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thejusticelounge2013-02-08 08:37 am
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2013-02-08 08:37 am
many punches
J’onn was alone in his Watchtower quarters, frowning at his computer screen. He was reading the published progress reports on Guy’s condition. J’onn was pleased to see the physical healing progressing at a strong pace - aided by the return of Gardner’s ring.
What troubled him though was Oliver’s addendum. Memory loss? J’onn had expected the general hazy brain functions that accompany severe head trauma. The Martian had even personally seen Guy react poorly to head trauma in the past. But this? This seemed more severe, less… less comical.
If what Queen had written was correct, it would also explain a flash of mental anguish J’onn had experienced in Darkseid’s chamber back on Apokolips during Gardner’s rescue. Guy was apparently reverting to a self image and personality that he once employed during their days together in the… Moons of Mars! This was bad! Not only would the Lantern have lots of events to catch up on - Hal, the Corps, Kyle - but he would not even understand the new structure of the League or his teammates! And what of Guy’s relationships? H’ronmeer! Did Dick know?
J’onn hopped out of his chair and headed for the door. He decided he was needed immediately in the med bay. His research on Darkseid’s motives and possible next moves would have to wait.
The Martian altered his body slightly to appear as he did to Guy years ago. J’onn’s hopes were to ease into things, not for confrontation. He planned to talk to Gardner and mentally get a feel for just how extensive his damage may be.
The Martian Manhunter had one last concern as he quickly made his way to the door of Guy’s room: he had to get to Gardner and figure out what was going on before someone worse (Batman) did…
They had just brought his dinner tray. Or, at least it’s what passed for dinner around here. He poked at the “mystery casserole”, suitable for those who needed to gum their food well before swallowing, apparently. He’d lost his hand, not his goddamned teeth!
He looked up, and his eyes widened in both surprise and joy. “J’onn!”
Seeing someone he knew well, and had worked alongside recently, it had a profound effect on him. He felt all at once relieved and grounded, and couldn’t recall a time when he’d been happier to see ol’ Baldy himself.
He wanted to say how damn good it was to see him. How safe he felt now. How relieved he was to see someone he knew who also knew the people and events he’d been asking about. Someone who knew Ted, and Max, and Tora….
He wanted to say all these things.
“Hey, whaddya know, it’s My Favorite Martian.”
There. He said it.
“Guy” J’onn said, smiling. “It is so good to see you have begun to recover.” The Martian’s happy demeanor hid the mental search he was performing. “Are they treating you well? Are you able to…”
J’onn trailed off his question, judging Guy’s mental ability to empathetically complete the thoughts of others. The Martian was happy to sense his teammate formulate, then speak the expected response. “Eat Chocos?” Guy said with a chuckle. “I figured you’d be worried about that. If someone would bring some here, I’d sure as hell try!”
“Good, good…” J’onn said. First test: passed.
Time for some prodding; J’onn wanted to gauge Guy’s emotional response to negative stimuli. “I understand that Kyle has filled you in on much of what you have missed. Are you confident that the Guardians will allow you to continue as a member of their Corps now that you have been both compromised by Darkseid and maimed?”
The anger was almost immediate, the emotional walls slamming firmly into place as Guy’s guard went up and his psyche went into full defensive mode. “Hey! What th’ hell’s that supposed ta mean? Are you callin’ me some kind of TRAITOR?”
He pushed the hospital table so it and his dinner rolled away from him and he sat up, his ring sparking at the end of his cast, his stumped arm flailing angrily in the air, “Listen, Guy Gardner don’t compromise anythin’! Galactic lowlifes compromise to GUY GARDNER!”
Second test: emphatically passed. Guy’s ability to react emotionally was unchanged.
But it was a flash of something, a fragment, that really caught J’onn’s attention. When he had mentioned Darkseid, Guy’s mind for the briefest of seconds skipped to a memory. He remembered Darkseid’s throne room as it was during the recent rescue on Apokolips. The mental image was barely recognizable, so brief that Guy’s mind did not even consciously register it. But subconsciously, it was there. If J’onn himself had not been on Apokolips, he might have not realized what Guy’s mind had flashed to. But this new development was promising. It led J’onn to believe that Guy was not permanently damaged, but artificially so. His memory was there, but it was being prevented from completing the journey to conscious thoughts. And it bolstered the Martian’s hypothesis.
“I apologize for my statement” J’onn said. “I meant no offense. I was simply asking about the Guardians reaction to your current situation. I know that they have not always been compassionate in the past.” Guy’s grunt told J’onn that he understood that fact. But Gardner was still watching the Martian Manhunter warily. J’onn’s questions were causing the Lantern to start wondering about the real purpose of this visit. So far so good.
“So I hear that you have been visited by Kate Spencer among others” J’onn said smiling. “Her human hips and breasts are certainly aesthetically and sensually stimulating, right?”
Guy’s eyes widened as much as they the reduced swelling would allow. “Ah, yeah… buddy” Gardner said, choosing his words carefully. “They are, uh, for sure stimu… wait, what?”
The Lantern was sufficiently mentally off balance. J’onn was ready to move on to the third and, for the Martian, most important test: trust. “Guy, I know that you have been informed of the recent events. I know that you understand that some traumatic occurrence has caused your current physical and mental state and caused you to lose the last six years of your life. But if you have not yet been told, I was present on Apokolips as part of a rescue team that brought you back.” J’onn saw a flash of Guy’s memory - three figures, a boom tube, then it was all gone again. Gardner’s mind wanted to remember. J’onn altered his physical body from what Guy expected him to look like during their time together in the Justice League International back to his more contemporary appearance.
“I believe that I witnessed Darkseid employing a device that caused this to happen” J’onn continued. “I believe that I can pinpoint what was done to you and, if possible, reverse it. I believe that if you will allow me to enter your mind, I may be able to reconnect what has been disconnected…”
“Woah,” Guy held his hand up, managing to remember to not gesture with his stump - it was starting to weird out even himself. “I dunno, there…you believe? You don’t know for sure? You ain’t experimentin’ on me, what if somethin’ goes wrong?”
“J’onn, every friggin’ time someone messes in my head, people like Jordan claim I’ve gotten worse, not better. An’ besides, that time I hit my head an’ was all hippie-dippy peace-lovin’, you were fine leavin’ me like that for weeks, we’ren’t ya? Sure, as long as I act the way everyone else wants me to act after I’ve been hit on the head, it’s fine, but I trash one hospital room…”
Guy looked away for a moment, and J’onn caught a flash of familiar faces from their time together in the JLI and JLA, many he had not laid eyes on in years. With some, of them Guy’s sorrow ran deep, but unspoken, and certainly not revealed through his body language. J’onn respected his privacy and did not let on that he knew.
“Maybe I don’t wanna remember some stuff, y’know?” he muttered as he used his ring to drag the dinner tray and table back to where he could reach them, “Maybe…it’s better this way.”
“Ok” J’onn responded. “I understand. If you should change your mind in the future, please do not hesitate to call on me.” He could sense that Guy was not opposed to his help completely, just not ready for it yet.
The Martian walked to the door and picked up the package he had brought and set out in the hallway. “I will leave you now to recuperate. But I thought you might like this.” J’onn handed Guy a bundle wrapped in plain paper. “It is a gift.”
Guy kept one eye on J’onn as he pulled back the string and opened the paper. Inside was one black turtleneck, the style the Lantern wore under his vest in his early days with the JLI. “I hope you get well soon Guy” J’onn said as he exited the room.
Guy ran his hand over the material, feeling the texture with his fingers. It wasn’t that the solid-light of his uniform didn’t keep him warm enough; New York winters were harsh, but even they were nothing compared to unforgiving, frigid, surrounds of deep space.
He secretly loved the comfort of that sweater, the feel of that fabric embracing his torso and neck, but any non-construct clothing he was wearing when they brought him in had been cut off him in the trauma room and incinerated with the rest of the medical waste, the nurse had told him. Guy wondered if the Martian hadn’t lifted that embarrassing secret from his mind, how his turtlenecks were a sort of surrogate hug for him, but either way his preferred response was to downplay the great amount he appreciated this right now.
J’onn’s well-wishes brought him out of his reverie as he clutched the fabric between his fingers, and he snapped his head up to stop the Martian before he was gone entirely.
“J’onn…thanks.” He let it hang there a moment, then realized there was something else he hadn’t thanked his team leader for. He didn’t like getting all mushy. There was no need for it, usually, but this… “You saved my ass the other day…I owe ya one.”
J’onn nodded silently and smiled at his teammate as he faded from sight.
What troubled him though was Oliver’s addendum. Memory loss? J’onn had expected the general hazy brain functions that accompany severe head trauma. The Martian had even personally seen Guy react poorly to head trauma in the past. But this? This seemed more severe, less… less comical.
If what Queen had written was correct, it would also explain a flash of mental anguish J’onn had experienced in Darkseid’s chamber back on Apokolips during Gardner’s rescue. Guy was apparently reverting to a self image and personality that he once employed during their days together in the… Moons of Mars! This was bad! Not only would the Lantern have lots of events to catch up on - Hal, the Corps, Kyle - but he would not even understand the new structure of the League or his teammates! And what of Guy’s relationships? H’ronmeer! Did Dick know?
J’onn hopped out of his chair and headed for the door. He decided he was needed immediately in the med bay. His research on Darkseid’s motives and possible next moves would have to wait.
The Martian altered his body slightly to appear as he did to Guy years ago. J’onn’s hopes were to ease into things, not for confrontation. He planned to talk to Gardner and mentally get a feel for just how extensive his damage may be.
The Martian Manhunter had one last concern as he quickly made his way to the door of Guy’s room: he had to get to Gardner and figure out what was going on before someone worse (Batman) did…
They had just brought his dinner tray. Or, at least it’s what passed for dinner around here. He poked at the “mystery casserole”, suitable for those who needed to gum their food well before swallowing, apparently. He’d lost his hand, not his goddamned teeth!
He looked up, and his eyes widened in both surprise and joy. “J’onn!”
Seeing someone he knew well, and had worked alongside recently, it had a profound effect on him. He felt all at once relieved and grounded, and couldn’t recall a time when he’d been happier to see ol’ Baldy himself.
He wanted to say how damn good it was to see him. How safe he felt now. How relieved he was to see someone he knew who also knew the people and events he’d been asking about. Someone who knew Ted, and Max, and Tora….
He wanted to say all these things.
“Hey, whaddya know, it’s My Favorite Martian.”
There. He said it.
“Guy” J’onn said, smiling. “It is so good to see you have begun to recover.” The Martian’s happy demeanor hid the mental search he was performing. “Are they treating you well? Are you able to…”
J’onn trailed off his question, judging Guy’s mental ability to empathetically complete the thoughts of others. The Martian was happy to sense his teammate formulate, then speak the expected response. “Eat Chocos?” Guy said with a chuckle. “I figured you’d be worried about that. If someone would bring some here, I’d sure as hell try!”
“Good, good…” J’onn said. First test: passed.
Time for some prodding; J’onn wanted to gauge Guy’s emotional response to negative stimuli. “I understand that Kyle has filled you in on much of what you have missed. Are you confident that the Guardians will allow you to continue as a member of their Corps now that you have been both compromised by Darkseid and maimed?”
The anger was almost immediate, the emotional walls slamming firmly into place as Guy’s guard went up and his psyche went into full defensive mode. “Hey! What th’ hell’s that supposed ta mean? Are you callin’ me some kind of TRAITOR?”
He pushed the hospital table so it and his dinner rolled away from him and he sat up, his ring sparking at the end of his cast, his stumped arm flailing angrily in the air, “Listen, Guy Gardner don’t compromise anythin’! Galactic lowlifes compromise to GUY GARDNER!”
Second test: emphatically passed. Guy’s ability to react emotionally was unchanged.
But it was a flash of something, a fragment, that really caught J’onn’s attention. When he had mentioned Darkseid, Guy’s mind for the briefest of seconds skipped to a memory. He remembered Darkseid’s throne room as it was during the recent rescue on Apokolips. The mental image was barely recognizable, so brief that Guy’s mind did not even consciously register it. But subconsciously, it was there. If J’onn himself had not been on Apokolips, he might have not realized what Guy’s mind had flashed to. But this new development was promising. It led J’onn to believe that Guy was not permanently damaged, but artificially so. His memory was there, but it was being prevented from completing the journey to conscious thoughts. And it bolstered the Martian’s hypothesis.
“I apologize for my statement” J’onn said. “I meant no offense. I was simply asking about the Guardians reaction to your current situation. I know that they have not always been compassionate in the past.” Guy’s grunt told J’onn that he understood that fact. But Gardner was still watching the Martian Manhunter warily. J’onn’s questions were causing the Lantern to start wondering about the real purpose of this visit. So far so good.
“So I hear that you have been visited by Kate Spencer among others” J’onn said smiling. “Her human hips and breasts are certainly aesthetically and sensually stimulating, right?”
Guy’s eyes widened as much as they the reduced swelling would allow. “Ah, yeah… buddy” Gardner said, choosing his words carefully. “They are, uh, for sure stimu… wait, what?”
The Lantern was sufficiently mentally off balance. J’onn was ready to move on to the third and, for the Martian, most important test: trust. “Guy, I know that you have been informed of the recent events. I know that you understand that some traumatic occurrence has caused your current physical and mental state and caused you to lose the last six years of your life. But if you have not yet been told, I was present on Apokolips as part of a rescue team that brought you back.” J’onn saw a flash of Guy’s memory - three figures, a boom tube, then it was all gone again. Gardner’s mind wanted to remember. J’onn altered his physical body from what Guy expected him to look like during their time together in the Justice League International back to his more contemporary appearance.
“I believe that I witnessed Darkseid employing a device that caused this to happen” J’onn continued. “I believe that I can pinpoint what was done to you and, if possible, reverse it. I believe that if you will allow me to enter your mind, I may be able to reconnect what has been disconnected…”
“Woah,” Guy held his hand up, managing to remember to not gesture with his stump - it was starting to weird out even himself. “I dunno, there…you believe? You don’t know for sure? You ain’t experimentin’ on me, what if somethin’ goes wrong?”
“J’onn, every friggin’ time someone messes in my head, people like Jordan claim I’ve gotten worse, not better. An’ besides, that time I hit my head an’ was all hippie-dippy peace-lovin’, you were fine leavin’ me like that for weeks, we’ren’t ya? Sure, as long as I act the way everyone else wants me to act after I’ve been hit on the head, it’s fine, but I trash one hospital room…”
Guy looked away for a moment, and J’onn caught a flash of familiar faces from their time together in the JLI and JLA, many he had not laid eyes on in years. With some, of them Guy’s sorrow ran deep, but unspoken, and certainly not revealed through his body language. J’onn respected his privacy and did not let on that he knew.
“Maybe I don’t wanna remember some stuff, y’know?” he muttered as he used his ring to drag the dinner tray and table back to where he could reach them, “Maybe…it’s better this way.”
“Ok” J’onn responded. “I understand. If you should change your mind in the future, please do not hesitate to call on me.” He could sense that Guy was not opposed to his help completely, just not ready for it yet.
The Martian walked to the door and picked up the package he had brought and set out in the hallway. “I will leave you now to recuperate. But I thought you might like this.” J’onn handed Guy a bundle wrapped in plain paper. “It is a gift.”
Guy kept one eye on J’onn as he pulled back the string and opened the paper. Inside was one black turtleneck, the style the Lantern wore under his vest in his early days with the JLI. “I hope you get well soon Guy” J’onn said as he exited the room.
Guy ran his hand over the material, feeling the texture with his fingers. It wasn’t that the solid-light of his uniform didn’t keep him warm enough; New York winters were harsh, but even they were nothing compared to unforgiving, frigid, surrounds of deep space.
He secretly loved the comfort of that sweater, the feel of that fabric embracing his torso and neck, but any non-construct clothing he was wearing when they brought him in had been cut off him in the trauma room and incinerated with the rest of the medical waste, the nurse had told him. Guy wondered if the Martian hadn’t lifted that embarrassing secret from his mind, how his turtlenecks were a sort of surrogate hug for him, but either way his preferred response was to downplay the great amount he appreciated this right now.
J’onn’s well-wishes brought him out of his reverie as he clutched the fabric between his fingers, and he snapped his head up to stop the Martian before he was gone entirely.
“J’onn…thanks.” He let it hang there a moment, then realized there was something else he hadn’t thanked his team leader for. He didn’t like getting all mushy. There was no need for it, usually, but this… “You saved my ass the other day…I owe ya one.”
J’onn nodded silently and smiled at his teammate as he faded from sight.