At first there was light. Then darkness, and light again. Seven people felt warm steel beneath them.

"Teleported," Brainiac 5 hissed. He opened his iridescent blue-green eyes and saw a green hand and a threadworn, purple sleeve, his own, attempting to block the white light. A blur of magenta and black was half-kneeling, shielding his eyes. "Morgna, can you see anything?" the blur asked in a hoarse voice.

The Terran in question opened his eyes. No vertigo. His eyes, the blue-white of newborn stars, focused on a gold-toned ring with a stylized "L" on it. His flight ring gleamed in the light; a reminder that he was a member of the most powerful group in Earth's history, and that he had survived over a decade's life and death challenges. "We're on a round metal platform. About a decameter away there's a compconsul with an overweight man in heavy robes, twelve armed guards and laser turrets mounted from the ceiling. Oh, and there's a fat woman, eeyich!"

"I wish you didn't say that, Dirk," a cool, feminine voice wryly commented. A low moan shattered the facade of confidence the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes were trying to create. Curled in a fetal position was a blue-skinned youth trying to shield his eyes against the hated light. Two black-gloved arms shot out and wrapped the youth's cape around him. "No, Grev," the magenta-shirted man warned as he made sure the cape was protecting the nocturnal, "don't use your shadow powers, or our code names."

The light faded and revealed the newest catch of the teleporter globe. The three owners gaped. A fine catch, indeed. An auburn-haired man was helping a heavily pregnant woman to her feet. His body was tensed, ready to defend his apparent mate with all the power at his command. The green man scampered over to the couple and began to examine the woman. A third man, dressed in alternating red and yellow sat, calmly waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dimness. His features were classically beautiful; the obese woman appreciated them and mentioned it to her husband.

The heavy man ignored her, his concentration rivetted on the nocturnal and his benefactor. A blue-skinned boy with pointed ears and wild hair was unusual enough, but it was the blond helping the child that held his attention. The man was in extraordinary shape, like his comrades, but slightly taller and thinner, indicating that he was from a hot or light-gravity world, possibly both. Pale flesh covered the angular build of his face, almost softening the alien's features. The fat man studied all of the alien, but it was its liquid blue eyes that hypnotized him. They were old eyes; eyes that had seen too much, yet had drawn strength from what they saw. Those eyes glared into the Legion's captor, promising that if anyone was harmed, Smearan would have cause to regret it.

"Jan!" the Terran shouted.

"What is it, Dirk?" the alien responded, than saw what it was that shocked Sun Boy.

A woman with hair the color of dying oak leaves lay on the platform, scarcely breathing. "Shvaughn," Jan whispered, "oh, no; no! Querl, get over here!"

It took Brainiac 5 a moment to recognize his real name through Element Lad's accent. Calmly, he assessed the man who called him. Yes, there was enough tension to trigger the Trommite's almost gone accent. The seven of them had been kidnapped by unknown foes with unknown motives, and Saturn Girl, despite her good health and telepathic abilities was in no condition to fight. The woman Jan loved, Science Police Officer Shvaughn Erin, was in a state of shock, perhaps dying. Added to the current situation was the fact that Element Lad was the leader of the Legion, responsible for the safety of everyone here.

"I bid you welcome, fellow humans. Please stand." Uncertain of why this was happening, the Legionnaires, except for Brainiac 5 and Shadow Kid, obeyed. The three people paraded around them and muttered approving remarks. Saturn Girl accepted their probing touches stoically, and in return touched their minds and probed for concepts and techniques.

Lightning Lad felt a telepathic wave of terror which nearly staggered him. Cautiously, he asked his wife what frightened her. The silent reply left him with more questions. Imra did not scare easily, were these three a threat to their babies somehow?

Three fat sets of legs waddled away. The first man turned and announced, "I am Smearan, your master. All of you are healthy, save one. Serve me well as laborers in my quarries and fields, and you will continue to stay healthy. And perhaps, if you please me or my wife, you will be rewarded." Something inside of Grev snapped. Snarling, he lunged towards Smearan. Almost in the same second, Jan grabbed for the Talokite and tripped him. Using his hastily-won advantage, Jan locked Grev in a half-Nelson.

"Let me go!" Shadow Kid raged, "you don't know what it's like!"

"Yes, I do," Jan hissed as he yanked on Grev's arm. "I was in that thrice-damned concentration camp with you. Grev, your cousin thought enough of me to help vote in my leadership; will you trust her judgment?"

Grev relaxed. "For now."

Jan sighed and released him. "Please forgive my friend. He is young and impulsive."

"Then he will behave?" Smearan asked.

"If I tell him to."

"Excellent. See to it. Guards, take them to a cell."

"Wait," Brainiac protested, "one of us is injured!"

"Obey me, guards," Smearan shouted. The guards fell into formation around the Legionnaires, and herded them away.

"Jan, we can take them now," Grev whispered.

Element Lad shifted his grip on the unconscious woman, making her head rest on his shoulder. "Must I point out that three of us can't fight? And that those laser turrets are probably automatic?"

"Who said anything about going back into that room? We head for a spaceport--"

"No, Grev, Jan's right," Brainiac 5 interrupted. "A world that develops teleportation to this degree probably has planetary travel only." He noticed his friend looking at the limp body in his arms. "Don't worry, Jan, she's still breathing."

Jan's lips curled into a grimace.

Inside the teleport chamber, Smearan realized something. The blond Caucasian was only slightly older than his blue companion. Yet, he was calmer than the latter, holding back his strength until it was needed. An overbuilt stomach quivered as Smearan shuddered, and decided to have a monitor placed on the new slaves.

*L*

The cell was dark and damp. A barred window let in fresh air that only stirred the mustiness and choked the prisoners even more with the foulness of old fear, suffering and death. It was on a floor covered with stale straw that Grev's bravado failed him. He thumped onto the floor, slumping his back against the wall. He felt the cold slime on his shoulders and tightened into a ball, almost touching the corner he chose, but not quite.

The unborn twins sensed their mother's fear and began to fidget inside their womb. With the intimacy and care that only a telepath could achieve, Imra calmed the children. For a moment, she shared the children's perceptions of the warmth and dark, and wished she was there.

Garth wrapped his arms around his wife and crushed her to him. The tension was still there, and the sub-mental thought behind it. Imra knew that he would indeed be dead and damned before he let his family become enslaved. She squeezed him back and prayed he would not have to kill the babies to save them.

With a steady gaze, Dirk watched the couple. He could imagine the conversation they were having. He did not feel that the situation was so hopeless the infanticide would even need to be considered. For a dozen years, he had been getting out of death traps with the help of his teammates, and they would be able to get out of this. With a few more bruises, sure, but nothing that couldn't heal. Or was he too stupid to realize that this trap had no escape but death? The thought bothered him, and he averted his eyes. A yellow boot kicked absently at the dirty straw and Dirk wondered if he would be able to clean it once he was back on Earth. He scanned the floor. Brainiac was still examining Shvaughn.

The green man broke the silence. "Grev, I need your cape." He accepted the cape and covered his patient with it. Then he stripped off his shirt and used it to pillow her head. After pulling off a small flashlight from his belt, he summoned Grev and asked the Talokite to watch Shvaughn's responses for him.

A shudder ran down Dirk's spine. What if Shvaughn died? What would happen to Jan then? Ever since he came to the Legion, as a mysterious child of twelve, Jan was withdrawn, only able to confide with a few people. With a saint's patience, Shvaughn began to love Jan, and persuaded him to look at humanity as a participant in its joy, instead of being a specter that came during its tragedies. If she died, Jan's overlong integration into humanity would stop and possibly regress. Would Jan's spirit die again, too? Slowly, Sun Boy walked over to the man who stood at the window with his back towards them all and placed a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I love her, Dirk," Jan admitted under his breath.

Dirk didn't hear the words, only the pain. Anything he said now would only seem like a sham. However, Element Lad's gift was to look into the darkest despair and win against it, most of the time.

"Well, what do we do?" Garth asked.

For a long moment Jan refused to speak. All of them heard each other's breathing, Shvaughn's choking gasps, and their own heartbeats. The leader closed his eyes and allowed the silence to drag. "Imra," he said finally.

She understood, and forged a mindlink between the cell mates.

(Brainy, what are Shvaughn's chances of surviving?) he asked, starting the discussion.

(Through the night, fifty-four point four per cent. Much longer, three per cent unless we get her to a medic lab,) the Coluan answered.

(Why'd they put her here in the first place?) Lightning Lad's anguished inquiry rang through their heads.

(As a hostage, as a soul-breaker, Garth,) Jan answered calmly. (We can't fight while we're carrying her, and if she dies, they figure we'll be too numb with grief.)

"So we're going to sit here and accept this?" Grev exploded, grabbing Jan. "Your planet died before they could be enslaved!"

The Legion leader broke Grev's grip with a single jerk. (Yes, my people died to keep their freedom. But as long as there is a chance that I can save someone, I WILL NOT ACCEPT DEATH!) Anger blazed in Jan's liquid eyes. (How dare you, Shadow Kid, accuse me of cowardice and remind me of Trom! I will not profane my world by weakly accepting this fate!)

Grev buckled under the Trommite's stare and sank to the floor. (Shad, don't break. I need you; you're an important part of my escape plan. If you break, we're all as good as dead. Do you understand? We need you!)

"Yes," Shadow Kid whispered, amazed at the sudden change in Element Lad.

(Good. Does everyone have a flight ring?)

(No), Shadow Kid answered.

Jan considered this a moment. (Take Saturn Girl's. Brainy, can Shvaughn take a radiation dose?

(Possibly. I don't know what's wrong with her. There's no injury.)

(Wait a second, she won't have to. Imra, I'm going to make a flying disk. You fly it. Brainy, use your force shield to protect the women. Lightning Lad, Sun Boy and I will run interference. And Grev, you cover our rear with your shadow powers. I want it pitch black behind us. We'll head back to the teleporter room, hopefully grab a hostage to deactivate any defenses the room might have. If not, Dirk and I will, while Brainy's shielding us. Saturn Girl, give me the information on how to run that machine.)

(While I'm at it, shall I also tell you how to deactivate the defenses)? Her slight smile was psionic; an old teacher's amusement at a protégé. She sensed him slowing down. Oh, yeah, probe for one, why not probe for another?

(I feel stupid), Jan admitted, Give me that, too. (It'd save us the trouble of a hostage.)

Imra stepped over to Element Lad. Gently, she touched his head. (Lower your barriers), she ordered. The reluctance the Trommite had in doing so reminded her that he had been taught to barrier since infanthood. The information was transmitted and the barriers slammed shut, but Imra was ready.

(Everyone rest up. Someone has to come, either to feed us or move us. We move then.) Jan announced and dropped out of the telepathic link. "Querl, can I do anything for her?"

"Elevating her head might help," Brainiac watched as Element Lad sat heavily on the floor and gathered the Science Police officer to him. "I swear to you, Jan, I'll do everything in my power to help her."

Jan almost smiled, "I know you will."

With the abrupt feeling of dismissal, Brainiac 5 walked over to Imra, who was being helped to the floor by Lightning Lad and Sun Boy.

(What's with him, Brainy?) Dirk asked, as Saturn Girl returned the psychic link.

(How the hell should I know)? Brainiac replied, more agitated by not knowing, than by anything else.

(He's always been secretive,) Imra reminded them, (remember when he joined the Legion?) Dirk and Querl nodded.

Garth smiled, (I heard about it, and he's still not good with details.)

(He's told us what he thinks we need to know), Saturn Girl defended.

(And he's right,) Grev agreed, (I don't like him much, but a leader has the right to be secretive.)

(Shut up!) Garth hissed.

(I agree with a leader's right to secrets,) Saturn Girl admitted. (But he started this when he was an applicant.)

(How did he do that?) Grev asked.

(Our information services weren't high-caliber a decade ago,) Dirk explained. (Hey, Jan, this is your story, he prodded.)

(You're a far better story-teller than I, Sun Boy,) Element Lad excused himself with a muted thought.

The telepath picked up a vague impression of... what? Anger? Fear? Sometimes the two emotions were hard to tell apart.

(Tell the story, Sunny,) Garth urged. (I never did understand how we ended up with him; all I ever heard was that he almost ended up with the shortest Legion career in history.)

(Well, Lightning Lad, he very nearly didn't even have that. Cosmic Boy was the chairman for the applicants' review committee. What he got from Jan was an application with his name on it. No code-name, no super-power, and no age were listed. Cos was furious. "So your name is Jan Arrah. Very well, what is your power?" Rokk growled.)

Dirk stopped thinking in words and allowed his memories to become part of the communication.

*L*

"I'm sorry, but it must remain a secret. That's why I wear a question mark on my costume. But I'll demonstrate my power to one of you, if that one promises to never reveal it!"

The Cosmic Boy he remembered nearly bolted out of his chair. "This is unheard of!"

"He must have a reason for his... strange request," Saturn Girl mumbled. "Let him demonstrate his power to me, and I'll recommend whether or not to accept him."

"A good idea, Saturn Girl, and while you're at it, you can determine whether his motivations are worth recommending."

Imra stood, glaring at Dirk. "Very well, Arrah, you have my word as leader of the Legion that I won't reveal your power. This way, please." After several anxious moments, Imra and the stranger returned. Dirk assessed him, (Still awkward, especially around Saturn Girl. He's about twelve or thirteen, and Interlac is not his primary language. I can't place his accent, so he's not from one of the more active United Planets.)

Minutes later, Imra returned, excited and smiling. She hadn’t smiled since Garth’s death. "His power is terrific! I recommend him to the fullest extent on that basis."

"I'll bet," Sun Boy remembered commenting as Saturn Girl resumed her chair. "Any other bases you can recommend him on?"

Imra did not take the bait. "I don't know. He's got a strong psychic shield. I think he's benevolent-- towards us, anyway-- but even if he isn't, his powers make him someone to be watched... carefully."

"Won-DER-ful," Cosmic Boy sighed, "what are they?"

With a slow swivel of her chair, Saturn Girl turned and said, "I gave my word, Cosmic Boy."

*L*

(That ended it, officially. Jan was accepted and named Mystery Lad. He avoided us at first, and only spoke to Saturn Girl. Brainy was working on some one-man spacesters so we could chase Roxxas and his pirates down. Jan blanched when he heard Roxxas' name. Colossal Boy thought he understood why, and said, "If you want to sit this one out, Mystery Lad, go ahead; It'd be a tough first mission."

"My thanks, no. I'm going on this mission," Jan snapped.

Colossal Boy walked away muttering something about crazy aliens and shrugged into his spacesuit like the rest of the team.)

*L*

(Hey, like you,) Garth realized during the shared memory. (Jan, if your race was spacefaring, then maybe others survived!)

Jan did not answer. For five years he had sent an automatic message on all Trommite hyperspace bands. There was no answer, no break in the desperate droning, until Sun Boy entered and turned off the beamer. Then he sat down on Jan's bed, beside a blue and green uniform with high boots and gloves. "I guess my five years of mourning are over now, Sun Boy; I no longer need to wear the white armbands. I think it's time to admit I'm alone," Jan explained through his tears.

"Only if you want to be, Arrah. Give the Legion and Earth a chance," Dirk suggested and left the seventeen-year-old alone.

(...We met up with the pirates on Vurna,) Dirk continued, (So Mystery Lad leaps into battle, and proves that someone taught him how to fight. Well, one of the pirates decided to spear him and CRUNCH! goes the spear on Mystery Lad's chest. Hey, so he's invulnerable, Bouncing Boy decides. And just to prove him wrong, Jan cuts his hand on a panel while we were repairing the city.)

(As if I wanted to?) Jan asked.

(If you don't like the storyteller's style, you can do it yourself,) Dirk retorted good naturedly.

(No, you go on.)

(We went after the pirates again, with Saturn Girl sensing them on a dead world. We landed and began searching for them. Jan looked like he would have traded every ancient wonder on that world for a confessional just then. Now, enter the pirates, blasting away from a sheltered position.... Being the trained, fearless heroes we were, we ran like hell. Cos shouted to Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid to "Do something!" and Jan stopped a silver statue from flattening Imra by shoving it away.)

Brainiac 5 interrupted, (I concluded that Mystery Lad's power was super-strength, and Saturn Girl wasted no time in telling me I was wrong. But we had prisoners to interrogate, since the Terrans did indeed "do something".)

An image of a roofless building with huge finger holes near the top formed in the linked minds. Imra laughed at the picture, and felt the children's momentary relief. Be at ease, little ones, we are safe for a while, Imra soothed and began to dampen her link with the children. (I'll tell the rest of the story, Dirk. After all, it's my fault it started.)

The Legionnaires burst out laughing. Even Jan laughed a little, and then clutched Shvaughn closer. (My psi-scan of the prisoners captured one thought before it was blocked. They recognized Mystery Lad. Lyle, Invisible Kid, voiced a thought that was in all our minds: Was Jan in league with the pirates? At the time, it seemed plausible. When I probed again, I caught the image of a binary system two parsecs away. We left immediately).

Dirk's memories began to dominate the narrative again. Two suns, in their silent glory, were in front of the Legionnaires; their sheer power crooned to their human brother. Then DISASTER! A small meteor, the size of a skyscraper was hurled towards them. No time to scatter. Jan's shout of "It's mine!" rang through their helmets, and the meteor vanished. "Let me scout ahead, in case Roxxas has any other traps planned," Mystery Lad urged. Saturn Girl agreed.

(What happened then, Jan?) Dirk asked, (You never did tell us much.)

Jan sighed, knowing he could no longer deny his friend's prodding. (I left a note explaining that I was what Roxxas was after, and that I was going to surrender myself in hope that they would stop their carnage.) His thoughts were silent again, but at Imra's persistent touch, he allowed his memories to flow through the others.

Even through the bulky spacesuit, he felt rough arms grab him. Someone pulled off his helmet and banged it into his left ear.

"Don't try to use your power now, Arrah. If you wreck the hull, you'll be sucked into the vacuum."

"My spacesuit's life-support system and your ship's grav-plates will protect me from that, Roxxas. All I have to do is hold my breath."

Roxxas barely nodded, and a sharp knee smashed into Jan's gut. "I think you'll find that difficult now. Jan, there is no reason for us to fight. Throw in with us. With your powers, we could rich beyond your dreams; there's no world that would defy our demands-- that's why we tracked you down!"

"You murdering megalomaniac, do you realize the destruction and death you caused to find me? To innocent worlds that only wanted to live in peace, like mine? You killed my world and I would gladly die to keep you from killing again!" He reached out with his power and turned the helm into neon.

(The next thing I knew, Invisible Kid and the others were leaning over me, telling me I would be all right. Cos decided I should be called Element Lad, but that my abilities should remain secret. That was it. I recovered and trained until Roxxas' trial. That was when my secret was lost: My testimony was useless unless I proved myself Trommite to the court and cameras. Now get some rest, group.)

Dirk shrugged and kicked at the floor. "Ah, well, can't sleep standing up," and slipped down to the floor. A small squish and rustle reminded Dirk where he was. His sense of humor demanded that he make a remark, but he couldn't think of anything to say. What are you thinking, Jan? he wondered, then realized it was none of his business until Jan spoke to him.

"Is anybody recovered from the travel sickness yet?" Jan inquired.

"Hell, no," Garth answered.

"My stomach is still jumpy and the babies're frightened," Imra reported.

"I'm slightly shocky, and you know how Shvaughn is." Brainiac 5 admitted.

"Agreed. How are you, Dirk?"

"I'm missing that bottle of '62 Andromead we were going to have. GiGi, Rokk and Lydda are probably drinking it now."

Garth laughed. "Morgna, you lead a charmed life!"

"Au contraire, my friend, it's you who lives the charmed life."

"If you count the fact that most of the charms are bad, yeah. How about you, Grev?"

"My eyes still hurt from the light. But I can fight," a voice from the corner sullenly responded.

"Fighting's not the answer here, Grev," Jan muttered. "Imra?"

She re-established the group link. (I know none of us are well, but could everyone fight?) Jan asked.

(The sooner we get out of here...) five minds answered in various ways.

(Okay, Imra, get the guards to go to the far end of the hall.)

(It'll take some time, Element Lad.)

(Don't push yourself too hard, but do it! I also think that the sooner we're out, the better!)

"It's done, Jan," Saturn Girl calmly announced. "Jan?"

The Trommite swallowed hard, and motioned for them to stand. (On my signal.) He touched the door hinges, and then the door. Silently, he stepped back to Shvaughn. With a lover's gentleness, he picked her up and set her in Brainiac's arms. He stroked the autumn-colored hair. (Shvaughn, I love you and always will. No matter what happens, remember that.) "Okay, Legionnaires," Element Lad breathed, "let's go!" He shoved the door down and watched it float a foot off the ground. It was now a block of anti-gravity metal, known as 152, primed for imprinting.

"Come on, Brainy," Saturn Girl shouted, sliding onto the block.

"Shad, cover us!" Element Lad commanded the instant after the shout.

Grev obeyed and felt someone pull him up on the platform by his collar. That was it, Element Lad had gone too far, Grev decided. Then he saw a black and magenta shape down the hall.

"Sorry about your shirt, Shadow Kid," Brainiac 5 mumbled.

Exasperated, Grev realized the Legionnaires would not consider him an equal unless he took his cousin's place! But any soldier knew how important guarding the rear was, so he concentrated on his assignment.

The alarms started blaring, bringing the expected swarms of guards. Those that did not fall because of lightning bolts or solar flares found themselves stuck to the floor, bereft of their weapons. The last two guards saw the angry aliens coming towards them and ran. Garth Ranzz grimaced and blasted them as Jan Arrah opened the teleporter chamber.

"Everyone on the platform!" he shouted.

Imra knew what he was thinking. "Jan, you're the leader! You can't--"

"Then send someone for me! Get to decontamination as soon as you can," he shouted as he set the controls. "Take care of her, Brainy," Jan murmured as he closed his eyes against the light. "Oh, Shvaughn."

The moment Jan was alone, he sealed the door with his powers. The others were safe, and that was all that mattered. In time, they would find him, all he had to do was survive. As he waited for his confrontation with Smearan, he touched the console, and wondered about a technician who didn't know about an automatic control for the warper. Was it never programmed, or just forgotten? Even an untrained eye could see that the machine was centuries old. Whether or not the lasers were that old did not matter any more. He reached out, sensed the of all-too familiar steel and ruby construction, broke the atomic structure and forced the protons, neutrons and electrons into the structure of loose silicon.

"Hey!" an indignant shout rang in the room. Jan bolted to see a miffed Sun Boy shaking sand out of his gold-red hair. "Is that any way to treat your faithful comrade?"

"What the hell are you doing here, Morgna?"

"Did you really think I'd miss the party?" Dirk asked innocently. "'Sides, it's no fun to camp alone."

Jan shook his head in disbelief to hide the relief he felt flooding through his body. "You're crazy, Dirk. But if you're willing to accept the risk, I can't refuse your help. Of course, you know the odds against me are lousy--"

"So I'll hedge the bet; what else is new?"

Jan shrugged and turned back to the console. "Ready for our guests, Sun Boy? They're drilling for us."

The Terran's hands wrapped themselves in flame. A slight nod answered the question. Jan waved at the door, and as it became oxygen, it burst into flame. A wide field solar blast made the frightened soldiers drop red-hot weapons. A corona formed around Sun Boy as he rose into the air. The guards who feared the unknown more than they feared Smearan ran. The others were scattered by a few well-placed firebolts.

"Don't let them harm the machine!" Smearan shouted as he waddled towards the console.

Jan's face hardened, "Fat man, do you think you can stop me?" His fist slammed across Smearan's face. The teleporter shook as its color shifted to brown. As the molecules separated, the machine oozed to the floor. The guards ran, fighting against the sticky stuff.

Smearan launched himself towards the Trommite. "You destroyed my machine! I'll--"

"You'll what, fat man? Kill me?" Jan hissed as he dodged the slaver. After jamming his hands into the thick folds of Smearan's robes, he hauled the quaking slaver to his feet. "You dare threaten me? You dare, after you tried to enslave my friends... kill my lover... force a pregnant woman into battle?" The liquid blue eyes held an icy cold fury. "I should kill you for that."

Dirk did not hear the words, but he had seen the expression on Jan's face twice before. "Jan, don't! He's not Roxxas, and he's not a Khundish warlord who's invading Earth!" For a moment the words didn't seem to be working. "Jan, he's not worth soiling your hands on."

Jan squeezed his eyes shut against the rage. Roxxas had killed Trom; Gharlak had threatened Earth with his fleet. Compared to them, Smearan was nothing. "You're right, Sun Boy. Let's get out of here," he said. After shrugging the slaver away, Jan scooped up a handful of brown goo and directed his thoughts at the roof, turning it into helium. The Legionnaires left, and refused to pay attention to Smearan's threats.

*L*

They flew low and fast to avoid detection. They chose a tropical area to hide in, believing that the insects would be easier to deal with than potential cold.

"It's a pretty big area, we should be able to keep hidden," Sun Boy decided.

"Hm," Element Lad agreed.

"Jan, are you all right?"

"Do I really need to answer that question, Dirk?"

"Ah, no. C'mon, let's fly around; find something to eat." Finally his curiosity asked, "What is that gunk you created?"

Jan pulled a lump off the glob. "It's caramel," he answered. "Want some?"

The Terran nodded his head and laughed. "You called me crazy."

"I guess in our business, it helps." Jan shrugged and offered the candy. After Dirk took some Jan turned the rest into oxygen. "Let's go."

Cautiously, they wandered into the jungle. Small animals screeched in the trees above them. Dirk wondered if they were edible. But hell, he decided, he had worked on an empty stomach before. The wind shifted and Dirk caught a whiff of his teammate.

"'Ey, Compadre, 'ow's about a leetle siesta?"

Jan did not respond. His face was a mask, hiding all his thoughts.

(Let me in, Jan, or come on out,) Dirk silently requested. Finally, the stench and the silence overwhelmed him. He grabbed his friend and dumped him into a stream.

"What the hell was that for, Morgna?" Element Lad shouted.

"Do you remember where you were half the night? You stink!"

"If I stink, imagine what you smell like," Jan smiled and snapped his fingers.

Sun Boy fell into the river. He came up sputtering and shoved Jan into the water even before he caught his breath. While submerged, Jan kicked his friend's legs out from under him.

They wrestled playfully for a few minutes, then Jan broke away. "Now that we're wet, we might as well take a bath." Jan grimaced as he pulled his wet shirt off.

"I always knew you'd take an opportunity if you saw it." Dirk agreed, tossing his boots onto the shore.

After Jan scrubbed himself and swam a bit, he climbed out and laid down on a flat rock. He closed his eyes for a moment, then willed the dirt away and dried himself and his uniform the same way.

"Neat trick," Dirk but what about me?" Sun Boy asked.

"What about you?"

"I'm wet!"

"You mean you can't handle it?"

"Oh, yeah," Dirk "realized" and released enough heat to dry himself.

Quietly, Jan laughed as Dirk joined him. "You remind me a lot of Isset, Dirk. She was able to manipulate me, too."

Confused, Dirk glanced at his friend. "Who's Isset, Jan?"

"She was my older sister. She served in the United Planets army for two years. I remember... when she was teaching me the martial arts, she would braid her long red hair, like Shvaughn's, then curl it around her head. She died, Dirk; I'm not exactly sure how." His head was down, his shoulders forward. Dirk pursed his lips and clasped his friend's shoulder. Isset explained many little things about Jan. His pre-Legion training, his understanding of United Planets foreign policy and his command of Interlac.

Abruptly, Jan stood. "If we want to use this place again, we'd better leave now." They first flew to the Arctic and the Antarctic to make false trails, leading anywhere and nowhere at once. An autumn forest loomed before them, and they stopped to forage and fish.

The Trommite scanned the berries. "They're good, Sun Boy," he muttered as he slumped against a tree. He wondered how Shvaughn was and wished she was with them while he was glad she was safe. He wanted to pray for her, but couldn't think of what gods to invoke. Burning tears slipped down his cheeks. If she died, he would have to live through grief again, and he didn't want to. "Let her live," he begged her God, "please."

A cry of surprise and pain broke his isolation. "Sun Boy! Where are you?"

"I'm up in this goddamn tree, caught in this friggin' wire, and I hurt like blazes! And the fuckin' tree is gonna catch on fire before the wire melts!"

With a sarcastic innocence, Jan said, "I didn't know trees could do that, Sunny." Dirk hissed in pain as Jan rose and checked the wires. "Nice tangle."

"Very funny."

"I should be able to get you out--" he froze. "Damn, no, attack squad. There's not enough time to fade. I'll be back."

For five agonizing minutes, Dirk tried to hold himself motionless. How did Jan know there was a squad? How many? Did Jan have a chance?

The trees began to rustle. Instinctively, he tensed.

"It's me, Sun Boy. I'll get you down now." His voice betrayed his exhaustion. Dirk could feel his friend's body shake as Jan cradled him during the transmutation and lowered him to the ground.

"Jan, what--"

The Trommite slumped to the ground. "I've got to rest, Dirk, if only for a few minutes..." he explained weakly as he dropped onto the ground.

"Go ahead, I'll take watch." Carefully, Dirk examined his injuries. The wire had cut deep, but not deep enough to cause muscle damage. After twenty minutes of struggling to master the pain, the Terran hobbled to the clearing where the battle took place. He stopped and shivered, as a frigid gust of air blasted him. A thick layer of ice entombed the field of grass and decaying leaves. Red stained holes and fissures marked where soldiers fell. Sparkling glass trees were everywhere: Some broken or shattered, others were missing branches. Dark gray coal trees smoldered or burned, depending on whether their personal puddles had touched their laser scars.

Dirk forced his breath out as he stumbled back to where he left Jan. He looked at the man he regarded as a kid brother and remembered the story he heard about Jan defeating an army of pseudo-life creatures on a backwater world. Three hundred and fifty complex chemical androids tried to kill off the rebellion the United Planets had allied the Legion with. Jan was sixteen at the time.

"How powerful are you, Jan?" Dirk whispered. He crouched down beside the transmuter and shook him awake. "We've got to get out of here, Jan. Do you think you can make it?"

"I'm exhausted, Dirk. Not concussed." Jan mumbled sleepily as he shuffled to his feet. Dirk guided his friend back to their hiding place in a thick, dark forest where even the sunset's rays were hidden.

*L*

Jan bolted awake fourteen hours later, almost screaming. Cautiously, he extended his power. Everything was as it should be. The feeling of a spike being driven between his eyes was only part of a formless nightmare.

"Hey, you all right?" Dirk asked.

"I've been better, Dirk," Jan replied as he crawled over to the stream. In a swift motion, he dunked his head into the water. After a few seconds, he left The Avri, or the water. (Why did I think of you in Trommite terms? he asked the liquid. I have been thinking and cursing in human terms of almost half my life. ) "How's your leg, Dirk? And your back, your shoulder, neck...."

"Better. The swimming helps. Um, I've been wanting to ask you: How did you know about the attack squad?"

"You know part of my ability is to analyze the composition of substances. Brainiac 5 and Saturn Girl once suggested that I try to use that ability as a sense rather than a tool. It's starting to come easily now."

"Someday, Arrah, you're not going to surprise me."

"Maturity for all living things comes in stages, Dirk. My stages are different from you humans, that's all."

"I'll say, you fall in love at twenty-one, and go on your first date that same year."

"That's not true. I dated at fourteen." A shadow fell over them.

(Dumb dumb DUMB! ) Dirk raged, (didn't need to remind him!)

"Can I talk to you?" Jan asked.

"About love? You have picked to wrong person to talk to! But since I don't see anyone else, go ahead." (Don't act flip,) he admonished himself, (he needs a listener, now.)

"Ever since I came to Earth, I've isolated myself. The Legion became my life, all of my life. Then Shvaughn-- I was so scared-- I just now let her in. The idea of losing another loved one makes me crazy, Dirk." He fell silent, fighting the sobs that were rising in his voice.

"I understand, Jan," Dirk said lamely. Then he remembered hundreds of nameless women and countless one-night stands, and suddenly, he did understand.

Jan looked up, "Thanks." He drifted into thought and Dirk returned to the stream. Something made of steel and carbon tugged at the edge of his mind. "Dirk, there's a squad nearby. We've got to leave."

Quietly, the Terran waded towards the bank. A flash of white light exploded, followed by beams of red. Sun Boy spasmed and fell into the water. Shocked, Element Lad stood as the low-level beams smashed into him. (They teleported!) he cursed as the red faded to black.

*L*

Dirk awoke to blackness. Star blue eyes opened even wider, seeking light that didn't exist. Desperately, he summoned his power to burn away the darkness. Nothing happened. He tried again.

Something was blocking his power! He bolted up and felt a heavy chain and collar yank him back.

He was trapped, in the dark, alone. Smearan swore revenge against them, especially Jan. What were they doing to him? Troubled, Dirk shifted. Clean linen sheets covered a hard bed. A small silk vest served as more of a restraint than as a covering. The cold touch of filigree bound his arms and legs, and the g-strap slung low on his hips made the intentions of his captors very clear. "Oh, shit," Dirk swore. He pulled on his chain. The last link was bonded to the wall. "Oh, dear Jesus," he hissed as both prayer and curse.

He waited for a century for someone to come. A cold fear glistened on his skin. What if they were planning to leave him here? No, they weren't planning that. The "clothes" proved it. Patience, he coaxed himself, patience. He sucked in a deep breath and forced his heart and breath to slow. When were they going to come? Another two hours passed. Wait calmly, they'll be here. Wait, wait, for as long at it takes. Sun Boy began to doze, and drifted into a dream about ancient Rome and its gladiators.

The door pushed open. Dirk's eyes adjusted quickly to the light. A guard entered and the Terran began to size him up. He was eight-feet tall, and weighed two hundred kilos. All of that was muscle.

Dirk was ready, gambling that his speed and training was greater than the guard's. Wait! he demanded of himself, lie still!

The chain was de-bonded and Dirk bolted towards the man. Suddenly he was choked and slammed onto the floor.

His ribs were forced down by a giant knee and his arms yanked behind him. "Now listen, asshole, the only reason I don't kill you is that the mistresses have taken a liking to you. Now obey me, and you'll not be treated as a dog. Got it?"

"Okay," Dirk gasped.

The slaver pulled him to his feet. "That was your only warning, Terran."

Sun Boy followed quietly through the long corridor. (Like a dog,) he thought. Without complaint, he walked into a room.

"Your present, my dears," Smearan announced. The fat sow Dirk first saw at the teleporter giggled suggestively. A skeletal girl gazed at his semi-naked body dully. He turned his head to look at his surroundings. They were in an amphitheater surrounding a recessed pit, shielded by transparent plastisteel. In the pit, androids of various sizes waited.

"Come, pretty one, sit by me," Smearan's wife cooed.

"Where's Element Lad, Smearan?" Sun Boy demanded.

"Luthor," the woman growled.

Dirk was pulled into place.

"You shall see," Smearan promised, returning to his wine. "Begin!"

A bright light flashed. Jan appeared, face down, on the floor of the pit. His shirt and gloves were gone, and his skin was tinged with gray. An adult-sized android was activated. Holograms began to form a city in the background. Dirk strained to recognize the architecture, barely aware that Jan was resting on a light-woven field of grass. The android gained features. She had the elfin look of a woman from a light-gravity world and Jan's prominent cheekbones. A braid, the color of autumn leaves, was wrapped loosely around her head.

Gently the android turned the still Trommite over. Dirk saw the ugly red splotches on his friend's arms, following the vein.

He snapped up. "What did you bastards do to him?" he shouted.

The slave breaker pulled him back. "None may talk to the masters that way, stud," he shouted as he gripped Sun Boy's collar. "Do you understand?"

Dirk went limp. It was the only way he could answer. But he wouldn't apologize.

"What we did, man of... earth...is it?, was drug him, so he could not destroy us. His power is now that of a child. Then we gave him what we call Nightmare, a psycho-active drug that works with the arena."

Dirk understood. They were going to exploit a man's most personal terror for their own amusement. "Oh, my God."

"Jan?" the android inquired. "Jan, are you all right?"

Stagnant blue eyes opened. "Isset? But I thought--"

"Thought what, neeko?"

Jan shook his head in confusion. How could the past be the present?

Isset chuckled. "I didn't think I scrambled your brains that much. Take it easy, you'll be all right."

Jan shifted to a sitting position. "Someday I'll dodge that kick."

"Maybe," Isset agreed.

"Hello!" an android carrying a smaller one shouted.

"Resh, ho!" Isset shouted to the larger robot. "How's Mommy's girl?" she asked, gathering the child in her arms.

"The Healer said that my leg was going to hurt for a while, Mommy."

"The Healer had to transmute new bone marrow. We're lucky Chya's leg wasn't hurt worse," Resh reported as the child climbed over to Jan.

"How're the spaceways, Resh?" Jan asked.

"Clear as ever, and no beeping radar."

"You removed the radar?" Jan asked, disappointed.

"Child, if you would just use your mind! I'll bet you could do as well as any Skywatcher!"

"Resh, don't tease! Arrahs are Transmuters, not watchers!" Isset admonished. "Are you going to stay for dinner?"

"Let me check." Resh called the Skytower. "Do you need me, Leig?" he asked his boss.

"You've got to be kidding, Resh. It's as quiet as a vacuum out there."

"Ha! Then I'm going to have dinner with my family."

"Save some for me!"

"You're crazy, Leig. Jan's here."

"Isset's brother?"

"One of them, anyway."

"Ah, well. Take care, Resh."

A shadow began to eclipse the sun. It moved deliberately into view.

"Lords and Mists! Will you look at the size of that spacefleet!" Isset snarled. "Resh, you said nothing was happening!"

"According to my power, it still isn't." He fumbled for his phone. "Leig, there's a fleet here!"

"I know!" Leig buzzed back. "I see it and I hear it, but that's it! Get up here!" Isset created and refined a platform of 152, an anti-gravity element that Mon-El would introduce to the Legion almost a year later.

*L*

"Oh, no, please, don't," Dirk begged.

"Quiet! I want to see the blood!" the girl growled.

"Jan." Isset picked up Chya from her young uncle's lap. "Get up and go to Mother. Wait there." she gave him the child, and opened her own phone. "Attention all warriors! This is Isset Arrah. Orange alert; battle stations!" Jan watched her shaking with anticipation and fear before she shouted at him to move!

The blur of buildings passed by quickly. Minutes later, short of breath, Jan burst into his house. "Mother--"

"Hush, child, the people must meet. What are those ships doing here?"

Holograms flickered open and a spokeswoman said, "We greet you in peace, strangers. State yourselves."

Jan's father leaned over the table. "It's bloody likely they came in peace, with a psychic cloak activated."

"Arn, be quiet!" Valla Arrah snapped.

"Valla, sweet, I've studied human society for several decades now. There is much to admire in them, and much to fear. Their lives are based on competition, not cooperation."

The hologram flickered to reveal the leader of the fleet. A man with coal-gray eyes and matching hair appeared. His mustache and beard merged to a point on his chin.

"He looks like their Christian devil," Arn commented.

"Do you think he wants money?" Jan's little brother asked.

"It's not likely, Nym. We use grain as our currency standard, no other planet does. Valla, do you think we should call the United Planets?"

"People of Trom, this is Roxxas."

"The space-pirate?" Valla weakly asked.

"Pardon, sir. I am Syll Fonar of the diplomatic corps," the spokeswoman interrupted. "Many of us do not speak Interlac. May I serve as a translator?" Roxxas agreed.

"People of Trom, this is Roxxas the Raider," Syll Fonar translated, "I know your radioactive environment has endowed your race with the power of transmutation!" Tears were flowing down her cheeks. "You will use it to create rare and precious elements for me... or DIE! You have thirty minutes to decide."

Valla gave the house's answer as Arn set Nym on top of his shoulders, and gathered Chya into his arms. "Quickly, Valla, we must leave the city."

Five standard minutes later, Roxxas retaliated.

Photon torpedoes rained on the city, breaking it into shards. People were screaming and the city heaved and splintered. But a few screamed in rage instead of fear. They reached out with their minds and a pirate ship was turned into paper and burned; the raiders' screams added to their victims'. One by one, the pirate ships landed, ready to add to the destruction. Arn kept pushing his lover and children, hoping to reach the spaceport. A volley of light bursts threw themselves at the spaceport. The spaceport answered with a brighter light and a roar.

Jan heard his mother scream.

The tower cracked and fell towards them.

Arn shoved his two sons as far away as he could and ran. The fragment eclipsed the sun then... Jan could swear he heard every bone in his father's body crack as the building pressed the older man into the dirt.

"Fa!" Jan shouted. "I'll free you and Mother in a moment."

"Jan, no! Your mother, niece and I are dead! Go! Save as many as you can!" His father ordered. Shots brushed near them. Jan and Nym fell. The pirates went on, crazed by their bloodlust.

Jan concentrated on the silver (it acted more like aluminum to his power) and changed it to helium. He nearly screamed.

His mother and niece were unrecognizable, their bodies pressed into a fine red paste. He could make out Chya's pink dress, no longer pink, and his mother's scarf, but that was all. Even his father's legs and hips were only stains on the silver sidewalk.

He grabbed up his quivering brother and ran, dodging the wreckage and flaming debris. He tripped over something. He sprawled, taking most of the fall. "Nym," he gasped, "I can't carry you any more!" Then he looked. There were two holes in his brother. One shattered the jaw and neck, leaving the head tied to the body by a chord of muscle. Nym's chest was drilled open, showing the red and pink tissue of the heart and lungs swimming together in congealing blood. Blood was on Jan's shirt. This time, he screamed.

The images came faster. At first they were vague, forgotten, repressed. Then as the drugs forced him to remember, the dead memories were reborn. A woman was being raped by four men; another was forced to watch as her lover was ripped apart and eaten. One man tried to force her to swallow her lover's tongue. His head disappeared before his knife found her heart.

A girl about Nym's age stared vacantly as the men who ravaged her threw infants into a wall that was already covered with blood and gray matter.

More images: A man being carved apart bit by bit. He wore a Watcher's tunic. There was more rape and more death. Finally, Jan stopped running.

"Nye Istan!" he shouted, no more, as he attacked a pirate. He forged a sword in his mind, and slashed open a pirate's side. The woman he saved looked at him with tear-filled eyes and crumbled into dust.

Laser bursts sizzled near him. He began to run again.

Jan splashed into the river. Avri was polluted with body parts and blood. Several of the bodies were off-worlders'. The twelve-year-old smiled grimly. Roxxas would pay a high price for their deaths. But for every pirate dead, it seemed a hundred Trommites were destroyed.

He waded across the river and collapsed. He was more than halfway there-- only five more kilometers...

He created a thin shield of inertron and ran. A ship spotted him and shot at him. The impact slammed Jan down. The ship marked a kill.

*L*

"This is exciting, my husband," the sow quivered, "we must watch this again."

"Oh, we will. Again and again, until the offworlder scum beg for mercy! They will pay for destroying the teleporter, and damaging other irreplaceable machines. But I fear we must content ourselves with bred labor, my dears."

Dirk got up and pressed his hands against the cool plastic. The breaker watched him closely, but the fight was gone. (There must be some way to help him,) Dirk thought as he considered every scrap of information he knew about this world. Then he realized that Smearan just told him. Offer them the technology. (Jan forgive me,) he asked his friend before he spoke. "I can enhance the resolution of the screens. Make it even more intense." He said quietly, humbly.

"You would do this? Why?" Smearan demanded.

Dirk hesitated long enough for the slave breaker to yank the chain. "I'm an engineer. Mostly I work with nuclear reactors, but I'm enough of a quick study to learn these machines. I see what you're doing to him. If you ever get bored, you're going to want to do the same to me..." Dirk looked down at the floor and thought about the memories they could recover from him. "I want to make myself too valuable for you to do that. I have no guarantee my friends are coming to rescue me."

"Even if they do, they won't survive. So you're willing to sell out your friend to keep yourself intact, hey? And I thought you'd give him better. Very well, You may study the console. Luthor, if he tries anything--"

(--you won't know about it until it happens,) Dirk promised the enslaver.

*L*

Jan rose and bolted towards the spaceport. He skirted around a fallen cluster of ships. Six pirates were taunting a warrior. Her braids were half-torn...

"Isset!" he shouted.

"Jan!"

"You know the brat?" a pirate asked.

"He is my brother; he doesn't speak Interlac," she lied.

"Convince him to surrender, babe, and things will go a lot better for you."

"All right," she agreed and called to her brother in her native tongue, "Jan, my daughter, our parents?"

"Dead."

"Resh is dead, too. I felt him die. Listen to me, when I speak to this slime, create an inertron shield and run! Whatever you do, don't look back! Leave this world, remind the U.P. who we were, and that we never shirked our duty! Get going!" The intensity in her voice convinced Jan. "He is confused, sirs," she explained.

"Hey! Where's he going?" one shouted and began to run after him.

The warrior became a flash of light and heat with a mushroom cloud forming in the sky. She slammed her brother down again.

Jan dissolved the shield he created for a second time, knowing he should stay longer, but afraid of being discovered.

The spaceport was ruined, but what about the auxiliary? He pulled at the emergency hatch and slid in. No one was there. Jan checked the ships, trying not to breathe the stench of charred flesh, trying not to think of his sister, who was part of that stink. The third ship he checked was working. Jan programmed the ship, and collapsed into a chair. He was alone for the first time. Again.

A pirate followed, scoring and shaking the tiny ship. Jan shuddered, but was too tired to care. Fatigue burned his muscles like acid, and his mouth was dry, so dry. ( Maybe I should get some water. Soon, after I rest.)

Evasive programs kicked in, and the pirates missed the Tromian ship and blasted the screen--

--Which shattered into the viewing area. Reality clashed with reality. He was on a ship, looking at Dirk and some strangers. He reached out with the Sense only he had and felt them to be real. One reality had to be a dream, he decided. But which one?

And did it really matter?

"Jan!" The Dirk shouted. "Damnit, Jan! Look at me! Focus on me!"

It seemed a small enough request, until he tried to grant it. His eyelids were heavy, scratchy. Opening them hurt. Dirk was a blurry splotch of flesh tones and red gold. Did Monet ever paint nudes? This is what they’d look like. It was kind of neat. A grin pulled his face out of shape.

"You son of a bitch!" Dirk snarled at a plum shaped and colored blob, one that was heavily perfumed. "I told Jan that you weren't worth soiling his hands on. You've made me very angry, and I'm ready to kill you myself," he growled. "Now, you have a choice: Give me everything I want, or you die. My death will be fast, painless. I will make sure yours is slow."

Did Dirk just threaten to kill someone? That's the nightmare. Trom is real. But if I know Dirk... The paradox hurt too much. Jan slid into the velour chair, the one piece of reality he felt sure of.

"Jan! Stay with me! I know you want to rest, but we're still in deep trouble! The guards are going to be here any minute and Mrs. Smearan may just decide she can do all right without loving hubby here!"

Why anybody would want the plum that Dirk was holding was beyond Jan. But it was funny. He began to chuckle.

"I'm glad to see one of us has a sense of humor." Dirk muttered.

"What do you want?" Smearan gasped as Dirk yanked on the chain around both their necks.

"The rings we were wearing. And an antidote to whatever you gave him."

"There's no antidote. And only I know the codes to the safe where I placed your rings"

"Damn! Then you'll be joining us!"

"And our you planning to carry both of us?" the slaver asked, and sat down heavily. At that moment, Dirk swore better than any of the spacers he knew. Between Jan and Smearan, he'd have to carry three times his own body weight. The fat man guessed right. "Then I'll just sit here. You better pray your guards and I don't accidentally smoke you for the pig you are! You can't get out of this pit without any help, either. Now stay put, piglet."

"You have no powers to harm me."

"I don't need powers to snap your neck. I was trained by some of the greatest fighters in the galaxy. Of course, I can always break a few other bones first. It's your choice. I'm not going gentle into that good night without you as company."

Doesn't he ever shut up? Jan wondered. Maybe I can just make him go away. Momma told me I could do whatever I wanted to in my dreams. And Imra showed me how. Just wish for him to go away...

A powerful pair of hands gripped his head and shook it, rattling the brains inside. Reflexively Jan opened his sandpapered eyelids and stared at Dirk. "Can dreams touch?" he asked.

Dirk's lower lip wavered, until he bit it. His eyes softened for a moment, but that was all. He started shaking his friend again.

"Jan, you know I'd've given anything to give you a chance to see your family again, but this isn't them! It's holograms and chems in your bloodstream. A bunch of suggestions! If you don't snap out of it now, we're going to be as dead as your family and I'm not ready to die yet. Neither are you! Shvaughn needs you, man! And so do I! We're going to die if you don't focus on me! You'll never see her again! Do you want that!?

The chair was real. That was all he was sure of. Two realities: One made of plasteel and recycled air, the other was plastic and glass... and plaster? Dirk was of that reality. Flesh and blood among broken glass in a pit that was covered in screens. Two realities... Jan's heart thudded and lurched, vibrating his already aching head.

"Sense the truth," Isset told him. "One of us is real and in trouble. You just saw me die again, Jan. Sense the truth."

"Jan! No! Don’t close your eyes! We'll have plenty of time to rest later!"

Dirk's skin was cool on his own. That wasn't right. He focused on the fire in front of him. Isset was right. Dirk was real. With an animal cry he lunged into his friend's arms and held him tightly. If he let go, Dirk would vanish into the mists with Isset and Chya and all the others.

"I'm here," Dirk whispered. "I'm real. Now Jan, listen."

"D-dirk? I-I feel--"

"Listen to me if you want to keep on feeling! The bastards have my powers neutralized; I need you to destroy the device! Jan, focus on me! Trom is just an illusion."

It was so easy for Jan to close his eyes. It was so hard for him to concentrate. The band of metal around Dirk's neck was more than just metal. He broke apart the atoms that made the collar. He just wanted to slip back into the hot blackness, but he doubted Dirk would let him....

The Terran felt his power surging back as the fine weight was lifted from his neck. Fire enveloped his hands as he closed them into fists. He stared at the twenty or thirty guards looking down at them, rifles primed. "If you jokers aren't worried about your next paycheck," he said, nodding towards Smearan, "then let's do it. If you are, I want safe conduct for me and my friend to the teleporter you used to capture us."

After a few tense moments, the doors were opened in the amphitheater. "Jan? Jan! You’re going to have to walk on your own! Get up and come with me!" A cold voice in his head said, He'll slow you down... give them the opening they need. Leave him.

"Shut up!"

Jan staggered to his feet. He had been sitting on the floor. Even the damn chair wasn’t real.

For a tense twenty minutes the Legionnaires, their hostage and a small group of guards walked up and down the corridors. Smearan was panting and his robes stank of fear scent. Jan could smell the acridity over his own fever sweat. Dirk didn't physically sweat, but Jan could see the tight nervousness in his movements. Taking hostages was not an honorable practice, even if the hostage deserved some terror and humiliation. Finally, they came to the end of the corridor, and a small room at the end of it. Dirk pushed the slaver in first and motioned Jan to go in. Then he ignited the air between the guards and himself. As the flames crackled from the burning oxygen, Dirk slipped inside and fused the door shut.

Jan sagged. The drugs moved even faster in his system. He needed to rest, to go into the deepest of sleeps and heal a body that did not have an immune system that was even vaguely human. He wanted the universe to stop spinning out of control between the living and the dead.

"Soon, partner," Dirk vowed. "I'll have us out of here as soon as I can figure out this control board. Just hang on for another few minutes."

Dirk stepped into something sticky wet. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and looked. It was blood dripping from an infant with a slashed throat. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't believe even this race was capable of... that. Then he realized where he was. "Twice in one day!" he spat. "Get up, Jan! We've been joked! We're still in the amphitheater!"

Masked guards looked down through the suddenly transparent ceiling and lobbed canisters into the pit. White gas flooded the sunken area. The three men gasped and choked as the compound burned their eyes and throat. Tear gas. If Jan were himself, this wouldn't have even been a nuisance. Instead, it looked like the escape attempt was over. (We blew it,) Dirk thought as he began to lose his sight.

*L*

There was a ruckus above, followed by deafening explosions. The door burst open. Wildfire, Brainiac 5, Night Girl and Shadow Lass tumbled through. Dirk tried to smile, but gagged on the laughter. "Cavalry's here," he croaked and rubbed his throat. Where was Jan? Before he could look, the room went black. He crawled to a wall and waited. His friends would finish without him.

"Hey, Morgna, I love the outfit," Shadow Lass teased as she handed him an oxygen mask.

"I take it from the quiet, you're done?" Dirk coughed.

"You know better than to talk right now. Oh, yes, Grev's humiliation has been avenged," the nocturnal purred as she freed the light. "But I have to tell you, you didn't hit the guy you clobbered hard enough. He'll live."

"Shady," Night Girl, blurted, scandalized.

"I'm kidding," the blue woman blithely replied. Dirk couldn't tell if she were lying or not.

A hoarse scream shattered the thin safety net of banter. "Nye! I couldn't save you! I was only twelve at the time! Father, tell them!" Jan cried out to the unfocused image of Arn Arrah.

"Oh, God, this thing's still active," Dirk realized. The pit was misty, full of tear gas and misshapen half-images of rotting, charred, and broken bodies stood or sat around, staring into their creator.

The Trommite was oblivious to them. Huddled in a fetal position, he begged, "I won't go through it again," over and over.

"C'mon, E-Lad, let's go," Wildfire shouted.

A wall of fire erupted before them, full of phosphorous stench. "Stay back," Jan warned, "or I'll kill you."

"Jan, are you kidding?" Shadow Lass asked, "It's us!"

"Prove it."

"Take it easy, fearless leader," Wildfire cautioned, preparing to stun the man.

"I don't want to hurt you," Jan pleaded.

Sun Boy saw Wildfire and grabbed his wrist, twisting him away from his target. "Are you crazy? Maybe he can't hurt you, but he can kill us!" Dirk turned towards his friend, trying to be casual, "Come on, Jan, it's me. We’ve been through a lot just now--"

"You can be faked."

"Okay." Dirk considered a new tactic and realized, "And memories can be probed and recited, eh, Jan?" he muttered sympathetically. "You've had enough of that."

Shadow Lass thought of blanketing the area, then having Night Girl subdue the battleshocked Legionnaire; but then she realized Element Lad would take no chances, and probably entomb them once the darkness struck. "Jan," she whispered, "no one wants to hurt you. Come on, let's go back to Earth and rest up, hm? You've had one hell of a weekend." She was edging up to him, hoping to touch him, to convince him they were real.

The cornered man gestured. Shadow Lass screamed.

"Her cape's on fire!" Night Girl shouted.

Sun Boy thrust his hands into the fire and pulled as Shadow Lass removed her cape.

"That's it!" Wildfire shouted. Instantly, his hands were encased in inertron. "Damn!"

"Element Lad, stop it!" Dirk cried. "What do you want us to do, Jan? Leave you? If we're really who we say we are, we can't-- and won't-- do it!"

Jan's eyes left the group for a moment. (Shady was right. The only way to reach him is to talk. Only I have to be the one to reach him. Damn.) He sucked in a long breath. (What do I say?) "Jan, I know you don't want us to abandon you-- the last thing you want to do is be left alone. And if we're real-- and we are-- you'd be forcing yourself to lose all your loved ones. Wildfire included," he joked. Jan's eyes were losing their determination. "Lord; I've seen what you went through... the grief, the loneliness... it would've killed anybody else. I thought I was going to die when my mom did. I felt so empty... but you survived. And Jan, you've thrived." (The parish priest-- whawashisname-- would be proud of me.) "Your father told you to save as many as you can, your sister told you to make us remember Trom. You did that, Jan, but now these bastards made you remember the worst part of your world, and I'm sorry for that, and I wish I could've done something--" (Damnit, Jan, I'm standing here in a g-string, pouring my guts out. Let me in; you've got to come out.) "I know you're sick, and you've been abandoned by everything except us and Shvaughn, so you're not going to turn us away. I CARE, damnit! The Legion's my family, not my father or brother, and you're closer to me than anyone I've ever slept with!"

Dirk was no longer aware of what he was doing. He began to walk towards the cornered, cowering child, offering all the support he could muster. There was no more easy confidence, no more careless friendship on Sun Boy's part. "We need you right now, Jan. The only way you can hurt us more than by killing us is by rejecting us." He grasped his friend's clammy arms in a familiar grip.

Jan's eyes focused, but remained fever bright. "Dirk? It really is you, isn't it? And the others, really? That is Wildfire and Shady?" Then he remembered his actions. "Shady, I-I'm sorry."

"No harm done," she assured softly.

"Oh, dear gods, I would have killed you!" The blond began to shake. Dirk held him. Jan tried to croak out a word. Failing that, he tried to swallow with a dry throat. "Shvaughn?" he managed.

Brainiac 5 answered. "We don't know yet, Element Lad. She hasn't stabilized."

An explosion went off in the back of Jan's head. "No more," he sobbed, "no more death, please." Dirk held him without speaking, for fear of giving Wildfire anything to embarrass them with. The sobs finally stopped and the Trommite went limp. Nervously, he checked his friend's pulse. "He's asleep," Dirk reported, feeling drained.

"Here, I'll take him," Night Girl offered.

*L*

While Dirk went on a binge of drinking, gambling and sexual encounters, Jan travelled through coma, sleep, delirium and epsilon trances. Brainiac explained the trance as a state when a psychic's abilities were hyperactive. Jan's powers were healing their host. Nights, more often than not, found Dirk asleep in a chair besides Jan's medicbed. By that point, the Coluan was ready to strap the Terran into a medicbed to make sure that Dirk was indeed recuperating.

Element Lad was unaware of anything around him. The horrifyingly incomprehensible images faded into ludicrous visions of Shvaughn with a skeleton's face, and a flaming Isset handing him his head, apologizing for kicking it too hard. There were melted and sizzling bodies, but the experience that happened eleven years ago inured him to the horror. Ten days later, Element Lad came to himself in his room. The cool, clean sheets felt good against his naked back and buttocks. He almost called sick bay, but decided they would know soon enough.

What about Shvaughn? he asked himself. Well, if she lived, he'd buy her candy, stuffed animals and those dichotomous flowers she loved--the ones that always triggered his allergies. He would spend most of his medical leave with her; and if she was still sick, spend as much spare time with her as his duties would permit. Above all, he swore to himself, he'd tell her how much he loved her.

If she was dead, he would mourn. He would miss her terribly, but she gave him the gift he would need to survive: She taught him to love the Earth and that the planet could give him more than just a place for the Legion. He pursed his lips and reached for his comlink. It was time to find out.

*L*

When Jan next saw Dirk, it was at a general meeting. Dirk looked tired. Even though the human was neat and clean, there was still something tousled about him. (He's been out all night again,) Jan decided. Neither of them said more than two words during the meeting, but Jan knew that Dirk was going to be in the recreation room getting some breakfast. After he set his stomach, Jan went down to join him.

Dirk had settled down with pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee. As Jan approached, he also saw that there were two pieces of toast on Dirk's tray.

"May I sit down," the Legion leader asked quietly.

"Um, sure," Dirk answered around a bite of runny egg that made Jan's stomach scream. "Have some toast. There's some margarine if you want it."

Jan's stomach lurched. "No thank you, dry toast is about all I can take."

"Oh. How's Shvaughn?"

"Resting. And your love life?"

"Varied. Expensive. I don't know how many more Parisian meals I can take."

"Um."

Both men wanted to say something, but neither had the words, nor any luck finding them. Finally, Dirk asked, "We’re really out of there, right? This isn’t another sim?"

Jan sighed, and closed his eyes. He reached out with the sense he alone had and felt the absolute familiarity of the people and the building surrounding him. Then he nodded, still searching for words. He found a few, but he knew he didn't need to say them. "Thanks for staying with me."

"Hey, I would have done it for anyone, except maybe Wildfire."

Jan grinned slightly at the statement, as he finished gnawing on the first piece of toast. Dirk jammed a big bite of pancakes in his mouth and studied the puddle of congealing yolk on his plate. It really did look pretty sick, he decided. As he swallowed, he caught the expression in Jan's eyes. Dirk couldn't speak, couldn't even define what he was feeling, what he should attempt to phrase into words. He was nearly in tears when Jan stood up and walked over to his side of the table. After putting a black-gloved hand on Dirk's shoulder, he murmured, "I understand," and left to allow Dirk a chance to start healing.

Endnotes: Grev, aka Shadow Kid is Shadow Lass’s cousin. He met his first several Legionnaires in "The Super-Stalag of Space", circa Adventure #341.

The discussion of Jan’s application appeared in a shorter form in Adventure #307. I enhanced it.

Imra smiled for the first time in weeks, because this is right after Adventure #304’s "Death of Lightning Lad".

In Superboy and the Legion #242, Jan and other Legionnaires tracked an invasion fleet destroying Earth back to Khundia. Jan threatened to kill the warlord, unless the Khunds withdrew from Earth.

Syll’s speech is taken directly from Superboy and the Legion #211.