It's been a month since Robin and Superboy completed their mission in Rhelasia; and longer since Bart's terrible injury. Nonetheless, the unlikely little family now had new challenges facing them. He had started late, due to his wounds, but it could not be put off any longer. It's not as though he would really learn anything, since he had memorized the content of several libraries, but Robin and Superboy thought it would be necessary for normalization and socialization… It was time for Bart to start high school.
"Tim… does he have to go so soon?" Conner asked looking pleadingly at his boyfriend, having become spoiling and loving in his protectiveness. "He already knows more than any college professor."
"I know Kon, but shouldn't we help him have something that neither of us did, a normal childhood? I never really had the chance, and you had no chance at all. Don't worry, I do enough of that already. We just finished high school last year, and now are raising a kid who is just starting. It's a huge responsibility. I want to do it right. There's no denying his strengths, that's for sure. He has a lot of courage too. But he doesn't have the responsibility of looking after a city or working a farm while dodging evil Kryptonian clones. He gets to be more normal if we let him."
"I know, but he's always nice to have around and he's so loving and smart. It'll be a bit empty here."
"Kon, its only during the day and you know that. Besides, he's a human kid, not our teddy bear; and we have to do right by him"
"Maybe he's both, Tim. You can't deny how he's made out lives better."
"Of course he has. But this is important and we both know it."
The following weekend the young heroes embark on the terrible trial known as "school shopping." Timothy and Conner decided on a store where they could take Bart and get him most of his clothes and supplies. The Bullseye store was the obvious option. None of the clothing there was too off the wall. They could pretty much let Bart buy whatever he wanted and it couldn't get too far from good taste and in keeping with Madison High School's dress code; and they had all the school supplies the boy would need.
Bart was practically vibrating with excitement. Though Conner was full of misgivings, Bart was really looking forward to going to school. He kept talking about making friends, sports and clubs he could get involved in, and social events he could attend. It seemed to be a higher priority than his education. But considering this was the boy who had memorized the entire content of the Happy Harbor Public Library that was understandable. In his short time here, his only friends had been the people on the Team and he had not had a chance for normalcy and maybe his brush with death had made him want to experience more of a regular kid's life.
Bart reached out each hand to take Tim and Kon's hands, he practically dragged the young heroes into the store. He started school in two days and he wanted to get ready. He hardly had to drag Conner. Kon always regressed a few years and started to boil with excitement anytime they did something domestic with their little friend. But Tim, ever the planned out and controlled one, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a carefully prepared list of things they needed.
"Okay, let's start with the school supplies and get that out of the way, then we can take our time with the clothes." He said as he pulled a cart from the rack at the front of the store.
"Can I see the list?" Bart asks manically. Tim starts to hand the list over, when it suddenly disappears from his hand along with the cart and Bart himself.
"Kon, we need to have a talk with him about doing that out of uniform in public." Tim said to a proud and grinning clone.
"It'll be okay, the speedsters always tend to be pretty public, you know."
"Yeah, but he could start putting suspicions on us and we're not in Central City where the speedsters are public and well known."
At that moment, Bart reappears with his list and a cart half full of all manner of notebooks, paper, pens, and every other item on the list of school supplies, mostly with superhero logos. The young speedster stands there with an innocent grin and even the pragmatic Tim can hardly bring himself to reign in the kid's enthusiasm.
"You know, Kon, maybe with all the logos and fan-gear and his obvious hyperactivity, everyone will think he's a fanboy with ADHD and not give it a second thought. Maybe like hiding in plain sight?" Robin reasons.
"Maybe so, Tim. I've heard worse theories." Kon answers.
"Now let's get you some new clothes. But Bart, you can't run off like that while we do this. You have to try things on and make sure they get hung back up and you don't want to draw too much attention, okay?" Tim says.
"Okay, Uncle Tim. I'm sorry." But the look of fun and excitement in his eyes was infectious and even Tim couldn't be too perturbed.
As they head down the aisle toward the boys' clothing department, Bart spots an Elkstar's coffee kiosk. Conner starts to feel a vibration in the smaller hand in his as he pulls the clone to the aroma of coffee and chocolate.
"Tim… Kon? Can I have a cappuccino?" A look of fright flashes across Tim's face as he considers the result of an already hyperactive boy on a strong dose of caffeine and chocolate, and then settles on a compromise.
Walking up to the counter, Tim asks the attractive barista: "Can you make a decaf cappuccino?"
"Yes sir, we can. What size would you like?" The girl asks.
"Three larges please."
As the young lady finishes preparing the coffees, Bart in a fit of gentlemanliness picks up each cup and hands one to Tim, and then Conner, and waits patiently for his own. Tim sees the change in character and realizes the boy is laying the charm on the girl pretty thick. As he picks up his coffee, he lays his amber eyes on the girl and says:
"Thank you very much, ma'am."
"You're welcome." She says, entirely charmed. "Keep an eye on your cute little brother there. He's going to start breaking nice girls' hearts before long."
"Someone's heart." Conner responds with a grin… "And their wallet too, probably." Tim finishes as he pays their bill and leaves a nice tip.
"Little brother?" Bart asks no one in particular as his grin swallows his face. Being called the little brother to Superboy and Robin had just made his day. "And she said I was cute!"
"Okay Casanova, reign it in some." Conner says in a laugh, delighted at the irony of it all.
As they make their way to the boys' clothing department, they almost immediately come to the conclusion that Bart wasn't going to opt for conservative khaki slacks and polo shirts like Tim would have for school. But Tim went to a private school and didn't have the choice, Bart did and he was dead set on "expressing himself."
Heading for the jeans, Tim and Kon guess at sizes and pull out four pair for Bart to try on, and snag a couple of shirts on the way to the dressing room.
"Shirts are easy, but the pants you have to try on to make sure they fit, so put these on and let us see them. We'll be right out here."
Bart ducks into the changing room and comes out a moment later in a pair of blue jeans and striped button-down shirt, looking very sharp.
"Nice, kiddo! You like them?" Conner asked.
"It's okay, but it's just not… NOW! You know? It's not crash." Bart says.
"Well, go pick yourself out something you like and let's see it then." Tim says with no small amount of concern. There was no telling what the boy would pick out. Waiting patiently while Bart ran off to find himself an outfit, the two young men hung off to the side finishing their coffee while other shoppers came and went through the clothing department. The little speedster returns a moment later with an armload of clothes.
"I'll be right out." He says as he ducks into the changing room. Stepping out mere moments later, the thin boy saunters into the aisle displaying his new fashion sense. Above a pair of chunky high-top sneakers, he sports a pair of low-riding skinny jeans rolled up over the top of the shoes. Above that, a blue torso hugging hooded t-shirt that shows off his slender abs.
With a slight twirl he asks: "How does this look?" Just as another boy who had been looking over the clothes trips over a display and almost falls with a whimper, having tried to not look too obvious as he eyeballed Bart.
"Never mind. Its perfect I'll take it." Bart says with a sly grin having caught the other boy check him out; and proceeds to saunter off and gather up several more similar outfits.
"Uh oh." Conner says. "Tim, we might be needing to have a talk."
"Nope… no we don't." Tim says in absolute denial.
Timothy and Conner had to admit, they had never seen a kid so excited to start school as Bart was. Granted, he had not had much of a normal life, even since having dropped himself off in the 21st century.
"So, little buddy… have you thought about any clubs or sports you want to join in school?" Conner asks. Kon was a tall strapping young man and had played football in high school, but he was hardly your typical jock. He was far too smart and sensitive to fall into that category. But he did want their young ward to find activities that would help him make friends and leave him positive memories of his high school years. But Bart was pretty small and skinny, not really fit for most sports.
"Well, I thought about running track, but that's kinda obvious; and you said I should keep my skills a little more secret." Bart responds thoughtfully as he considers his options.
"Its not that you should be ashamed of your powers, by no means. But the less people know, the less likely you are to attract bad guys. That's why Batman doesn't want me traipsing across the sky in Gotham. It might attract even worse criminals than they already have. If you were to be public about your powers, some bad guy might take apart half your school to get to you and hurt a lot of kids; and that's something none of us want, right? What would have happened if we had been at a Metropolis Meteors game when Match attacked you? A lot of innocent people might have gotten hurt."
"No Uncle Kon, you're right. I never thought of it that way." Bart says with a little trepidation. He was still a little scared after Match had hurt him so badly, made worse because he looked just like one of his best friends who would never hurt him. He still had bad dreams about it sometimes, but was smart enough to not let it make him afraid of Conner. Even though they had the same face, Bart knew that Conner loved him and would never hurt him.
"You know, maybe I'll try out for the swim team. It's not as obvious as track and I think I would really enjoy it." Bart says with some excitement.
"That's a good idea. You might even get to go out of town once in a while for swim meets and make friends at other schools. Why don't you go tell Tim what you decided." Conner says in a bit of happy pride. Bart darts off across the house to find Tim in his study, who is intensely pounding away at his computer.
"Tim… hey Tim! Timmy!" Bart babbles spastically.
"One second Bart, I need to get this done. Let me find a stopping point and you can tell me what's got you so worked up."
Tim pounds away on his computer while Bart looks over his shoulder in curiosity. Seeing his name and other information on the computer screen, Bart interjects:
"I wasn't born in 2002. April 3 is right, but not the year. It's more like 2981."
"I know, Bart, but this is your first excursion into public life and to get you to school you have to have a birth certificate. Of course you will use your real name, Bart Allen." Tim explains.
"Can I be Bart Drake-Kent?" Bart asks.
Tim stops cold in his typing, a wistful smile on his face.
"But Bart, if we ever have kids of our own how will you be the super-awesome Uncle Bart? Besides, we love you for YOU and you shouldn't give up your own identity for us."
"Love you too, Timmy!" Bart says as he wraps his arms around Tim's neck in a hug.
With a melting heart and a flurry of fingers, Tim finishes his work of manipulating state and federal databases to insert Bart's identity and prints off a copy of his 'birth certificate' for the school.
"So, what were you so eager to tell me, Bart?"
"Kon thought I should get involved in sports or clubs and stuff at school; and asked me what I might like and I decided on something, since track would be too obvious and easy."
"And what did you decide on." Tim asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Swimming! I'll be fast enough at it, but the physics of water will probably get in the way of my speed so it'll be less like cheating."
"That's a good idea. I'm glad you're thinking of good sportsmanship and challenging yourself too… unless you get Kaldur to train you."
"Thanks Tim! That's a great idea!" Bart shrieks.
"Think before you speak next time, Timmy-boy." Tim thinks to himself. Still, it would be a challenge for the boy.
Bart's first day at school turned out better than Tim or Kon would have expected. Though he was small, thin, and somewhat fey, the boy was on the cutting edge of music and fashion and made friends easily and wasn't bullied or pestered. His only complaint was stupid teachers; and Kon had to tell him to remember that they weren't recipients of as much information as he was. Nonetheless, Bart still had to do his homework every day and turn in every assignment, which was almost always perfect. He tried out for the swim team, having not practiced at all for. He was trying to not be obvious. He came in as third fastest. The coach said he had lots of potential, but lacked technique. Next week he would start asking Kaldur for advice and pointers on their weekends at Mount Justice.
Walking through the mountain the following Saturday, Kon and Bart headed for Kaldur's room. Bart was as affectionate as ever, but he had matured some and was less likely to latch on to Tim and Kon like he used to; and was not as likely to hold their hands and drag them everywhere he went. Kon missed that at first, but was proud of how Bart was growing up in such a short span. For a moment he wondered, not for the first time, if that was what it felt like to be a dad.
After a characteristic Bart-knock, which sounded more like a machine-gun going off, they hear a cultured voice from beyond Kaldur's door.
"Yes, come in."
The Clone and speedster step lightly through the doorway into Kaldur's personal room. "Hey Kaldur." Kon greets his friend with a handshake, then gives a slight push to Bart, encouraging him.
"Good to see you Connor. How can I be of service to you two?" He asks having spotted the nudge.
"Kaldur… I… wonder if you could train me… in swimming." Bart asked nervously.
"You mean that you think just because I come from Atlantis that I would be the best one to teach you to swim better?" Kaldur asks in false shock.
"Well, yeah."
"Well, you are quite correct. I would be glad too." Kaldur answers with a smile. "Meet me in an hour on the beach outside."
"Crash! Thanks Kaldur!" Bart exclaims. "Bye Kon, gotta get ready." And Bart disappears from the room in a rush of displaced air and excitement.
"Thanks Kaldur, this means a lot to him." Kon said to his normally stoic friend.
"Perhaps, but knowing this boy it will come with some sort of repercussion. He is 'impulsive' you know."
"I've never noticed." Kon replies with a smirk.
"Robin's going to kill me for this." Kaldur thinks trepidatiously.