosed Road Heading West Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

Lucius had just noticed the alien's eyes glowing brighter red when a buzzing sound filled the back of the truck. Even as the guards raised weapons, two metal devices on either side of J'onn's head whirred. The Martain jerked, a small sound between a whine and a grunt emitted from his mouth. Then the alien's body sagged. The light from his eyes dimmed again. Lucius managed to freeze rather than flinch.

One of the guards with more stripes on his sleeve than most of the others asked, "Think you can develop anything better than what we already got to control him?"

Another guard chuckled. "I thought he was supposed to help with the dissection part."

Lucius literally bit his tongue as half of the guards chuckled.

Batcave Eleven Years After Waynes Deaths

Alfred stepped out of the shadows and approached Batman. The Dark Knight was again sitting in front of and staring at the cave's computer screens. Within reach of his godson's left shoulder, the English manservant clasped his hands behind his back and intoned, "Am I correct in thinking that visit from our off-world friends didn't go so well, Master Bruce?"

Without looking away from the screen he stared at, Batman replied "You know what they call him in some parts of the Galaxy?"

Alfred tilted his head while staring at his employer in silence. Bruce answered his own question. "The god of escape."

Alfred raised his eyebrows. Batman continued "He doesn't like the title, but Oberon convinced him to use it on their advertisements in such places."

Both men let the silence hang a moment as Alfred continued to stare at him without comment. Then the butler said, "I'm still not really clear on what exactly the extraterrestrial Scott Free is, Master Bruce."

"From what I can tell, he's something he doesn't want to be, but he does pretty much whatever he wants."

"How can you negotiate with such a person?"

"Some can, like Oberon, his wife, and the original 'Mr. Miracle.' But I've never actually put him in my debt. He knows he can make his own money. He knows I don't actually have the means to hurt him or those he loves. If I can't guilt him into helping, we can't count on him or his team."

"Does anything exist that 'can' hurt them?"

There was that paranoid soldier spy from the second world and cold war who had influenced his own strategic mind. "Apparently, yes, but not here."

Alfred sighed and looked up at the screen his employer and godson studied. "So, what do we do now?"

"It will be much harder without Scott, but the beginning is exactly the same. Figuring out where they took them. Even with our contacts, Waller's black sites will be the darkest. With her desire for remoteness as well as need to resupply a large number of guards and scientists and have enough energy to keep up the technology they'll require, we have some reasons to narrow the possibilities down. Taking him back to where he was originally held might be too obvious. For now, I'm assuming they kept heading west. She'll probably want to stay within the United States. Onscreen a map of the country showed areas highlighted in tones from pale yellow to deep red. "I think these are the most likely places. We need data on military supply movements, military families buying or renting within a several hours drive, and government construction contracts in the last few decades to narrow it down further. Then, I'll send Superman to study the possibilities from far enough up not to be noticed."

"It appears you think the Rockies look promising."

"Waller loves to use bombs, which means she knows their potential enough to want to protect herself and what's hers from them. Dry areas are the ones J'onn would have the hardest time traveling through if he escapes. And with dry fuel in the area and especially bunkers for herself and her teams to pull back into, she could always set a surrounding forest on fire as a last resort."

Alfred turned wide eyes on Bruce. "'A' last resort?"

"The very last resort will be dropping a nuke."

"Ah ..."

Undisclosed Location Eleven Years After Waynes' Deaths

Lucius spent days traveling with mostly silent guards and an almost entirely silent J'onn. The Martian only began to wake less than once a day only to be put fully under again by the same mysterious machines that only whined to life to accomplish this. A few times per day, the whole caravan stopped at mysteriously empty rest areas. On these occasions, Lucius was given coins to buy food from vending machines and allowed to stretch his legs as well as visit public restrooms. When he got back into the trailer he shared with the unconscious alien, there was always a different set of silent guards.

After several such stops, Lucius got out for another to see they were in the midst of mountains. Taller ones towered above and around them blocking the light of the sun, but they were already halfway up a smaller one. After re-entering the truck, the scientist sensed a seeming heightened emotional energy in the guards around him.

Hours later, he felt the trailer stop and turned toward the door to exit only for it to remain closed. Then the vehicle restarted. He didn't even bother, when seconds later, the vehicle paused again. The third time though, the door 'actually' opened. More guards stood outside in a cavernous, but enclosed area. The air smelled of gasoline.

People in hazmat outfits entered and then wheeled J'onn down a slope and into a garage that made the batcave look small. Lucius tried not to look impressed as he walked past trucks, tanks, and more parked in straight lines. He turned his gaze from some of them to see Waller waiting in a seeming vacant parking spot. She turned and led him, guards, and those shoving J'onn's unconscious body to a wall with a sliding elevator door. Lucius got on with a prayer that wasn't answered as he'd have liked. His feet felt them go down, not up.

The doors opened on a hall without windows, not to the outdoors at least. There were glass walls showing labs on the other side with tables on which microscopes, beakers, and petri dishes rested. Beyond them were often walls of labeled drawers. Finally, J'onn was wheeled into a room with even shinier walls and large vents in the ceiling, walls, and floor. The last was right under another non-mobile slightly tilting slab with open cuffs between two machines positioned opposite each other over the highest point of this table. Basically, this was a stationary twin of what J'onn was already on. The people in hazmat suits transferred him from the one to the other. He didn't wake up.

Lucius finally lost his composure enough to swallow. He licked his lips before asking. "Mind if I ask how this place is going to hold him?"

"You tell me," Waller intoned.

Lucius began to stroll around J'onn, the table, and machines bracketing his head. "I'm guessing these will knock him out as before ..." He looked down at the vent beneath. "And this ... releases gases or even just dry air, probably can pull air in as well to get rid of moisture and dry him out."

"And what do you think of such contingencies?"

Lucius nodded. "That should do it." Bruce ... how are we going to overcome this ... Maybe if Superman could ...

Waller interrupted his thoughts. "I hope you have more to offer than that."

Lucius nodded, turning around. "I do, though more for keeping him alive and in 'good' health."

Waller nodded back. "I'll brief my superiors on our arrival. You'll be shown to an office and a lab. Then, you'll be brought to my office to brief me more thoroughly on your knowledge of our subject."

As she left, Lucius turned toward the Martain for a final look before being "escorted" away. Forgive me J'onn. I hope after all this, I can actually help you rather than just help them torture you more. But we'll both have to be 'real' careful about this.

He looked to the guard speaking to him while gesturing with a rifle he carried to the door. "Right this way sir ..."

What do you think now?

God bless

ScribeofHeroes