I'm back with a new chapter. I've been rather busy as of late, but I managed to get this done with. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it. And sorry for a grouchy Brainy, but the tides are turning, and grouchy Brainy will begin to disappear after this chapter.

Brainy had learned pretty quickly that he'd only be able to get any work done at night. Robin and, to a lesser extent, Kid Flash had made it very apparent that they would not let him be stuck in his room all day to work on his project. It was aggravating to say the least, but he eventually learned that there was no way around it, and he was forced to accept the fact that his days would be occupied by the Team (which Robin was dragging him into) and his nights would be spent working. On the chances the Team was off on a mission or in a training session that Brainy wasn't invited to, the android would use it as his chance to work uninterrupted.

The new accommodations put Brainy back even further on his work. It was aggravating to say the least. Not that Brainy didn't like the past, but he just wasn't pleased with the situation he had been thrown into. Any other time he would have enjoyed the idea of visiting the past, but being stuck in the past, where his name alone could get him killed by civilians, heroes and villains...well, it wasn't exactly an ideal set up. And it wasn't helpful when Brainy had to report the progress to Batman and receive the famous batglare he'd receive in turn. It wasn't Brainy's fault Bats couldn't keep his protégé in line and not bother the android when he was working.

Brainy was beginning his work; today was a training day, leaving Brainy with some time to get his work put in. He was looking forward to the silence when he heard his door open without permission. The android didn't even need to look to know who had entered unannounced.

"Don't you have to go train?" Brainy asked.

"Yep. You gotta come too," Robin said, walking over and grabbing Brainy's arm.

"What?!" Brainy asked as he was pulled out of his seat.

"Artemis couldn't show up for some reason, so we're down a person. We need you to fill in," Robin responded as he dragged the android out of the room.

"Well can't Tornado or Canary fill in or something?" Brainy demanded, debating on if he should detach his arm at this point.

"Nope," Robin answered. "They're facilitating, duh."

"Of course," Brainy growled. There went his free morning. "What am I being forced into?"

"Sparring," Robin answered simply.

"Wonderful," Brainy said with a roll of his eyes.

"Awh c'mon. It'll be 'citing," Robin grinned. "Didn't you do this sort of stuff in the future? With the uh...the Legion?"

"Yes we did this sort of stuff, except I would be the one facilitating the spars. And it wasn't against each other; it was in our holographic projector room," Brainy responded. "The room was set up with a real-world simulator to better our defenses and offenses."

"A holo room?" Robin questioned. "That sounds cool."

The two heroes arrived at the training room, finding the other teenage heroes bar Artemis already waiting. Black Canary was standing in front of the assembled line while Red Tornado was off to the side. Robin pulled Brainy into the room, even though the android wasn't putting up a fight.

"Found 'im."

"It's not like I was hiding," Brainy snapped.

"Someone's forgot to remove their grouchy chip this morning," Kid teased, only to earn a glare from the android and a subtle whack upside his head from Aqualad. "Owh! Really dude?"

Aqualad remained silent, and betrayed no emotion about the situation. Black Canary shook her head and gave off a loud whistle, getting their attention.

"Alright, you all know it's your spar day," she stated. "I'll break you off into pairs. Red and I will be making sure you don't harm each other past normal battle scars. We'll do this one at a time, alright?"

The six teens nodded.

"Good. M'gann, Kid. You're up first," Canary instructed.

"I'll try not to hurt you, sweet cheeks," Kid flirted as the rest of the team moved off to the side.

M'gann flushed a little, since she was a bit new to flirting. That, and she wasn't sure on how to let her teammate down easy. Brainy was tempted to tell the teen that he had no chance with the Martian, but decided to just keep his mouth shut. So instead, he watched as the platform lit up and the two combatants stand across from each other. Kid Flash sent M'gann and wink before he ran at her. She waited until he was close enough to her before she phased out completely, sending him flying through where she had stood and into the wall opposite of where she stood. M'gann landed back on the platform, just in time to see the speedster slump to the ground.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Don't apologize," Canary stated. "You did well."

Robin snickered as he helped his friend sit up.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about hurting her," Robin teased.

"You are so not helpful," Kid Flash whispered harshly.

"Alright then. Aqualad and Robin, you're up," Canary announced once M'gann left the platform.

Robin patted his friend once more before hopping onto the platform. Brainy glanced over at Superboy, understanding that he'd be his sparring partner, to see that the teen was looking really, really mad. Which was more anger than it had been other days.

What is his problem? Brainy thought to himself. This isn't the Superboy that's in the records.

He watched the fight between Aqualad and Robin with mild interest. The two were evenly matched, but Robin was more mobile than the Atlantian, so it was no surprise when Robin became the victor after pinning down their leader. With the spar over, that left only Brainy and Superboy to go up, much to the android's displeasure. It was already obvious that the clone disliked Brainy for reasons the android couldn't think of. It's not like the teen had any of Superman's memories, and Brainy doubted that he had any interaction with Brainiac. What was going through his mind was beyond Brainy, and it terrified the android slightly to be facing off against the powerful clone when angry.

Reluctantly, Brainy stepped onto the platform, standing opposite of the raged teenage clone. This was most likely a sick joke on Canary's part, or maybe Superboy had really been paired up with Artemis for the day before she had to bow out. Either way, Brainy was not at all pleased with the fact that he was now forced to spar when he could be doing something more useful. Like finishing up the time bubble before he got chewed out by Batman. Canary looked between the two, and a flash of something appeared in her eyes before it was gone. What it was, was beyond Brainy, but she instead said,

"Go."

The second she finished the word, Superboy launched himself at Brainy. Suspecting the approach, Brainy launched himself into the air, getting away from the attack. Superboy followed his movements and snarled fiercely, though he made no move to fly up to him, something that made Brainy wonder why he hadn't. Instead, he jumped at Brainy, gripping onto his legs before the android could move out of reach and pulled him back to the ground. Brainy quickly transformed into his other mode, though Superboy still kept a death grip hold on his legs. It did help lessen the pain upon impact with the platform, along with the pain he received from the punch Superboy gave him.

Activating the energy beam in his palm, he shot it at Superboy, getting the teen off of his legs. The beam wasn't strong enough to get him out of his general vicinity, but it was enough to get him at arm's length. The teen rounded on Brainy once more, and shot for him. Brainy got into the air again. This angered Superboy greatly, if the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Stop running away," Superboy snarled as he jumped for Brainy again.

Brainy moved aside, missing the grab. The android continued to move out of the way, every time Superboy launched at him. Each miss resulted in Superboy growing angrier and angrier.

"Get down here," Superboy snarled.

"Sorry, but it's safer up here," Brainy answered, sending an energy beam down at the angered superteen.

The blast sent Superboy back again. Before he could recover, the android sent another one, making it powerful enough to push Superboy into the wall of mountain. The clone snarled angrily, one powerful enough to make even Brainy pause. The clone launched himself at Brainy, snagging him once more, and bringing him down to the ground. Superboy punched him in the face, the hit powerful enough to revert his forms. Superboy pulled back his fist to punch him again, but Canary whistled loudly, grabbing their attention.

"That's enough you two," she ordered.

Superboy didn't move for a moment, before he got off of Brainy and left the room, punching the wall as left. Brainy followed his movement, perplexed but thankful to survive. Without it needing to be spoken, the exercise was over. Robin hopped onto the platform and helped up the android.

"You okay?" he asked, a hint of concern evident.

"Nothing that I can't fix myself," Brainy answered.

Robin grinned, though his hold on Brainy's arm didn't let up.

"How about we go outside for some fresh air," Robin proposed as he dragged Brainy off once more.

"I have work to do," Brainy argued.

"Yeah, but you should really get some fresh air," Robin argued. "Plus, it'll give us a chance to talk without eavesdroppers."

Brainy remained silent at the response, and decided to let himself be guided out of the mountain. Maybe he'd be able to get some answers about the clone that were bugging Brainy.

Canary watched the teenagers leave. She had known of Superboy's anger, and had been working on it for some time, but even she has never seen the look on his face when he faced the Brainiac. She had felt bad about pitting him against the angered superhero, but kept with her decision. Unlike the other League members who were mistrustful of the android, Canary didn't have much of a problem with him. At first she had been suspicious, but after she got to be around him, she found he was no different than a normal teenager, san for the fact that he was smarter than even her. Even still, he presented himself in a non-threatening manner, so Canary never thought to attack him.

"Interesting," Red Tornado commented. "Superboy's aggressive level rose to uncharted levels. By my calculations, it began when Brainiac 5 entered the room, and continued to rise when the two were fighting."

"Keep an eye on the two, and make sure they're never alone," Canary instructed. "I fear Superboy may unleash his anger."

Red Tornado nodded, before leaving the room himself.

"So how's the bubble going?" Robin asked.

Brainy sent him a glare, which did nothing to ruin Robin's good-natured smile. The two were outside of the mountain, though they weren't very far from the physical entrance. Robin hadn't bothered to change out of his outfit, and was laying on his back, staring at the blue sky. Brainy opted to just sit down.

"I'm far behind. I would be gone by now if I wasn't getting distracted all the time," Brainy responded.

"Don't you like this time period?" Robin asked. "It's not every day you get to go to the past...well, maybe for you it is."

"I make it a point not to interfere with the timeline," Brainy responded, mentally adding in too much. "Besides, being a Brainiac in this time period isn't a good thing."

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that one," Robin responded, sounding thoughtful. "But hey, aren't we making it fun for you while you're here?"

Brainy scoffed.

"Yes. Being surrounded by members of the team who either don't want to talk to you or want to beat you up is something to look forward to," Brainy responded.

"We're not that mean, are we?" Robin asked, and something in his tone made Brainy feel a little guilty.

"...Not all of you," Brainy responded. "Aqualad is at least nice enough to not bother me or treat me differently from the rest of you. And you at least talk to me on a daily basis."

"'M trying to get you more involved with the Team," Robin answered somberly, sitting up as he spoke the words.

"What for?" Brainy asked. "Not to sound rude, but I figured Batman would have you keep an eye on me to make sure I wasn't just Brainiac in a new look who brain-washed Superman into tricking all of you."

"Well, he does ask me about you from time to time, but I haven't been told to spy on you or anything," Robin responded with a shrug.

"So why do you try and include me?" Brainy asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.

"Because I consider you a friend," Robin answered with a tone that made it seem like the obvious answer.

Brainy was stunned, and fell silent.

"Okay sure I was a little suspicious when I first met you, but then you sort of changed and so I decided to get you more involved with us so you'd enjoy your time in the past," Robin continued.

"Changed?"

"Well, not changed. But I saw you differently and realized it wasn't cool to judge you just because your name was Brainiac," Robin responded.

"What made you change your mind?" Brainy asked.

"Well, you're more human than him," Robin answered.

Brainy was stunned once more. The answer wasn't what he was expecting.

"You look more human, and you act more human, even though you totally work as a robot. C'mon dude, even you need to sleep more than 2 hours," Robin said, slightly scolding the android next to him for his lack of sleep. "So I decided to not judge you based on your name, and you're cool, so I've been bugging you like a friend would. Though I'm guessing you find it annoying."

Yes was the obvious response, but Brainy couldn't bring himself to answer that. So instead, he shook his head.

"No, it's alright. It sort of reminds me of my fellow teammates, who'd never let me get anything done unless it was important," Brainy answered.

"Do you miss the 31st century?" Robin asked.

"No. I know I can get back," Brainy answered. "I simply wanted to get back because of the...treatment from the others."

"Well, don't worry about that," Robin responded. "We'll show them that you shouldn't be judged for your name alone."

Brainy gave the human a small smile, and said to him, "Thanks."

The two fell into a comfortable silence before Brainy decided to bring up the issue that had been bothering him since he'd been assigned to the mountain.

"Is there a reason why Superboy wants to murder me any chance he sees me?"

"He doesn't want to murder you," Robin answered.

"Care to explain his always angered mood?" Brainy questioned.

"Well... how much of his past do you know?" Robin asked.

"That he was part of Project Cadmus that had used Superman's DNA to make a clone, which you, Aqualad and Kid Flash infiltrated and set the clone free," Brainy responded.

"Okay good, so you already know the basics. Well you see when we were getting him to come with us, we promised we'd let him meet Superman. And we did, and...Superman didn't take to him immediately," Robin answered.

Brainy blinked at the response. This didn't match up with the records, which detailed that Superman had mentored Superboy. This answer threw the android for a loop, especially since it seemed to go against Superman's character.

"Care to explain?" Brainy asked.

"Well, when he first met Superboy...he ignored him," Robin answered. "He didn't say a word; he just left. And Superman hasn't talked to him yet. So Superboy gets really furious whenever the subject about Superman is brought up."

Brainy nodded.

"So I'm guessing he's mad at me because Superman said I was his friend, which to Superboy, is sort of a slap in the face since I'm the descendant of one of his greatest enemies, and yet Superboy, his own clone, is ignored," Brainy stated.

"Bingo," Robin nodded.

Brainy frowned, not because he was annoyed that Superboy was wrongly placing blame onto him, but because of what was said about Superman's actions to Supboy. This didn't sound anything like Superman, which made it all the more bothersome.

What has Clark been doing? he thought.

"Thanks," Brainy stated to the young teen. "I think I understand things a little better now."

"Not a problem," Robin grinned. "Wanna grab some tacos for everyone?"

"...Sure," Brainy responded, holding back a sigh as he got to his feet.

I may have to delay my return, Brainy thought to himself as the two walked back into the mountain to use some of the cycles. I need to have a talk with Superman about this behavior. Besides, it's not like the future is going anywhere.