Chapter Three

Conner left the Kent Farm and went back to Bludhaven early in the morning. When he arrived, he definitely felt some tension in the base. La'gann was crunching on his cereal as loudly as he could and M'gann was talking to Gar. It was similar to the tension he and M'gann had when they were in the same room.

"Superboy". Nightwing saw him. "You weren't at the meeting, but the Team successfully rescued Blue and Green Beetle from Reach's control."

"I don't buy that." Conner crossed his arms and Jaime saw Conner glaring at him. Conner was justified to feel unsafe around Blue Beetle.

"Conner, it is not their fault. Their scarabs were influencing them." Nightwing assured.

"Like someone on the team." La'gaan said rather loudly before gulping his cereal down. Conner glanced at M'gann, who looked annoyed. Conner sighed and suddenly, he got a phone call.

"Hello." Conner picked up his phone, accidentally putting it on speaker.

"Conner! Hey this is Stephanie! We met yesterday at the reunion?" Conner looked at the phone. "Uh...how did you get my number?" he asked.

"Wendy gave it to me!" The female voice chirped on the phone.

"Blasted Wendy" Conner thought to himself and walked out of the room to continue his call.

"So I was wondering if you want to go out with me today." Stephanie asked.

"Uh...sorry, not today..." Conner tried to put this off, but boy was this girl persistent. "My job ends late at night."

"Then, How about we get together for breakfast. Devil's Food. 10 AM? Be there, cutie." Stephanie hung up before Conner could argue.

"What the..?" Conner just shook his head.

Back in the dining room his team mates continued with their breakfast and chatter.

"What do you think Conner's secret life is like?" Jaime asked everybody else in the room. "I didn't know he was dating!"

"He did go out with Wendy Harris yesterday for their high school reunion." Tim said. Nightwing slapped him on the head for revealing such delicate info.

"Dude, can you search who this Stephanie is?" Gar asked Tim. Before Nightwing could stop his protégé, Robin went to their computer and cross-referenced sites and data.

"Here it is." Robin showed on the screen. "Stephanie Carlisle." A very pretty blond girl with a curvaceous figure appeared on the panel. "Fitness Instructor, and former Miss Star of Star City, currently single."

"Damn!" Impulse yelled. "That is some hot chick!"

"How come he gets all the girls?" Gar whined.

"Maybe it's a Kryptonian thing?"

"Must be!" they all said in unison.

Nightwing shot a look at M'gann, who was getting sadder and sadder. She left the room, only to hear Conner in the hall way.

"Hello, Stephanie. No, I can't make it this morning or today. No, please, I don't think you are ugly. I am just really busy. I have to work today and I wanted to rest before I went in. No, I do not! Please, just not today...I will call you if I have time , okay? Hello?" Conner turned off the phone. He sighed and leaned against the wall.

"You are popular." M'gann revealed herself to Conner.

"M'gann." Conner turned and put his phone away. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to avoid your fan club back in the room." M'gann pointed back to the hall and saw Conner's confused face. "Robin looked up Stephanie on the computer and all the boys are drooling over her."

Conner shook his head. "So...is what La'gann said true? Did you influence him with your mind?" He caught what La'gann referred to.

M'gann was silent.

"I see." Conner knew the answer from her silence.

He began to walk away but M'gann grabbed his hand. "Wait, Conner." She looked really distraught. "I want to know...do you hate me?"

Conner's eyes softened. "I never hated you...I just...hated what you did...Now...I don't know..."

"Do you love me?"

"I don't know."

"Do you trust me?"

Conner said "No".

M'gann nodded. "Is there any way I can earn your trust?"

Conner remained silent for a bit before saying. "I honestly don't know...M'gann...I don't know."

Conner cleared his throat. "I...can't forgive you for what you did to me...not yet...maybe in the future. Who knows?"

He looked at his phone. "It is nearly time...I have to go" Conner said.

"You don't have to go." M'gann started.

"Ma taught me to give people chances. And also, it would be rude of me just ditch her like that." Conner almost regretted having learned the Kent family's code of morals and ethics. Ma Kent was very strict when it comes to morals.

Conner sighed as he waited outside the Devil's Food restaurant. He was wearing a red hoodie with the words Metropolis Sharks on it, jeans, and white sneakers. He didn't know what to expect from Stephanie. She was way too bubbly for his tastes, much more than M'gann when she first came to Earth. And he wasn't comfortable talking; he was more or a listener.

"How did I get into this anyway?" Conner groaned.

"HEEEYYYY, CONNER!" Conner looked up and saw Stephanie. She was wearing a low cut sundress with pink sandals. "You are here so early! Did you miss me?"

Conner flinched a bit and gave a fake smile. "Yeah...uh...Stephanie...I have to go on my double shift in a few hours..."

"Then let's make the most of it!" Stephanie grabbed Conner and dragged him into the restaurant. "I am so hungry..."

"With a body like that it doesn't surprise me?" Conner meant it to be sarcastic, but Stephanie took it as a compliment.

"Oh thank you! It took me a long time to get body like this, you know."

Conner mentally groaned. This was going to be a very long few hours.

They ordered food and talked a bit. Stephanie admitted that she was a farm girl...not a city girl like she seemed. That caught Conner's attention.

"I am from a farm too." Conner said. Well, The Kent farm was his second home.

"Really? Where?" Stephanie leaned on the table.

"Kansas."

"I am from Texas..." Stephanie smiled. "I didn't like the farm work so much...but it did wonders for my figure." She sighed. "But my parents divorced for a short time and I lived in the city for a few years. Then I went back and forth, helping out Pa with his farm work." She had some southern accent that Conner just recognized.

"You say Pa too?" Conner began to like this girl more and more.

"Oh hell yeah." Stephanie shrugged. "Ma and Pa...I never used mom, dad, mother, or father, or whatever they use."

"I use Ma and Pa too. Ma and Pa Kent."

Stephanie winked at Conner. "Maybe we have some things in common."

"Yeah."

The two of them talked on and on, they talked about their current lives. Conner lied and said he was working as an intern at a hospital. Stephanie was a fitness pro and health consultant. They talked about what their hobbies were.

"I don't mean to be rude." Stephanie asked as she sipped on her ice tea. "You didn't seem to like me very much in the beginning."

"Well...I don't know what Wendy told you about me, but I am kinda a loner..." Conner said while eating his fries.

"Some girl broke your heart right?" Stephanie asked and Conner looked surprised. "Don't you worry. I had my heart broken too, you know. This guy I met in College...he seemed so nice...but he was just using me...then he just left without a word. Next thing you know, he is shacked up with another girl three cities away."

Conner nodded in understanding. Subconsciously, he reached out and covered Stephanie's hand. She smiled. "You seem like a nice guy, Conner. Other people may be afraid of you, but I'm not."

Conner scratched his neck, a habit he learned from Clark. "I do have a bit of a temper."

"That's cool. Hell, I have a temper too. You should've seen what I did to that jerk when I saw him last time. I trashed him!"

Conner looked at his cell phone, texted something. "You know...they say my morning shift just got canceled. How about you and me go for a walk?"

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Oh...so you were playing hard to get, Mr. Kent? I like that. And yes, you may take me for a walk. But don't get any high ideas, you hear? I am a woman and I have my standards."

"I wouldn't think of it ma'am." Conner offered his arm and Stephanie took it and they walked out of the restaurant. Not realizing that they were being followed.

Conner and Stephanie walked down the shore line. They talked more about themselves and what they wanted to do. Stephanie wanted to start her own class in the university she went to. She invited Conner to come by.

"What is the class about?" Conner asked.

"Oh, it is about recreational yoga and exercises, mostly those related to couples. You and I could get together in those times." Stephanie winked.

"And you thought I was going fast." Conner smiled. They went to sit at a bench and look at the sun.

"Uh...I feel strange..." Stephanie said to Conner.

"What is wrong?" Conner asked.

"I feel like somebody is watching us... Don't look but there's a guy over there with a long green overcoat and hat? I swear that guy has been following us since the restaurant." Stephanie leaned on Conner's arm.

Conner didn't like this. Could it be a member of CADMUS tracking his movements? Or could it be...no...M'gann wouldn't go that far...would she?" When Conner turned to see for himself he was surprised that no one was there. Conner and Stephanie walked back at the restaurant.

"So I had a great time..." Stephanie giggled. "I hope you and I can get together again."

"I'd like that." Conner smiled.

"If you want, we can meet tomorrow...unless you have shifts at the hospital. I am sure you can cancel them again..." Stephanie winked.

"Maybe...maybe not. I will call you if that happens." Conner shrugged his shoulders.

"So...are we going to kiss?" Stephanie offered and Conner's smile slightly waned.

"Uh...it's a little too soon for that...I think, hugs should do for today." Conner tried to slow things down. Unfortunately for him, Stephanie thought he was flirting with her more.

"Okay, big boy. Hugs it is."

The two of them hugged, but much more intimately then Conner would have liked. She pressed her chest into his, making him more aware of her curves, her hands caressing his strong shoulders and back. She nuzzled his neck to enjoy the scent of his cologne then withdrew slowly.

"See you later...handsome." She winked and got into her car and drove off.

On the way back to the base he wondered about the mysterious guy that Stephanie had claimed to see following them.