When Doves Cry Part 1 Chp 1

It had been a difficult decision, bringing in Lex Luthor to defeat the Justice Lords. The Justice League knew it was dangerous to offer Luthor his freedom, to trust him in any way, especially with a weapon that could be turned on them the moment he was finished with the Lords; plus the way the Lords seemed to hate him more then the League thought possible made the League doubt their decision but they had no choice. The Lords had to be stopped.

Flash was jumpy after Lord Superman had nearly killed him. His jokes weren't as frequent or as corny, he didn't even attempt to flirt with Hawkgirl or Wonder Woman when given the chance and he moved around as if he had forgotten how to turn off his speed force.

None of the League wanted to expose Flash to the Lords more then they had to so it was Superman and Batman who returned the, temporarily, powerless Lords back to their world for holding.

"I've designed their holding cells to contain them even after they regain their powers," explained Lord Batman, handing Batman information on each cell.

"You do know I will be inspecting all of them," said Batman.

"I expected as much," said Lord Batman, suggestion to the control panel.

As Batman stalked away, Superman turned to the Lord that had helped them.

"What will happen to you?"

"I've been sentenced to be the Warden," said Lord Batman, not looking at Superman as he walked away to his counterpart.

"I bet they think he's the only one that stands a chance if we escape," said a voice, identical to Superman's.

Superman turned to look at his reflection, dressed differently in both his clothes and his mentality. His eyes narrowed at the 'S' that almost seemed to bleed into the white of his counterpart's uniform.

"You know perfectly well he can handle any one of us-you."

Lord Superman just smiled, looking around his new accommodations.

"You think you can't become me, don't you?"

"I will never become you," said Superman.

At this Lord Superman laughed.

"Why, what makes you different from me? What have you done that I didn't do? What beliefs do you have that I don't live for?"

"I will never make the choices you did," said Superman.

"That doesn't answer my question," said Lord Superman.

Superman examined his counterpart's face, trying to find a difference between them. There was nothing in their faces that varied from one another other then their expressions. If they had dressed the same there probably wouldn't be a way to tell one apart from the other.

"I won't be staying long," continued Lord Superman, examining Superman's face in turn. "I need to get back to my little green bird."

The way Lord Superman smile made Superman feel as if he had been hit with his own ice breath. There was more behind the Lord's words then he was letting on.

Birds made Superman think of the animals he rescued from the Collector and kept at the Fortress of Solitude but he couldn't think of any green birds plus there was no reason to return to the Fortress to take care of the animals. The animal's habitats had everything they needed for that very reason.

Did Lord Superman adopt some sort of pet that needed regular care? If he did, why would he keep it at the fortress? The only reason Superman could think of was if he didn't want anyone else to know about it. What would the dictator have to hide?

My little green bird.

Superman's entire body jerked out of thought as he stared at Lord Superman's smile. He couldn't. Not even he would-

"Brainy."

At Superman's choked voice, his look of utter disbelief, Lord Superman's smile widened.

"So you do have one."

Anger vaporizing his disbelief, Superman punched the force field that divided him from the Lord.

As the force field rippled, Lord Superman didn't flinch at the attack as he looked through what could have been a distorted mirror.

"What have you done to him?" shouted Superman.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done if you where me," said Lord Superman calmly.

"Superman?" called a stoic voice.

Both who claimed that name turned to view the two who donned the title of 'The Dark Knight'.

"What is it?" asked Batman.

Superman glanced at his counterpart who, in turn, viewed him with a sick curiosity. There was no telling how much this Superman had told the other Lords, if they knew anything about his adventures in the future that began in his youth. If they had known what he had been doing while holding their world within their fists under their shattered view of justice.

"I need to go to his Fortress," said Superman walking away from the other's cage.

"He won't trust you," said Lord Superman, his voice tightening.

"That's only because he doesn't trust you," said Superman, turning to Batman. "I need to borrow your Kryptonite."

"Killing yourself for me?" asked Lord Superman, amused now.

Batman glanced at the Lord Superman and his own counterpart, measuring them up quicker then most people could recognize an expression. He then concentrated his observations on Superman.

Returning his gaze, Superman held out his hand.

Ripping off the lead lined compartment of his utility belt, Batman placed it in Superman's hand.

"I better get this back."

"I'll do my best," said Superman, walking towards the exit.

"He won't be coming back," said Lord Superman, "my little bird will kill him."

The flight to the Fortress seemed longer then Superman remembered, even though he was going as fast as he could without destroying the ground below him.

Diving into the icy waters, he came back up in the Fortress, almost feeling the cold of this place try to swallow him.

There was no noise.

Walking further in, Superman stopped when he came to the animal habitats, broken and empty, the remaining plants dead. He dared not look further in to see what became of the animals.

His steps more cautious, Superman felt nauseous as he came to a room filled with robotic copies of his counterpart, unfinished with their parts spewing from their chests and stomachs. Also there was a giant computer, covered in untouched dust.

Further in there were other dissimilarities, but Superman tried to block them out, tried not to notice. He didn't want to remember any of this.

This was how he almost passed a hallway that wasn't in his Fortress. It looked like it had been carved away by fists and roughly smoothed out by heat vision. Barely any light could be seen from within.

When Superman entered the hallway, it lit up but that didn't make what he saw any better.

At the end of the hall was a cell similar to those that now held the Justice Lords. It was bigger then a normal prison cell, three blank walls darkened by green splatters, a beat up mattress on the ground, cut off from the hallway by a force field. Its prisoner was sitting against the back wall, knees folded to the chest, arms wrapped around knees and face buried there; far too still.

Superman rushed to the cell faster then he even thought possible and ripped out the control panel.

The force field fizzled out, allowing Superman beyond its barrier.

"Brainy?"

Wincing, the prisoner lifted his magenta eyes from the folds of his arms. His hair had grown longer then the Brainy Superman knew, past his shoulders and clumping together with neglect. There were bruises on his forearms and most noticeably on his cheek and lips, also chapped and split open. His clothes didn't even remotely resemble his Legion garb, torn and baggy they could have been different clothes entirely.

As Superman's mind tried to comprehend this nightmare Brainy's eyes took in the other's costume and smirked, causing his lip to bleed.

"Trying out the old look Superman? It doesn't suit you."

The words were shaky but filled with venom and caused Superman's heart to lurch. He wished for the ability to hold this Brainy, to make it so none of this ever happened but such hope was out of his reach.

"I- I'm not the Superman you know," said Superman, knowing how stupid it sounded before he even started.

"Of course you are," said Brainy lightly. He ran his thumb over his lip, capturing some of his blood and wiped it against the wall behind him, smearing on more green.

"I'm from another world that the Justice Lords tried to take over. The League defeated them. I- I'm here to get you out of here," said Superman softly.

No longer looking at Superman, Brainy rested his head on top of his arms. His gaze drifted to the ceiling.

"That's a nice story."

Gathering his will power, Superman stepped into the abyss, his legs shaking.

"It's not a story, I'm getting you out of here."

"I'm not building anything for you," said Brainy.

"I don't want you to," said Superman.

"I'm not going to suddenly discover you were right and help you be a dictator," said Brainy, gaze drifting downwards to look at Superman. His clouded over eyes and smile held the Kryptonian at bay. He continued but in a mocking, singing, tone, "Which is: What. You. Are."

Unable to find a way to answer without it sounding like a lie, Superman forced himself forward until he stood right before the Coluan. He knew he probably couldn't convince this version of his Brainiac Five to follow him out, he didn't even know if he could follow him anywhere.

It felt like a bad idea but there was no way Superman could leave. He bent down and lifted Brainy under his knees and around his back, like one would carry a bride, like he had carried his Brainy so many times before. The Coluan was shockingly light, even by his standards.

Instead of panicking, hitting him or trying to get away, like Superman expected, Brainy surprised him by taking hold of his face.

"Fine, you win."

Pulling Superman's face closer, Brainy pressed his lips against the other man's.

Jumping, Superman pulled away the second their lips touched.

"What are you doing?"

"You always act nicer when you want sex," said Brainy lightly, wiping his blood off of Superman's lips.

If he hadn't been holding Brainy, Superman thought he would have been sick. His lips formed a thin line as he carried Brainy out of the cell and to the closest thing the Fortress had to a living room. Setting the mostly unresponsive man on one of the chairs, he took off his cape and wrapped it around the other's shoulders.

Lightly holding onto the material, Brainy observed his green hand contrasting against the red for a moment before returning his gaze to Superman.

"You're not usually this determined to trick me." He smiled like a child discovering a secret. "I'm not going to fall for it."

"I know you can't trust me with what you've been through," said Superman softly, reaching around his back to his own belt where he hooked the compartment from Batman's utility belt. "But I at least want to try to help you feel safe." He unhooked the compartment form his belt and placed it in Brainy's hand. "Hold onto this for as long as you feel the need to."

Brainy stared at the compartment for a long time, as if unable to recognize the fact that it was really there. Releasing his hold on the cape, allowing it to stay loosely around him, he used both hands to examine the outwardly soft container with a hardness that could be felt underneath.

He snapped open the flap.

Resisting his instinct to back away, Superman felt the familiar pain of green kryptonite zapping away his strength. His legs shook and soon enough his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, barely catching himself from falling completely by throwing out his hands.

It was snapped closed.

Gasping for air as if he had forgotten how to breath while the pouch was open, Superman felt his muscles ache, trying to regain their strength.

Open.

Elbows giving out Superman fell completely to the floor, his head starting to pound and numb in thought.

Close.

It probably would have been easy to get up and knock the compartment away, to stop the threat of pain and vulnerability but Superman didn't even try to get off the floor. He had to gain some of Brainy's trust and to do that he had to trust Brainy not to kill him.

Open.

Superman's body jerked, trying to curl into itself, trying to block out the green radiation of his home world.

Close.

There was something, a noise outside the pounding of head and Superman released his hold over his ears, unsure of when he had covered them. Whatever it was the sound was muffled and coming from above him.

With his strength returning Superman was able to turn his head and look upwards.

The compartment laid discarded on Brainy's lap as his hands clutched the sides of his face, tears flooded out of his clenched shut eyes and his body shook as he tried not to make a sound.

Lifting himself off the ground, Superman kneeled in front of Brainy, scared of making the wrong move, terrified of pushing him too far.

"Brainy?"

Shakily gasping air Brainy opened his eyes and looked at Superman with the first bit of clarity that the Kryptonian could recognize.

"It's you."

Before Superman could question these words Brainy fell from his chair, leaping into the other man's arms and holding onto him with a fierceness that could have broken anyone else.

"I thought- I never thought-" sobbed Brainy, his voice shaking along with the rest of him. "You were gone- I'd never see you again. No matter how bad it got, no matter how much I hated him," his voice cracked and his hold on Superman tightened, "I never stopped loving you."

Superman could feel himself starting to crumble under the weight of Brainy's tears.