Surviving Each Other

May 15th 2022

Conner-10 years old

Artur-11 years old

Kory-10 years old

Mia-9 years old

Helena-7 years old

Damian-15 years old


Clark's POV

"I don't think this is a good idea Bruce" I tell the Dark Knight who shrugs me off.

"They'll be fine."

"Aren't you even a bit concerned? I mean…three days is a long time for anyone in the woods, let alone children…"

"Who have all been well trained and have been preparing for this test for weeks" Bruce interrupts. We continue down the hallway towards Mount Justice's Grotto. "They will be fine Clark, just think of it as all them going camping. Conner's a boy scout, he will be fine. Besides, if anything goes wrong, I have camera's set up all over the forest. We can get to them within two minutes."

Bruce and I enter the large grotto. I spot Conner excitedly chatting away with Artur and Orin by the ship that will take the group of kids to the forest. Mia and Kory are close by, examining the survival kits. Oliver is next to Mia, quickly trying to explain each tool in the kit and giving instructions on how to use each. His protégé rolls her eyes every once in a while, obviously having heard the lecture many times before today. Conner spots me enter the room, and excitedly waves.

"I guess you're right" I murmur to Bruce, although my nerves haven't lessened in the least.

"I always am" Bruce smirks before ordering the kids to line up for instructions. Their mentors join Batman and I near the computer. Bruce begins "Recently it has come to the League's attention that it would be beneficial for all members to learn wilderness survival skills. Before we have always taught these skills, but didn't find it necessary for our protégé's to test them. Because of recent events that I will not delve into, the League has now decided to make sure each member can actually apply their skills when it is needed."

"Wait…" Conner inquires. "Somebody from the League got stuck in the woods?"

"Yes" Bruce answers, annoyed at being interrupted.

"And he didn't know how to…"

"I said we are not discussing this matter" the Dark Knight snaps.

Conner's mouth shuts quickly and his eyes grow wide. As Bruce goes on with the instructions, I hear Mia as quietly as possible whisper "It was Bart." Being the only besides me, able to hear it, Conner smirks amusedly.

"Over the past few months, you have all been taught the necessary skills to surviving in the wilderness with little resources" Bruce continues. "Further along in your training, you will each continue to take these tests with less people accompanying you and less supplies. But for now, the five of you will be in the same area and have the basic amount of supplies to survive for three days."

Everyone in the room, except for Batman, frowns in confusion.

"Five?" Oliver questions. "Uh…I think you miscounted Bats. There is only four…"

Bruce waves the archer off "Robin is bringing the fifth member. They should arrive any second now."

"Recognizing, Robin B30 and guest."

"Again" I comment. "How do you bats' have such great timing?"

"Natural talent" a young girl's voice sounds from the tube entrance. Everyone's heads snap over to see Robin and a tiny girl next to him.

I want to smack Bruce upside the head when I notice the mask on Helena and the obvious outdoors clothes she is wearing. He's out of his mind! "Batman!" I hiss. "Don't you think she is a bit young to be going on this trip?"

"She is capable of handling herself in the wilderness" Bruce states confidently, a hint of bragging mixed into his voice. "I along with her mother, Nightwing and Robin have all taught her the skills she needs and more."

"Tt!" Helena scoffs. "I don't think Robin taught me anything I didn't already know."

Damian sends his sister a glare. "It is difficult to teach a student who is constantly complaining."

"It's hard to learn from a teacher who doesn't know what he is doing."

"Fishing is a useless pastime that requires no true skill" Damian scoffs.

"Says the person who didn't catch a fish" Helena teasingly smirks.

"We have discussed this! The outdoor pressure was causing poor fishing conditions."

"That didn't seem to be a problem for me."

"Yeah, well, you cheated. I know it."

"How can you cheat at fishing!?"

"You would find a way!"

Bruce interrupts his children "ROBIN! HUNTRESS!" Both stop their fight and turn to face their father. "That is enough. Robin…you may leave."

"Yes father" Damian says before turning to Helena. His hand goes to ruffle her hair, only for the girl to shift out of the way. Damian uses her momentum to pick Helena up by the stomach and flip her in a circle, back onto her feet. Helena giggles as Damian smirks and calls out while heading to the Zeta Beam "Have fun sis." In a flash, he is gone.

As Helena goes to stand in line with the four other protégés, Conner rolls his eyes playfully and comments "Show off."

The tiny girl smirks slyly and states, "What? Me? Never."

"You've been spending too much time with Nightwing" Conner adds.

"What is that supposed to…"

I clear my throat and tell Bruce, "I still don't think this is a good idea. Huntress is only seven."

"Underestimating my training Superman?" Batman challenges.

"No! It just…" I turn to Orin and Oliver. "You understand where I am coming from, right?"

Both nod as Orin adds "Are you sure about this Batman."

"Huntress" Bruce asks, "Do you think you are prepared for this exercise?"

"Absolutely" Helena declares proudly.

"So it's settled" Bruce shrugs.

I yell "No it's…!"


Connor's POV

"So Huntress…how did you come up with that name?" I ask as Helena and I are gathering firewood.

"Mom liked it. Not sure how I feel about it yet…better than Robin I guess" Helena rolls her eyes.

"Why don't you like the name Robin" I ask curiously. Damian was really proud when he took up the mantle, it seemed to be a Wayne family prize. "All your brothers have been Robin."

"Yeah, but I don't really want all the villains in Gotham thinking of me as an annoying little bird who tweets outside your bedroom window and wakes you up at the break of dawn. Plus…the costume doesn't exactly say 'Fear me!' Does it?"

"You do have a point" I laugh.

"How much of this do you think we need" Helena asks as she picks up another large branch.

"Quite a bit" I answer. "At scout camp it felt like we were always out of firewood, no matter how much we collected. We're going to need to keep collecting throughout the entire trip."

Helena shrugs as we approach the campsite "Figured as much."

Starfire and Speedy appear to be almost finished constructing the shelter. It is under some tall trees with giant branches. There is a clearing next to it, where Artur is trying and miserably failing at starting a fire in the pit we made. Helena drops her wood off in the pile her and I have been collecting, then heads over to the shelter to help the other two girls finish. I decide to help Artur.

Throwing my own wood on the stock pile, I call out to him "What's the problem?"

Artur sighs "I cannot get a flame to ignite."

Upon closer inspection, I notice the two sticks he has in his hands. He is rubbing them furiously together. I stop him and say

"Well you're never going to start a fire that way. Didn't your dad teach you?"

Artur gives me an exasperated look "I live in the ocean."

"Oh yeah" I blush at my own stupidity. "Where are the matches? I can start the fire" I state, rearranging the logs and branches in the pit.

"We don't have any."

"What!?"

"Do you think I was doing this for fun" Artur waves the branches he was holding in the air. "If we had matches, this would have been done an hour ago!"

"How are we supposed to do this?"

"You're the boyscout!"

"We haven't learned how to start a fire with just wood yet" I defend myself. "At camp we always had matches."

"Great" Artur sighs defeatedly. "What are we going to do?"

"I…"

Suddenly a green flash zooms from behind me, into the pit. The wood glows green for a second, then a flame pops up in the middle. Artur and I stare at the fire for a second in surprise. Then I call out to the girls

"Thanks Star!"

Mia mumbles to the other girls "This is why women live longer than men."


"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO FISH!?" Mia yells at Helena.

Huntress shrugs "Robin was supposed to teach me. Blame him."

"You said back at base that you had caught a fish!"

"When I was arguing with Robin?"

"YES!"

"Oh" Helena laughs "I was just trying to get under his skin. I didn't really catch a fish that day."

Starfire inquires "I do not understand. You had said that you had caught a fish when your brother was training you."

"I cheated" Helena states simply.

"HOW DO YOU CHEAT AT FISHING?!" Mia yells.

Helena slyly smirks and begins chuckling to herself.

I roll my eyes and cast out another line. Luckily we were allowed some durable thin wire in our survival kits. When I attached it to a long stick I was able to make a fishing pole. So far I have caught two fish; the girls have been bickering over how to catch the fish in the stream with the other pole I made. Apparently the three had only been taught with nice poles in big lakes. Artur refused to join us at the stream, claiming he 'would not participate in the murder of his people!' Drama queen.

"One of you pick up the second pole I made and I'll teach you how to work with it!" I snap at the trio.

The girls stop their arguing and stare at me. After an awkward minute of silence, Kory steps forward and picks up the makeshift pole. I offer her some of the berries I collected earlier, which she graciously accepts. Mia walks away mumbling

"Fishing is boring anyway."

Helena looks between Kory and I, and Mia's retreating form. Eventually she comes up with some sort of decision and chases after her best friend "Hey Mia! Wanna go climb a tree?"

"You have been spending way too much time with Nightwing" Mia calls back to her.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

Again, I roll my eyes. Returning my attention to Kory, I see she has her line in the water. "Move the end into the weeds. Fish generally tend to stay in shadier areas" I instruct as I pop a few berries into my mouth.

Misunderstanding my meaning, Kory dunks the end of her stick into the stream instead of leading her line and hook to where I indicated. "Is this correct?" Kory asks excitedly.

I chuckle, "No, the pole is supposed to stay out of the water."

"Oh!" She jerks on the pole, which flies back and hits me in the face. Since I am kryptonian, it didn't hurt, but the collision did snap the branch in half. "I am sorry!" Kory screams. "I did not mean to…"

"It's fine Star" I say steadily, trying to calm her. "It didn't hurt."

"I am glad!" the redhead cheers before looking around "Where did my fish catcher go?"

Staring at the floating branch moving down the river, I sigh again and tell her "How about you go help Aqualad with the fire, it's probably out by now." It's not a total lie, leaving an Atlantean in charge of a fire probably wasn't the best idea.

Kory frowns "Did I disappoint you Superboy?"

"No! No!" I say quickly, feeling a pang a guilt when seeing her hurt expression. "I just think Aqualad could really use some help."

"Well if you think he requires my assistance" Kory stands up. As she does, the girl steps on the end of the wood I was using as a plate for my berries. The fruit flies into the air and splatters all over me. "I am so sorry!" Kory yelps.

"It's fine" I sigh, wiping berry juice off my face. Pausing, I add "This feels strangely familiar."


"Aqualad…talk to it!" Helena whispers to the neighboring tree in which Artur and Kory are hiding in. Mia, Helena and I are in a different tree just a few feet away.

"I can't talk to bears!" Artur snaps. "I have the ability to communicate with creatures of the sea, not the forest!"

"Well that's useless!" Huntress complains, glaring at the bear who is currently eating his way through our food pile.

"If only I could get to my bow" Mia mumbles. "Then I could just shoot the thing."

"Do not kill the bear!" Kory cries.

"Then what do you suggest we do!?"

"Aqua…tell it to go away!" Helena yells.

"I can't talk to bears!"

"Guy, calm down" I tell the group. "The bear is just eating, he will leave after he runs out of food."

"How is that better!?"

"He's right Speedy" Helena holds her friend back. "Listen to boyscout, the bear will go away eventually. Just give it time. We can always collect more food later."

Mia grumbles something to herself before leaning against the trunk of her tree in defeat. "So how long do you think before he leaves?"

"I don't know…Aqualad! Tell the bear…"

Artur interrupts her "I will dunk you in the stream!"

"Really guys" I chastise. "We are resorting to threats…"

"I'd like to see you try!"


I wouldn't need my powers to hear Helena's teeth chattering. The girl-wonder is shivering next to me from being thrown into the stream. Luckily we had a change of dry clothes for her, but that didn't help her wet hair and the cold breeze.

"Stu…stupid At..atlan…te..tean" Helena chatters.

"You really shouldn't provoke people with powers" I chuckle, putting another log on the fire. I offered to watch the fire as Helena warms up and the other three collect fruit and berries in the forest.

"I ca…can't he..lp it! I..I…It's geneti…tic!"

"Just because your mom used to…"

"For..forget my mom! I…I'm tal…talking about my…my da..dad and bro..ther..thers."

"I guess you are kind of surrounded by it" I smirk. Helena doesn't respond, just sits there shivering. Sitting next to her, I ask "Still cold?"

"I'm…I'm fi..fine" the girl states out of pride.

I roll my eyes and pull Helena in for a hug. At first she resists, but eventually melts into the warmth of the embrace. After a while, her shivering weakens and her teeth stop chattering.

"Thanks" Helena mumbles.

"No problem" I laugh gently. We sit like this quietly for a while until Helena asks

"Hey…Conner?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this."

"Afraid of what your brothers would say?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Cuddling with a Super…I would never live that down."

"What do you bats have against us supers?"

Helena giggles "Nothing, nothing. You are all so whelming…oh my gosh Conner. I have been spending way too much time with Dick."


"It is beautiful up here!" Kori exclaims when she reaches the top of the mountain.

The rest of us catch up within a couple minutes. Surveying the wide landscape of trees, rivers and mountains. I have to agree with alien

"It's amazing."

"Wow" Helena mumbles next to me. Both she and Mia are gasping at the scenery in fascination. It is then that I remember that those two are complete city girls. The only times they have really been outside of their respective cities was to either visit other ones with their mentors or during missions for the Team. This is probably the first time for both where they could actually take time to observe the wilderness while not preoccupied with some other task.

"Strange" Artur comments, also in awe of his surroundings.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is for you Art" I laugh.

"Picked a good trail boyscout" Mia smirks.

"Is this what you do at your camp?" Kori asks.

"Yeah" I answer. "We usually take one or two hikes a day, especially during the summer."

"I can see why" Mia comments.

The five of us sit on a fallen tree trunk. For what feels like hours we soak in the majestic blue mountain scape. Our eyes never tear away from the amazing site. For a while we stay in silence, then eventually ease into a conversation. We tell stories, laugh, and just get to know each other. For the first time all weekend…we feel like a group.

Sure, we all knew each other from before. Mia, Helena and I practically grew up with each other. Artur has visited with his dad every so often over the years. Then when Kory arrived on earth, the League encouraged the four of us to make friends with her so she would feel more comfortable on the planet. But it wasn't until this weekend that we have been together as a group…as a team. Huh…maybe there was a reason Batman wanted all five of us to go on this trip.

I exchange a look with Helena. Doing a sweep of the group then raising my eyebrow at her, I silently ask if she is thinking what I am. Her response is a simple smirk and a wink. I can't help but chuckle…typical Hallie.

The five of us watch the sky slowly start to change from its capturing blue, to a warm pink. The sun begins to hide behind the mountain line.

"When is the League coming to get us?"

"They said at the end of the day" Artur answers.

"Should we begin heading down the hill?" Kory asks. "I thought the man of bat said the League would retrieve us from the campsite."

"Let them wait" I state.

Our small group silently agrees. We all turn back to the fading sun, happy our team has finally been formed.

Hey Everyone! Sorry it has been a while, college has me really busy. I really wanted to introduce you guys to Conner's future team and do another chapter where Conner is a kid, not a baby. So I came up with this. Let me know what you guys think of the team. A lot of you have been asking for a chapter that is when Conner is being transformed into a baby, that is not going to be just one chapter but multiple ones. I have a few ideas of how to present that. If you all are really nice, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible (It will be about Dinah and M'gann). Thanks for reading!

Love Shortiethegiraffe