Who: John and AJ Where: His house What: John asks her to marry him. and he and AJ have a discussion. When: 02/15, after the dinner Warnings/Rating: PG-13 Status Complete
John smiled as he led AJ toward his door, and then inside. “Okay, we’re almost there, just keep your eyes closed, love. I have you.” He led her in, slowly, and toward one room in particular. The den had been decked out in candles, and with a white apple wine waiting for them, chilling. And a single box on the table.
“Okay, love, look.” And he held her shoulders as he stood behind her, letting her take in the room.
AJ nodded. She trusted John with her whole life. It’d been a really wonderful evening so far, spent with close friends, family. And that was all after AJ’s spa day... she was in very high spirits. Her eyes were closed, and she waited for him to give the okay before opening them...
Then she gasped. “When did you have time to set all this up?” She grinned, turning around, and then paused when she saw the box on the table.
“I had it set up for me, by a friend. One of my police friends from the house who I lent a spare key to, once, and who crashed with me once upon a time during a nasty point, came by and did it all, even brought my surprise here.”
He led her toward the table and gently pressed her toward a seat. “Sit down, AJ. I have something to say.”
AJ’s heart was thundering now. She moved with him and sat down in the chair at the table. A part of her knew what was coming--or at least suspected it--but the rest of her wouldn’t let herself get her hopes up. She seemingly couldn’t take her eyes off that small box. But finally she tore them away and up to his own.
And he took that box and slid down to his knees in front of her. Or one knee, anyway. “My love. My Aj. You have made me the happiest man ever, the happiest man alive. You have given me so much joy and helped me deal with far more than you ever knew there would be when we met. “
He smiled softly. “I’ve thought about this for awhile, but lately I have known, truly known... I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to share all of my life with you. Aponi Jackson... will you marry me?”
And he opened the box, revealing the ring, a sparkling silver circle with a gleaming green stone.
OhmyGodohmyGodohmygod... It was repeating over and over in her head, and her heart was thundering so loudly in her hears that she could barely hear him. An overwhelming surge of emotion bubbled up within her, and she sobbed as she answered him. “Of course I will! Yes, I will marry you!” She lifted one hand to wipe at her face as tears started to spill down her cheeks.
John slid the ring onto one of her fingers and closed her hand around it, then leaned up and kissed her, slow, long, and warmly. “I love you, fiance.”
He grinned. “Wanna see a new trick from the dreams?” He waved a hand. “I was saving it for now. It started a week ago, and I wanted to practice first.” He held out a hand to her. “Consider it a celebration.”
AJ loved the way the weight of the cool metal felt against her skin. She leaned in and met his kiss, kissing him lovingly. Tenderly. Her eyes remained closed for a moment afterward, tears still along her cheeks. She nodded. “I love you, too.”
And then she opened her eyes and gave his hand a squeeze. “What’s this trick?”
He pulled her close against him and kissed her, hard, slow, and passionately, her body pressed to his, and when he broke the kiss, they were floating in mid-air, three feet above the floor. “Apparently, love, I can fly.”
He smirked at her.
AJ returned his kiss, arms wrapped up and around him. It felt like the world was melting away at the feel of his arms around her. And when he broke the kiss she looked around, gasped, and clung very tightly to him, afraid she was going to fall.
“John! ...what...? How?”
“I have you, you won't fall. I promise.” He kissed her hair and her forehead and floated her back toward the ground, touching down in a moment. “I can fly, and I can carry anyone or anything with me.”
“How?” AJ asked again. This was bizarre. In her dreams she was a pony. She could use a lasso with her teeth, and her friends could do magic and fly. But that was in the dreams. Here the best she could do was cook a killer apple cobbler. Not anywhere near as amazing as flying.
“...I don’t... I don’t get it. You’re like... a superhero.”
John nodded slowly. “My latest dreams... well... I think that other self is. That dream alien me? He’s a hero, sort of. I think. There are so many dreams now, coming so rapidly. The last three nights before we got together felt like my head would explode. One of the reasons I wanted us to have yesterday and today for us was this. To just be with you, the woman I love, with no distractions. But the truth is, my other self is bleeding through some. I can go invisible, talk to other people’s minds, and fly... and I have a feeling there will be more.”
He hugged her close and kissed her.
AJ wasn’t sure how to handle it all. He was... was he turning into someone else? Someone different? She uncurled her arms from around him so that she could trail her fingers down his face. She loved him so very much, more than she could possible have guessed she would. She was a little afraid of what was happening, a little afraid of how the dreams might be affecting them both.
“I want to talk about this.” It was a little scary for her, she could only imagine how it must feel for him. “I want to know who you are now.”
He nodded. “Sure. “Let’s sit and talk.” He smiled softly and led her back to the table, sitting on one chair and facing her. He wanted to assuage her fears, but he did not know if he could. He had a lot of fears and questions himself.
"I..." AJ gave a soft, nervous laugh. "I don't even know where to begin," she said, reaching for one of his hands. She took it in her own, still slightly distracted by the weight of the ring on her finger. "I'm afraid you're changing and I don't want to get left behind."
John squeezed her hand and smiled softly. “I won’t leave you behind, AJ. No matter what, I won’t. I was hoping to talk to you tonight about the new dreams, since it’s been kind of a busy few days. Mostly, I’ve been dreaming a lot of weird adventures on Earth, same person, same alien, but now masquerading as people on Earth.” He kissed her hand.
“I‘m still me. No matter what the dreams are and my other self does in them. I am still me.”
“And I love you.” AJ said, nodding once. “I won’t stop, no matter what. Just... talk to me. Keep me in the loop. I’ll tell you all my dreams if you tell me yours.” She offered. She didn’t want any secrets or lies between them. Not now, not ever. Though her dreams were downright boring compared to his.
“I’d love to hear about your dreams, and share mine.” He smiled softly. “Of course. These latest dreams were more intense, and longer. Well, longer than any since the beginning ones, where my dream self was mourning... They spanned decades.” He paused, then shook his head. “I think I have more of a sense of the story behind my other self now. Would you like to hear it? It is both depressing and amazing.” He kissed her.
AJ nodded, then returned his kiss, gently. “I would. I want to hear it all. I mean, if you want to share it.” Even if he didn’t want to talk about it, she was still interested. But she wouldn’t push.
And he told her his story. “J’onn J'onzz was born on Mars, to a thriving people, billions strong. They were two races, the white and the green, and they had warred with each other many times over the years. The Green were the explorers and scientists and the bastions of law. The White were inventors and freedom lovers and warmongers, and bastions of chaos. J’onn was born a Green, and he fell in love and made a family, a wife and two children. His race had magnificent abilities and they saw that they should use them for good. J’onn became a Manhunter, their equivalent of a US Marshall, but for all of their peoples, and he was very, very good at it.”
John smiled as he weaved the story. “I’m translating all of this as much as I can, because alien concepts sort of make for different motivations, but... yeah.” He continued.
“J’onn was a manhunter for a long time, until a plague started by an enemy swept through and wiped out all of his people, or so he thought. He would later discover that some had survived. But for then, he was left along. And he lived alone, marooned with his grief for thousands of years, working to clean up, clear up, and make his world better. And then, one day, he was suddenly drawn to Earth, which for him was weird and looked bad. He could not understand the man who had brought him there, but telepathy allowed him to learn English, and he managed to understand as the equipment exploded. The scientist, Doctor Erdel, died in his arms that night, and J'onn was left alone. He wandered for a year, using his shapechanging ability to mimic humans, until he witnessed a detective, one John Jones, doing his work. The similarity of their work and names drew him and he watched the man for days, until, suddenly, John was betrayed and killed. Thirsting to once more do right, and follow the path of justice, J’onn took up John’s identity, taking over his life, and avenging him.”
John chuckled, looking pale, feeling worn out already.
“And that is just the start of the story.” He shivered, holding AJ’s hands, and kissing them.
AJ removed her hands from his after the kisses, and lifted them to wrap around him. She hugged him tightly. “You say ‘he.’” She said. “...like you’re separate from him. Are you? Or are you...” She paused. “Are you John or J’onn?”
His arms were loose around her at first as he answered.
“I’m John Jones, not J’onn. I mean, I understand him a little more now, but he feels separate from me. The memories... feels real, but so alien, in most cases, from what I would do or think, that they are distinct, odd, different.” He shook his head.
“It’s like I was amnesiac for a while and lived another life as another man, then gained my memory back. I am me, still, just with powers that he had, and access to his memories.”
He sighed. “It’s weird, but I don’t feel any different, myself.” And he hugged her tight, resting his head against her shoulder.
AJ nodded. “I love you. I’m not going to stop.” She said, repeating what she’d said earlier. “But I need you to tell me if things change. I want to know so I’m not... holding you back.”
He kissed her, hard. “Holding me back? You don’t hold me back, AJ, you ground me. You make me whole.” He kissed her again and grinned at her. “Without you, I’d be mad by now.”
AJ returned his kiss. The weight of the ring on her finger came into her mind again as she kissed him, and her heart started thumping.
“Tell me more about this flying business,” she said, lifting her hand to thread her fingers in his hair. “How does it work?”
“I just will it. Like... wanting it, really, and it happens.” He floated a little, just an inch off the ground.He kissed her, grinning. “A lot easier to control than the telepathy or the invisibility.”
AJ gave a little chuckle. “You just think happy thoughts?” She asked, teasing a little to lighten the mood. “...how is that going, by the way? You’re working on your telepathy? Invisibility?”
He laughed. “Not quite... just... think it.” He grinned and stuck out his tongue at her, then nodded, sobering. “Better. The telepathy seems to be coming under control, though nowhere near as powerful as dream J’onn’s is, yet. And the invisibility... well, it doesn’t happen at random anymore, but... I’m still not great at making it happen and unhappen at will.” He shook his head. “It’s like trying to learn a whole new set of workouts, and then refining them. It’s going slow.” He hugged her close.
“As long as I have you to support me, though, I think it will be awesome.”
“That’s okay. Slow is frustrating, but it’s better than no control at all.” She returned his hug, keeping her arms tightly around him. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not ever.” And she really meant those words. There were few things in the world that would ever take her away from him.
John smiled at her. “I love you, too. And I can’t wait to marry you and make you my wife. I seem to be becoming physically like an alien. So... it may get weird,. but I will always be your John.” He kissed her softly, passionately.
AJ gave a shy, little laugh. She couldn’t wait to be Mrs. John Jones. She returned his kiss, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek, then nuzzled her nose against his before pulling back just enough to look into his eyes.
“What do you mean physically like an alien?”
“I mean... these powers. My dream self has them because he is an alien. And it makes me wonder how much more I will change. I am human, but he isn’t and I don’t know if my body will change to match his more, since it is already manifesting his powers.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “My mind is my own, but I can’t say the same for my body.”
Then he paused and smirked. “except for one thing. I am still utterly aroused by you.”
AJ blushed, giving his hand a little squeeze. “Well, that’s good. I just... if you do turn physically alien... what changes will that mean?”
“If I become like him? Tall, green, kind of angular, with, and I tell you no lies, a pointy head. But there is where things get better. If I do become like him, he was a shapeshifter, able to take a shape and stay that way even when sleeping or unconscious, so I can take this shape back whenever I want, and be this me most of the time.” John nodded.
AJ nodded a little. “...I think I’d like that.” She said, hoping that it wasn’t offensive. “...I mean, I love you no matter what you look like. But I fell in love with you like this.” She said, lifting her hand to cup his cheek. She took just a moment to pause. “...How... do you think... maybe some day you’d want to have children together? How... Do you think you … can?”
John smiled at her. “I know, and I have no desire to be tall and green and alien. I don’t know if that will change at all, but I will let you know.” he kissed her again and grinned at her.
He nodded. “I would like to, yes.” And he sighed. “And I don’t know.” He sighed. “I was thinking of going to the doctor and getting tests done, and then possibly ah, storing some sperm.” He blushed. “Just in case my body does change and it becomes impossible.” He smiled softly at her. “I would love any child, but I don’t know if humans and martians are compatible.”
AJ nodded. She leaned back a little in her chair, bringing his hand with her to hold in both of her own. “...do you think that uh... do you think you’ll have any idea of a timeline?” They were going to be married, right? They should talk about these things.
“I mean... if we were to have kids the normal, natural way... would we need to do it now? In six months? In a year? How long is too long to wait?”
John shook his head. “My thought was in about a year, six months minimum, but I have no idea when or if I could have kids even now. Hence the doctor appointment. “ He sighed and shook his head. “Until I have that information, I don’t know.”
He sighed. “At least I know a few doctors we can trust.”
AJ nodded. She was confused, and concerned, but more than willing to go with it. To trust him. Whatever he wanted to do. She wasn’t destined to have a normal life, anyway. “Let’s get that started.” She said, softly. “That’s one thing we should do now, before things change.”
John nodded, and kissed her. He blinked and grinned at her. “I would like that, yes. I’ll make a few calls and we can start forward.”
“Good.” AJ said, giving him a grin. “Now... let’s celebrate our engagement.”
John nodded. “That sounds like an awesome way to spent the night. I love you, AJ.” And he kissed her, with much, much, more to come.