Aero *Completed Story*

Chapter 8

And what's the worst you take
From every heart you break
And like the blade you stain
Well I've been holding on tonight
What's the worst that I can say?
Things are better if I stay
So long and Goodnight

J'onn opened his eyes, blinking to make sure he was seeing correctly. He was surrounded by darkness, which made it impossible for him to make out exactly where he was. Glancing around, he saw a solitary spotlight ahead of him. In the middle of the light he saw a figure. From this distance he couldn't make out what or who it was.

He walked closer to determine what exactly he was looking at. The closer he got the more the figure became distinguishable to his eyes. It was Preston. Her head hung low. At first glance it appeared she was asleep but as J'onn drew closer, he noticed she was looking down at something on the ground below her. He followed her line of sight and saw a body.

Moving even closer he could clearly make out what he was really looking at. Preston was standing over a body. Aero's body. As he approached, Preston looked up at him, tears in her eyes, her face red, blotchy and visibly shaking. He wanted to call out to her, but he could only take steps to close the distance between them. With the slightest nod, Preston directed J'onn's attention to Aero who lay before them in a puddle of blood. So much blood it soaked the ground all around her. Her wings, which at first glance appeared normal, with a clear view you could tell they were no longer attached to her body. The white glow from her eyes was completely gone, leaving blackness in their absence. Her skin was severely pale and had a gray undertone. J'onn could not determine how long she had been laying there but he knew for certain that Aero was dead.

Preston tried to speak but every time she did her tears and whimpers took over. J'onn was so close to her he could feel her body shake against his. She felt cold. As he wrapped his arm around her back, willing her to take comfort in his embrace, he suddenly fell back, and his world went dark.

J'onn forced himself to sit up. Opening his eyes, he became conscious of where he was. He was alone. His senses kicked in and he was aware that he was in the room he was occupying at Wayne Manor. J'onn stood up from the chair, where he realized he must had fallen asleep.

What had just occurred? That was not his dream. He had not been in his own mind. And he knew he hadn't been alone. He could sense her all around him, penetrating the darkness. That darkness, that atmosphere, it all felt like Preston. It didn't make sense to him but things involving telepaths rarely did.

As he grasped what had just happened, he quickly morphed back into the body he commonly used. His skin transformed into a darker green, the point on the top of his head turned into a rounded form to appear more like a human's while he shrunk himself to his appropriate human height, six feet. The molecules used to transform the color of his skin, started shifting again to form the outfit that others were accustomed to seeing him wearing, red straps ran across his chest while blue boots formed around his legs and matching skin tight shorts began to appear while a huge cape emerged from his back and draped to the floor As soon as he was done morphing he hastily made his way to the large guest room, the one that Preston was currently staying in.

His pace slowed as he neared the door, which was slightly ajar. Just one thought ran through his mind as he quietly entered the room. How?

"J'onn, she's dead."

His eyes strayed around the room, in dire need to find something. After a few seconds his eyes landed on what he was seeking. He took a breath in, recognizing he overreacted. It was her, Preston, she was the one who spoke.

"What do you mean?" He looked at Preston. She had the same demeanor as she did in the dream. Her head hung low and tears were in her eyes.

"You saw her too didn't you?"

Immediately after the words escaped her mouth, J'onn was brought back to the darkness. But he was not in his own mind.

"How are you doing this?" J'onn was so confused and if he was honest with himself, a bit frightened.

Preston looked at him, confusion written all over her face. J'onn could see the same fear in her white eyes that he knew was present in his own. "I..." she stammered and started to rub the side of her head, as if in pain. "...don't don't know." The look in her eyes suggested she was desperately searching her own brain for answers. Suddenly, she sat upright and there was a flash of clarity in her eyes. "Strange. He was experimenting with powers."

"Yes Dove told us that you both had been injected..." J'onn trailed off, a hypothesis forming in his own mind. A conclusion, an answer, was manufacturing itself. He could not be sure though until he had a few more questions answered. "Have you had any other telepathic encounters? Can you read my mind now?" J'onn looked at her intently, inviting her into his own mind.

"I'm not sure. I don't know. I don't know how I did it."

J'onn could read the desperation on her face. "Do I have permission to enter your mind? Find some answers?"

Preston nodded, striving to show J'onn more confidence than the obvious apprehension she really felt.