Work Text:
Bruce Wayne arrives at the tower, unannounced, as the sun comes up.
None of them have slept. The chaos of almost losing Jason to having to pull out Kryptonite bullet shards from Superman’s clones chest had them all on high alert, Dick especially - Kory can see his mind whirring, still trying to absorb the nights events, trying to work out their next move.
What little colour is still in his face drains away as soon as the alert for the door code override comes through. All of them tense instantly, expecting the worst. Dawn rushes to pull up the surveillance camera in the elevator, tremor in her hands.
“Bruce?”
Everyone relaxes, but Kory can’t find it in herself to do the same, seeing the hard line in Dick’s shoulders. His eyes find hers, and all it takes is the slight nudge of his head for her know what she needs to do.
Kory wonders when unspoken communication became a thing between them.
Wordless, she nods at him, heads back to main area where Gar and Rachel are still in various stages of exhaustion and panic. Gar is tense against the counter, fists clenched and face hard. Rachel appears to be trying to make herself as small as possible, curled in on herself on the sofa. It’s not lost on Kory that they’re deliberately keeping a wide berth of one another.
Gently, Kory cards a hand though Gar’s hair, and his exhale sounds painful. “Come on,” she says, loud enough to Rachel to hear. “They need a minute alone.”
“Who’s in the elevator?” Rachel asks, noiselessly appearing beside Kory.
“Batman.” There’s no point in lying, not now.
Their none-reaction to this revelation, Gar’s especially, tells her all she needs to know about how they’re feeling. She keeps her hands on their shoulders all the way down to the med bay.
In truth, she’s not in any rush to meet Bruce Wayne, apprehensive of his response to her and knowing how Dick grew up under him has not improved Kory’s opinion. Best for she, Rachel and Gar, Deathstroke’s daughter and Superman’s clone to be out of sight, out of mind.
“They took Krypto, I need to-“
“We’ll get your dog back, man, but you got shot, stay-“
Jason and Conner’s (that’s the name he’d choked out between mouthfuls of blood earlier, right?) bickering ceases as soon as Kory and the kids enter. Conner appears to be attempting to struggle out of his bed, an angry red bullet wound on his chest, and Jason is trying to push him back, as if Conner couldn’t put him through the wall if he wanted to.
Rose is awake, looking like she wants to be anywhere else. “Oh good,” she says, sarcastic. “Can I get a single room? Because it’s not working out with lovebirds over there.”
Kory misses Jason’s snide retort while steering Gar and Rachel to sit - Rachel falls into a beat up armchair while Gar slinks into a chair beside Rose, both looking on the verge of falling asleep. Kory takes them all in, for a moment, and wonders when they got into the habit of taking in strays.
But that’s how they started, isn’t it, she and Dick. Protecting Rachel. Taking care of Gar. What’s a few more kids thrown in, really?
There’s a conversation she needs to have with Dick about turning these kids into weapons the way Bruce did to him, but she figures that’s a talk for another time.
The irony of four Justice League children in one building is not lost on her, either.
“That Bruce up there?” Jason asks.
“You’re not going up,” Kory tells him.
“You’re not the the fucking boss of me,” Jason scowls, but surprisingly doesn’t put up any further argument. Earlier, he’d lashed out like an angry cat when pressed about what Slade had done to him, had barely let Donna close enough to wipe the blood off his face and patch up his leg. He hasn’t left Conner’s side since.
“Jason, go get some sleep,” Kory sighs, all at once feeling exhausted. Jason gives her a look, and she rolls her eyes, not in the mood for games. “Don’t worry, I’ll take first watch.”
Jason mutters something under his breath, but gets up all the same, Kory taking his seat. As he’s about to flop into the armchair beside Rachel, shouting tears through from upstairs.
Everyone flinches, even Rose and Jason. Kory gets a sour feeling in her stomach, knowing instantly it’s Dick, that she should be up there with him, knows it would probably only make things worse.
“It’s alright,” she says instead, pulling all five wide-eyed teenagers out of fight or flight mode. “No one’s coming down here. Go to sleep.”
She knows she should take her own advice, but she’s not willing to leave any of them unguarded, not with what’s happening upstairs.
“Who is that?”
Kory doesn’t know why Conner’s voice startles her, as if she didn’t know he was here. He’s staring at her, afraid and curious all at once.
She clears her throat. “Bruce Wayne,” she answers, then pauses. “Do you know him?”
Conner frowns, thinking hard. “I think- I think Superman knows him.”
And there’s a can of worms no one is prepared to confront yet; Conner has Superman’s memories.
“Superman,” she repeats. “Do you know who he is?”
“People love him,” Conner responds instantly, like it’s a line he’s been fed.
“Do you know his name?” Kory can’t help asking.
Conner frowns at her then, looking mildly offended. “I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you.”
Kory chuckles shortly. “I suppose not.” She sweeps the room again; Rachel, Gar and Jason are dead asleep. Rose is awake, but evidently choosing to stay silent. “Is there anything you can tell me?”
Conner looks away. “I’m not supposed to trust you.”
“Conner.” Kory’s voice softens. “You can. I don’t know who said you can’t, but you can.” It’s just that you don’t want to, is what she doesn’t say.
Conner glances over at the others, still sleeping. “Do they trust you?”
Kory’s lips quirk “I hope so.”
“And him?” Conner glances up at the ceiling, and Kory wonders what he’s seeing.
She sighs. “That’s becoming a more complicated answer,” she tells him. “But Dick won’t hurt you. If there’s anyone you can trust here, it’s him.”
Conner doesn’t say anything for a long while, and Kory’s considering nodding off herself when he asks, “you and...Dick?”
Kory freezes, defensive. “What about us?”
“You take care of them. Of everyone.” It’s the first thing he’s said that doesn’t sound like a question.
Kory isn’t sure how to answer that, so settles on, “Something like that.”
Conner’s blue eyes light up. “Are you their mom?”
That startles a laugh out of Kory, stopped short when Gar flinches in his sleep. “No, I- I’m not their mother, Dick and I aren’t…” she trails off, uncertain.
“But it’s still like a family.” Conner seems utterly delighted with his discovery. Kory shakes her head in disbelief.
“Aren’t you just a ray of fucking sunshine,” Rose injects dryly, making both Conner and Kory jump.
The offended look on Conner’s face at Rose’s remark almost makes Kory smile. He’s so - innocent it’s unsettling, especially with what little they know of what he can do, whose clone he is. Kory has no doubt that Conner was designed to be a weapon, like Dick and Rachel. A megalomaniac genius’ science experiment at the hands of evil men, like Gar.
“Dick doesn’t like Bruce, does he?” Conner asks softly.
Kory pauses. “I don’t think it’s that simple, Conner.”
“Why not?”
Kory keeps having to remind herself that Conner is basically a child with a lot of questions. “Because Bruce raised him, and Dick doesn’t want to turn into him.”
Something in Conner’s face changes. “Does he have a choice?”
Kory ponders that for a long moment, thinking about how the element of choice has become so prominent in her life, all their lives. Dick’s choice not to be Robin. Rachel and Gar exhausting themselves over their choice to not give into that darkness inside of them, the terrifying prospect that they’re destined to be the monsters their creators wanted them to be. She has no doubt that Rose is torn over that, too.
A long time ago, Koriand’r believed her destiny was a kingdom, to be a warrior and a queen on a planet where personal choice didn’t seem to be an option. That was before she found a home, before Dick and Rachel and Gar became such constants in her life that any time before without them seems unimaginable.
Kory is torn between two worlds, a throne and a home, duty and choice. Conner between the man he was cloned from and the scientists who created him. His destiny was a weapon, hers a planet.
Conner speaks again, eyes wet, voice so vulnerable it makes Kory’s heart hurt. “Do we get a choice?”
Rose is staring at her, the mean set look on her face gone. She’s so young.
Kory takes a breath. “You’d be surprised what the people in this Tower have to say about not having a choice.” Conner blinks at her. “You have a choice over what you want to be here, Conner. Superman himself can’t take that away from you.”
More than anything, Kory wishes she believed that herself.