LoS:Broken Gears Chp2

Chapter 2

When Brainy had woken up the next day he didn’t say anything about what had happened. He had gone straight to the main computer and began to work on why the clock had fallen apart, completely ignoring the concerned looks of the others.

It was Superman who finally voiced his concern.

“Are you alright, Brainy?”

Brainy shrugged.

“It’s frustrating to be right about something and no one listening to you about it, but I’m used to it.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Superman.

“The restorers using improper tools. What are you talking about?” asked Brainy.

“The-the gear,” said Superman, hoping he wouldn’t have to go further.

Brainy’s hands stilled over the keyboard, and stared at the air for several moments. He continued with his typing without looking at Superman.

“That was a malfunction. There is nothing to worry about.”

Superman began to approach Brainy but paused when he realized he was holding onto his cape, ringing in his hands shakily. Checking to make sure Brainy hadn’t seen, he released it to drift back behind him before he moved to the genius’s side.

“You were still acting oddly the first time you woke up.”

“Noted, but you’re worried over nothing,” said Brainy.

“Then why haven’t you looked at me once since this conversation started?”

Brainy stilled again, but instead of hesitating like before he swung out of his chair, in the opposite direction of Superman, and began to walk away.

“If you’re going to waste my time I’ll just work in my lab.”

Frowning, Superman used his speed to cut Brainy off and grab onto his shoulders. He began to look angry when Brainy still wasn’t meeting his eye.

“Brainy, look at me!”

At first Brainy wasn’t going to but, as he felt Superman’s hold on him tighten, as if to shake him, he decided he really had no choice. Someone was about to see his eyes sooner or later. He lifted his face so Superman could see and felt ashamed as he saw the other boy’s expression change into worry and confusion.

The reaction really was no surprise to Brainy. He had noticed the change in his eyes on the way to the main computer, by chance on a reflective surface in the hallway. His discovery came in time to hide his eyes from a passing Timber Wolf, by pretending to be looking at one of the devices on his arm, but he hadn’t seen the point in returning to his room. As he said earlier, someone was bound to see sooner or later. But why did it have to be Superman?

The color of his eyes had darkened drastically, along with his pupil. There was still a slightly difference between the upper color of his eye, to the lower part, but his pupils were almost completely blended in. The change made him look even more robotic, like in the old earth movies Bouncing Boy often forced onto the rest of the Legion. Worst yet, Brainy felt it made him look more like his ancestor.

When Superman didn’t say anything, Brainy looked away again.

“Don’t not worry about it. I’m sure it’s fixable.”

“Brainy, does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday?” asked Superman, his hold on Brainy loosening but not letting go.

“Nothing happened yesterday,” stated Brainy.

“But-”

“Nothing happened yesterday,” shouted Brainy, wrenching away from Superman. He looked like he was going to say more, but he realized what he had done and his anger turned into shame. Not able to look at Superman for a different reason now, he ran back to his lab and locked the door.


“Brainy yelled at you?” questioned Bouncing Boy, after Superman told the others what had happened.

“Brainy has never yelled at anyone, not even when Lighting Lad deserved it,” commented Phantom Girl.

“Hey,” growled Lighting Lad in protest and made to kick at the girl. He only became more angry when his foot phased straight through her.

Saturn Girl placed a hand on Lighting Lad’s shoulder to calm him, before turning her attention to Superman.

“Brainy always has been secretive about these things…”

“But Brainy never gets angry like that. Not even when Superman turned off his communicator and Brainy got his arm blasted off. He had the right to be mad at Superman for months but other then acting sulky he never got angry about it. He especially didn’t yell at him,” said Lighting Lad, earning himself a hit on the shoulder that Saturn Girl had her hand moments before.

“The point being is that this must be more serious then any of us have realized,” said Saturn Girl.

“What do you think his eyes changing means?” asked Triplicate Girl.

“There’s a old earth saying that states that ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’. If his eyes changed it could mean that he’ll be changing as well,” said Saturn Girl.


Brainy kept his door locked the remainder of the day, and it was locked again so early the next morning that the others suspected he never went to bed. At one point Phantom Girl phased her head into the room to make sure he was still in here, but refused to go in further then that.

“I wouldn’t know what to say,” admitted Phantom Girl. “He’s just hunched over his work table. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was just having another attack of his workaholic syndrome.”


Let’s try this again, thought Superman as he stood outside Brainy’s lab. This time he brought bearing gifts; hot chocolate and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He knew from Saturn Girl that Brainy liked hot chocolate and, honestly, PBJ sandwiches was one of the few things he could make well and not poison anyone.

“Brainy, let me in,” called Superman, attempting to knock on the door by tapping it with his foot since his hands were occupied with a plate of sandwiches, a coffee mug of hot chocolate and two cups. When he got no answer he tapped the door a little harder. “You know I could just take the door down if I wanted to.”

There was a moment longer of silence behind the door before there was a sound similar to a click and the door slid open automatically.

Superman walked straight to where Brainy sat at his work table. He observed what Brainy was doing for a moment.

Brainy was working on something yellow and very small. The tools he was using were smaller then an old 21st centaury quarter in both length and size, but Brainy used them with as much ease as any normal sized tool. If Superman looked closely enough he could see the yellow object was mainly made out of thousands of tiny little wires, no ticker than a human hair.

“What is it?” asked Superman.

“Standard legionnaire ring before I put the casing on,” replied Brainy, keeping his eyes focused on the ring.

“I never realized so much work went into those,” commented Superman, wondering how they worked. He knew better then to ask though. Scientific answers from Brainy tended to be so technical that he couldn’t understand or so simplified that they didn’t really help to answer the question anyway.

“Is there a reason you threatened to break down my door?” asked Brainy.

“I came to have lunch with you,” stated Superman, placing the plate on the nearest empty spot. He really didn’t want to risk moving anything and getting blown up, again. He was about to pour the hot chocolate when he noticed Brainy looking at him.

Brainy looked surprised, so much so that he must have forgotten that he wanted to keep his eyes hidden for he was looking straight at Superman’s face.

“I’m sorry,” said Superman quickly. “I know you don’t have to eat as regularly as humans do. Is this a bad time?”

Brainy’s surprise was replaced by suspicion.

“Did Saturn Girl put you up to this?”

“Why would she?” asked Superman, half smiling. He began to pour out the hot chocolate “I hope you like Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Brainy looked at Superman a moment longer before getting up and walking out of the room.

“I’ll take that as a no,” sighed Superman. Perhaps he should have mentioned the hot chocolate?

“The sandwiches are fine,” said Brainy, reentering the room, carrying another chair. “They’re sometimes referred to as ‘PB and J’s’ correct?”

Superman was sure his heart had taken flight without him as Brainy put down the chair for him and returned to his original seat. He finished pouring the drinks before sitting down and handing one of the cups to Brainy.

“That’s right.”

He would never be able to prove it, but Superman could almost swear he saw Brainy smile a little when the young genius took his first drink of hot chocolate. Even the possibility of it made his heart go for another flight and he found himself smiling as well.

“Aren’t you going to have any?” asked Brainy.

“Huh? Ah, yes,” said Superman, quickly taking one of the sandwiches that he knew had strawberry jelly on it. He glanced at the one Brainy had taken and noted that it was one with grape jelly. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was the kind Brainy liked or if he had just grabbed one at random.

“How are the others?” asked Brainy.

Superman realized that wasn’t the real question ‘How are they reacting to the situation’ was what Brainy really wanted to say, but Superman didn’t want Brainy to feel guilty about everyone worrying about him.

“The girls are doing something together, but I’m not sure what. Bouncing Boy was reading comic books when I last saw him and Lighting Lad was trying to talk Timber Wolf into baking something,” said Superman.

“I see,” said Brainy.

The conversation continued as they ate. Or rather, Superman talked and Brainy responded at the appropriate times so the caped boy could tell he was listening. It didn’t take long for Superman to run out of 31st Centaury topics so he started to talk about his 21st Centaury life instead. Soon enough he started talking about his family.

“How did my Ma react when she saw you guys at the door anyway?” asked Superman, reaching for another sandwich only to discover they were all gone. How long had he been talking for?

“She was,” began Brainy but paused to consider his answer. He had finished eating some time ago but made no effort to kick Superman out of his lab. “Surprised to say the least. I think she was about to slam the door on his and call the police until I asked if you were home yet. I was surprised when she invited us in though. It never seemed to occur to her that we could be lying about meeting you there.”

“Ma and Pa always said that you had to trust the good in people,” said Superman with a smile. He wished he had been there to see Ma welcome them into the house, especially her reaction to Brainy. Because of the genius’s short stature it would have been easy to mistake Brainy for younger then he was and Ma loved children. It may have been why she had offered the trio pie as they waited for Clark to return from the carnival.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but,” Brainy started but then looked slightly embarrassed. He seemed to reconsider the question, but continued anyway. “Why did your mother pat me on the head after she seated us at the table?”

Superman couldn’t help it. He started to laugh so hard he had to put down his cup before he broke it. He knew he probably wasn’t helping the situation any, but every time he tried to calm down he’d see Brainy’s embarrassed expression and begin again.

“I-I’m sorry, but she probably just thought you were a cute kid.”

“That actually explains a lot,” said Brainy, most of his embarrassment gone.

“It does?” asked Superman.

“Well when I first joined the legion I discovered I was actually the youngest member and I think it gave the girls reason to… Baby me? I think that’s the phrase for it anyway. I was constantly being patted on the head and Triplicate Girl had a habit of hugging me all the time. All three of her. And they all seemed to think I needed to get constantly checked on. After a week of this I had to start threatening them with laser canons to leave me alone,” explained Brainy.

It was in the first week of Brainy being in the legion that he collapsed for the first time, remembered Superman, but it was probably best that he didn’t ask about it. Besides this was the most Brainy had talked in their entire conversation.

“Saturn Girl is the only one who didn’t completely back off after I followed through with my threat,” Brainy continued. “I don’t even remember who it was I shot at, but it’s not like I actually hit them.” He shrugged. “Well, at least Saturn Girl doesn’t treat me like a kid who can’t take care of their self, but sometimes I wonder if she is actually keeping an eye on me all the time.”

“Is that why you thought she sent me in here?” asked Superman.

Brainy nodded.

“You don’t seem you mind it so much when it’s Saturn Girl watching over you,” said Superman. He had meant to say it jokingly but, in his own head, it had sounded like he was jealous.

This time Brainy shrugged, not noticing the supposed jealousy.

“I guess I don’t. She doesn’t take as far as the others did and,” he hesitated, “I guess she reminds me of my mother.”

Superman was not expecting that. He knew Brainy was at least partly organic, explaining why he had to eat and sleep, but he didn’t know Coluans had parents like humans did. He hadn’t even been sure Coluans had females since the ones he had seen during the ordeal with Quavermas, in which he saw Brainy’s fears, looked male.

Then there was the way Brainy had said it. The words “my mother” seemed to distant. So final.

“What was she like?” asked Superman slowly.

“Tall, blonde,” said Brainy. “I don’t remember much about her since she abandoned me when I was very young.”

Superman no longer knew what to say. He felt like he should do something. Maybe even hug him, but Brainy had just finished complaining about the girls doing it all the time.

But this isn’t all the time, Superman’s mind tried to reason. It would just be once. He could probably use it right now. Besides, you’re not one of the girls. You wouldn’t be treating him like a little kid. You’re trying to be a friend.

‘Yea, a friend,’ Superman confirmed in his mind. ‘One hug wouldn’t hurt.’

Just as Superman made his decision he lost his opportunity. Brainy was no longer looking at him, no longer even facing him. He had turned back to his work table and returned to working on the ring. Superman could almost imagine Brainy turning on the force field on his belt to block Superman completely out. It was his way of dismissing Superman from the lab.

At first Superman thought that he should give Brainy his space. Then he decided he would just sit there and keep talking even if Brainy no longer responded. He was not going to just leave Brainy to deal with his problems alone.

“Brainy-”

Superman was cut off when Brainy let out a loud hiss. Though Superman was known for his speed, it surprised him how fast he could move sometimes. He had stood and grabbed Brainy’s hand to check it for what cause him pain before the hiss had even ended. Brainy’s finger tips were red from some sort of burn. He looked down at the table and noticed that what was going to be a legion ring, had melted.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” said Brainy, taking back his hand and clutching it with the other. “But it’s the fifth time it’s happened since yesterday.”

Brainy could move fast when he wanted to as well. Superman had blinked and when he had reopened his eyes, Brainy was knocking everything off his worktable, throwing things and actually taking apart some of his previous work.

“Brainy!”

Just as suddenly as he started, Brainy stopped. He kept his back to Superman and said, “I can’t even get my own inventions right anymore.”