Part 3: Wading

1.

Gotham City

August 22, 22:22 UTC

High above the streets of the crime ridden city known as Gotham, loud huffs escaped into the air from an overly dry mouth. Legs ran as fast as they could, which just wasn't fast enough, as they carried a body over the roofs of buildings, across scaffolds, over alleyway gaps, and around large vents or air conditioner units. The moon shone brightly in the sky overhead with shallow puddles from a light rain earlier lay still until a Nike shoe landed in its middle. Trash and fecal matter from areal animals were stomped on or kicked aside as a young man with skin as dark as the night raced away from a ringing burglar alarm several blocks behind him with a bag of money, lotto tickets, and twinkies dangling from his clutched fist.

Approaching the ledge of a building, the man stopped just shy of falling five stories to the bottom of an alley and mentally measured the distance to the next building ahead of him. A quick measurement had him guessing it was around four yards across. It was an easy leap for someone who used to participate in the long jump field event in high school; however, that was ten years and fifty pounds ago.

Jogging a few feet back where he came, the man tied the end of his loot bag to his belt and bounced on his feet a few times before taking off in a sprint. It didn't take him long to run the ten feet he allowed himself as a runway and once he reached the ledge, he took a flying leap into the air, and immediately dropped like a stone halfway across the gap. His knee had given out and his lungs were devoid of breath, making his initial takeoff useless.

He knew this was it. He knew there was no way he would see morning or hook up with that chick he met at a club last night where he got her phone number. The ground was coming up fast. It would cause his body to splatter over the concrete like a dropped hot pocket. He was almost to the street, almost to the point where he would no longer need the money and other things he's stolen when something jerked him backwards and slammed him into the brick wall.

A large shadow formed over the alley as the thief hung over the trash filled passage, a rope with a bat shaped grappling device around his ankle kept him from falling. As his entire body froze from being so close to death, a lithe figure in black and gray landed on a nearby fire escape and watched as he slowly spun while swinging back and forth.

"Didn't I catch you the other week? Batgirl asked as she pulled extra rope from her utility belt. "Yeah, I'm sure I did. You were the one who was going around breaking parking meters and stealing the change. You really need to get a real job."

The thief just groaned as the blood rushed to his head. Within three minutes, he was closer to street level and tied to a light pole with a note pinned to his shirt. The Batsignal was adorned on the top of the paper with a quick note explaining he was the one who just robbed a gas station several minutes ago. Already, the sound of police sirens could be heard on their way to pick him up as Batgirl watched him from the top of a neighboring building.

"Fancy meeting you here," came a voice from behind her.

Usually her training would have her flinging a Bat-A-Rang while diving out of the way, if it weren't for the familiar sound of the person landing behind her that is. "Had fun watching? There's a word for that, you know."

"Protective?"

"Voyeur." Turning away from the criminal on the sidewalk, since the police were there, Batgirl crossed her arms and leaned to the side with a hip sticking out to her right. "You're ten minutes late, Wing."

Flipping off of an air conditioner unit, Nightwing crossed his arms and leaned against it. "Better late than never."

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" Letting out a sigh, the feminine bat reached into a pouch on her belt and produced a copy of the flash drive she had been studying. "I've finally got through all the extras and found the raw data about you know who, which is why I wanted to meet with you outside of Watchtower."

"He's not in Watchtower tonight. He was having dinner with M'gann and Gar at their new apartment then heading to the Kent farm."

"Still…" She walked over to him and handed over the flash drive. "It's up to you if you want to tell him or not. Superboy, Conner, Project KR…Supey, whatever you want to call him, is an incomplete clone of Superman and Lex Luthor."

"Incomplete?" Nightwing repeated as he stood up. "How so?"

"Short version, you original three freed him from his pod prematurely. He was not supposed to be released for another seventeen weeks, which would make him thirty three years old, the same age the DNA sample from Superman was obtained."

Looking at the silver memory stick, Nightwing rubbed his thumb over it several times. "Does…does that mean he was supposed to get all of Superman's…"

"No," Batgirl told him. "He can never gain full Kryptonian powers. He can never fly or have heat vision or be as strong as Superman, although he does grow stronger the longer he's exposed to our sun like Superman. He also does indeed age."

"I know. He looks exactly the same since we first met him but it's all internal."

"Look closer. He's gotten taller, bigger, more muscular, lean muscles, but he's gotten more of a built than even when I met him."

"You look at him that close?"

"I may be a bat, but the word 'girl' does imply something."

"Like when you looked at me?" Flashing his most debonair grin, Nightwing enjoyed it when Batgirl developed a grin herself. "So how fast does he age?"

"About one month per year, though his size makes it easy for him to fit in with the college crowd. It's also impossible to anticipate his lifespan."

"So he ages, slowly…what else did you find?"

Walking up to her partner in crime fighting, she crossed her arms over her chest again. "He's a Genomorph as you know. His strength, invulnerability, infrared vision, they come from his Kryptonian half. His human side negates the others, which is why he was also labeled as a failed experiment. But the part that is a Genomorph, those creatures you reported running into at Cadmus, once he was aged to around twenty one years, he was going to enter into stage three of his development and gain something to make up for all he lacks. I don't know what it is, but it's called TTK. There's no explanation what that is so for all we know, it could be anything."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze once she saw the expression he had, something they all had learned to do from years of partnering. "I know what you're thinking. This is just one more thing added to your plate you don't need, but you have to make a decision to tell him or not. I would have gone to Aqualad first but he's been busy training Lagoon Boy in Atlantis and Superboy doesn't know me as well as you. He deserves to know."

Going over the information he was privy to, Nightwing let out a sigh and stared into Batgirl's eyes. "Sometimes, I wish things were like when this team first formed."

"Things change, Wing. Unless you're going to change them for the better yourself somehow, you have no choice but to go with it." Looking the former boy wonder over, Batgirl sighed, knowing what else he was thinking about. "So, what has the world's second greatest detective been up to?"

"Still searching for Wally. Though Batman said I should help here in the meantime and look after Star."

"Star?"

"Starfire. Then he'll help me with finding Wally."

A sympathetic look crossed Batgirl's eyes. "Wing, I hate to break it to you, but this obsession with finding Wally, it's consumed you. There are other pressing matters we need to deal with like the sudden disappearance of Intergang and the remaining members of The Light. Ra's is out, Brain and Black Manta have been captured, and-"

"It hasn't consumed me."

"Yes it has. I know you loved him. You two were as close as brothers. I just don't want to see you go mad grasping onto false hope like you have been."

"B…atgirl, it's not false hope," Nightwing said as he all but got in her face and nearly called her by her real name. "I had Zatanna go over samples I took from the area Wally was in. She didn't find anything."

"That's my point. Wally's gone. There's nothing left of him."

"No, it's because he's still alive. Zee said if someone dies, truly dies, they leave behind a spiritual presence and we know science states all matter cannot be created or destroyed. There was no evidence he was ever there to begin with. She could only pick up on Barry, Bart, and the Reach tech so that only means one thing."

"Wing, please," Batgirl said as she gently shook her head, "Wally's gone. The only evidence of him existing is the baby Artemis is carrying."

"No…it's not." A smile crept up on Nightwing's face like he had seen some immaculate being he had been searching for. "Remember what we found out about the chrysalis the Reach's tech was creating? It uses Zeta energy. Zeta…energy. Don't you understand? We use Zeta beams to travel from point to point across the world."

"But you need two points of contact between the beams in order for that to work, what's your point?"

"My point is, Wally didn't die. Flash and Impulse saw him disappear, not die. He was struck by Zeta beams and transported somewhere, possibly someplace off world since we haven't heard from him."

"Wing, you know how crazy that sounds?"

"Stranger things have happened, B."

"But think about it," Batgirl placed both hands on his shoulders to get him to see things her way. She was beyond worried for her friend with what was becoming an obsession. "The Reach tech used Zeta energy to form the chrysalis, not transport. What you're suggesting is impossible. It would be like…like…a paraplegic flying. It's not gonna happen."

Taking her hands in his, Nightwing gave them a light squeeze. "Batgirl, we live in a world with aliens, shape shifters, clones, sentient robots, mer-people, and more. Why can't you give this the benefit of a doubt?"

Taking her hands back, Batgirl backed up a step. "Fine, I'll try. But there are just some things you just have to accept."

A moment of silence occurred between them as they stared at each other. This was the first time they felt the chill in the air since donning their gear for a night time patrol. "Ever wonder what would have happened if things were different between us?"

"What?" Batgirl was a little taken back by the sudden change in topic.

"It's something I've been thinking about lately."

"Since the alien chick almost sucked out your tonsils?"

"Since Artemis and Wally."

Shaking her head, Batgirl took a step back and pulled out her grapple launcher. "You were the one who dated me as Dick and dated Zatanna as Robin. Seeing the boy wonder on TV with a gorgeous brunette, getting dumped by you, and never knowing you were the one I was with until I put on the cowl, trust isn't the only thing that can be broken. She may still be your friend, but I can't help but see you as anything more than a partner."

Taking her leave, Batgirl fired her grapple over to a building's ledge and zipped over to it, leaving Nightwing behind. She didn't bother looking back as she continued her patrol where she would meet up with Robin and Batman later.

"If only I could hate you, I would, Dick, she muttered to herself. "I just don't understand why I can't."

Smallville – Kent Farm

August 22, 23:59 UTC

Recognize, Superboy, B Zero Four.

The voice of the new Zeta Tube within the barn of the Kent farm alerted Wolf and Sphere to the arrival of Conner. The bright light that once blinded the animal in the darkness faded out as the Kryptonian hybrid slid a wooden panel to the side and came into view. The Venom enhanced animal went to him, waiting to be acknowledged as its master put the panel back in place, making it look like a storage room with a faux lock snapping into place to keep it closed.

"Hey, boy," Conner said as he rubbed the top of Wolf's head. "Brought you back something." Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out a tinfoil wrapped bundle and took its contents out. "Hope you like bar-b-que."

Wolf eagerly took the left over rib bones and began to crunch them as Sphere rolled up beside them. She let out a few beeps as Conner ran his hand over her metal shell before making his way to a wooden ladder as he took his leather coat off. As he hung his garment on a nail and took out a ziplock bag full of snicker doodles from his pocket M'gann had given him, the sound of feet shuffling came from the darkness near the entrance to the chicken coup.

"About time you got home," Pa Kent said as he closed the door to where the chickens roosted. "Ma and I thought you would stay out all night this time."

"Lost track of time." Even in the dimly light barn, Conner could see the old man's white hair and wrinkled skin. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Neighbors called a few minutes ago. They've sighted foxes in the area and I came out to check on the chickens. Gotta prevent dinner form getting eaten before it can make breakfast. By the way, your friend Nightwing stopped by after I came out here. You just missed him."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Conner asked as he climbed the ladder to the second story of the barn. Once on top, he untied his boots and placed them near a couch Clark had once carried up there when he was a teen.

"He said he wanted to talk with you about something whenever you're free. I told him you were still with Megan and Garfield." Watching the clone of Clark ready himself for bed, Jonathan Kent Scratched the back of his neck. It seemed all the Kents, by blood, adoption, or cloned, shared that same trait. "You and her, reminds me of Martha and I. Clark has Lois to abrasively keep him in line, completely different from how Martha treated me when we were young. And the Martian keeps you calm."

"And your point being?"

"You once asked me if you were a fool for still having feelings for her. I thought about it and can't help but come to the conclusion you apparently have already made." Jonathan paced slightly around Wolf as he enjoyed his bones. "Martha once betrayed me. She kissed another man at a barn dance and I caught her. She apologized repeatedly and told me if she could take it back, she would since she didn't want to lose me. It took some time before I could trust her again but she kept trying to make me see how sorry she was. Granted what she did was not as extreme in attempting to make you forget about how Megan used her powers, but I doubt you would want to be around her period if you truly didn't care for her after that."

Looking up, the elder Kent saw Conner sitting on the edge of his bed as he soaked in everything he was told. "I'm not going to lie, it's not in us to do so, but some people will call what you're doing asinine. But you forgiving her and working it out shows how much you still care for her, how much of a man you are, and how much character you have. It's easy to run away, Conner. It doesn't take anything to give up and leave. It takes real strength to stay and work things out or fight for what you want before determining if it's the right to leave or not. Just remember, she may have broken the trust between you two, but you're the only one who can determine if it's fully repaired or not. I was lucky enough to find that out after giving Martha a second chance."

Before Conner could say anything in response, Jonathan was already heading out of the barn. "Do me a favor, since you prefer to sleep in the barn, run off any foxes if any should come in here. With your better hearing, it shouldn't be a problem for you. Oh, and one more thing, Martha says shave. The woman never liked seeing her boys unkempt."

Sitting on the edge of his bed, which was by the large square opening of the upstairs and overlooking the large field of grain to the east, Conner went over all that was told to him, except the part about shaving, when Wolf leapt up to the second story.

"I don't suppose you're here to add to what Pa said, are you?"

The white furred animal stared at him for a moment then took its place at the edge of the wide opening where he lay down for the night. A long, deep yawn came from the animal a moment before he lay his head down.

"Can't argue with that." Tossing his shirt to the floor but not bothering to change out of his jeans, Conner folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. He wondered what Nightwing wanted to tell him as he drifted to sleep and hoped it wasn't another mission involving ocean water. Even after all this time, he swore he could still smell the salt water in his nose.