I thought about making this a part of 'Beware The Teenagers', but thought it didn't really fit the criteria. So I decided to make it its own one-shot story instead. This is set after season one, during the 5 year gap- around the first year or so. I added Beast Boy because in the show it was never really established when he joined the Team during the 5 year gap and I had another reason I wanted him in the story (you'll see). This is just something that has kind of been lingering in my mind for a while and needed to get out of my head and into all of yours; though it ended a lot differently than I originally thought it would.
The seating chart is in a giant circle in this order (starting clockwise from Conner's left to his right): Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Artemis, Kid Flash, Flash, Aquaman, Aqualad, Rocket, Icon, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Beast Boy, Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Robin, and Batman.
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any other shows or merchandise referred to in this story (just the plot).
As always please read, review, and enjoy.
Intervention
Mount Justice: September 13; 05:54 EDT
It was a Saturday morning and still dark out. Conner was still asleep in his room when he heard an announcement from The Cave's overhead speakers.
"Superboy: Report to the hangar, immediately." The voice of Batman broadcasted, waking up the slumbering teen.
"Ugh!" The super teen groaned and looked at his alarm clock; 'It's too early for a mission.' The teen thought as he forced himself to wake up.
Conner was currently only wearing a pair of boxers with the Super symbol. He quickly put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt before heading to the hangar. When the clone arrived at his destination, he found not only Batman, but also several other Justice League members: Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Aquaman, Icon, and Captain Marvel; as well as all the members of the Team. All of them were sitting in chairs that were facing each other in a giant circle.
"What's going on here?" The Kryptonian enquired.
"Have a seat." The Bat instructed, gesturing to the empty seat beside him.
"Okay…" The clone replied as he took an empty seat between Batman and Black Canary.
"Just remember, Conner: We are all here because we care about you." Black Canary attempted to calm the nervous alien.
"What is this?" The Boy of Steel questioned, looking around at all of his friends and their mentors.
"It's an intervention." The Flash blurted out.
"What?" The hybrid clone replied in shock.
"It has come to our attention that you have a problem." Red Tornado chimed in.
"Is this about what happened at the football tryouts last Tuesday?" Conner sighed in a slightly more relaxed tone, thinking this was just a misunderstanding.
"Don't worry, Conner; this isn't about that." M'gann answered; knowing how disappointed he was about what happened.
"Wait, what happened at football tryouts?" Captain Marvel probed; always interested in anything that happens in the Team's lives.
"The coach wouldn't let me join the football team because he thought I was on steroids; but I thought all of you would know that wasn't true." Conner's tone turned accusing.
"As my niece said: this has nothing to do with that." Martian Manhunter assured.
"Okay, then what is this about?" Superboy inquired.
"This is about your addiction." Icon stated bluntly.
"Addiction?" The Boy of Steel scoffed skeptically. "Are you sure you've got the right person? Red Arrow's the one with a drug past." The clone said as he gestured to Roy.
"Hey, I've been clean for months. Don't you dare try to make this about me!" Red Arrow responded, jumping out of his chair in anger to confront the other clone; as Green Arrow tried to restrain him.
"It's alright, Roy." Black Canary interrupted; signaling Red Arrow to sit back down, which he did. "Conner's just trying to get the attention off of him."
"I have no idea what any of you are talking about." Conner responded. "I'm not on drugs!"
"We never said you were." Megan spoke up.
"Maybe 'addiction' isn't quite the right word." Zatanna suggested. "You're problem is more like… an obsession."
"Oh, really." Conner scoffed as he got defensive again, crossing his arms. "And just what is my obsession?"
"You have an obsession with taking in strays and adopting them as pets." Robin finally stated.
"So what?" The super clone replied. "Wally collects souvenirs from every mission and no one throws him an intervention at 6 o'clock on a Saturday morning."
"True." Kid Flash agreed. "But my souvenirs don't need to be fed, walked, or cleaned up after."
"Hey, I take good care of my pets!" The Kryptonian defended himself.
"No one is saying otherwise." Aqualad agreed with his friend. "However, between school and missions: if you take on too many pets at once, you may not have enough time to meet all of their needs."
"I don't have too many pets." The alien clone pouted. "If anything, I don't have enough pets!"
"You have more than enough pets, dude." Beast Boy countered.
"Yeah, no kidding. First it was Sphere, then Wolf, which were fine." Artemis started to list. "But then it was: Bobcat, Raccoon, Fox, Hawk, Owl, and Tarantula… "
"Don't forget that squirrel he adopted on his way home from school yesterday." Kid Flash chimed in.
"You leave Squirrel out of this!" The clone threatened the young speedster.
"Boy, is there anything you won't adopt?" Green Arrow chimed in, trying not to chuckle.
"Monkeys." The Team, Red Arrow, Black Canary, and Captain Marvel all responded in unison for Conner; causing the remaining mentors (except Batman) to stare quizzically at Superboy.
"I hate monkeys." Superboy muttered, supporting their claim.
"I've learned not to take offense to that." Beast Boy commented.
"Frankly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten rabies from all of your unorthodox pets." Robin proclaimed.
"Just because they're all wild animals doesn't mean they're all rabid." The Boy of Steel scolded at the Boy Wonder, before turning back to the group. "Besides, most people consider liking animals to be a good quality."
"Not to this extent, my friend." Aqualad specified.
"Yeah, you're like only one pet away from guest starring on one of those animal hoarding shows." Rocket added.
"I am nothing like them!" Superboy claimed. "All my pets need me!"
"Dude! The other day when we were at the beach and I morphed into a sea turtle, you picked me up before I could get into the water and asked M'gann if you can keep me." Beast Boy finally spoke up, causing Flash and Green Arrow to chuckle under their breath before they earned a Batglare that silenced them.
"Come to think of it, isn't M'gann the one Conner always asks for permission to keep his pets?" Artemis realized.
"Now that you mention it, I've noticed that, too." Zatanna supported the female archer's claim.
"Of course!" Robin exclaimed. "Megan is Conner's enabler."
"What, no!" Megan cried. "I want him to get better as much as anyone."
"It all makes sense: Megan can't say no to Conner; so he comes to her because he knows she won't say no." Robin explained.
"It's not like that; I just want him to be happy." The young Martian defended herself. "I never thought it would turn into a problem."
"Leave M'gann out of this, Bird Boy!" The Kryptonian threatened.
"Or else what, Supey?" Robin egged on the clone. "Are you going to adopt me? What about Black Canary? What about Batman? Are you going to adopt Batman, too? When does your madness end?"
"That's enough, Robin." The Bat ordered his protégé, trying to get back on task.
"So everyone just decided to wake me up early on a Saturday morning to rag on me?" Conner remained defensive.
"That was not our intention." Aquaman said.
"Yes, I believe that we did not wish to 'rag on you'." Red Tornado agreed, still trying to make sense of the expression.
"We're trying to help you." Rocket added.
"'Help'?!" Conner shouted cynically. "Everyone telling me that I'm a bad person because I like animals is 'helping'?"
"That's not what we're saying at all." Black Canary claimed.
"Your obsession is starting to get out of control!" Red Arrow shouted, ready to start a fight.
"Lots of people have multiple pets and function just fine." The super teen countered.
"This is about a lot more than just adopting pets." Captain Marvel spoke up.
"Conner, we know." Icon stated.
"Know what?" The Kryptonian asked.
"It was one thing when you took in a few pets here and there." Kid Flash said. "And we didn't say anything when you started collecting Pokémon cards and beanie babies. At your age it was a little odd, but still acceptable."
"But then we found this." Aqualad cut to the chase, as he lifted a piece of paper.
"And what's that?" Superboy asked trying to remain calm.
"Don't play dumb, you know very well what it is." Artemis responded.
Aqualad handed the papers to Superboy. Conner looked closer to the heading on the paper.
"You found the adoption papers?" Conner stated. "What did you guys do; go searching in my room?"
"No, it fell out of your binder when you were doing homework the other day." Beast Boy stated.
"And not only is your name on it; but apparently you also put my name on it." Megan said trying not to sound angry. "I'm not ready to be a mother, Conner."
"You may not understand this; but adopting a child is a lot different than adopting a pet." Batman stated in a serious tone.
"But…" The alien clone started to say before he was shot down by Batman, who was using his hand to signal the teen to remain silent.
"Hear me out." The Dark Knight interrupted the Boy of Steel before he continued. "Children require a lot of time, money, and attention. They are winy and loud. They are demanding and merciless. Sure, they look cute and innocent when they're little, but eventually they turn into teenagers. Then they become moodier, hungrier, and messier. Trust me; they can be a real pain in the neck."
"Sitting right here, Bats." Robin interrupted his mentor's rant. "Thanks a lot, by the way." He muttered sarcastically under his breath while crossing his arms, low enough that he thought his mentor couldn't hear him.
But Batman did hear it and shot his ward a quick Batglare, which Robin had started to grow immune to, but still remained quiet.
"Anyway, what I'm saying is that you are only 17 and you don't have the means to support yourself, let alone a child." The Caped Crusader cut to the chase. "You're also a superhero who's still in high school and has enough living creatures to take care of. When do you think you are going to have time to take care of this child?"
"It's not like that, Batman." Superboy finally spoke up.
"Then what is it like?" The Bat asked.
"It's kind of embarrassing." Conner said with his head down, his face slightly blushing.
"More embarrassing than needing an intervention?" Red Arrow probed wryly, knowing from experience.
"Yes." The hybrid clone said with his head down more.
"You can tell us, Conner." Megan tried to comfort her boyfriend to get him to share. "Help us understand."
"Alright, fine." Superboy sighed as he looked around the room. "Those adoption papers weren't for a human child. They were for… a Cabbage Patch doll."
Everyone in the room looked confused; there was a brief moment of silence.
"What?" Captain Marvel asked, still in shock.
"A few weeks ago, I was online looking for a gift for Megan, because our anniversary is coming up. I found out about these dolls called 'Cabbage Patch Kids' that you could adopt." The young male alien started to explain. "So I bought one and put both our names on the 'adoption' papers. Her name is Connie Morgan and she was supposed to be a surprise."
After the initial shock wore off, many of the League and Team members (except for Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, and Megan) started laughing.
"Oh, Conner." M'gann exclaimed full of joy. The female Martian ran over from her chair to her boyfriend to sit on his lap as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll wait until our anniversary to see her, and I bet I'll love her."
Conner couldn't help but smile seeing his girlfriend so happy, but it didn't take long before he came back to reality.
"Are we done now?" The Kryptonian asked the rest of the room. "Or do you all have other ways to embarrass me?"
"While it is a relief that you aren't trying to take on the responsibility of raising a child at your age..." Black Canary started "...We still need to address your pet collecting problem."
"Figures." The Boy of Steel muttered under his breath, as his girlfriend grabbed his hand to calm him.
"You said earlier that you feel your pets need you. Why is that?" Black Canary asked the super teen.
"Well, when I found Sphere and Wolf they were alone: No family, no friends; they look so… so helpless." The Kryptonian admitted. "It's like they were drawn me; like they know I understand their pain."
"What kind of pain is that, Conner?" Black Canary inquired.
"Well, just look around the room." The clone responded as he opened his arms to gesture to everyone. "All the mentors are here, except one. The one who is supposed to be my mentor."
"We told Superman about the meeting, but he called last minute and said he had to attend to an important matter." Icon informed the super teen.
"Did he even say he was sorry he couldn't make it?" Superboy asked.
"I… don't remember." Icon lied.
"Of course not." The distraught hybrid clone continued to vent. "After the Team saved everyone on New Year's, he promised he was going to change, that he was going to be there for me. But so far nothing's changed: He didn't want to hang out on Father's Day, he didn't want to go fishing with me on my birthday; in fact, he didn't even wish me a 'Happy birthday'. Lex Luthor might be my 'evil dad' but at least he had the decency to send me a card."
"These things take time, son." Aquaman said.
"We know Superman is not progressing as fast as you would like him to, but he is doing much better than he used to." Martian Manhunter admitted.
"Better how?" Superman's clone asked. "Because he's willing to acknowledge my existence and knows my name?"
"Superman told us not to tell you this, but I think you need to hear it right now." The Caped Crusader declared.
"Hear what?" Conner was now nervous again.
"Bats, no; it was supposed to be a surprise." The Flash responded; before Batman silenced him with a glare.
"He needs to know; now." The Dark Knight stated.
"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Conner was getting frustrated.
"Superman is taking you to meet his family tomorrow." Captain Marvel announced.
"What?" The Boy of Steel asked.
"Superman went to visit his family's farm in Smallville last night to tell his parents about you and we were going to send you on a hoax mission tomorrow to meet them." Batman explained.
"Are you serious?" Conner asked with a new feeling of acceptance. "This isn't a joke or anything, right?"
"I never joke." The Bat stated darkly.
"So what was the point of this intervention?" The alien clone asked.
"Well, the main reason was the legitimate concern about you adopting a kid." Robin reminded the alien.
"Another was that they wanted to make sure you were stable enough to go to the farm without trying to adopt the livestock." Kid Flash added.
"Thanks for your confidence in my self-control." The clone stated sarcastically. "Wait, so all of you knew about this?" Conner asked his team, and looked at his girlfriend who was still on his lap.
"I didn't." Red Arrow pouted with his arms crossed as he sank in his chair; everyone ignored him.
"Like Flash said, it was supposed to be a surprise." The Kryptonian's Martian girlfriend said.
"So does this mean I get to keep my pets?" Conner asked coyly.
"Since the Sphere can be used as a mode of transportation, as well as in battle, you may keep the Sphere." Red Tornado stated. "You may also keep one organic pet."
"Only one?" The hybrid's heart sank. "What will happen to the others?"
"Since the others are no longer used to fending for themselves in the wild, they will need to be surrendered to a local wildlife sanctuary." Aquaman enlightened the young man.
"They'll be alright, Conner." Megan attempted to sooth her beau.
"Yeah, we can visit them every weekend." Beast Boy chimed in, "Admission is free on Sundays."
"Yeah." Conner sadly muttered before he took a deep breath them looked at M'gann. "I'll keep Wolf; he needs me the most."
Megan smiled at his decision, knowing the unusual bond they share.
"Now that everything's settled, this meeting is adjourned." The Bat announced. "Team: report back at 1200 hours for training."
Everyone started to fold up their chairs to put them away, before Red Arrow said something that caused them all to pause.
"Wait, that's it?!" The young male archer shouted. "No crying, no fighting, no rehab?"
"That's right." Batman replied.
"Not now, Roy." Green Arrow whispered with a sigh, trying to silence his adopted son.
"Yes, now." Red Arrow responded in a stern voice. "I woke up at 2 in the morning. Pacific standard time, mind you; because I thought Superman Jr. here had an addiction that was so out of control that he was going to do something stupid and life altering, and it turns out he just bought his girlfriend a stupid doll?"
"Roy, you need relax." Black Canary said in a soothing voice to calm her unofficial stepson of sorts.
"No, Dinah. I will not relax!" The angry ginger archer stated. "At my intervention there were no hugs, or dolls, and there was definitely no family reunion trips out into the country. At my intervention there were: tears, swearing, and lots of fighting."
"Most of that was from you, Roy." Green Arrow reminded his former protégé.
"And afterwards I had to spend 2 months in rehab and the last 6 months going to AA meetings and therapy sessions at least 3 times a week." Roy said as everyone around him stopped listening and resumed clearing the area.
"Alright, Roy." The Flash said. "The next time you need an intervention we'll remember to bring lots of hugs, dolls, and finish it up with a trip out into the country."
"And the next time we have one for Supey there will be crying, swearing, and fighting." Kid Flash said.
"And we'll send him to rehab and therapy afterwards." Robin added.
"That's all I ask for: a little equality." Roy replied more relaxed, but still a little cranky.
"Come on, Archerzilla." Artemis said as she pulled her fellow archer along. "I think you either need coffee or more sleep."
The End