Chapter Text
The Justice League descended on the ruins of CADMUS, some on fluorescent green platforms sprouted from shining green rings, others floating through the air with their capes billowing behind them as they lowered themselves to the rubble.
“I can explain,” Robin announced, springing from an exposed copper pipe onto the stony ground. He was bold and confident, despite having disobeyed direct orders to not take on CADMUS alone. Batwoman hid her bleeding pride at her little Robin behind a grimace that continually threatened to become a small smile. She moved to stand behind the other founding leaguers, who formed an apex with Superman at the point. The stared down Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad who shielded a fourth figure behind them. It was quickly becoming apparent that Kal was waiting for a confession that the three teen heroes weren’t willing to reveal just yet. During this stalemate, which Bryce was starting to lose her patience with, a boy with jet black hair, falling over his hopeful, blue eyes stepped forward through his barricade. He wore a skin-tight white one-piece suit that was torn across the left side of his torso, revealing golden, slightly muscled skin. The material of the suit fell across his body like the undone lapel of a military tunic. He silently stood in front of the Man of Steel and gazed up at him, that hopeful glint in the sea of his irises refusing to waver. He pulled back the flap of lycra, displaying a red ’S’ emblazoned on his chest. Superman took one look at the boy and bolted into the sky. The hope died in the boy’s eyes and he lowered his head to the ground in resignation.
The league surveyed each other, speechless, but then moved to orchestrate the clean-up. Batwoman seemingly stalked toward the band of teenagers and halted at the boy in white. Her heart swelled with sorrow as she stared at his high cheekbones marred with shadow. She glanced over his shoulder at the three behind him and watched confusion spread across Kid Flash and Aqualad’s faces but gleeful pride overcome Robin’s. She turned her gaze back to the dark-haired boy a foot in front of her, blue eyes blinking into blue as he looked up at her. Her crimson lips upturned into a muted but reassuring smile as she black-gloved hand on his shoulder and squeezed. His lips started to mimic hers.
- - -
“Welcome to Mount Justice,” Black Canary greeted, “This is where your team will be based, where you’ll train and where you can regroup.” She gestured to the sprawling control room that began to cycle through various training modules to demonstrate what Canary had just explained. She stood proud in the centre of the glowing platform while Batwoman lurked in the shadows as she watched three boys and J’onn’s niece (who recently joined) bounce around the rocky cavern with unadulterated glee.
As she monitored the room, she spied the newly named ‘Superboy’ sulking in the shadow. She new she would kick herself for this later, but her inner mother hen would never be able to leave a child looking so glum. Batwoman glided across the cave and sidled next to the teen. “What’s wrong?” She asked quietly.
Superboy startled and swung to face the black-cloaked woman, “What? Nothing,” he exclaimed.
Her head tilted to the left slightly in lieu of a disbelieving eyebrow raise. Superboy sighed, “I just feel like I don’t belong here.”
“How so?” She pressed calmly.
“Everyone here is a hero. And they have someone to help them be that. I’m just an experiment.”
Bryce chewed on this and understood what it was like to not feel like the hero she tried to be; the protector of the most innocent. She knew what it was like to look at everyone else and see everything that your weren’t and everything you didn’t have. She knew what it was like to be an outsider. She also knew what it took to fight that.
“We should have asked before, not just assumed, but do you have a name?”
Superboy looked her, utter confusion plastered on his face and answered, “Superboy.”
She smiled, “Not a heroic alias, but a name you can be called outside of the cape.”
Superboy frowned. His dark, perfect eyebrows knitted together on displeasure. “I don’t know,” he muttered tentatively.
“What did they call you at CADMUS?”
“I’m not sure. Sometimes I thought I could hear things outside of the pod, but it wasn’t always clear. I think they called me ‘Project Kr’.”
“Kr,” Batwoman hummed, “Would you like a name?”
“Why -“ he started. Then his eyebrows knit further and the hopeful gleam Bryce noticed when Superboy had emerged from behind the team a few weeks ago returned, “Yeah. I think I would.”
They both mulled this other, silently trying to think of a name together. “Kr,” Bruce whispered, “How about ‘Conner’?”
A shy smile escaped from Superboy, “I think I like that. I think I sound like a Conner.”
“Well then, welcome to the Team, Conner,” with that Bryce started to walks away immeasurably proud of that boy who had only been awake for a few weeks. Her heart swelled dangerously with warmth for him.
“Batwoman,” Conner called from behind her, “Thank you,” he finished shyly. She rewarded him with a rare and private smile.
- - -
Bryce sat in the nook of a leather diner sofa. She gazed out of the window that started to mist with the steam from the coffee machine, twiddling the ring sheathed on her finger as she waited patiently for her guest. Apple pie, chocolate cake and coffee rested on the linoleum-topped table.
“I see you ordered without me,” a smooth, male tenor said. Clark appeared at Bryce’s side and bent down to place a kiss on her cheek. He slid into the seat opposite her and smiled, “Not that I’m complaining but isn’t date night tomorrow.”
“It is,” she said around her coffee.
“And you ordered my favourite. Are you trying to butter me up?”
Bryce place her mug carefully on the table but continued to cup it with both hands, “That depends.” Clark looked at her quizzically, so she sighed, “The boy needs you.”
“No,” Clark snapped, “He doesn’t. He needs you or Canary.”
“I’m sorry, Clark, but your wrong,” she place her left hand over his, “He may need me and, I know Conner troubles you, but he needs you as well. He can’t continue to live a solitary life in that cave. You need to get over the how or why. Trust me, Conner needs his father.”
“I’m not his father!”
“Clark -“
“Father’s get a choice. They don’t get a pre-made kid they had no knowledge of.”
“Don’t. You. Dare,” Bryce’s trembled viciously with anger. She stood from the table and stepped to its side, sliding the ring off of her finger as she did. She placed the diamond on the table next to Clark’s apple pie, “Give that back when you decide to behave like the man I fell in love with.”
She strode out of the diner, drawing her leather jacket closer to her body, not looking back at Clark.
- - -
“Welcome home, Conner.”
Conner stared bug-eyed and wide-mouthed at his bedroom. It was twice the size of his room at the cave. It was lined with rich mahogany and shelves were stacked to the brim with books. Conner had always wanted to read. He’d been taught about so many books while he was being grown, but he wanted to see with his own eyes how amazing he already thought them to be. An elegant four-poster bed sat against the back wall, jarringly opposite to to the 40 inch wide screen TV hung from the other wall.
“Your bathroom is just to the left here and the walk-in is next to the bed,” Bryce casually explained, gesturing appropriately with her hands.
“Walk-in?”
“Your wardrobe.”
“It’s a separate room?”
Bryce smiled amusedly, but fondly and nodded.
“This is gonna be totally asterous,” a higher-pitched voice declared from the door.
“Dick, let Conner settle in before your start swinging from the chandeliers.”
“Can I ask you something, Mrs Wayne?” wondered Conner.
“Of course, and Bryce is fine.”
“Why did you take me in and tell me who you are?”
Bryce sighed and moved over to the bed, sitting on it gently and patting the space next to her, encouraging Conner to sit. Conner obliged and Dick took his cue to step away.
“Conner, I took you in because I saw a boy that needed help; that needed family. I know a bit about what that’s like and so does Dick. Living in the cave and having your teammates waltz in and out is good, but it’s not a way for someone to live, let alone someone as hurt as you,” she paused to make sure he was taking what she was saying in, “I told you who I was so you knew that your family didn’t start and stop at Superman. I’ll be there for you always, as long as you need me.”
“Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I, uh ... googled you, when you told me who you were. It said your engaged to Clark Kent - who kind looks like me. I’m assuming he’s Superman.”
“No comment,” she smiled, and Conner did too. She was very impressed with his detective work. Looks like she’s going to have a new protege on her hands.
“I learned that when people get engaged, they normally wear a ring on their left hand. But, you aren’t.”
She sighed, “Clark is a good man. He’s brave and kind and hope incarnate. His smile is the brightest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s why I fell in love with him. But, he’s scared of you. He doesn’t know anything about you and that terrifies him. But, it’s no excuse. Even if he doesn’t want to be like a father to you, he shouldn’t be treating you like he is.”
“But, if you love him and he’s so great, why would you give back the ring?”
“To give him a choice,” Bryce then clasped Conner’s hands in hers and gave them a loving squeeze, “and to make him understand that I deeply care about you; product of Luthor or not. Dick would say I have a thing for collecting strays, but I just want to see that every child has somewhere safe. Clones of my fiancé included.”
“Why?”
Her voice grew softer but more serious, “I have my own reasons, some more depressing than others, but I’m not going to sit by and watch you get rejected by the man that should be like your father.”
“I used to wonder what it’d be like to have a mom. Having two dads is great, but Lex and Supes aren’t exactly parents of the year.”
She gently cupped his chin with one hand and stroked her thumb over his cheek, “You don’t have to keep wondering.”