In for a penny, in for a pounding

Emotional whiplash hit Charlie in the crown of his skull as he watched his new Martian lover reform in front of him, her previous disguise of Batman melting away into her body. The terror he had felt in seeing the Dark Knight in front of him drained all of the color from his face, leaving the young man in a state of paralysis. This paralysis was maintained even as he saw his lover fix her gaze onto him, her amber eyes filled with relief and love at seeing him.

Already on his knees from the dread of seeing Batman in front of him, Charlie's torso decided to finish its descent to the ground, falling face first into the floor.

It would never reach its destination.

"Charlie!"

The martian had skidded her knees onto the floor to catch him, moving at speeds Charlie didn't know her species could move, only to have his face land in her waiting lap. In any other situation, the young Mr. Simmons would savor this contact with a beautiful woman.

But he had endured so much over the past few days to even so much as move his face from his lover's thigh.

Sensing the discomfort that had swelled up in Charlie, M'Gann decided to place her left hand over her lover's hair, stroking it affectionately from the crown of his head to the nape of his neck. Her right hand would find a home cupping Charlie's left cheek, dismayed at feeling the lack of heat in his face from his ordeal.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

M'Gann's simple comforts brought life back into the Metahuman, his face now looking upwards at the face of the young woman who had found and saved him, her feelings for him laid bare and her attention undivided.

"Thank you, M'Gann. Can we stay here for a bit?" Charlie had yet to regain volume in his voice, not fully trusting that all of his assailants were dispatched.

His savior seemed to have read his mind (either figuratively or literally) and brought her right hand from Charlie's cheek up and facing his kidnappers. It, along with M'Gann's eyes glowed a bright fluorescent blue, causing a similarly colored aura to envelope Nightwing and Batgirl. The two remained motionless and ****.

Her eyes would turn from blue to amber again as she turned her attention back to Charlie.

"We can stay as long as you'd like." M'Gann's confirmed as she continued stroking his hair.

If M'Gann willed it, she could probably keep them like that all night.

Charlie would almost think it was scary if it happened to someone else.

Almost.

"....and now they have video evidence of Kori being under my influence. They found out with one camera. For all I know these guys have my whole place bugged!"

Charlie had finished regaling his experience with M'Gann as she attentively listened to her lover's dismay. His physical condition had returned to the way it was before he had been forcefully relocated to the clock tower, his voice and his leg's having regained strength.

However, he still felt the dread in knowing that physical evidence that could rob him of his freedom existed. Even worse still, he knew that he had been under surveillance for some time and that this equipment couldn't be removed lest the arouse further suspicion from those who installed it.

The only things Charlie had wanted to arouse were Kara, Diana, Kori, and now Karen and M'Gann, thank you very much.

The rest of the Bat-family could remain unaroused forever as far as he cared.

God, his life had become warped after gaining his power.

His twisted thought process was pleasantly interrupted by M'Gann clasping his hand with both of hers. Her eyes filled with sorrow.

"I'm really sorry we didn't catch onto what was happening sooner, Charlie. If we had stopped Wally from setting those coordinates, we could've..." She trailed off and broke eye contact with the young man, her gaze looking at the floor upset at what had transpired.

Charlie Simmons was a man who only had so many things in his life before he gained his power. He came from a small family, made a meager existence, and had a small group of friends he could call his own.

With his power, his life was transformed with a loving and bright girlfriend in Kara, an amazing and powerful lover in Diana, and an adventurous and wild free spirit in Kori.

He didn't know much about her in their brief time together, but now in seeing her concern for him and the tears welling up in her eyes for him, Charlie knew that M'Gann was an empathetic and caring soul.

One that he didn't want to see cry.

"Its okay, M'Gann. If you had stopped him, they would've only been more suspicious of why you or Diana would want me back home and not with Nightwing or Batgirl. Unfortunately, this needed to happen."

He couldn't lie to her, in truth they had already known about his powers affecting an alien like Kori. So their interference would only alarm more members of the Justice League.

Charlie's comforting words allowed M'Gann to face him again, the tears threatening to fall at the slightest action. One of those actions being her bringing her arms around Charlie's neck as she brought his head into her chest. This allowed her tears to flow freely and a smile to start to form.

"You're too smart and kind for your own good, Charlie. I hadn't even thought of that." Her embrace of the young man grew stronger as she brought her body closer to his, allowing for next to no room between the two of them.

"We'll need to think about how we can deal with Wally after we erase Dick and Barbara's memories..."

This admission had caused Charlie to push his hands against M'Gann's stomach, breaking the hug.

"I'm sorry, what!?"

The words left Charlie's mouth at a volume he hadn't used in quite some time, the volume surprising even him as he brought both of his hands to his mouth and his eyes panicked as she gazed back at the two heroes in question.

Both remained ****.

"Yes, we need to ensure neither of them can attempt anything like this again. After what has just happened, as soon as they wake up, they'll just tell Batman what they've found about you."

M'Gann's uttering of Batman's name had caused Charlie to reenter his stupor. His conscience began to wrestle with itself with what his lover had explained. On one hand, she was right. M'Gann had saved him TONIGHT from Nightwing and Batgirl's interrogation and they luckily hadn't gotten around to telling Batman or the League about the extent of Charlie's powers. If nothing changed, if the evidence remained, he would have about 8 hours more of freedom.

On the other hand, what she had proposed was that they intentionally alter the minds of his friends to their liking. Call it cognitive dissonance, but because Charlie's ability had acted in a way that would effect women regardless of his wants, he couldn't bring himself to plan out changing a person's mind with his powers.

"M'Gann, it was one thing to use my ability on Powergirl. If I hadn't done it, she would've been enslaved by Luthor. But what you're suggesting..."

"Would only stop them from thinking less of you." M'Gann quick reply had caught Charlie off guard.

"Charlie, having you in my life has made me happier than anything I've ever experienced. Being near you makes me think that anything is possible and I can't bear to think about what would happen to you if you were taken away from us."

Using her left hand, M'Gann grabbed Charlie's right and brought it to her chest. Charlie didn't dare remove it.

"I know we haven't been together long, but I know enough that Kara, Diana, and Kori feel the same way. You're a great man Charlie and I know you wouldn't do something to hurt someone intentionally. We would only need to do this once and everything would go back to the way it was before today."

Her explanation was a comfort that Charlie was **** to accept. His power would continue to be active regardless of what he would do and they've already taken effect on several women in his life. From what he knew, being away from them would only hurt them as much as it hurt him to be apart, if not more. What's more, as it was now, Dick and Barbara could no longer be his friends. Seeing the pain and betrayal in their eyes as they (rightfully) accused him of having greater capabilities proved to him that their having this knowledge not only hurt him but it also hurt them.

If no one would be hurt in what M'Gann was proposing...

"...You promise they won't be hurt by this?" Charlie quietly inquired.

M'Gann's smile grew angelic as she nodded, happy that Charlie agreed with her devilish proposal.

"Not at all. As far as they will remember, they stayed in the night and invited you to watch movies in the clock tower. No evidence will be left on the computer, the security here will be altered, and we can go along peacefully with our lives."

There are moments in people's lives that they look back on and wonder what would've happened if they just decided to do things differently.

"Ok."

As Charlie meekly nodded and watched his lover's hand turn green, he silently prayed that this would not be one of them.

"Hey guys? How'd it go?"

Nightwing looked back at Flash with a cold indifference that would've made his mentor proud.

"Is Charlie in the clear?" As it turned out, Flash had only been told to bring Charlie to the clock tower by Nightwing without any further explanation. Since Dick was his best friend and he felt he knew Charlie well enough to think nothing of it, he didn't bother explaining his actions to anyone else.

A mistake that would cost him.

"He is and always will be."

Nightwing's eyes glowed a bright green as his glowing hand was brought before Flash's face.

*Was going to add another couple paragraphs about Barbara never really liking Charlie, but I figured this chapter was going on long enough.*