Winter Blues

mood music: Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass by All Time Low

Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy Holidays!

Conner frowns as her looks around at the empty Cave. La'gaan had taken M'gann to Atlantis to meet his parents and Beast Boy had gone with them, probably swimming around as a dolphin. Mal and Karen were out together.

He was completely alone on Christmas Eve.

Despite the current circumstances surrounding the Team, they had thrown a Christmas party yesterday and everyone, including their former members had attended. The walls are adorned with tinsel and mistletoe hangs in every archway. Fluffy fake snow decorates the kitchen and living room.

Conner hates that mistletoe hanging above his head. He glares at it and can almost imagine having laser vision and frying it from the ceiling. He takes it in his hand, rips it down, and tosses it over his shoulder. He walks into the kitchen and bends down to look at the safe next to the fridge. He stared long and hard at it before ripping the door away as easily as tearing wrapping paper. He takes out the bottle of vodka inside and sits down at the counter.

Wolf whimpers as he walks up and Conner ruffles the hair on his head. He fills a glass with the alcoholic beverage and swallows a big gulp. He chokes at the sting and spews vodka all over the counter. Bending over, he coughs and wipes his mouth.

The most extreme alcohol he's ever had is just plain old beer, but he figured that the occasion was right.

He sighs and stands from his chair. He sets the bottle back into the safe, sighs, and stomps off to the hangar with Wolf on his heels.

Sphere rolls up to him enthusiastically when he enters. "Come on, girl," he says, opening the hangar door. "We're going out."

… …

He parks Sphere in a hidden section past the street and he enters the bar, ignoring anyone who might cast him a curious glance. His coat is drawn up, protecting his neck from the cold outside. He shakes the light layer of snow from his hair and takes a seat in the barstool closest to the door.

He's technically old enough to drink, despite being only 16 physiologically. He's really 21 years old and Batman have him a legitimate ID as soon as he turned 18, and with his size and intimidating nature, no one ever questioned him at this specific bar.

Conner comes here a lot, most specifically when M'gann and La'gaan decide to have little 'date nights'. They never go out because of La'gaan's unusual physical appearance. The bar tender knows him well and automatically breaks out the beer when he comes. But when Conner takes a seat this time, he's surprised to find the last person he'd expect to see behind the counter.

"Conner?"

"Wendy," he says, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"Working," Wendy says. "What about you? Why are you here?"

Conner rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and he struggles to come up with a good answer. "I, uh," he murmurs, "I just needed a little time to myself."

Wendy frowns slightly. "What about your family? Why aren't you with them?"

He thinks of Clark, saving the Eifel Tower in Paris, and Kara, fighting off robbers in Argo City, and Lois, working late at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. "Busy."

"Too bad," Wendy says. "I guess you'll just have to settle for hanging out with me."

Despite himself, he smiles and she returns it warmly.

… …

"So, you and Megan broke up, huh?"

Wendy's shift ended about five minutes after he got there, so they grabbed a table and sat down with a couple of drinks. Conner's had a whole bottle by now, but he barely feels anything. According to the regular bartender, he handles his alcohol well.

"Yeah," he says, taking another swig. "She's dating this new guy, La'ga—" he catches himself, "ugh, Logan. He's kind of a jerk, but he's good to her." He shrugs, but Wendy doesn't buy it.

"You still miss her," she says knowingly.

Conner looks at her for a moment before downing another drink. "I do," he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "But, I had to break up with her."

"Why?"

He opens his mouth to explain, but he stops himself. He sighs and sets his bottle down. "It's complicated," he says pathetically.

Wendy nods. "That's how a lot of break ups are, huh?" she asks, pulling her leg up on her chair.

He grunts and nods.

"Let me ask you a question," she says, leaning forward, "it's because she's changed, right?"

He gives her a startled look. "Yeah," he says slowly.

"So, if she changes back to the Megan you fell in love with, would you take her back?"

Conner looks down and stares at the brown liquid in his bottle. It's swirling around, like the emotions and thoughts in his head. Admittedly, he's never stopped loving her. The Megan he met five years ago was still there, just disillusioned. She let her powers consume her. She abuses them. But, it always comes down to one fact: he loves her.

"It'd be hard," he sighs, "but yeah. I'd take her back." He looks away. "I'm just afraid that she won't change back."

Wendy gives him a supportive smile. "Well, maybe you can gether to change back," she suggests. "You two always seemed like you were meant to be back in high school. I know that was a long time ago, but it just felt like you two understood each other. If anyone could get Megan to change, for the better, I don't doubt that you could."

Conner grudgingly gives her a smile. "Thanks, Wendy," he says.

"No problem." She smiles and whacks him on the shoulder with a towel. "Now, get out of here!" she scolds. He holds his hands up in surrender and stands from his chair. "It's Christmas Eve! You should be with your family."

"You should, too," he says. He scoots his chair back in and impulsively leans forward. She jumps at the feeling of his arms wrapping around her, but quickly submits to his warm embrace. "Merry Christmas," he says, walking away and pulling his coat back on.

Wendy smiles fondly at him. "You too, Conner," she says quietly.

… …

He opens the door and immediately has to admire the red tinsel hanging on the walls and the snowflakes stuck to the wall. The whole place feels so familiar and like home and it smells like sugar cookies. He shakes the snow from his clothes just as someone calls out from the kitchen, "Clark, is that you?"

"It's me, Martha!" he yells back.

Martha Kent gasps and rushes as fast as she can into the hallway. "Conner!" she exclaims. She wraps him in her arms and they embrace tightly.

"Conner!"

Kara Kent flies down the hallway (literally) and tackles her cousin in a hug. His back slams into the door and he chuckles as he hugs her back. "Good to see you, Kara," he mutters through the fabric of his jacket.

"I missed you, Kon," she says, pulling away. "We were starting to think that you wouldn't show!"

"So was I," Conner admits. "But, a friend made me change my mind."

Martha pets his cheek and smiles fondly at him. "I'm grateful for that friend, then," she says.

Kara takes his hand and drags him down the hallway. "Come on," she says eagerly. "I've been wanting to have a snowball fight all day and you and Clark are the only people I can have one with without holding back!"

Conner races after her and grins. "You're on!"

… …

By the time they come back inside, they're bruised and frosted like cakes. They laugh as they close the back door and end up having a bumping contest. He sends shooting down the hallway and he nearly crashes into the Christmas tree.

When Clark arrives, a bag of Christmas presents hanging over his shoulder, he finds the two of them wrestling on the carpet in front of the fireplace. "You two rascals having fun?" he asks, easily setting the bag down by the tree.

"Hardly," Conner grumbles. He's on his stomach, half of his face pressed into the carpet that smells like pine needles, with Kara sitting on the small of his back and her back resting against his.

"Tons," Kara says, smiling smugly.

Clark chuckles as Martha hugs him.

"Clark, my boy!" Jon says, walking into the room. He's got snow in his hair and he shrugs his coat off onto the couch. "Good to see you!"

"Hi, pa," Clark says. They embrace and both sit down on the couch.

Kara rolls off of him and smiles. The fire glows a warm red, cascading the tree in a gentle light. Clark and Jon begin stuffing the presents he brought underneath the tree. Martha's smiling as she brings a tray piled high with sugar cookies into the living room. Kara looks about ready to pass out and she snuggles her head into the crook of her elbow. Conner can't help but smile.

… …

He lies awake on the floor of Kara's room. She's asleep on her bed with her long blonde hair splayed out all around her face. One arm hangs over the edge of her bed and her blanket only covers half of her body.

Conner gets up and tucks her in properly. He can't sleep, not because of excitement, he wasn't seven years old, but because his mind is too busy thinking to shut down. He kept running Wendy's words over and over in his head.

A noise coming from the kitchen alerts his attention. He exits the bedroom and makes his way down the hall. When he reaches the end of the stairs, he peeks around the corner and sees Clark sitting in his big leather chair with a tall glass of milk.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" he asks, looking up.

Conner rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and nods. He takes a seat in Jon's chair across from Clark's and awkwardly rubs the arm.

"Something on your mind?" Clark asks hesitantly.

He's slow to nod but dismisses it with a shrug. "I just have a lot to think about."

Clark nods and drinks his glass down to the bottom. "If this is about what I think it's about," he says, standing, "then don't think about it too much."

Conner raises a confused eyebrow and Clark continues.

"Some of these things are meant to be. Sometimes they work themselves out. You just have to give them a little nudge." He pats Conner on the shoulder as he walks to the kitchen. He sets his glass in the sink and yawns. "Goodnight, Kon-El," he says, heading for the stairs.

"'Night," Conner says. He sighs when Clark leaves and runs a hand through his hair. He looks up at the stupid mistletoe in the doorway and rolls his eyes.

He still hates that stuff.

Conner stands in the doorway, the mistletoe hanging above his head and just this once, he forgets about it.

For now, M'gann can kiss his ass. It's Christmas and he doesn't care.

AN: I listened to this song in an AMV on YouTube and I was instantly inspired. I know the idea of there actually being a bottle of vodka in the Cave is unlikely, but I made it up for creative purposes. And the picture of Conner staring at the safe and ripping it open like wrapping paper was amusing to me. I meant absolutely no hating on M'gann or La'gaan, but I imagine Conner would be pretty bitter, alone on Christmas. I love M'gann and I actually really liked La'gaan in the first episode of YJ Season 2. I actually don't ship Conner/Wendy, but it's a pretty sweet ship. So, if you ship it, you can view it as a romantic thing, but if you don't ship it, then you can look at it as a platonic thing. It doesn't matter because I didn't intend it for either way. And in my headcanon, Kara exists, so let me have my fun. I love the brother/sister relationship I imagine her and Conner having, so she was necessary for this story.
Note: This takes place in Christmas of 2015, before anything in Season 2 happened. So, Artemis is still 'alive', Red Arrow is still searching for Speedy, and the Kroloteans and The Reach are still hidden.