Chapter Two: Conner and M'Gann
When they get married, they know they can't have kids. Martians and Kryptonians are too different, and M'Gann's shape-shifting doesn't extend that far, even if there was a Kryptonian female she could model off. But they love each other, and their happy just to be together after all the drama they've been through, like those five years when he couldn't age, before Wally found the "cure" to that. Or that phase when her powers were too much to contain inside her and she resorted to putting people, albeit bad guys, in catatonic states. They've survived all that, come out on top, so surely they can handle this. Right?
Then their friends start having kids. Conner sees the longing in her eyes as she coos over all the babies, and he admits, he'd like a family too. But there's just no way. At his civilian job, as a counselor for anger management (ironic, he knows, but who better to help?), a coworker sees he's down. Ben is his best friend outside of the hero biz, and has a good head on his shoulders.
"What's got you down, Kent?" he asks, casually. So Conner tells him that his wife has been hit with baby fever from their friends' kids, and explains that he has "a genetic disease" that makes it so they can't have kids. Ben thinks for a minute, then smiles.
"Why not adopt?" Even with all the information Cadmus put in him and everything he's learned since, he didn't think of that. Neither did she.
"Thanks, Ben. Well, back to work. The angry never rest." he jokes lightly, while walking off do deal with "Alexandria Summers" who is provoked every time she sees red hair. Unfortunately, she's a redhead.
"Adoption?" Though she's lost her naive streak, there are times he still sees her look just as confused as when Dick and Wally explained rap music, complete with demonstration. That's not the same as now, though.
"Conner, we're both superheroes. What if something happens to us, they'd have lost two sets of parents. Or if we don't tell them, how would we explain why they don't have super strength, or telekinesis, or any sort of power at all? What if they want to follow us into the job?"
He was obviously wrong about thinking she hadn't thought of this. The problem is, she brings up good points. Along with her naive streak, her 50's sitcom mindset has gone too, and she's nobody's housewife. She became a lawyer, graduated top of her class. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was win an debate, and sway them to her side. She didn't even need her telepathy. That was scary.
"Of course we would tell them. And if they did want to be heroes, we ask Dick to train them. We keep them safe until they're ready. And I can't promise that nothing would happen to us, but I can promise that if something did, our friends, heck, the entire league would raise them. And I can't think of a better family. Can you?" He's pretty good at debating, too. Talking down people in rages does that.
"No," but she's smiling, and this has become the best kind of debate, where everyone wins and both are completely happy.
The matron of the Orphanage looks at the young couple before her. Conner and Megan Kent have a certain ease about them, like everything the world throws at them means nothing if they have each other. Almost all of the people who go though the adoption process are wonderful individuals, but she can spot good and bad parents a mile away. They're definitely going to be great. She leads them to the nursery, always the first stop. In this job, you work on feelings, and she has always told prospective parents to "go for the kid that feels right". They take her advice to heart, going from crib to crib, occasionally picking one up and rocking them. But none are the right "fit" for this family, they all know it. Then they see what she had hoped they wouldn't, two cribs that are separated from the others. They walk over to see a pair of twins, a little girl with black hair and eyes that are startlingly close to Mrs. Kent's, and her twin, a boy with blue eyes and the same hair as his sister.
"Why are these two separated from the others?" Mrs. Kent asks softly. That's the question she dreads whenever parents see the twins. The matron sighs.
"All children who enter the system are tested for genetic disease. Recently, they've found a way to estimate probability of meta-human power manifest. These two have ha 95% chance of developing the powers of flight and super strength. Both of them. Unfortunately, most parents won't take one meta child, much less twins." It's sad. She's seen a few meta children in her time here, like a young girl with ice powers. No one would adopt her. She fell out of the system, and judging from the look of one "Killer Frost" had turned to villainy.
The young couple looks at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation. Then in perfect unison, they say "We'd like to adopt them."
They did, in fact have a silent conversation.
It's like their meant to be our kids, M'Gann tells him. He agrees. He's never believed in a higher power (He's a Kryptonian-Human hybrid grown in a lab, and apart from a basic understanding, the genomorphs didn't really teach him about religion, sue him) but something definitely feels right about the idea of adopting the twins.
The matron is surprised to say the least. That they would be so willing to take in children who will most likely have superpowers. But she can tell, by her gut feelings, that these two are the best parents Joseph and Julia could ask for, so she smiles and leads them to the office to start the paperwork.
(Later, as a precaution, M'Gann is forced to go back and change her memories, and Dick [repaying a favor to Conner] hacks the system. As far as the public knows, the twins have a 15% chance of presenting as meta humans.)
There's a big party at Mount Justice to welcome Joseph and Julia to the crazy "family" that is the Justice League. They've already had a quieter gathering to welcome them to the Kent family on the farm, but their Uncle Clark is still there, grinning and making sure that the happy parents aren't too crowded at once. Batman's got one of those smiles that tend to throw people off more than his glares, but its toned down a bit, so no one faints. The freshman are there too, and Cassie coos at them like she's never seen a baby before. L'gann is absent, having left the team after it was revealed that everyone only put up with him because they liked M'Gann. Last they heard, he had returned to his hometown and agreed to an arranged marriage (which was not common in most of Atlantis, but his hometown was...old fashioned). But everyone from Robin to Blue Beetle is there. Gar had come to the small gathering before, but had to be off world during the party. Apparently Rann's creatures were suffering from some disease. Following in the footsteps of his mother (a bit more unconventionally, but still), he became an veterinarian, as well as an avid animal rights activist both here and on a intergalactic level.
After all the initial fuss from their civilian friends and neighbors (they live in the suburbs of Metropolis) as well, the last thing they want is another visitor, even if it is Clark. But they let him in with a smile, he absolutely dotes on the kids, and they don't mind a little break. He's looking at them when Conner comes in.
"Have you thought about giving them Kryptonian names?"
He has. They both agree; just because they aren't technically Kryptonians, that doesn't mean they can't uphold the values of the House of El. So Joseph, becomes Jor-El, after his grandfather, and Julia is Jule Kon-El.
A week later, Supergirl (Kara) shows up, and (after all the crazy from a new Kryptonian appearing) agrees that they definitely are worthy. They're not sure if her agreeing is good or not.
The twins grow up with all the love the Justice League and Team can provide, dozens of Aunts, Uncles and cousins, not to mention they get the Kents for grandparents. There is always someone to teach them a new aerial trick or to spot them as they bench press impossible (for normal people) amounts of weight, teach them how to defend themselves or just help them (try to) sneak a few illegal sweets past M'Gann's "mom" eyes. At twelve, they finally are allowed to start working with their parents and Uncle Clark in Metropolis. They join the newest incarnation of the Team a few months later. It's all going a little too fast for M'Gann and Conner's taste, but as they watch the Super twins (calling each other Jule and Jor when they need to be identified) take down their first bad guys, and the looks on their faces afterwards, they think it might not be so bad. And the looks on the idiots faces when the Kryptonite didn't work? Absolutely priceless.
When people hear "twins" they think that the two are completely alike in every way possible. Sometimes, that's correct. Julia and Joseph? No way.
They have some similarities. They both love the hero life and will continue into adulthood, everyone is sure of that. They also have their parents ability to hold the team together with compassion and loyalty. They take their adopted heritage gladly. You can catch them watching the history channel together once in a blue moon. But everything else is different.
Julia is as sweet as her mother, but she also is a bit of a tomboy. She runs track (any other sport wouldn't be fair with her strength) and has her father's gift for tactics. She's also one of the best fliers (insert joke here) on her cheer squad. She's closest to her "aunt" Dinah.
Joseph is a brilliant student, and just a bit more serious than his sister about the hero part of his life. He's better at hand to hand combat, Julia is better a stealth. He likes to lift weights in his free time, usually at the Cave so no one questions the amount. He and "Uncle Dick" are thick as thieves.
When the twins graduate, there's another big celebration, but at the Watchtower this time. M'Gann tears up a bit when Joseph announces he's going to her old Law school, and Conner smiles when Julia tells them her major is psychology.
After Both Clark and Conner have retired, Joseph becomes the next Superman. Kara grows up and becomes "Superwoman" instead, so Julia takes up her old mantle of Supergirl. M'Gann takes care of other cities, letting the Super family handle their home turf.
A little more than a century later, M'Gann tells this story to her great great grandchildren, and teaches them what it really means when you have three names; that there are three legacies to uphold.