Chapter 2

“Never would have seen that coming,” commented Phantom Girl.

Not bothering to reply or stand back up Saturn Girl crawled over to the entrance to Brainy’s hideaway, but careful not to get too close.

“Brainy what’s wrong?”

“S-Superman,” whimpered Brainy. From the way his voice was shaking it was clear to the others that he was crying.

“Superman won’t hurt you,” said Saturn Girl softly.

“Superman doesn’t like Brainiacs,” cried Brainy. “H-he’ll delete me.”

As the hero in question looked confused the remaining, older, Legionnaires exchanged worried looks.

“Superman? Delete you?” questioned Saturn Girl, sounding amazed. “He wouldn’t dare!” She smiled and gave the boy a little wink. “If he so much as scratched you, I’d beat him up and make him sit in the corner.”

At that point Lightning Lad was glad Brainy couldn’t see him. He was struggling not to laugh at the somewhat horrified expression Superman had on his face.

“You can’t beat up Superman,” said Brainy in disbelief. “He’s invuler- invunel- you can’t hurt him!”

“That wouldn’t stop me,” said Saturn Girl. “I’d never forgive him if he hurt you so I’d try my hardest to punish him if he did.” Her expression softened. “But I promise you won’t. Superman is my friend and he has no reason not to like you. Even if you are a Brainiac he would never hurt a child.”

“P-promise?” asked Brainy.

“Cross my heart,” said Saturn Girl, making the motion across her chest.

“What does that mean?” asked Brainy.

“It means I promise on my heart,” said Saturn Girl gently.

Poking his head out, Brainy looked fearfully in Superman’s direction.

Very slowly, as not to startle him, Saturn Girl extended her hand for Brainy to hold onto.

His little hand shaking, Brainy took hold of the offered hand and allowed her to help him stand as he exited his hideaway. Once he was out, he didn’t let go of her hand, but he stared at it, unsure what to do as the tears continued to roll down his face.

Gently pulling Brainy closer to her, Saturn Girl wrapped her free arm around him, her hand resting on top of his hair, softly whispering, “there, there.”

Sniffing, Brainy let go of her hand and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her neck, resting his head on her shoulder.

Saturn Girl rubbed Brainy’s back until he calmed down, placing a small kiss on his temple when the sniffling stopped.

“Feel better now?”

A small nod was her reply.

“Would you like to meet my friends?” asked Saturn Girl.

It took a while longer but Brainy nodded again.

Tucking her hand that wasn’t resting on top of the boy’s head, underneath him, Saturn Girl lifted Brainy into the air. She walked over to where most of her fellow Legionnaires stood, standing before Triplicate Girl first.

“Brainy, this is my friend Triplicate Girl. Do you know want to know why we call her that?”

Brainy nodded, looking at Triplicate Girl as he continued to hold onto Saturn Girl with his arms, loosely, around her neck.

“She can divide herself into three people,” said Saturn Girl. “Do you want to see?”

Again, Brainy nodded.

Smiling, Triplicate Girl complied, giggling at Brainy’s surprised expression when the one girl of three colors turned into three girls, each with their own color. She then returned to being one person.

“If you ever want someone to play with, I volunteer, okay?”

Brainy turned to Saturn Girl, and when she nodded he turned back to Triplicate Girl and give her a nod of his own.

“And this is Timber Wolf,” said Saturn Girl, moving down the line. “He’s very strong and good at tracking things. That’s how we found you.”

Gulping, Brainy’s hand shakily left the protection of Saturn Girl’s neck and extended it towards Timber Wolf.

Sighing, Timber Wolf leaned forward and let Brainy pat him on the head.

Phantom Girl immediately joined in, grinning at the boy.

“I told you he was soft, didn’t I?”

Brainy half smiled and nodded, returning his hand to holding onto Saturn Girl and allowing Timber Wolf to stand up straight again.

“And this is Phantom Girl,” said Saturn Girl, moving to stand in front of the other girl. “She can phase through solid objects.”

“I’m also really good at hide and seek,” said Phantom Girl, winking, fading out of sight before reappearing again.

“And this is Lightning Lad,” said Saturn Girl, now standing in front of the Legion’s former leader. “He can control lightning, just like his name says.”

“Does it hurt?” asked Brainy softly.

“Not me and I only use it on bad people,” said Lightning Lad. He winced at Saturn Girl’s pointed look. “And, ah, sorry about scaring you before.”

“And this is Bouncing Boy,” said Saturn Girl. “He-”

“Bounces?” asked Brainy.

“Yes, he turns into a big ball and bounces,” said Saturn Girl.

“Hey, Brainy, watch this,” said Bouncing Boy, grinning, bringing his arms and legs into himself as he inflated, turning into a ball. He bounced on the spot a few times and then bounced around the room, knowing that Saturn Girl would turn so Brainy could see.

Smiling in wonder, Brainy giggled, watching the older moved sporadically around the room. He squirmed in Saturn Girl’s hold, trying to get down.

Placing him on the ground Saturn Girl watched as Brainy chased after the giant living ball that was her friend, sending Bouncing Boy a mental message to be careful not into bounce into the shrunken boy.

With the knowledge that Brainy was now chasing him, Bouncing Boy bounced a little slower so Brainy could come close to catching him but just miss as he bounced away again. This also made it easier to make sure there wasn’t any accidents.

The game went along smoothly until Bouncing Boy made the mistake of bouncing past Superman.

When Bouncing Boy moved away from Superman, revealing him to Brainy the little boy slid in his attempt to stop running and fell down.

“Brainy, are you o-” began Superman, unthinkingly leaning forward, cut off when Brainy let out a small shriek of terror.

Scrambling to his feet, Brainy ran back to Saturn Girl and hid behind her legs.

Saturn Girl turned her upper body so she could see Brainy but still block him from Superman’s normal sight.

“Brainy, I promised Superman wouldn’t hurt you, didn’t I?”

Not looking at her, Brainy nodded.

“Do you think I would lie?” asked Saturn Girl.

Lifting his face upwards, Brainy shook his head.

“Don’t you think you might have hurt Superman’s feelings by running away like that?” asked Saturn Girl.

Brainy returned his view to his normal level and peeked out from behind Saturn Girl’s legs to look at the 21st centaury hero.

It was easy for Superman to look sad.

The child contemplated Superman for a little longer before stepping out from behind Saturn Girl, but he remained by the girl’s side.

“Now that’s better,” said Saturn Girl, smiling brightly. She looked around the room for but not seeing what she was looking for she returned her gaze to Brainy. “Are you hungry?”

Surprised by the question, Brainy looked at her for a moment before nodding.

“Then let’s get you something to eat,” said Saturn Girl, holding out her hand.

Taking hold of it, Brainy followed Saturn Girl as they began to walk out of the lab, which involved walking past Superman. He seemed torn between looking at Superman and keeping his eyes on the floor, his gaze moving back and forth between the two nearly constantly. When they were closer, his eyes wouldn’t look away from Superman, even turning his head to watch him after they had gone past.

Once they were gone Superman sighed and hung his head.

“Don’t feel bad Superman,” said Triplicate Girl, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Brainy just needs to get used to you again.”

“He didn’t have to get used to me the first time,” said Superman.

“Well Brainy was on Earth for a while before we came and got you,” said Bouncing Boy. “He had time to learn the truth about you instead of the Coluan version he learned growing up.”

“But why would Coluans think I would hurt Brainy?” asked Superman.

The other Legionnaires exchanged looks.

“Lets just say you didn’t get along with Colu’s most worshiped historical figure,” said Lightning Lad.

“Understate things much?” asked Phantom Girl but became quiet at the looks the others were giving her.

“Come one, let’s join Saturn Girl and Brainy for dinner,” said Bouncing Boy quickly, pushing Superman out of the room.

When they arrived in the kitchen Brainy was seated at the table, but due to his shrunken height he couldn’t see over the top of the table before him. He glanced at them when they came in but then returned his gaze back to the table.

Saturn Girl was gathering things on the counter, such as bread, and she too turned to them when they entered.

“Do you guys know if we have any smaller cups?” She held up a tall glass one for them to see. “I think this would be too difficult for Brainy to drink out of.”

“All the glasses are pretty much the same size,” said Lightning Lad, but then he smiled. “But that doesn’t mean it will stay that way for long.”

Walking over, Lightning Lad took the glass from Saturn Girl. Using a concentrated amount of lightning he cut the top half of the glass off, simultaneously making the new edge smooth. When he was done he held a child size glass.

“Thank you Lightning Lad,” said Saturn Girl, smiling, taking the glass and washing it out to make sure none of the glass shards remained.

“We can’t keep cutting glasses though. We should go get some new ones,” said Timber Wolf. He looked at the glass as Saturn Girl filled it with milk. “Plastic ones.”

“And a different chair,” said Bouncing Boy.

“And toys,” squealed Triplicate Girl, giggling.

They turned to Brainy, expecting him to say something but he didn’t seem to be paying attention. He had stood up in the chair and started to draw pictures on the surface with his finger.

“I can go pick up a few things since he doesn’t really want me around anyway,” said Superman.

“Not even you can carry all the stuff we would need by yourself,” said Lightning Lad. “I’ll go with you.”

“Me too,” said Triplicate Girl.

“And me,” said Phantom Girl.

“Oh no, no girls. We don’t want to spend the rest of our lives in the store,” said Lightning Lad.

“I can carry lots of things,” exclaimed Triplicate Girl, dividing herself into her three parts. “Besides, you need a girl to make sure you guys don’t buy the wrong things.”

“We’ll end up buying everything, whether we need it or not if you come,” commented Lightning Lad.

“Besides, don’t you guys want to stay here with Brainy?” asked Superman.

Triplicate Girl, returning to being one person, and Phantom Girl looked at each other before looking over at the little Coluan. They turned to each other and did rock paper scissors; Triplicate Girl doing paper while Phantom Girl did scissors.

“Ha, I win,” exclaimed Phantom Girl, using her fingers to pretend cut Triplicate Girl’s paper hand. “I get to stay with Brainy.”

Looking torn between pouting from not getting to stay and smiling from getting to go, Triplicate Girl crossed her arms and gave Lightning Lad the look.

“I’m going.”

“Fine,” groaned Lightning Lad.

“You guys should probably make a list,” said Saturn Girl, now with a completed peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut into fourths. She grabbed the plate it was on and the glass of milk, taking it over to the table for Brainy. She watched Brainy sit back down, looking embarrassed for having stood on the chair, and noted how he couldn’t reach above it.

“It’s alright Brainy,” said Saturn Girl, putting down the plate and glass in front of him. She then pulled the chair back and lifted Brainy, sitting on the chair herself and placing Brainy on her lap. Scooting the chair in, she smiled when she saw that Brainy could now sit at the table comfortably. “There, much better.”

Not sure what to make of his new situation, Brainy looked up at Saturn Girl before looking around himself in a curious matter. Deciding that there was nothing wrong with it, he then turned to look at the food in front of him.

It was clear to Superman that Brainy didn’t know what the food in front of him was. He watched as Brainy stared at the sandwich, poking it experimentally, before picking up one of the fourths and nibbling on it cautiously. He smiled when Brainy’s face light up and continued to eat it more enthusiastically, getting the peanut butter and grape jelly all over the corners of his mouth. He grabbed a napkin and handed it to Phantom Girl.

For a moment Phantom Girl looked at the napkin oddly, before glancing over at Brainy. She smiled, almost sadly, before giving Superman a nod and moving to sit at the table next to Saturn Girl and Brainy, giving them the napkin.

“Hey guys, some of the stuff is for age groups,” said Bouncing Boy. “How old do you think Brainy is?”

“Well, Brainy seems to speak very well and he had no problems with the puzzle. Maybe he’s five,” said Lightning Lad.

Still listening to the conversation Phantom Girl turned and grinned.

“Wouldn’t that be ironic? Brainiac Five is Five.”

“Three,” said Brainy.

The older Legionnaires turned to Brainy in amazement.

“What did you say Brainy?” asked Saturn Girl.

“I’m three years and two days old,” said Brainy, beaming up at Saturn Girl. He didn’t even seem to mind when she took the napkin and began to wipe off his face for him.

“So it was your birthday not too long ago, huh?” asked Bouncing Boy, moving to stand on Saturn Girl’s other side to give the shrunken Legionnaire a grin.

Brainy looked at the older boy oddly.

“What’s a birthday?”

Grin fading, Bouncing Boy blinked.

“You don’t know what a birthday is?”

“No,” said Brainy, in a sad tone.

“It’s okay Brainy,” said Saturn Girl quickly. “Your world doesn’t celebrate birthdays like most other planets.”

“What is it?” asked Brainy.

“A birthday is when people who care about you celebrate the day you were born,” said Saturn Girl.

Taking all of this in, Brainy almost seemed to shrug as he returned to his sandwich.

“Then I guess I don’t need a birthday.”

Bouncing Boy’s jaw dropped, Lightning Lad’s eyes widened and Timber Wolf looked away as the girls expressions turned to ones of horror and sadness.

“That’s not true,” said Superman, wincing when Brainy jumped at the sound of his voice. “We care about you.”

Having been in mid-bite, Brainy was still holding the sandwich to his mouth when he turned to look at Superman. He stared for a while, mostly at the 21st centaury hero’s face, before going back to eating without a word.

Superman wish he knew why his heart hurt so bad.