Sorry not a lot happens in this chapter. Please enjoy and tell me what you think :)
.P
~Laces
Chpt.3
Superboy wished he had some smaller cloths. All he had for the girl was an old T-shirt that shrunk in the wash and some mesh shorts.
He handed them to the girl and showed her to the guest room.
"Does this go on my… head?" she inquired, looking at the mesh shorts, and then at Superboy.
"Uh, no. They're pants. They go on your legs and butt." He informed, then pointed to his pants. "Like these."
"Ohhh." The girl nodded, then held up the shirt. "So, this goes on my… torso… right?" Superboy wanted to smile, but he couldn't help but think about what the girl had said about her treatment at Cadmus earlier. She probably always wore that zipper up one piece suit every day of her life.
"Yes, that goes over your torso." He confirmed. "I'm going to leave so you can change in privacy, but I'll be right outside the door, so tell me when you are done getting changed, okay?" he questioned, and the girl smiled.
"Okay."
Conner waited outside of the girl's door patiently, until he heard a small voice question,
"Is this right?"
Conner opened the door, and saw the girl had on the shorts at her ankles and had on the large shirt backwards. The shirt was so large on her it stopped about an inch past her knees.
"A little bit." Conner chuckled as he walked up to the girl and knelt in front of her. He pulled the pants up to her hips and tied the drawl string tighter so that they would stay up.
"Here, put your arms back in through the sleeves." He informed and she followed his direction. Once her arms were out of the sleeves, Superboy turned the shirt around so that it was facing the right way.
"Alright, you can put your hands back through the sleeves now." He informed with a small smile, and she did so. "There. You look great." He informed, and the girl looked at herself in the mirror.
Superboy's eyes widened when he noticed al the scaring the girl had, since the suit covered all of her skin except her face. Scars ran up her arms, and what he could see of her legs. It made him want to go to Cadmus and kill them all.
"This outfit is much more… comfortable than my suit." She informed, and Superboy snapped out of his thoughts, and picked up the suit, looking at it curiously.
The material was tight, and sturdy. It didn't look very breathable, and Superboy could also make out some blood stains.
"You don't need to wear anything like this suit anymore." Superboy informed, and the girl smiled.
"Thank you." She then looked at the boy curiously. "Why are you so… nice?" Superboy didn't know how to answer the question.
"I guess that's just who I am." He shrugged, and the girl nodded.
"What's your name? I hear people say it… but I find it… strange. Superboy, right? Is that a nick name?"
"Somewhat of a nick name." he shrugged. "It's like a job I have when I work. However, when I'm not working, people call me Conner." He explained.
"Are you working now?" the little girl inquired.
"No." Conner answered with a short shrug, and the girl smiled.
"Then thank you for everything, Conner." She said, and was quickly hugging his leg.
"No problem, kid." He said in a small voice as he patted her back. Once the girl parted from his leg, he looked over at the clock in her room. It was way past midnight.
"You should go to bed. It's late." He stated as he lifted the girl up and placed her in the bed, tucking her in underneath the covers.
"Hey Conner?" she inquired while in the middle of a yawn.
"Yeah?"
"Since you have two… names… do you think I could too… like… you're Superboy and Conner… do you think I could be Project Power and… something else?" she questioned. Conner smiled at her.
"I'm sure of it. But remember that a name doesn't make who you are. You decide that." He informed, and the girl nodded, and rested her head on the pillow.
"Good night, kid."
"Good night Conner." She whispered, and her eyes were closed as she drifted to sleep quickly.
Conner closed the door softly, not wanting to make any sound, but when he turned around, he was startled to see Nightwing right there.
"How is she?" he inquired.
"She's alright. Sleeping right now, actually." Conner nodded, looking back at the door, and listening to the sleeping breath, and steady heartbeat of the girl, making sure she was still okay.
"Is that her suit?" Nightwing inquired, looking at the fabric in Conner's hands, and the clone nodded, handing it to him.
"Yeah. Doesn't look comfortable, not to mention that it has blood stains on it." He informed, and Nightwing sighed, spotting a blood stain.
"I knew Cadmus was bad, but this… I just find it impossible how people could just be okay with practically torturing a little girl. It's just messed up." The first Robin stated with a hint of frustration in his voice, but he took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Batman got the results of the blood test back, and what she said was true. She really is biologically the daughter of several major league members." Nightwing explained. Conner raised an eyebrow.
"What's Batman going to do now?"
"I think he might try to take legal action against Cadmus, but as for the girl, the league wants to see her and figure out exactly what to do with her. The league's been busy lately, however, Wonder Woman and Black Canary will be coming over tomorrow to talk to her." Nightwing explained.
"Alright, but afterwards, I want to take her outside. It's supposed to be nice out, and she's never seen the sun before." Conner informed, glancing back to the door of the girl's room. He thought he heard something.
"Alright, but keep an eye on her. We don't know if her mental state is all that good. I mean, going through what she has must of messed her up, but we don't know how far to an extent."
Conner raised an eyebrow.
"So, you're saying you think she's crazy." Nightwing sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"she might be. I just want you to make sure you keep an eye on her. Despite her failed project label she is still considered a weapon of mass destruction, and a mentally unstable weapon of mass destruction isn't necessarily a good thing." Nightwing informed, and Conner glared at him.
"She's not just a weapon." Conner stated firmly, and Nightwing quickly placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Settle down, Conner. I know she's not, but I still can't take things lightly due to the situation. I just want you to keep an eye on her when she's outside. That's it, and besides, if someone from Cadmus tries to take her, you'll be right there." Nightwing smiled, and Conner nodded.
"Alright, I'll stay close to here while we're out." Conner nodded. Nightwing grinned.
"Okay Conner, see you tomorrow." He gave a short wave, and was gone.
Conner looked back toward the door, and instead of a steady breath and heartbeat, both were erratic.
He swiftly opened the door and peered in, seeing the young girl curled up in a ball, holding her bear tightly. There were tears streaking her face.
"I can't." she whispered. "I'm sorry." She shuttered and then said louder, "I can't." she contorted her face into a pained expression. "I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't."
Conner sat next to her on the side of her bed, and laid a hand gently on her head, lightly stroking her hair, trying to calm her down.
"I can't!" she exclaimed, waking herself up.
She was breathing heavily, and she looked around the room speechless.
"You okay?" Conner questioned gently, when her eyes wandered to his. She shook and hugged his torso quickly, crying into his shirt.
"Shhh… you're okay." He whispered. "You're safe."
"I can't." she said through a heavy sob. "I failed."
"You didn't fail." Conner whispered, patting her back. "There's nothing wrong with you." He listened as she continued to cry, until she finally looked up at him.
"Can you… stay? You don't have to… if you want… but… I don't want to be… alone." She explained, tears continuing to streak her face. "I know that sounds… selfish… but…"
"I'll stay here." He said quickly, and the girl looked up at him. There was hope in her eyes, but also doubt. She didn't want to get lied to.
"Really?" she questioned timidly.
Conner propped his feet up on the bed, and then smiled at her.
"Yup." He helped re-tuck her into bed, and then laid next to her, comfortably. She was asleep in less than a minute.
Conner couldn't help but feel like he needed to be there for the girl. She was a lab experiment like him and also shared some of Superman's DNA. In a weird way, that made her his sister, or something like that. She was family and Conner knew what it felt like to be shunned by someone who you considered family.
So he was determined to make the little girl happy, and keep her safe.
"Conner?" he looked over to see that she was awake again.
"Yeah, kid?" he questioned, hoping that the girl would be able to go back to sleep soon.
"Are you… related to Superman?" she inquired, and he shrugged.
"A bit, but I have a question for you." He stated, looking at the girl, and she looked back at him, cocking her head to the side.
"Why do you pause like you're thinking between some words? You don't need to worry about what you say around here." Conner explained, and the girl shook her head.
"I pause because I am… searching for words. The first scientists who helped with my… development talked Japanese. Then there was a German scientist, then Milo. English is a… difficult language. I am much better at… understanding languages more so than speaking them."
"So you have difficulty with the English language?" Conner questioned, and the girl nodded.
"Yes. So many rules… I mean… there are so many rules. Grammar is also… difficult."
Conner smiled a bit and gave her a small hug.
"It'll be alright. Some of the league know tons of languages. If you ever don't know a word, you can speak to them and I'm sure one of them will know what you're saying." He informed and the girl grinned at the thought.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"No problem kid. Now, we better go to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Conner said, but the girl was asleep before he was half way done his sentence.
He looked at the girl with some concern. Could she really be that crazy?