I feel like a hero...
Title: Sickness, Chapter 1
Universe: Cartoon
Characters/Pairings: Brainiac 5/Superman
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: Slash elements, very light.
Summary: Set between seasons 1 and 2. Brainiac 5 has been suffering from an unknkown disease, when the answer--and maybe the cure--finally comes to light.
Its shimmering surface surrounded him as he sat in his seat beneath COMPUTO's mainframe, hooked into the databanks as he worked on the project that was giving him so much grief.
"For a being with 12th level intelligence, you're looking a little frustrated," a female voice commented, and Brainy looked up to see Phantom Girl phasing out of the wall. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Door was locked, and you weren't answering. I got worried. What're you working on?"
Brainiac 5 didn't answer, his white pupils sliding to the side to avoid the girl's curious eyes. "It's nothing. Just a research project. I've been trying to manufacture a 21st century item, for Superman, to make him feel more comfortable. When he comes back." He absentmindedly picked up one of the tools and began toying with it, tapping its metal head against his palm, creating a faint tinging sound like a hammer against tin. Phantom Girl looked slightly uncomfortable, and she floated over to the Coluan's holo-table to look down at the mess of cogs and wheels and fibre-optic wiring. She didn't recognize what was on the table, couldn't tell what was supposed to be taking shape there, but then again, who ever understood Brainiac 5's inventions until they were fully realized and functional? Still, the implications of this obsessive tinkering were dire, indeed.
The Coluan had been unable to function properly in the weeks since Superman had been sent back to his own time. True, after their repeated and solid trouncing of the various galactical baddies, there had been almost no call for the Legion, but those few minor missions they had been called for had been distinctly lacking in the green-skinned-teammate variety. Brainy had thought up excuse after excuse to sit out, remain at HQ--and on a couple of occasions it had been Lightning Lad and Bouncing Boy who had "forcefully requested" that he stay behind. His mind just wasn't on the present.
"You know, Brainy, there's no guarantee that Superman will be coming back. We may not need him again--he'd be much better off living out his life in his own time, don't you think?" The android was silent, still not looking at her, still turning the tool over in his hands, but the rhythm being beaten out against his hand picked up tempo and became more agitated. He pretended that he hadn't heard Phantom Girl's gentle remarks. The girl sighed, casting one last look over the mess, and quietly turned to leave the room. Brainiac 5 didn't even acknowledge her leaving, but as she phased back out of the room, he suddenly, violently, threw the item in his hand against a wall. It shattered, sparks arcing briefly between its components, and the teen was unsurprised to note that it hadn't relieved his frustrations at all.
"Forget it," he huffed to himself, dissolving the holographic surface and watching as the past five hours' worth of work collapsed in a clatter to the ground. He disconnected himself from COMPUTO and pushed himself up out of his seat, arms extending until he was upright and then retracting into their sockets. It was second nature to him now, this usage of the technological aspects of his construction; perhaps even more so than the organic components.
And there was the problem. Unlike what he had told Phantom Girl, the device he was trying to manufacture had nothing to do with making Superman more comfortable; it had everything to do with alleviating the enormous pressure that was constantly bearing down in his own chest. Extensive digging through files in the current medical databases had revealed nothing in terms of his symptoms--at least nothing that a partially engineered being could be suffering from. In desperation to find a cure, he had begun looking through the history files.
The symptoms--shortness of breath, pain in the chest, in the region commonly associated with the human heart, flushed skin, and an irregular heartbeat--had begun shortly after Clark Kent had been brought from the 21st century to the 31st, a few months before. When Brainiac 5 had realized this, his immediate logic had been to check the historical medical files. It was possible that a condition that had been eradicated years before, centuries, had been removed from the medical records of the present--there may have been no need for it. It had been known to happen before.
However, even in the history files there was nothing to describe Brainy's specific condition. Sure, the symptoms were there, but always in conjunction with something else, or indicating a disease that the Coluan was insusceptible to because of his unique genetic makeup. It seemed like there were no answers.
At first, it was worst when the boy was around Superman, which had increased support for his hypothesis that his condition was related to something from the past. He had started to shuffle patrol appointments, rearranging them so that, where before he had made efforts to put he and his idol on the same patrol, he was now attempting to avoid him; he had even given himself extra shifts, taking time off from his research and development, to spend as little time around Superman as possible. And when he wasn't on patrol, he would confine himself to his room, or to the lab, where he would spend equal amounts of time researching advances for the Legion and trying to diagnose his illness. This had worked, for awhile, but the pangs in his chest especially stopped subsiding when he wasn't around the time traveller. At first, they were simply at a lower intensity--but then they had increased to, and even surpassed, the level they were at when he was in the Kryptonian's presence.
Even when Superman had finally gone back to his own time, in Kansas of the 21st century, the pain in his chest didn't subside; and now even memories of the man were enough to bring about a resurgence of the other symptoms. It was getting ridiculous.
Finally, while perusing the history files for the hundredth time, Brainy had stumbled upon video files, appearing to be documentaries of the period's media. Among other things presented, a medical device called a 'tricorder' was demonstrated on numerous occasions to diagnose illness. The technology seemed somewhat advanced for the time period, but normally anal-retentive brain functions were overridden, deemed by Brainiac to be necessary. He would give anything to figure out what was wrong with him, and find a cure.
Unfortunately, literature on the manufacture of one of these devices was lacking, and Brainiac 5 was having to delve into the media and video files and analyze the grainy film in a wild attempt to create the device. It was proving more difficult than he had first thought, even for, as Phantom Girl had teased, a "being of 12th level intellect".
He turned, looking up at the huge orb that formed COMPUTO's mainframe, and sighed, wincing as another jolt of pain swept through his chest. How could he even think of giving up?
The problem with this whole situation, aside from the pain and disadvantage of these new physical shortcomings, was that he had been forced to almost completely avoid Superman for the last half of the Kryptonian's visit. For a friendship as fast, as quickly formed as theirs had been, it was unthinkable to suddenly appear to cut all ties with no explanation. Brainy owed Clark some type of apology, but there was no way he could be anywhere near the boy while he was still suffering these symptoms. So he couldn't give up now.
With a resigned sigh and a roll of his violet eyes he settled himself back into his seat, reconnecting to COMPUTO, and pulled up the media folders again. Moving holograms flickered before his eyes as he searched through the video for the data he needed. Frustrated as he was, he allowed himself to become a little distracted by some of the other snippets that went whirring by, and he almost missed the tiny snatch of audio.
"...pain in my chest...can't breathe..."
The description, the speaker's voice--they were too similar to his own pain-filled way of speaking and his own symptoms to be ignored. Curious, hopeful that this might be a breakthrough, finally, he rewound the digital file and played it from the start.
It was obviously a fictional file, a movie from the 21st century, and from the cheesily grating soundtrack to the disgustingly cliched backdrop it was a romance to boot. Brainy sighed--fiction wouldn't help him--but curiousity as well as a fair amount of boredom convinced him to watch it through. A young man was approaching a fair young lady (he noted dully that she looked somewhat like Saturn Girl), his hands clasped over his heart.
"'And why should I believe you? Why, when all you've done is lie?'
'You can't understand...you don't know, what its like, what I'm suffering each day. Its like a pain in my chest, everytime I look at your face, or imagine your smile. I can't breathe; I can't sleep; my heart pounds like a drum whenever I'm near you.'"
The girl turned to look at the man, and Brainiac 5 found himself entranced, realizing that this might be the answer. This might solve everything. Fiction, yes, but wasn't fiction always rooted in fact? He turned up the volume.
"'So you're sick. What does that have to do with how you feel?'
'You don't get it. I'm in love with you!'"
The video file froze in place, the man's pained expression, yet so full of hope, filling the screen. Brainiac 5 stared into those eyes, into that face, seeing his own expression reflected back at him. Love? But...that was impossible, wasn't it? Was he...in love with Superman?
Even as he thought it, the feeling in his chest intensified, and he felt himself gasping for breath, gripping the arm-rest of his seat. "COMPUTO," he stammered, almost afraid of what he would find, "do a file search, keyword: Love." The computer whirred to life, drives spinning, and soon Brainy was presented with over a thousand files, all chronicling this thing called "love". For the next two hours he read through them all, devouring every detail, realizing more and more with each passing minute that everything those files contained described his condition, to the letter. His illness had a name, and that name was love.
Phantom Girl phased into the room again, this time to tell Brainy that they had just had a call to bring down a minor gang of thugs, and would he like to take a break and come along, just in time to see him disappear into a time bubble. Slightly confused, she floated over to the projection, unpausing it to watch the rest of the scene play out, glancing over the files Brainiac 5 had been perusing. A smile split her face as she realized what had happened, and where the genius had disappeared to.
"About time you figured it out, Brainy," she said with a smile.
Universe: Cartoon
Characters/Pairings: Brainiac 5/Superman
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: Slash elements, very light.
Summary: Set between seasons 1 and 2. Brainiac 5 has been suffering from an unknkown disease, when the answer--and maybe the cure--finally comes to light.
Its shimmering surface surrounded him as he sat in his seat beneath COMPUTO's mainframe, hooked into the databanks as he worked on the project that was giving him so much grief.
"For a being with 12th level intelligence, you're looking a little frustrated," a female voice commented, and Brainy looked up to see Phantom Girl phasing out of the wall. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Door was locked, and you weren't answering. I got worried. What're you working on?"
Brainiac 5 didn't answer, his white pupils sliding to the side to avoid the girl's curious eyes. "It's nothing. Just a research project. I've been trying to manufacture a 21st century item, for Superman, to make him feel more comfortable. When he comes back." He absentmindedly picked up one of the tools and began toying with it, tapping its metal head against his palm, creating a faint tinging sound like a hammer against tin. Phantom Girl looked slightly uncomfortable, and she floated over to the Coluan's holo-table to look down at the mess of cogs and wheels and fibre-optic wiring. She didn't recognize what was on the table, couldn't tell what was supposed to be taking shape there, but then again, who ever understood Brainiac 5's inventions until they were fully realized and functional? Still, the implications of this obsessive tinkering were dire, indeed.
The Coluan had been unable to function properly in the weeks since Superman had been sent back to his own time. True, after their repeated and solid trouncing of the various galactical baddies, there had been almost no call for the Legion, but those few minor missions they had been called for had been distinctly lacking in the green-skinned-teammate variety. Brainy had thought up excuse after excuse to sit out, remain at HQ--and on a couple of occasions it had been Lightning Lad and Bouncing Boy who had "forcefully requested" that he stay behind. His mind just wasn't on the present.
"You know, Brainy, there's no guarantee that Superman will be coming back. We may not need him again--he'd be much better off living out his life in his own time, don't you think?" The android was silent, still not looking at her, still turning the tool over in his hands, but the rhythm being beaten out against his hand picked up tempo and became more agitated. He pretended that he hadn't heard Phantom Girl's gentle remarks. The girl sighed, casting one last look over the mess, and quietly turned to leave the room. Brainiac 5 didn't even acknowledge her leaving, but as she phased back out of the room, he suddenly, violently, threw the item in his hand against a wall. It shattered, sparks arcing briefly between its components, and the teen was unsurprised to note that it hadn't relieved his frustrations at all.
"Forget it," he huffed to himself, dissolving the holographic surface and watching as the past five hours' worth of work collapsed in a clatter to the ground. He disconnected himself from COMPUTO and pushed himself up out of his seat, arms extending until he was upright and then retracting into their sockets. It was second nature to him now, this usage of the technological aspects of his construction; perhaps even more so than the organic components.
And there was the problem. Unlike what he had told Phantom Girl, the device he was trying to manufacture had nothing to do with making Superman more comfortable; it had everything to do with alleviating the enormous pressure that was constantly bearing down in his own chest. Extensive digging through files in the current medical databases had revealed nothing in terms of his symptoms--at least nothing that a partially engineered being could be suffering from. In desperation to find a cure, he had begun looking through the history files.
The symptoms--shortness of breath, pain in the chest, in the region commonly associated with the human heart, flushed skin, and an irregular heartbeat--had begun shortly after Clark Kent had been brought from the 21st century to the 31st, a few months before. When Brainiac 5 had realized this, his immediate logic had been to check the historical medical files. It was possible that a condition that had been eradicated years before, centuries, had been removed from the medical records of the present--there may have been no need for it. It had been known to happen before.
However, even in the history files there was nothing to describe Brainy's specific condition. Sure, the symptoms were there, but always in conjunction with something else, or indicating a disease that the Coluan was insusceptible to because of his unique genetic makeup. It seemed like there were no answers.
At first, it was worst when the boy was around Superman, which had increased support for his hypothesis that his condition was related to something from the past. He had started to shuffle patrol appointments, rearranging them so that, where before he had made efforts to put he and his idol on the same patrol, he was now attempting to avoid him; he had even given himself extra shifts, taking time off from his research and development, to spend as little time around Superman as possible. And when he wasn't on patrol, he would confine himself to his room, or to the lab, where he would spend equal amounts of time researching advances for the Legion and trying to diagnose his illness. This had worked, for awhile, but the pangs in his chest especially stopped subsiding when he wasn't around the time traveller. At first, they were simply at a lower intensity--but then they had increased to, and even surpassed, the level they were at when he was in the Kryptonian's presence.
Even when Superman had finally gone back to his own time, in Kansas of the 21st century, the pain in his chest didn't subside; and now even memories of the man were enough to bring about a resurgence of the other symptoms. It was getting ridiculous.
Finally, while perusing the history files for the hundredth time, Brainy had stumbled upon video files, appearing to be documentaries of the period's media. Among other things presented, a medical device called a 'tricorder' was demonstrated on numerous occasions to diagnose illness. The technology seemed somewhat advanced for the time period, but normally anal-retentive brain functions were overridden, deemed by Brainiac to be necessary. He would give anything to figure out what was wrong with him, and find a cure.
Unfortunately, literature on the manufacture of one of these devices was lacking, and Brainiac 5 was having to delve into the media and video files and analyze the grainy film in a wild attempt to create the device. It was proving more difficult than he had first thought, even for, as Phantom Girl had teased, a "being of 12th level intellect".
He turned, looking up at the huge orb that formed COMPUTO's mainframe, and sighed, wincing as another jolt of pain swept through his chest. How could he even think of giving up?
The problem with this whole situation, aside from the pain and disadvantage of these new physical shortcomings, was that he had been forced to almost completely avoid Superman for the last half of the Kryptonian's visit. For a friendship as fast, as quickly formed as theirs had been, it was unthinkable to suddenly appear to cut all ties with no explanation. Brainy owed Clark some type of apology, but there was no way he could be anywhere near the boy while he was still suffering these symptoms. So he couldn't give up now.
With a resigned sigh and a roll of his violet eyes he settled himself back into his seat, reconnecting to COMPUTO, and pulled up the media folders again. Moving holograms flickered before his eyes as he searched through the video for the data he needed. Frustrated as he was, he allowed himself to become a little distracted by some of the other snippets that went whirring by, and he almost missed the tiny snatch of audio.
"...pain in my chest...can't breathe..."
The description, the speaker's voice--they were too similar to his own pain-filled way of speaking and his own symptoms to be ignored. Curious, hopeful that this might be a breakthrough, finally, he rewound the digital file and played it from the start.
It was obviously a fictional file, a movie from the 21st century, and from the cheesily grating soundtrack to the disgustingly cliched backdrop it was a romance to boot. Brainy sighed--fiction wouldn't help him--but curiousity as well as a fair amount of boredom convinced him to watch it through. A young man was approaching a fair young lady (he noted dully that she looked somewhat like Saturn Girl), his hands clasped over his heart.
"'And why should I believe you? Why, when all you've done is lie?'
'You can't understand...you don't know, what its like, what I'm suffering each day. Its like a pain in my chest, everytime I look at your face, or imagine your smile. I can't breathe; I can't sleep; my heart pounds like a drum whenever I'm near you.'"
The girl turned to look at the man, and Brainiac 5 found himself entranced, realizing that this might be the answer. This might solve everything. Fiction, yes, but wasn't fiction always rooted in fact? He turned up the volume.
"'So you're sick. What does that have to do with how you feel?'
'You don't get it. I'm in love with you!'"
The video file froze in place, the man's pained expression, yet so full of hope, filling the screen. Brainiac 5 stared into those eyes, into that face, seeing his own expression reflected back at him. Love? But...that was impossible, wasn't it? Was he...in love with Superman?
Even as he thought it, the feeling in his chest intensified, and he felt himself gasping for breath, gripping the arm-rest of his seat. "COMPUTO," he stammered, almost afraid of what he would find, "do a file search, keyword: Love." The computer whirred to life, drives spinning, and soon Brainy was presented with over a thousand files, all chronicling this thing called "love". For the next two hours he read through them all, devouring every detail, realizing more and more with each passing minute that everything those files contained described his condition, to the letter. His illness had a name, and that name was love.
Phantom Girl phased into the room again, this time to tell Brainy that they had just had a call to bring down a minor gang of thugs, and would he like to take a break and come along, just in time to see him disappear into a time bubble. Slightly confused, she floated over to the projection, unpausing it to watch the rest of the scene play out, glancing over the files Brainiac 5 had been perusing. A smile split her face as she realized what had happened, and where the genius had disappeared to.
"About time you figured it out, Brainy," she said with a smile.