"Rob... TIM! Please! Don't do this! I can't protect you if you go." Conner gasped in anguish and perceived loss.
"Who ever said I need you to protect me?" Robin replied in a scathing voice that he never meant nor intended.
"But..." Superboy gulped the words "the last time... I almost lost you." The pain of last summer returned to his eyes; and Robin felt for his concern. But when Timothy Drake, the protege of Batman himself, had made up his mind, nothing could turn him away. Could love turn him from this path? It was for love that he did this.
"Conner. I know you must think me more fragile because I am neither a meta nor Gods-gifted." Robin stated softly as his hand stroked Conner's strong and handsome face. "But with only a shard of Kryptonite, you might be brought down as easily as any mortal. I was taught by Batman, and surely you must appreciate that. Even Kal-El and Diana treat him with respect and deference."
"But Tim, if you do this you will be alone." Conner gasped in worry and trepidation. "How will I be able to protect you?"
"Kon... I will be with good men and Bruce trained me well... don't worry." Robin said with a determination and certainty that belied his youth.
After a deep and longing kiss, the young lovers part and Robin flies away, the stealth Bat-Wing carrying him far away from his home, his family... and his love.
Reviewing his mission parameters, Robin awaits a hidden carrier signal from a group of special operatives... deep inside the borders of Bialya, to lead him to the hidden landing zone.
Open warfare has not been declared; only the League and certain proactive elements of the military have been involved. Robin, being near the same age of many young soldiers, with an identity as hidden as Batman's, was asked to take on the mission to find the connection between Bialya and The Reach. Batman himself was no happier than Superboy, but he knew that Timothy had the best chance of completing the mission. He'd lost one adopted son already and was not inclined to lose another.
His task is to link up with a particular special operations group, reconnoiter the location where they believe the meetings between Queen Zazzala and The Reach have taken place, gather what intelligence they can, and escape to safety. Safety being a hazy term at best. To prevent warfare between countries, neither open military forces nor the League could aid overtly. Robin would have to rely upon his own skills, and those of the special operations men he worked with.
Superboy paces the training room of Mount Justice, a place that can withstand his frustation better than other areas of the young heroes' headquarters. The walls are decorated with new dents and a lead-stuffed punching bag lies in ruins on the floor; none holding up to Superboy's discomfiture.. His reverie is only interrupted by the soft slap of webbed feet on the floor, asaKaldhur walks up behind Superboy and lays a hand on his broad tense shoulder.
"We all worry for him. I hope you know that. We began this as a team, but have become a family. But only he can accomplish this mission; and it might save many lives if it succeeds."
"I don't care about those other lives, not if it means... That's not true. Sorry." Kon chokes.
"No, you don't." Aqualad reasons, "And neither do any of us, not compared to the life of one that we all love... one of our own. But neither are we so villianous that we would punish an oppressed people for the actions of a few who dominate them. But do you put so little faith in Robin that you fear for his return simply because you cannot be there to protect him? But, if it is any comfort to you, Bialya wants him to come home safely, whether they know it or not. For if not, YOU will lead us into that place and we will visit our vengeance on that land and it's oppressors."
Kaldhur was always the calmest and wisest of the team, but hearing the concern and love and vengeance in his words, Superboy was somewhat settled.
Soft steps intruded on the two young men sharing their concern, a lean yellow and red dressed lad walked into the training room.
"Hey SB." Wally greeted softly, laying a hand on Conner's strong shoulder. Worry etched itself across his handsome face.
"Any word from Robin?" He asked hopefully.
"No. Batman is a closed-lipped as ever. I thought we had an understanding. But he tells me nothing." Superboy gripes in dismay.
"Maybe it is because he does not know anything new either." Kon hears in the distance as M'Gann floats slowly across the training room toward the friends. "Othwerwise empty words would just be that... empty. He is like a father to Robin. Do you think he worries less?"
"He could show some emotion then." Superboy complains, confusion writing itself across his face.
"And show weakness to those he means to inspire and lead?"
The words of wisdom which he would normally expect from Kaldhur, rather than M'Gann, are a hard pill for Kon to swallow... because she is right. But she does not have to intrude upon a mind to feel the emotions in those she fought alongside.
"Kon." A new voice greets softly, yet with steel in her voice. With her bow gripped tightly in her left hand she walks across the training room floor to the rest of the friends. As her eyes met Kon's, he was comforted by the strength which held her bow and the firmness in her eyes. She spoke no words, no pithy comment, yet her quiet presence spoke volumes.
The young heroes gathered around Superboy sharing their love and concern for both him and Robin. With a burst of air, a pair of small arms wrap themselves around Conner's waist, Bart's cheek pressed against his chest and tears dripped down the adorable lad's face. Superboy reached down an arm around Bart's shoulders and pulled him in tighter.
Though they could not help but worry for Robin, Superboy knew he was not alone. Yet he nonetheless began to worry...
Did Robin feel he had to prove himself after his near death at the CADMUS cave? Such things made people do foolhardy things. But Con could understand the need to prove oneself.
The Team left Conner with warm embraces and what comforting comforting words they could contrive, while he vented the remainder of his frustrations on what was left of the training room. Drained of his angst, Kon trudged through the mountain to the common room, hoping to maybe lose himself in some television for a short while.
Curled up on the couch of the Mountains asleep, Impulse whimpered softly:
"Robin."
Moved by Bart's concern and love, Conner squeezed himself on the couch behind him and pulled him into his arms and whispered.
"It's okay, buddy... he'll come home soon."
"Promise?" Bart asked as he woke and rolled over in Kon's arms, his big amber eyes asked for comfort.
"Robin would never leave us." Conner assured Bart, hoping he had not lied. He couldn't help but think how nice it would be to live out his years with Robin, curled up holding their own loving son.
"Shhh, go back to sleep." Conner whispered as he ran his strong fingers gently through Bart's soft auburn hair. Bart laid his head back down on Conner's arm like a pillow, quiet tears flowing from Impulse's closed eyes onto Superboy's arm.
Superboy drifted into contemplation as he held the young speedster. It has only been a short time that he and Robin had been dating (yet having dreamt of each other at a distance for some time); and though they had not had the chance to share their love since that first time in the cave, their hearts had grown closer and closer together. And then the newest addition to the team, the cute and precocious little Impulse had attached themselves to them... almost like the beginning of a family.
Being a clone, Conner had not given much thought to fate, faith, or afterlife. He had wondered at having a "soul," but not thought at things beyond that. Not that he was by any means a simpleton. Quite the contrary, his CADMUS education and the mental capacity permitted by his genetics made for a brilliant mind. It simply lacked experience to apply the knowledge that he indeed had. But his life had been so immediate up to this point. For the first time he wondered that if there was anything sacred, like deities, and if they would be so cruel as to bring he and Tim together, add to that the affection of their little friend, and then so swiftly take it away.
Still holding Bart in his arms, like a boy might hold his favourite teddy bear, Conner drifts away, letting the comforting warmth of the boy seep into his chest and relax his heart if only for a moment.
It has been four weeks now, since Robin left for his mission in Bialya. Superboy lay on Robin's bed in Mount Justice, clutching his hoodie and smelling his scent. His only comfort is that when he concentrates very hard he can still hear Robin's heartbeat very ver far off.
Laying there, clutching his concern in his hands with Tim's shirt, he concentrates on hearing his heartbeat... far, far away.
thump, thump... thump, thump... thump, thump...
The last time he concentrated so deeply on his heartbeat, he almost lost him.
thump, thump... thump...thump...thump
The pace of the heartbeat increases fast and pulses furiously.
thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...
"ROBIN!" Superboy jumps to his feet and cries out in concern as he barrels out of Robin's room heading out of the mountain.
"Nightwing B-08"
The Zeta-tube announces Nightwing's arrival just as Superboy is about to transport himself as far east as it will take him to find his birdy.
"Kon, we have made contact. Come with me... please." Dick says with a firm hand on Kon's shoulder. The hand both invites him and prevents him from flying to Robin, so deep is it's touch.
"Lambert, you and Stevens flank to the left. Get over them on that ridge!... Brooks, hold here. I'm going in..."
Static breaks up the remainder of the transmission.
Nightwing has brought Superboy to the Batcave, where Batman is monitoring the mission in Bialya with the assistance of ORACLE. His cowl is pulled back, and the older man's handsome face is deeply seamed with lines of concern, but the eyes show nothing. It is a measure of his strength and love that he can force himself to be calm for his foster-son.
"I thought you would want to be here for this, Superboy... and... it was the only way to keep you from doing anything unadvisable." Batman states, a bare look of appreciation glances his way before the calculating glare returns.
Batman and Nightwing return to monitoring the radio transmissions that Oracle has hacked while Superboy paces behind them, the dark, cold dread of the Batcave seeping into his mind.
"Stevens... they're coming your way. Hold there!...We're coming!"
The sound of weapons fire and distant explosions echo through the hacked radio transmissions. Only hearing the voice of his beloved Robin gives Superboy any comfort, and it was a small comfort at that. This was no villian causing mayhem in Gotham, nor a conspiracy of some secret society... this was war. Plain and simple. Superboy had to listen to it in all it's horrid detail.
"Draper!... Lucas is down!... MEDIC!"
Days and nights monitoring the radios, the Bat-family is on edge. Radio transmissions have been sporadic at best after they heard the frantic cry for a medic. Nightwing had settled Kon onto a cot in the corner of the Batcave, fallen into a deep sleep, exhaustion and concern having taken it's toll.
With a nudge and shove, Superboy is awoken from his catatonic state.
"Kent... Drake's asking for you." Damian states softly. At least this time he didn't call him 'Clone'.
Robin had returned during the night and sat on the gurney in the medical area of the Batcave, Alfred seeing to his needs. Every few seconds he took another drag on the cigarette shaking loosely in his left hand, while his right toyed with a small metal object. Wearing a black and khaki uniform and body armour, and his signature mask replaced by narrow desert goggles, he looked every part of a desert soldier.
"The mission was a success." Robin said softly, bitterness and loss dripping from every word. His eyes held a long stare, as though looking back to something he could not tear his view from.
"We got the information we and the League needed."
Rushing to his lover, Superboy stops short, seeing the haunted look in his bird's face. He takes the last couple of steps slowly and reaches out his hands to Robin to hold him. Robin looks up to his eyes, and drops the item he had held in his hand into Superboy's hand with a tinny 'clink'.
Dog tags.
"We didn't all come home." Robin said hollowly. His first exercise in leadership, and Robin had lost a comrade-in-arms.
"Why did you have to go do this, Tim?" Conner asked.
"Why? Do you think we are the only ones who are fighting? We aren't!" Robin said sharply. More sharplythan he wiuld have intended.
"Its too easy to forget that. We get the press and front pages of magazines. But these guys don't and yet they still go and do what must be done. We inspire them, and we don't even know them."
"Oh, Tim! I never realised." Conner said in understanding.
"No. Neither did I until now. This guy... the one who's tags you have in your hand, he deduced my identity. He believed in us and what we do to keep his home safe. He kept my secret, and I could not keep him... alive. You know Kon, some people call us heroes. But those guys really are. No press, no powers, no fanfare. Only their own courage and dedication"
Robin slid off the gurney, dropped the butt of his cigarette onto the cave floor and stamped it out with his foot. His brief habit having ended as soon as it had begun.
He stood upon the doorstep of the apartment with a very heavy heart... carrying a burden that none could share. Timothy Drake... hero, student, erstwhile soldier had travelled 600 miles to pay this visit. His hand shook slightly as he pressed the doorbell. The door was answered by a young man, short and very lean, with handsome brown eyes and dark brown hair. A look of loss and sadness was echoed in his red-rimmed eyes, like a joy he could never forget had been ripped from him.
"Can I help you?" The forlorn young man asked.
"Yes. Perhaps you can. I'm Alvin... Alvin Draper. I was on the mission with your boyfriend." Robin's normally stoic voice cracked slightly with emotion; and hating that he was forced by necessity to use a false identity, especially during such an emotionally important and painful task.
"I'm Andreas Lucas, but obviously you know that. Come in please." Just as the young man held out his hand to shake Robin's, the Boy Wonder set the young fallen soldier's dog tags in his hand and wrapped his fingers around them, holding his hand for a second.
"Please come in, Alvin." the young man spoke again, confirming the invitation... his voice heavy with grief.
"Keith spoke of you in his last letter. I'm glad he made you as a friend." He looks down to his hand holding the dog tags, the dull tin of the tag contrasting with the gleam of a white gold band on his finger, feeling his loss so very keenly. Robin thought for a moment what it would feel like to wear such a ring on his own finger and know the man who put it there would never be back to hold that hand again. The very thought was more than he could bear and his own tears began to gather itself within the sadness clouding his blue eyes.
They sat down on the living room couch in the simple but pleasant apartment. "Please tell me it mattered... that it was worth it." The lad's voice choked. His eyes sought him for answers.
"Yes... it did." Robin's throat quaking with the words. "Andy, because of his actions, we may have averted a war that might have cost many more lives. I, for one, will never forget him and will honour his memory. Keith was my friend, even if for only a short time. He was a hero, just like you read about in the newspaper."
Tim's eyes were drawn to a framed photo resting on the coffee table. It featured two young men, Keith in a handsome uniform and Andy in a dashing tuxedo. Their wedding photo. The last of his facade broke away and the newly widowed youth broke down, laid his head against Robin's shoulders, and wept deeply and fearlessly while Tim held him and let Andreas cry himself out. Though they had only met, Tim was Andy's only connection to his beloved's last moments.
After a few minutes, Tim worked himself loose from Andreas' clutches, stepped into the adjoining kitched and rummaged through the cupboards for things to make tea.
Pressing a cup of tea into Andy's hands, Tim sits back down next to him seeing the lost young man had placed his husband's chain around his own neck, the tags hanging just over his heart.
Tim and Andy sat and talked for some time. Once assured that he had done the right thing and had done what he could, Tim rose and began to work his way out. Saying their farewells with a handshake and a hug, Tim pressed a slip of paper into Andy's hand.
"Andy, if you need anything or just want to talk please call. I'd like to keep in touch."
Some time later, Timothy walks down the street leaving behind a stricken and lonely young man. Turning a corner, he finds Kon waiting for him. Conner silently gathers him up and flies him away, taking him away from the Team, the League, away from missions, away from everything. He takes him to a quiet place where they can be alone together and give his sorrowful little bird some comfort... Smallville, Kansas.
Ma and Pa Kent had raised one superhero, were working on another, and have been acquainted with many more. They had even begun acting as impromptu Den-Mother and Den-Father to the Team. But they knew for a certainty when something was amiss, especially where Tim and Kon were concerned. Pa sent them off to the barn loft, having long been Conner's own place of relaxation and reflection. Ma quietly came up the steps, cringing at each squeek on the old planks, and set two plates of pie on a side table.
With a kiss on Robin's cheek, Ma Kent said: "If you boys need anything, please just come and ask. We're here for you." And she just as quietly left the boys to themselves.
"What's with the tags, Tim?" Conner asked curiously, after having enough time in quiet thought together that he can satisfy his curiosity.
"Its a soldier's identity. It's a symbol. It tells who he is. When he gives them to someone, he is giving of himself."
Then Robin reaches under the neck of his shirt, and pulls out another set of dog tags. The same he wore to Bialya as part of his assumed identity. He leans forward and loops the chain around Connor's neck, the tags resting over his large, kind heart. The clone meta's eyes grow wide in understanding of the depth of the gesture. Maybe Fate had turned a kind eye to the young lovers. Conner snatches Tim into a tight needy hug, his lips latching desperately onto Tim's.
"I love you too." Kon finally says after releasing a panting Tim.
"Kon... let's not do this forever, okay?"
Superboy's shattered look belies the strength he has tried to give Robin since he has returned home.
"No, you big lug." Tim says with a small laugh, realizing how he could be misunderstood. He takes Conner's smooth strong hands in his own smaller, calloused hands and looks into his eyes. Kon takes comfort in the laugh. So much has happened in such a short time that if Tim can still laugh then he'll be fine.
"I mean let's not do THIS... the Mission... forever. For now we have to. But we can pass it on to others when the time comes. Maybe someday just be Tim and Kon?"
"I'd like that Timmy."
"Keep that up and I'll start calling you Connie." Tim jokes with a playful shove at Conner.
They might have given in to fear, but rather than darkening their hearts, the recent events, like those of the previous year, have given them a greater appreciation of one another and an increased love of life.
"Hey Kon, this is such a great place to get away and rest. Do you think Ma and Pa would let us have a weekend here with the Team this Summer. Just get away from the Mission, the cities, and the stress? Swimming in the lake, sleeping under the stars, and cooking out every meal? I think we could all use it and they have been so good to us and its something we could do for them; and plenty of room for Bart to run about like an idiot."
"He missed you too, you know... real bad." Conner said cautiously.
"I know. We'll make it up to him real soon. He's such a nice kid, even if a bit hyper."
Kon's eyes rolled at the understatement.
"Yeah, I think Ma and Pa would be glad to let us all get away here. You're right. we could all use the break."
As the young couple lay in each others arms on the couch of Conner's barn loft, Tim has succumbed to the stresses of the day and fallen to sleep. Conner lay on his back on the couch, Tim nestled in the crook of his clone's arm, his head resting on his chest. As Conner's senses drink in the aroma of Tim's hair, his other hand reaches up to his own chest, feeling Tim's dog tags lying over his heart under his t-shirt. Conner has learned how to dream now. Maybe one day he can return the favour with something equally special.
Quiet feet work their way up each step of the barn loft. Stepping softly over to the couch, a silent figure looks down on the sleeping boyfriends. Stepping to the side, an old chest is opened by the silent figure as he pulls out a large limp object.
Pa Kent shakes the carefully folded quilt loose and lays it across the teens, tucking it around their shoulders.
"Sleep well boys."
This story has been dedicated from the beginning to my own "Superboy." This chapter, however, is dedicated to others in particular. You know who you are. Thank You!
