Disclaimer: DC owns the characters within, not I.

Barry opened his eyes and found himself instinctively leaping to his feet. Doing so he quickly realized where he was and glanced down at the tubes coming from his arm. His heart was racing even more than usual for him. His surroundings told him he should be safe but his last memory was still burned into his memory.

He got control of his breathing and leaned back against the bed behind him. He shook his head to get the memories out of his mind and glanced down at his bare torso. He was pleasantly surprised to find there were no marks from the ambush left on his body.

"Mr. Allen?" a voice from the doorway startled Barry. Barry turned to face it.

"Alfred?" Barry responded, still not fully back to earth yet. Alfred approached him and coaxed him to sit down on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Alfred asked as he looked over the monitor at Barry's current readings.

"Like... like I just woke up from an awful nightmare," Barry answered. He looked up at Alfred who made eye contact with him briefly before resuming his notation of Barry's vitals. "How long have I been out?"

"Some hours now," Alfred responded. He backed up and shined a light into Barry's eyes.

"What's... where is everyone else?" Barry questioned, blinking a few times. Alfred stepped back.

"Come with me," Alfred said as he made his way into an adjoining room. Barry hopped up and followed him. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Victor lying on a slab in the middle of the room hooked up to far more machines than Barry had himself been connected to.

"What happened to him?" Barry questioned as he walked over and looked down at his friend.

"Not sure," Alfred replied. "Bruce sent him here in this condition... it's some sort of catatonic state."

"Sent him... where is Bruce?" Barry asked.

"He's um... fighting," Alfred answered.

"Fighting who?" Barry asked.

"I'm not sure... he briefed me but was in a hurry, apparently an alien, a powerful one," Alfred replied.

"Those creatures with Steppenwolf..." Barry began. He ran a hand over his chest. "They are the ones that ambushed me."

"I see... and the ones who done all the damage to this place I presume..." Alfred suggested.

"Probably," Barry agreed. He waved a hand in Victor's face and got no response. "Any idea what is causing this?"

"No... Bruce would only say it had something to do with the alien and possibly the mother boxes," Alfred replied as he moved to stand on the other side of Victor.

"How are his vitals?" Barry questioned.

"For him... quite normal, although he does seem stressed," Alfred said with a gesture to a nearby monitor. Barry nodded.

"Is the rest of the team with Bruce?" Barry inquired.

"Yes," Alfred answered.

"I need to get to them then... join the fight," Barry stated. "Do you know where they are?"

"I can pull up the coordinates," Alfred replied as he walked over to a nearby computer.

"No need," Arthur's voice broke through the room. Both Alfred and Barry turned and reacted in horror when they saw a battered Arthur carrying Bruce over one shoulder with Clark over the other. Next to him was a female that neither recognized and she was carrying Diana.

"My God," Alfred exclaimed quietly at the sight.

(****)

Barry looked down at Diana's unconscious body as she lied on the same bed he had been in earlier. He felt a horrible sadness overcome him as his eyes moved up to see two other friends lying on adjoining tables. He felt responsible for all of it. If he had not tried to be a hero and then froze in the process, maybe this could have been avoided.

"You okay?" Arthur said from his spot sitting on a nearby table. He winced a little as Alfred tightened a bandage over a wound on his arm.

"I'm fine," Barry replied. He stole a glance over to the door to the lady he had only met moments before. Mera was her name, as Arthur had introduced them. He said she was trustworthy so Barry trusted that. His eyes went back to Arthur. "Who did all this?"

"I'm not sure... I was um... out of it... got ganged up on," Arthur responded. "But it was someone different who did this to them."

"He has those demons with him," Barry stated. "They jumped me."

"Yeah... well... from the looks of what he did... I'm not sure he needs any help," Arthur said before wincing once more when he hopped off the table. He nearly stumbled forward to the ground but Mera was quick to his side to steady him.

"We need to get you help," Mera stated looking at his wounded body.

"I'm..." Arthur began.

"You are not fine," Mera cut him off with an accompanying look that told him he would not win the argument. Arthur turned to Barry and then to Alfred.

"I'm going to go with her to Atlantis," Arthur stated. "I can heal there, much faster than here."

"We got to figure out a plan..." Barry responded.

"Well... I won't be long, I promise," Arthur stated. "As soon as I get fixed, I'm coming straight back and hopefully... they'll."

Arthur gestured towards the downed members but did not finish his sentence.

"Hopefully," Barry agreed with a nod before watching Mera help a limping Arthur out the door. He then turned his attention back down to Diana. "How could he have done this?"

"What was that?" Alfred asked from across the room as he fussed over Bruce.

"How can any one person be powerful enough to do this to them?" Barry asked.

"I don't know..." Alfred replied with a sigh as he looked down at Bruce. He felt Barry next to him suddenly and turned to him.

"Are they going to..." Barry hesitated.

"I don't know..." Alfred echoed his previous words. "Bruce is...amazingly in the best condition of the three somehow."

"Yeah..." Barry responded as he walked over to examine Clark's chest wound. He then looked over at Diana and then back to Bruce. "Something... something hit them..."

"What?" Alfred questioned. He looked up to see Barry's mind was whirring.

"Something... a ray... a beam... a blast of something," Barry said. His eyes moved down to Diana's forearms to see her skin where her skin was burned and bruised.

"It would have to have been something really powerful," Alfred suggested.

"No doubt," Barry replied. "Diana tried to block it with her bracelets."

Alfred walked over to look at where Barry was pointing. He nodded as he started to see what Barry was seeing.

"She couldn't stop it..." Barry continued. His eyes moved up to Clark. Alfred's eyes followed his.

"Mr. Kent stepped in to stop it with his body..." Alfred suggested.

"Yep," Barry agreed. "Bruce was nearby and was merely caught in the blowback..."

Both men moved to stand over Clark. Barry squinted and leaned over his chest. He still had a gash on his chest but it was not bleeding.

"Whatever this is..." Barry said, straightening up and looking over at Alfred. "It's slowed his healing down to nearly a stop."

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked.

"Normally his cells... they would regenerate so quickly that it's what makes him basically invincible," Barry explained.

"I see," Alfred said.

"But this... whatever it is... it's not allowing his cells to regenerate the way they usually do," Barry continued. "It's why he is not healing."

"What can we do?" Alfred asked.

"He needs sunlight," Bruce's voice came from behind them. Both turned to see him sitting up on his bed and rubbing the back of his head.

"Sir..." Alfred spoke as he hurried to his side. Bruce held his hands up.

"I'm fine..." Bruce said.

"Well... I'd hardly say this classifies as fine," Barry quipped. Bruce's gaze fixed on him.

"Just a concussion I think," Bruce said as he got to his feet and steadied himself. "Nothing I haven't had before."

"Right," Barry responded with a nod. Bruce made his way over to stand over Clark. "What do you mean he needs sun?"

"The sun... it's what provides him with his strength and healing... he's basically a solar battery," Bruce replied.

"So in the morning, he will be okay?" Barry questioned. Bruce looked over at him and shook his head.

"No... it's not like that," Bruce replied. "He's too far... we are too far here."

"Oh," Barry responded. "We can't bring the sun to him."

"No..." Bruce agreed. "We got to him to it."

"I'm sorry..." Barry responded.

"He needs to be closer," Bruce responded.

"And how do we accomplish that?" Barry asked.

"I'm not sure," Bruce replied. He looked over at Diana and then up to Alfred. "How is she?"

"I'm not sure... her physiology is not quite like yours so all I know is she is unconscious," Alfred answered.

"Is she hurt anywhere?" Bruce asked.

"Not that I could see... other than her forearms," Alfred answered.

"The blast... she tried to reflect it, but it was too much," Bruce stated as he remembered the scene. He sighed. He then gestured to Clark. "He stepped in and took it... full on..."

"Who is this guy?" Barry asked.

"He says his name is Darkseid," Bruce replied. He glanced around before looking at Alfred. "Where is Victor?"

"He's in there," Alfred said with a point. Bruce hurriedly followed his gesture into the adjoining room with Barry close behind. Bruce stopped and looked over Victor before turning to Barry and Alfred who had just entered the room.

"Has he responded at all?" Bruce inquired.

"No," Alfred answered while Barry shook his head. Bruce cursed under his breath before moving over to a nearby cabinet and pulling out a box. He opened it and retrieved a long cord that was folded within.

"Listen..." Bruce began. "We have got to get in there to Victor... whatever this hold Darkseid and those boxes have over him... we got to break it."

"Right," Barry agreed as he watched Bruce plug one end of the cord into a nearby computer. He then moved over to Victor. "What are you going to do?"

"We have to go connect to him," Bruce said as he removed a panel off of Victor's metal thigh. He then plugged the other end of the cord into a socket within.

"Woah... I'm not sure I understand what's happening," Barry stated. Bruce turned to him and could see he was jarred by seeing his friend treated the way he was. Bruce walked over to stand in front of him.

"Victor... the human side of him..." Bruce began. "He is not powerful enough to reach right now."

"So what are you going to do?" Barry asked.

"We have to get through to the Cyborg in him," Bruce said before walking over and sitting down at the computer. He began to pull up some screens and started typing. Barry walked to stand over his shoulder. "This is connected to his internal workings but more than that..."

Barry watched as Bruce pulled up a diagram of a mother box. He glanced down at him to see him looking back up at him.

"It's connected to this," Bruce continued.

"I thought they were taken," Barry questioned.

"Two of them were," Bruce responded. "The other one is being kept safe."

"Where... wait... I don't think I want to know," Barry said with a dismissive wave of his hands.

"We are going to try to reach him..." Bruce said looking over at a motionless Victor.

"Will it hurt him?" Barry questioned. Bruce's head lowered a moment before moving back to the screen. "Bruce?"

"No more than the pain he is right now," Bruce replied before motioning for Barry to take a seat next to him.

(****)

Diana was dreaming. She knew this. But could not find herself waking up. She was actively struggling to regain consciousness but her body was resisting. Instead, she found herself lying on the blacktop. The same blacktop she had found herself lying on in many nightmares before this. She felt the weight of the metal encased around her body and she closed her eyes because she didn't want to see the explosion from the plane overhead again. She had seen it in her nightmares way too many times.

The will to not see it was enough to snap her awake. Her eyes opened and her senses were overwhelmed. She knew immediately where she was. She took a few calming breaths before glancing down at the bed which she was lying on. Her head was throbbing and it was a sensation that Diana was not terribly familiar with.

Diana's breath caught in her throat as she turned her head to see Clark lying on the bed next to her. He was still wearing his suit from the battle but even from her angle, she could see the tear in the front of it and the wound that it revealed.

"No..." Diana said as she got up and moved to take his hand. She intently tried to focus on anything but the wound as she studied his face. "Kal... Kal... can you hear me?"

Diana didn't think her heart could sink any further but his lack of response had accomplished that feat. She ran a hand over his face and squeezed his hand tighter. Her mind was racing as she recalled the last thing she remembered. The way the beam had broken her arms apart. The way she closed her eyes as it headed directly for her chest. The last thing she remembered as a red and blue blur before she blacked out.

Diana sighed as she put the pieces together realize the blur was the man lying in front of her now. He had sacrificed himself for her. A sad smile came over her face when she realized this did not surprise her in the least. She wanted to be angry at him, but deep down knew she would do the same thing if the roles were reversed.

Diana looked around for any sign of anyone else and saw a light from a nearby room. She reluctantly released her grip on Clark's hand, taking a small comfort in the fact that she could make out a small rising and falling of Clark's chest.

Diana made her way to the doorway of the room and peered in to see Barry and Bruce sitting at a computer that appeared to be connected to a prone Victor. She had no idea what was going on but assumed it was for Victor's best. Her presence in the doorway alerted Alfred who was standing over Victor. He glanced up at her.

"Miss Prince..." Alfred spoke. The words caused both Barry and Bruce to turn to her. Barry smiled upon seeing her up and about. Bruce turned back to Barry.

"Do you think you can do this?" Bruce asked.

"I think so..." Barry replied as he took over in Bruce's spot as he got up from the table and made his way over to Diana.

"What is wrong with him?" Diana asked.

"Darkseid... he has him in some sort of trance... we are trying to get through to him," Bruce replied. Diana nodded and then from the doorway turned to look back in at Clark.

"Where's Arthur?" Diana questioned, her eyes fixed on Clark.

"He is banged up too... heading to Atlantis to heal," Bruce answered. Diana nodded before moving to go back into the room where Clark lied still. She walked up to his bedside. Bruce followed her and stood next to her.

"Why isn't he healing?" Diana asked as she glanced down at her forearms to see that her wounds were all but gone.

"Darkseid's beam..." Bruce began as he pointed to Clark's chest. "It's like... it's almost like it poisoned him... and it's not allowing his cells to regenerate."

"What can we do?" Diana questioned.

"He needs to be closer to the sun," Bruce explained.

"Closer?" Diana asked.

"Yes... it will heal him, I'm sure of it," Bruce replied.

"Okay," Diana said. "So... let's get him there."

"Wh..." Bruce said, furrowing his brow at her. "Do you mean?"

"I'll take him," Diana clarified.

"Can... can you do that?" Bruce questioned. There was silence in response. "Diana?"

"I can get him there," Diana responded. Bruce placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him.

"But will you be okay?" Bruce asked. Diana took a deep breath.

"I don't know," Diana responded she moved to pick Clark up in her arms but Bruce's hand on her arms stopped her.

"I can't let you do that... if..." Bruce hesitated.

"You can't stop me, Bruce," Diana rebutted.

"I can't physically, no," Bruce agreed. "But I'm begging you... we'll find a way that doesn't require us trading you for him."

"No... there's no time," Diana said with a shake of her head. She scooped Clark up into her arms. "If Darkseid comes back..."

"Let me... give you some armor... some oxygen tanks... something," Bruce insisted.

"I can hold my breath," Diana stated.

"But the heat... and it's a long way," Bruce replied.

"Do you have anything handy that will survive it?" Diana questioned. Bruce looked around.

"I have a suit... but it might need some tweaking," Bruce considered the question.

"There's no time," Diana replied shaking her head and moving towards the door with Clark.

"Diana..." Bruce called after her. She stopped and turned to him.

"Get him as close as you can... but once you feel it affecting you... please..." Bruce pleaded. Diana nodded before turning to disappear out the door.

(****)

Diana glanced down at the earth beneath her. Everything at this point was mostly just a speck. Just above her, she was starting to see the faintest hint of stars. She was honest with Bruce. She wasn't sure if she could survive in space although she suspected she could. The sun was a different matter though. She batted away the nerves as she looked down at Kal-El in her arms.

Diana took a big breath and then ascended through the atmosphere breaking free of the constraints of gravity and finding herself flying through outer space. She fixed her eyes on the sun in the distance as it continued to grow brighter to the point where she moved her eyes back down to Clark and focused on him.

Diana's eyes moved down to his chest as she tried to see if their increasing distance to the sun was having any effect on Clark's wound. So far it seemed the same. Diana was approaching another planet now. She recognized it as Mars as she swiftly began to make her way along the length of it. She could already feel the heat had risen above what was comfortable but soldiered on.

Diana looked up briefly to see the next destination they would reach would be the surface of the sun itself. She stopped her flight and gathered her composure. She glanced behind them in the direction they had come briefly before turning her attention back to the destination. She started to move once more.

"Diana..." The voice was quiet. Diana nearly didn't hear it, but she recognized it immediately and she felt him leave her arms. She watched as he straightened himself out and floated in front her now. She glanced down at his chest to see the wound closing up. She smiled. He gestured back the way they came. "Go.."

Diana furrowed her brow as the sweat poured down it. She shook her head but he reached out to take her hand. He returned her smile from moments before.

"I'm going to go on... you go back..." Clark explained. There was a moment of silence as they floated in space just inches apart. "I'll come back... I promise."

She couldn't resist it any longer and embraced him. She relished in the feelings of his arms wrapping around her in response. Suddenly the heat of the sun was a non-factor and her surroundings didn't matter. She reluctantly broke free and stole one more glance into his eyes. She saw the sincerity in them. The same she had seen from their first meeting and she knew she had to let him go now. She also knew he would keep his word.

Diana turned back towards the Earth, now just a small speck in the distance and began to fly as fast she could to reach it. She stole a glance back briefly to see him disappearing into the blinding light of the sun.