To everyone who reads this, you have my undying gratitude and admiration. Thank you so much for sticking with me and my writing; you have no idea how much it means to me. I would send you all cookies and teddy bears if I could, as my sappy way of saying thank you. :)

So it is with some hesitation that I present my first attempt at writing Megan and Conner. I hope it turned out alright, but if it didn't, please let me know what didn't work so I can correct it. The quote for this chapter is Aristotle, the rating is K and I don't own anything related to Young Justice or DC. The only character I claim is Nora because she is of my own creation.

Chapter 9

Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil. - Aristotle

Robin had never witnessed an argument that occurred only via telepathy, but as the saying goes, there really is a first time for everything.

Conner and Megan were in the kitchen one night getting something to eat after the two of them, Robin and Kaldur had returned from an assignment. What began as Conner asking Megan to hand him a fork from the drawer next to her erupted into complete and total… silence. Megan used her telepathy to open the drawer and levitate a fork into Conner's waiting hand, and when Robin entered the kitchen looking for a quick snack, Megan's concentration wavered and she bent the fork so severely it was nearly unrecognizable as an eating utensil.

Robin backed out of the kitchen at once and flattened himself against the wall when he saw Conner's jaw set and his face turn red- both signs of his trademark volcanic eruption of rage. He sent Kaldur and Wally a text, saying only 'There's something rotten in the state of Denmark.' Kaldur promptly replied, asking what was wrong and Wally replied a moment later, saying he didn't care about Robin's British Lit homework because he was working on his physics take-home test and trying to study for his upcoming English Lit exam next week at the same time and he was absolutely starving since he hadn't had a chance to get up and..

Robin stared at his phone for a moment, shaking his head and marveling at Wally's talent for rambling in a text message. He replied to Kaldur and tucked the device into his pocket, peering into the kitchen again as the total lack of a knock-down, drag-out argument made him incredibly uneasy. Megan was leaning on the island in the center of the room, her arms crossed and facing the living room. Conner had his hands on the counter and his eyes shut tightly, breathing through his nose. While any other person would assume they were giving each other the silent treatment, Robin knew they were likely screaming at each other inside their heads. And the thought of them both being so angry at anybody, let along each other, upset him. As someone who cherished his privacy, he chose to continue his retreat down the hallway toward the zeta tubes to head back to Gotham.

When he heard Robin's footsteps fade away, Conner walked around the counter and went to sit on the couch. Knowing M'gann was aware of everything he thought at the moment, he and focused instead on their assignment earlier instead of the real issue he was concerned about. He pictured their suspect, a creature they'd apprehended and suspected was behind the destruction of research facility in Virginia, and how neither Robin nor Aqualad could get any information out of it. Then he mentally replayed his own turn at interrogating it, even his more aggressive style not working.

"Conner, just let me explain," M'gann pleaded.

Conner continued thinking about what he saw next, how she had entered the room and put a gentle hand on his arm, nodding toward the door. He joined Robin and Aqualad just outside the room, leaving the door open slightly so he could see. What he saw next had scared him.

She approached the creature and stood about two feet in front of the chair where it was restrained. Relaxing her shoulders, she dropped her arms to her sides and extended her fingers. She tilted her chin down so she was looking directly in its face. Immediately the creature tensed and tried to look away from her, but since it was tied down there was nothing it could do. Whatever she was doing was causing obvious and severe discomfort, since the creature howled and gnashed its teeth.

He looked at M'gann, then around her at the creature, seeing it writhe in pain. Her hands flew to her temples as if to steady herself and he noticed her start to tremble. But before he could do anything, their suspect went limp in the chair and she stumbled to the side, bracing herself against the wall for support.

"He's not here to do any harm," she said wearily. "He was just here to take back something NASA took from them during their last mission."

"Which was?" Robin asked.

"He wouldn't say what it was, only that he destroyed it and only wants to leave." She turned to face the three of them. "And I believe him." She looked at Conner and noticed he was still staring at the creature.

"What did you do to it?" He knelt in front of it and untied it, but when moved to tilt its head up it flinched and scurried away from him. "M'Gann, what did you do?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "Nothing that would hurt him, anyway. He wouldn't let go of the information we needed, so I... I made him let go."

"M'gann," Aqualad began. Robin cut him off.

"Let's take him back to where we found him so he can go home. I'm sure after tonight he won't want to come back." He looked pointedly at Megan and held his hands up, palms outward, and moved toward the creature to help it stand.

"Conner, it's not what you think."

He startled when her voice inside his head brought him back to the present.

"Then what was it?"

"We needed to find out why he was here and what he was doing. And obviously Robin, Aqualad and you couldn't get him to say anything, so I..."

Conner stood and turned to face her, his expression no longer angry. Just... hurt.

"You telepathically tortured him, M'Gann. When he couldn't talk, you mentally beat it out of him."

"But I didn't hurt him, Conner, not that badly, anyway. And if it's not permanent and we got what we needed, what's the problem?" She shrugged and hopped up on the counter, folding her hands in her lap. "I don't understand why you're mad at me. You use force all the time to help the Team on assignments..."

His jaw dropped slightly and he paused, his thoughts racing so quickly she winced. "You're saying I'm some big brute who only uses his strength to get the job done, at whatever the cost? When have I ever run the risk of permanently injuring someone, or worse, killing someone, M'Gann? When I have to use my strength, it's in defense of myself or of others. I have never used it like you used your telepathy tonight."

They both looked up when Kaldur entered the kitchen. He noticed the tension immediately. "I'm interrupting something, aren't I?" When neither of them said anything, he nodded. "I am. I apologize. I'll see you tomorrow then, as I'm returning to Atlantis to visit Tula." He looked at both of them one more time before he turned and left. When he was to the zeta tube, he removed a phone from a waterproof pocket of his vest and sent a text message back to Robin.

You were right. Argument via telepathy.

A moment later, a quiet beep with Robin's reply. Thought so. You think it's about what happened earlier?

Kaldur glanced back toward the kitchen and sighed. He looked down at the screen and sent one more message. Most likely, yes. And if anyone can get through to her, it's Conner.

"So you're allowed to use all of your powers and I'm not?" Megan asked. "How is that fair?"

He shook his head and for the first time since they got back to the cave, he looked her in the eye. "That's not what I'm saying, M'Gann. You can use your powers, but you have to be able to control them. Have you forgotten what happened on that training exercise when you couldn't control your strength?"

She didn't answer at first and Conner could feel her hesitation and confusion. "But that was different, Conner. That didn't actually happen."

"That doesn't change the fact that it felt real- our teammates dying around us. Until that point you didn't even know you could do any of that. What makes you think you know everything about what you can do now?"

She opened her mouth to speak aloud, but immediately closed it and narrowed her eyes. "What do you know about self-control?" As soon as she said it, her hands flew to her mouth and covered it in shock.

Conner didn't physically react, but she felt the way he mentally flinched and it tore her apart. He closed his eyes and turned away from her.

"Conner, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Get out of my head. I don't want to talk anymore." His voice was quiet, barely audible even from just a few feet away, but the tone was unmistakable. When Megan didn't sever the connection, he looked over his shoulder at her. "I said, get out."

She broke the connection and when he was sure she wasn't still lurking around, he left the room.

What have I done? she wondered. She thought about what she had done to that creature, its anguished screams echoing in her head, and she felt the guilt she had ignored until now settle in her chest. She glanced at the fork she'd mangled into a knot of stainless steel earlier. Levitating it to her hand, she studied it more closely and attempted to bend it back into its proper shape. But no matter how hard she tried, it still didn't look right- it remained slightly distorted. She thought about the creature again but this time, she considered what might have happened had she been interrupted. She would have injured it further, or worse, killed it.

She would find Conner and apologize later, but first she needed to talk to J'onn.

Conner knew the last place anyone would look for him would be Gotham, so after his fight with M'gann, that's exactly where he went. He found a quiet place to sit atop a bluff overlooking the Sprang River. While the view of Arkham Asylum wasn't exactly scenic, the only sounds he heard were the wind whistling through the trees behind him and the soft 'thud' of Robin's boots hitting the ground to his left.

"That didn't take long."

"I would have been here sooner, but we had a disturbance in the sewer systems that needed to be addressed." Robin sat down next to him, crossing his ankles and leaning back on his hands.

"Heavy, or not so heavy on the dis?"

Robin laughed. "Good question. I'd say it was 'not so heavy'. More of a nuisance, really."

"Do I even want to know?" Conner asked, still staring out over the water.

"Not really, no. Something tells me you're not into reptiles, anyway."

"Yeah, they're right up there with monkeys."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Conner had the nerve to ask Robin how much he knew about the argument he'd had with M'gann earlier.

"I don't know a lot, other than it likely had something to do with what she did during her interrogation earlier." Robin paused and looked at him. "What happened?"

Conner didn't answer and continued staring at the buildings of Arkham, watching the lights go out one by one, darkness enveloping the island.

"After what she did, I'm questioning everything I know about her," he said quietly. "She had no remorse over what she did. She could have killed that thing and she doesn't think what she did was wrong. How can she not see it?"

Robin studied him from the corner of his eye. "When you asked her about it, what did she say?"

"She compared what she did to how I use my strength. But they aren't the same thing." He shifted so he faced Robin. "I mean, I know I get angry, but I would never torture someone."

Robin felt there was more to the story, but he didn't push. "And you think that's what she did?"

"You saw what happened after she went in there, I know you did. Whatever she did caused it a lot of pain." He picked up a rock and crumbled it in his hand, watching the dust swirl in the breeze. "You of all people know what torture looks like, Robin. You work in Gotham."

Robin nodded in agreement. "Point taken. But knowing Miss M, I can understand why she would think she wasn't doing anything wrong. We all use our abilities to get the job done, but we've learned how to control everything and we've spent a lot of time training. She hasn't."

"So you're saying what she did is okay?"

"No, not at all. It was the exact opposite of being okay. But everyone makes mistakes. It's how we learn. But do me a favor, okay?"

"What?"

"One of the many things Nora taught me was that everybody deserves a second chance, especially the people you love and those who love you. Don't shut her out. At least not until you two have talked about this."

Conner's mind wandered back to the day he followed Robin to the cemetery when he went to visit Nora. Although he didn't fully understand what regret felt like, if it felt like anything Robin was going through at that time, he never wanted to find out. They watched a tugboat below them slowly make its way upriver, a few minutes passing with neither of them saying a word. They were staring out over the bluff when Robin's earpiece beeped.

"Robin to Batman, what is it?"

Conner focused on the water below and the sounds of a tugboat. He didn't want to eavesdrop.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Robin stood and shook the dirt from his cape. "I've gotta run. But I'll be here if you need me and I hope you two can work things out."

Conner glanced up at Robin just in time to catch a glimpse of his cape as he disappeared into the night. Once again he was alone.

Maybe he was better off that way.

Nearly a week passed before the entire group assembled at the cave to prepare for an assignment. After everyone was given tasks, they split up into smaller groups to plan. Wally, Conner and Artemis were standing next to the flat-screen monitor, plotting the route they would take later.

"So what's going on with you and Megan?" Wally asked. "She won't even look at you. You two have your first fight?" Artemis smacked his shoulder and scowled at him. "What? I don't like seeing Megalicious so unhappy. What's wrong with that?" Wally rubbed his arm, slightly surprised at how hard she'd hit him.

Before Conner could say anything, Artemis spoke. "Ever think about the possibility she did something to hurt him?" she asked, sparing a glance at Conner. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Conner said, looking at Artemis, then at Wally. "Can we get back to work?"

Artemis and Wally made eye contact before turning back to the map, Artemis shrugging one shoulder. They hadn't been on the last assignment, but whatever happened that night had made things tense and awkward between Megan and Conner. To complicate things, Robin wouldn't say what happened. Neither of them even bothered to ask Kaldur because he wouldn't say anything, either.

Conner could feel M'gann watching his every move and it was difficult to pretend he didn't notice. He really wanted to talk to her, but he had no idea what to say or how to deal with the way their argument ended. He wasn't exactly ignoring her, but every spare minute he'd had was spent outside the cave. He looked up and studied the map one more time, frowning in concentration. He barely felt the tap on his shoulder.

"Wally, your handwriting is terrible. I can't even read.."

He froze at the sound of Megan's voice in his head. The pen he was holding dropped to the floor and his fingers met slender green ones when he bent to pick it up.

"Conner? Can I talk to you?"

"Uh, sure."

"Can we go outside?"

All he could manage was a nod and he followed her down the hall. Once they were out on the beach, she spoke.

"I'm sorry for what I said, for the whole self-control thing. I didn't mean any of it but I was so confused and angry and I just blurted it out." She wrung her hands together, making no effort to hide how nervous she was. Conner stood there for a few seconds with his hands shoved in his pockets, staring down at the sand. "Conner, talk to me. Please?"

"I don't know what to say, M'gann. I know you didn't mean what you said and I forgive you for saying it, but it still hurt."

She nodded and a single tear slid down her cheek. "I understand, but imagine what it felt like to hear you say you didn't trust me. You were thinking I was some kind of monster or something. A freak."

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "I was trying to hide those thoughts because I didn't actually believe them. But at the same time, I couldn't help but think about it, because what I saw you do scared me." When he opened his eyes, she was staring out at the water. Her arms were crossed defensively over her chest and she didn't try to keep the ocean air from blowing her hair across her face.

"You aren't a freak or a monster, M'gann. While those are the thoughts you may have seen in my head, you know deep down that's not how I feel about you. What you're capable of doing is incredible, but you need more practice so you can use your gifts the way you know you should." He brushed her hair back from her face, his knuckles hesitating along her cheek. She still didn't look at him.

"I thought I was helping, I thought what I did was right. The three of you hadn't been able to get anything useful from that thing and I knew I could." She looked up at him. "I didn't even realize what I'd done until you showed me later that night, I didn't know I'd hurt it like that." She blinked and the tears she'd been holding back spilled onto her cheeks. "I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry."

Conner stepped in front of her, unsure of what to do. Of the many things Superman had taught him, comforting a girlfriend in tears definitely wasn't one of them, so he did the only thing that came to mind. He opened his arms and when she stepped into them, he hugged her tightly. And as much as he wanted to believe her, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he had that this wouldn't be the last time they would have this conversation. He stared out into the water, rubbing circles on M'gann's back.

"I know. I am, too."