One

Emma Whitaker's life, she would say, had always been interesting. Despite living in a sleepy little town near the coast, she would say her life had always had some sort of purpose. At the moment, she was waiting for her first college class to start, and it was her favorite: Mythology. She had always been interested in those sorts of things, even when she was a child. She grew up as a single child with just her mother. When she was eleven, her mother had told her that her father had run off as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Emma didn't care. She'd never met the man, so why would she? She and her mother were happy enough.

Alice Whitaker worked as the town's weather girl on the local news. It wasn't much, but they made enough. Not enough, however, to send Emma to a university, and so, here she was, in her town's one community college, not quite sure what she wanted to do with herself.

It was early morning and there were not many people about. No one liked having college classes this early, it seemed. Emma didn't understand why not. She figured if you just got them all over early, you could have the rest of the day to do whatever you liked. But she didn't mind. It meant that in the mornings she was here, she essentially had the campus to herself, except for a few others here and there.

On this particular morning, it was windy, cloudy, and cold. It looked like it might rain, even. Emma sighed with contentment. She loved the rain. She had bundled up that morning, so she knew the cold wouldn't affect her. As she looked around the near empty campus, something strange happened to the air. Suddenly, Emma felt all of her hair lift up, but it wasn't from the wind. It was if the air was suddenly charged with electricity.

Emma sat and didn't move. She could feel that something odd was happening. Slowly, she began to look around, afraid that maybe the rain would start and she would get struck by lightning. But the rain never did start. The electricity stayed in the air for a few more seconds, and then suddenly, it died down all at once, and Emma felt her hair go back to normal. Scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, she looked up at the sky, wondering what all the fuss was about if nothing was even going to happen.

As her eyes wandered from the sky, they alighted upon a man who was standing a little ways off. Emma did not remember seeing him before, and she did not remember seeing anyone walking by her, either. But she let it go. She smiled vaguely to him, as people often do when they notice that they have accidentally looked directly into someone's eyes while passing them on the street or elsewhere.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and she was just beginning to look away, when it registered to her that this man she had been smiling to had green skin. And his eyes had been so serious, and were a red-gold color. The smile left her face, and her head snapped back to look at him, but this time he looked different. She made sure to study him closely, even though she knew it was rude to stare. Now he was just an average college student. An African American man who looked to be in his early twenties. His eyes were a normal brown, and he was wearing a black hoodie, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.

His eyes, though. Despite being a normal color, they did not look normal. He still wore an odd, almost melancholy expression in them, as if he was hiding away some unspoken tragedy at all times. He looked like a man haunted by the past.

He was staring directly at her. He was not smiling. Just staring. Quite obviously. As if he thought he had seen something odd about her as well. It was very strange, this whole encounter. It only lasted a few seconds, but Emma felt as if she had locked eyes with this man for centuries.

And then something changed. Emma began to feel disoriented and a little dizzy. She was glad she was sitting down. A fog seemed to enter her mind, and she began to forget what she had seen before – the man with the green skin and red-gold eyes. That man's face began to disappear from her mind's eye, as if someone was sucking the memory out of her brain.

But Emma did not want to forget. She felt somehow connected to this man, whoever he was. He felt somehow familiar. Like an old friend. And then, as the last remnants of his face began to pull away from her memory, she realized with a desperate feeling who he was. Before she could doubt herself, she screamed in her mind, No, J'onn!

The sound of a sudden intake of breath washed over her thoughts. It was his breath. His surprise. And slowly, Emma regained the memory.

So it is you? she asked quietly. J'onn J'onzz? The Martian Manhunter of the Justice League? What are you doing here? In this dimension? You don't exist here, J'onn.

How do you know who I am?

Those were the first words he ever spoke to her.

She laughed. I've always known you existed. Somewhere. I've always been one to believe that anything anyone ever creates in their minds exists in reality on some level. And superheroes are so well known throughout the world that how could you not exist somewhere?

Is that so? You've always known I existed somewhere…?

Yes. But you didn't answer my question. How did you get here? To this dimension?

I went through a portal created by an evil man back in my own… dimension. He thought he had found a connection to Hades, and he was going to use the portal to gather an army of demons so that he could bring them back and take over my world.

When you say… your world… Are you talking about Earth, or Mars?

I am talking about Earth. The Earth from my dimension. I saw the man enter the portal and went through to stop him, thinking I was entering Hades, but when I arrived, I was here.

I guess the bad guy got it wrong.

Yes.

They were both silent, staring at one another across the space, and then J'onn came over to her and thought, May I sit down?

Of course.

He sat. And they were silent again. And then he thought to her, You said that superheroes are well known throughout this dimension. How much do the humans here really know about us?

That depends. Is anything we know exactly the way it is in your dimension? What if you are not the J'onn that I know, and somewhere else there are another million J'onns wandering around another million dimensions? Which J'onn am I talking to right now? The one from the comic books, or the one from the cartoons? And which comic books? And which cartoons? And which movies, even? There are so many versions of you even in one dimension, that I cannot really answer your question.

Hmm…

Although… Emma put her chin in her hand, thinking.

Yes?

You did look a lot like the version of you from the cartoon that I used to watch as a child. There was a cartoon on the TV that they don't show anymore. It was just called Justice League. And later there was Justice League Unlimited. In it, there was you, and Superman, and Batman, Wonderwoman, the Flash, Hawkgirl, and the Green Lantern. You guys were the original founders. After that other superheroes started trickling in. Like Green Arrow, or whatever his name is. Really, I don't remember the others. Does any of this sound familiar?

Yes. I am a part of the Justice League. I have been for many years now.

Then that's probably the version of you that I am talking to right now. Or at least the closest version. Besides, it must be. Your voice is the same. Which is funny to me, because that means that there is someone wandering around this Earth with the exact same voice as you, since obviously someone had to voice act you for the cartoon.

Does this mean that… everyone who ever watched that cartoon… knows everything… about all of us?

Emma looked up at him, and she could almost see his real self beneath the man he was pretending to be. Maybe not everything, J'onn, she thought quietly. I know that must seem awful. That all of your secrets are laid bare. But honestly, I don't remember much of that cartoon. Except for a few things.

Like what?

You really want me to tell you how much I know about your past?

It might be that some of the things you think you know are not actually true to this version of myself.

She looked ahead, at the sky. Your version of Mars… there's no one left, is there?

Other Martians, you mean? No. There is no one left.

And you… always thought you failed them. Your family. Because it was your job to keep them safe. At least, that's what you thought.

It was my job.

See?

But it was. They were my family. What am I saying? They are my family. And because of me…

You did everything you could, J'onn.

He sighed and put his head down. I know. I have grieved them enough already.

And… the White Martians. It was your job to keep them locked up. But then a group of astronauts came to Mars, right?

Yes. And captured me. And released the beings who had destroyed my species and my planet. They brought me back to Earth and afterwards, I tried calling out telepathically to anyone out there who could hear me, and Superman came and rescued me.

Then you are the version I know.

It would seem so.

Emma was silent for a long while, giving him space to think. Does it bother you? she finally asked. That I know… a lot about you? Maybe things you don't want anyone to know?

To an extent, it does bother me. But I have read your emotions, and you seem genuine, not the kind of person to exploit someone's feelings or thoughts.

Of course not.

You said you did not remember much of the cartoon. It seems you remember an awful lot of it.

Emma blushed, continuing to look up at the sky. You were always my favorite. Of the Justice League, I mean.

Thank you.

She laughed softly. For what? Everybody attaches to a character they think they relate to. You always seemed the sort of person who would quietly be someone's best friend.

Quietly?

You seemed so peaceful most of the time. I always thought you were the heart of the group. The one who just wanted everyone to get along and be happy, even while, in the beginning, you were still grieving inside. Instead of being angry and resentful, you spent your time trying to help others. That's what I mean by quietly. And besides… you're extremely charming, you know. And you've got the most soothing voice. It sounds like I'm listening to warm caramel anytime you say something. I know that doesn't make any sense.

Actually, it does. Being connected to a person's thoughts makes it easy to understand what they mean when they say things, even if they don't quite know what they mean themselves.

This situation is odd.

I think so, too.

I mean… shouldn't you be going… somewhere? You have to go capture the bad guy and be on your way, right? And I'm late to my class now.

J'onn nodded. Yes. I should be going.

You should be careful, J'onn. Remember, you're not supposed to exist here. You can't go flying around anywhere, and make sure not to revert back into Martian Mode.

He smiled at her. I'll be careful. He took a breath and stood up, facing her as she continued to sit. I should wipe your memory. It would be easier. You would not be able to slip up and accidentally tell someone that you met me.

Emma looked into his eyes, and as she stared, she saw the blurred image of himself as he usually was, purple cape and all. His eyes lost their pupils and became the red-gold color she always used to love as a kid. She knew she was only seeing him like this in her mind. Knowing she was about to lose all memory of her childhood hero, she said, aloud and in her thoughts, "I always thought you had beautiful eyes."

With that, she closed her eyes and waited for the moment where this memory disappeared forever. The moment never came. After spending what seemed an eternity with her eyes closed, she finally opened them again. J'onn J'onzz was gone.