I kind of wanted to expand on Superboy's character a little bit; I also considered that I haven't had many conversations where RC (clone-Robin) has had a chance to talk. This chapter's kind of... well, I wouldn't call it fluff, but pretty close. R&R, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice

The night was so cool, so calm. The sky was filled with hundreds of stars; clone-Robin could barely remember the last time he'd seen stars. They were always blotted out by something: the mission, the smog, the ceiling. It occurred to him that he'd actually never seen stars; the real Robin had.

He sighed, lying down on the towel, closing his eyes as the sound of the waves blotted out his thoughts. The real Robin was taking the shift in Gotham tonight, and the clone had finished his training and homework.

Sometimes, it was nice just to imagine that he was real; that his entire life had been real, lived through his eyes and not the other Robin's. He was kidding himself, though.

The big question still lies in wait; what would the League do with them?

They were too kind to simply 'dispose' of them; it would be some drawn out plan, an impossible mission. Part of the clone somewhat hoped that they would erase his memories, maybe even de-age him. He could grow up then; live like a normal boy. His… no, Robin's life had always been so abnormal…

"It's cold outside."

Robin flinched, though he had heard the Krytonian approach. "You know what they call this in Gotham? August."

Connor stood beside him, watching the boy's face with his cold eyes. "M'gann said you were feeling… negative."

Robin laughed coldly, sitting up. "Makes sense."

Connor shuffled his feet awkwardly. "She asked me to… ask you if you needed to talk."

Robin glanced at Connor. "Don't worry, I'll save you the sob story."

Connor set his jaw and nodded. They were silent, staring up at the night sky. Connor watched the moon, the stars, dreaming of a world beyond that… "You weren't there the first night I was outside."

"I heard about it."

"Not from me."

Robin shrugged. "Might be a good time for a story."

Connor watched the moon intently. "When you… that is, the other Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad… when they helped me escape, they promised to show me the moon. I was kind of disappointed at first, to tell you the truth; it wasn't as big as I thought it would be. But then I saw Superman. And he was so… amazing. The weird thing is… it didn't even cross my mind that I was considered his son… I was his clone, practically his younger brother. But nobody else saw it that way.

"At first, I was just awestruck; I mean, the man standing before me… I would become that someday. I could, was meant to be…

"You're lucky, you know… at least Cadmus did you the favor of implanting Robin's memories… The only thing Superman and I had in common was our powers, and even then I'm inferior."

There was silence for a long time; clone-Robin wondered what it would be like if he was raised to replace Robin without memories… He couldn't imagine how hard it was for Superboy. Still, though, the Kryptonian was strong enough to not let his feelings show.

"Ever wonder what's beyond the stars, Robin?"

Surprised, Robin looked out at the night sky. "Just a lot of boiling masses of plasma, a few underdeveloped planets, and empty space."

"You're wrong." Robin was startled as Connor's voice was lined with steel. "There are worlds out there, places with other creatures and other living beings. Who knows? Maybe some are just like us."

Robin shrugged. "It's possible; unlikely, but possible."

Connor half-grinned. "You know, this universe is crazy enough. If a Martian and a Kryptonian can get together, maybe there's an alien girl out there for you."

Robin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like that's going to happen."

Connor tore his eyes from the sky for a moment, fixing his cold gaze on the boy. "Why don't you ever… imagine?"

"Because I live in the real world."

"Superheroes don't have to live in the real world, Robin."

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because once upon a time, someone murdered my parents, okay, Connor? They didn't do anything wrong, and some stupid, wannabe mobster just went and murdered them. So I grew up. I grew up to survive. Because that's the only way to survive in this world; to get real and come back down to Earth."

Robin sighed and continued. "The thing that really sucks, though, is knowing… they weren't my parents. I can see their faces, sometimes hear their voices, but I know I never met them. They're just ghosts… ghosts in stolen memories. That's why you're lucky, Connor; you don't have to worry about mistakes or regrets that Superman has."

Superboy looked back up at the sky, feeling a twinge of pain that he concealed well. "At least you had parents. Maybe they weren't yours, but you have them in your memories, even if they are copyrighted."

Robin looked back up at the sky, staring at the moon. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "You ever just… watch the moon? Like you're afraid that if you blink, nothing would have happened? It was all a dream, a simulation… and you'll wake up in your pod any minute?"

"Yeah… all the time," Connor replied thoughtfully.