It was strange to say the least on how Conner became the hero to many of the children of the Justice League. Most of the League tended to avoid the issues between Superman and Superboy and thusly, avoided Superboy.
No one wanted to talk about how the Man of Steel was flawed.
Conner's acceptance by the superhero community began with a baby-sitting mission. Kaldur had to watch over the baby, Arthur Jr., due to the League calling Aquaman for a water specified mission. The King was loathed to be parted from his son, especially since he was cleared from duty that day in order to show the surface world to his pride and joy. But Aqualad had assured the worried father that the Prince would be fine and Orin left.
That was about an hour ago and the infant had not ceased crying.
"Can we please make him SHUT UP?" Artemis yelled, clutching her ears. The others were groaning in agreement. That's when Superboy showed up.
He bent down and took the screaming child into his arms. AJ, so dubbed by Wally, stopped mid-sob and peered curiously into the bright blues of the Kryptonian.
"Are you going to stop this?" Conner asked seriously as he placed one of M'Gann's cookies in his mouth. AJ blinked, smiled widely, and began to drool all over the confection, using it as a teething ring. The infectious grin spread between the two. For the rest of the time, that grin didn't leave the pair's faces while the rest of the team watched in awe. The screaming child: gone. The brooding clone: vanished.
"Ok, all who think that AJ should never leave say ay," Wally whispered.
"Ay!" Robin and Artemis voted.
"Despite the therapeutic effect Prince Arthur has on Conner, he has to return to Atlantis. Queen Mera would be grieved to discover that her only son continuingly resides on the surface world," Kaldur answered.
"And take away the only thing that makes him this happy? Nu-uh, I don't think so," Artemis hissed.
"Maybe he and Miss M should have one," Wally said offhandedly causing a collective glare. Megan couldn't help but turn bright orange.
"A child raising a child? Gee Wally, that's the best idea you've ever had!" Artemis said sarcastically slapping the idiot upside his head. As the team went on in their hushed conversation, Conner was walking AJ around the mountain.
"This is where all of our equipment is. It's not much but it's enough to get the job done," he said, giving the baby a tour. Arthur gurgled with laughter as he saw Wolf. His arms waved and his hands made a grabbing motion towards it. Conner smiled and lowered the squealing child to touch Wolf's fur.
While some may question the safety of a child near a dangerous animal enhanced by Cobra Venom, there was no question in Conner's mind. He was Wolf's Alpha and Wolf wouldn't harm anyone under Conner's protection.
That is how, twenty minutes later, King Orin found his son protectively guarded by Wolf as AJ proceeded to crawl all over the floor towards Superboy. He was about to panic when Conner scooped up his son and placed him into his arms.
"He was fun to have around. Cried the first hour but calmed down once I gave him something to chew on. He has a couple of teeth coming in," the clone reported.
Aquaman blinked and blinked.
The news of Conner's prowess with small children spread like wild fire around the Justice League. As more and more children became part of the superhero families, Superboy proved time and time again that he was the perfect babysitter. The League began to the see the young man as something other than a clone.
Then came the biggest challenge.
Damian Wayne is a demon in disguise as well as an assassin and a troll, all at the precocious age of three. A product of passion between Bruce and Talia (with a lot of interference by the League of Shadows), he was yet another sore subject for the League. Only Dick could handle the insane amount of mischievousness and danger that the toddler possessed. Unfortunately, Dick was in the med bay at the mountain.
It was safe to say that Damian was not happy.
"WHERE IS HE GETTING ALL OF THESE KNIVES?" Wally screeched as he weaved through the barrage.
"STOP THROWING BEFORE I SHOVE AN ARROW UP YOURS!" Artemis hollered, expertly dodging each knife. Being the daughter of assassins had its perks.
"ARTEMIS, HE'S ONLY A BABY!" Megan yelled.
"THAT IS NO BABY!" Artemis bellowed.
"Tt," Damian said.
Soon enough the Boy of Steel raced into the kitchen and surveyed the scene around him. Wally, Artemis, and Megan were cowering behind the kitchen island while Damian was sitting on the opposite counter with the kitchen knives. He raised an eyebrow and proceeded to take away the remaining projectiles.
"Mine!" the Batbaby yelled.
"No," Conner said sternly.
"Give 'em back you stupid alien!" Damian hollered. "Abba will make you."
"Batman wouldn't you brat!" Artemis called from over the island. A knife lodged itself into the wood.
"I said no, Damian," Conner repeated. It got him a knife to the head. Thank God for being an alien because the extremely sharp item bounced off his skin like it was nothing.
"I'm not amused," he said flatly. Over the past year or two, Conner's temper had simmered down. Losing it on the field? Not so good. The possibility of wanting to kill a small child and almost doing that because you lost your lucidity in a rage-induced haze? Even worse.
Conner took the assassin child from his roost in the kitchen while Damian kicking and screaming the whole way, trying to escape the steel grip. Insults and curses were spewed in Arabic from the smaller boy but they were mostly ignored. They completely died when Conner came to the med bay corridor. The duo entered Robin's recovery room where Robin was sitting up and reading a gossip magazine.
"Hey Supes! Hey Little D! You came to visit me?" Dick croaked. The recent mission had crushed Dick's chest and punctured a lung. He was lucky that Wally ran him to DaddyBats in time.
Damian didn't say anything but latch onto his older brother for dear life. Hiccupping sobs came out and a soft smile graced the acrobat's face. Conner left the room, letting the brother have their moment and tried to ignore the feeling of having a punctured lung himself.
The doors flew open when the word went around that Conner soothed the savage beast. People were lining up right, left, and center to talk to him, learning that the clone was a sweet kid. He means well and he tries his hardest. Dinah gives him a leather jacket and everyone keeps on telling him how handsome he is with it.
Popularity has little consequence to him until Lois Lane spoke up.
Her full name is Lois Elle Lane-Kent. The world is clueless to the hyphen because all of her articles have Lois Lane (that's how she got famous and there is no way in hell she's changing her name just because she got married) and there is little to no PDA with her husband Clark (well…as Clark). She has a son and when Conner hears that, he really wants to destroy something.
How can Superman be a father to someone but not him?
For a long time, Conner didn't want anything to do with Lois and Chris. They would support Superman, they would ignore him. They would look at him like he was an experiment, like he was unwanted. He didn't want that. But you know what they say, when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.
It started at Happy Harbor, as most things do, when a little boy was found on the beach crying his head off. It's Miss M who identifies him first, calling him Lor. His birth name is Lor-Zod. He's better known as Chris Kent.
"I just want to go home!" he wailed, being every bit of a five year old.
"Don't worry, we'll get you home as soon as possible. Why don't you talk to Superboy in the mean time?" M'Gann suggested. Chris's face brightened at Superboy's name and before Conner could object and reject, the boy started to babble.
"Oh my gosh! It's Superboy! You're really awesome and cool! So much better than Daddy but don't tell him I said that! He can fly and stuff but you can't and that makes you cooler! It's easier to fight bad guys when you can do anything but you can't but you still get the bad guy! You're my favorite!" Chris exclaimed with a bright smile.
Chris had no idea what that meant to Conner.
When Lois and Clark came in ten minutes later, they found Chris and Conner playing tag around the mountain. Their laughter and shrieks echoed brilliantly in the caves, especially as Chris tackled Conner in front of the zeta tubes.
"Hi sweetie, having a good time?" Lois asked with that all knowing glint in her eyes.
"Kon's the bestest big brother in the whole world!" Chris squealed with delight.
"Um…Kon? Why did you call him that Chris?" Clark asked obviously looking VERY uncomfortable.
"He needs a Kryptonian name! I'm Lor-Zod and you're Kal-El and Kara is Kara Zor-El! His name is Conner so he's Kon-El!" Chris exclaimed. Child Logic is an honest to God gift because no one had seen Clark's face become redder than at that moment. Lois had a Cheshire grin.
"Kon, Ma and Pa have been anxious to meet you. Why don't you come to dinner tomorrow? We can talk about your life here in Happy Harbor," Lois said, completely trolling her husband.
"He'll be there!" Robin exclaimed, trolling along with her. Where he came from and why he was being random, no one really knew but Conner didn't care.
Sometimes, it's better to be loved by the kids than by the adults...and you're "mentor's" wife.
I really had a lot of fun with this thing. I loved writing Damian's section because I love the brotherly-love that Dick and Damian had in the comics (before that stupid reboot). Chris's reactions are also my favorite because it totally disses Superman. I love Clark but I really want to kick him in the head with a pair of Kryptonite boots in YJ. Yes, it's good to see him not all powerful but honestly, CLARK YOU IDIOT! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT CONNER JUST WANTS A LITTLE LOVE?
Rant over. One last note, as for Damian calling Bruce "Abba," the arabic word for father, I have it in my head that the three year old can't say the actual word. It annoys him to no end if he flubs up a word (because he's a toddler is no excuse), so he uses words that he knows he can pronounce. "Abba" is one of the those things.
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