SELINA KYLE'S PENTHOUSE

Selina opened her door and stepped back quickly as the whirlwind that was Lois Lane blew through.

"That man is impossible!" Lois declared as she dumped her purse and jacket on a chair and spun back to face Selina, hands on her hips. "Does he think I'm some little bimbo who can't follow a line of evidence when I see it? That I wouldn't find out?"

"'Hi Selina, how are you?' 'I'm good, Lois. How are you?' 'Oh things aren't great. Let me tell you what the Boy Scout has done now.'" Selina muttered.

Lois blew out a breath. "Sorry. Hi. I shouldn't have just barged in here. I should have called or something."

"You don't have to call. I'm here if you need me." Selina paused for a moment. "Well, maybe call to make sure I'm actually here and not out somewhere but other than that anytime. Just, you know, take a breath on your way in the door."

"So are you on your way out? Is he expecting you to be somewhere?" Lois questioned.

"As it happens, no." Selina walked into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of wine out of the cooler. She grabbed two glasses and started pouring. "I'm all yours. What happened?"

Lois walked over and hopped on to a stool at the wide counter. She accepted the glass Selina offered her, taking a sip. "You always have the best wine." She sighed. "There have been these pictures. Of a teenage boy wearing Clark's crest on his chest."

She looked over at Selina who had taken a seat next to her. Selina watched her silently.

"You know. Of course you do. Some of the pictures have Robin in them. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he needed to do it and it likely would have only made things worse if I had told you." Selina sighed. "It's a very difficult situation. Tell me what happened between you and Clark."

"He hadn't said anything about this kid, this Superboy. It wasn't like he wouldn't have known. I knew that he was it hiding him from me for some reason. He couldn't be another Kryptonian, Clark's the last survivor. I thought maybe he had a kid he was scared to tell me about." She gave a snort of laughter. "Imagine that, Smallville having an illegitimate kid he thought he had to hide."

"I started doing some digging but I couldn't find anything. I've been working on a story for a while. An informant was giving information on something called Project CADMUS. This last bit led me to Lex Luthor." Lois scrubbed her hands over her face. "Lex was only too happy to give me information on Superboy. I didn't want believe to him."

"So you went home to talk to Clark." Murmured Selina.

"They cloned him, without his knowledge or permission. They made a weapon to destroy or replace him, whichever was necessary. He told me all about how the boys rescued Superboy before the programming could be completed. How the Team was formed from there and how they work under Batman's direction." Lois paused and looked down into her wine glass. When she looked back up at Selina her eyes were blazing. "He could answer every question I had about the Team and CADMUS. But about Superboy? Nothing. He knows nothing about the teenage boy who has his DNA. And he doesn't want to know anything! How can he not want to know anything? He doesn't even know if the boy has a name!"

"Conner." Selina's voice was so soft Lois was startled by it.

"What?"

"His name is Conner." Selina smiled slightly. "Bruce enrolled him in school so they had to come up with a name. M'gann helped him pick his first name. J'onn felt that 'Kent' was the right choice for his last name."

Lois smirked. "Oh, Clark will love that."

"Clark doesn't get a say." Selina tilted her head at Lois. "So you're okay with this? The whole clone created to be a weapon thing?"

"I love Clark but part of truly, deeply loving someone is seeing their flaws and still loving them. Clark sees the world in black and white sometimes." Lois waved her wine glass at Selina. "Take you, for instance. How many years have you been fighting on the side of the angels? But he still can't get beyond your past. Bruce loves you. You make him so happy. That right there should win Clark over but no."

"So, Conner? Clark can't see past how he was created, who he was created by, and why he was created." Lois shook her head. "The Team gets sent into dangerous situations and they have to trust each other. I know everyone thinks Bruce will let Dick do anything, anything at all but you and I know better. Dick is trained better than most of the League and Bruce has still pulled him out of situations he didn't want him to go into. There is no way he would let Conner be part of this Team with Dick if he didn't think it was safe and Conner was an asset. Now that I know you know about Conner I'm more convinced. If you thought Conner wasn't safe you would skin Bruce alive for sending Dick out on missions with him."

Selina smiled at her. "He's a good kid. Sure he's got some issues but after CADMUS it's expected. Now with Clark he's got new ones. He needs family and a home. I've spent time with him and you'd like him."

Lois' phone buzzed and she scowled down at it. "I really thought he would get the hint and stop texting or calling."

"Does that really seem like something he would do? Just tell him to stop trying and not to track you. That you aren't coming home and you'll contact him when you're ready. I really don't want him hovering outside my window." Selina reached for her purse and pulled out her cellphone starting to text as she did. "Hey, have you ever met Dinah?" Lois shook her head. "Ollie's Dinah, Black Canary?" Another shake. "Well it seems like it's about time."

Selina reached back into her purse for her comlink which she slipped into her ear, activating it. She slipped up from her stool and walked away from the kitchen. Lois watched her walk away. Selina's phone beeped and she grinned at it, her fingers typing a response to the new text. The grin faded and a more feline look settled over her face as her comlink call was answered.

"Hello Tiger. I need a favour."