All We Know Of Love
Chapter Four: Star Sapphire
"Superboy of Earth, you have experienced great loss. We have come to make you whole again, to make you one of our own. Welcome to the Star Sapphires."
He feels the familiar tug of a psychic in his head and desperately tries to fight it off. But it's futile as memories come unbidden to the forefront.
"Superboy, you live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon or a person, the choice is yours, but ask yourself, "What would Superman do"?"
"We'll, uh, we'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean."
"Think Superman knows I'm here?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure..I'm sure he knows."
"We don't yet know the limits of your powers."
"Well, maybe you could, you know, help me figure that out."
"Batman's got that covered."
"I know, but-"
"Sorry, Superboy, duty calls."
"Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads."
"I'm Supergirl."
Superboy feels pinpricks behind his eyes as every glare, dismissal, promise of improvement comes flashing forward in his head. He sees he really was delusional to ever have thought Superman would have seen as anything but a weapon.
"Why are you showing me this?" He asks the ring, doing his best to not have his voice shake.
"You have experienced great loss," the voice of the ring repeats. "And you can only experience it through the act of great love. Buried underneath all this anger and sadness, you have a kind, loving soul that's been hurt, Superboy. That's why the Star Sapphires have chosen you to be our champion. So that you can open your heart to love again."
The words appear on Superboy's tongue without prompt.
"For hearts long lost and full of fright,
For those alone in blackest night,
Accept our ring and join our fight,
Love conquers all—with violet light!"
Superboy—Star Sapphire spends the next few days practicing with the ring.
The broken glass costs him the room, leaving Superboy to keep moving over the next few days, his meals the tasteless rations he had stolen from the league. Hiding out in warehouse, underpasses and bridges. His invulnerability protecting him the elements of outside.
But all of that is insignificant to one important fact.
He can fly.
No one on the team understood what Superboy felt when he realized he lacked the ability. He dreamt of flying every day he was in the pod, it was a part of him. And when he stepped out and felt the cruel touch of gravity, he felt like a limb had been cut off.
He practiced as hard as he could to fly, M'gann had tried her best to help. But every time, the earth would bring him down. Chaining him to the ground.
But the violet ring on his finger had broken those, and he feels whole as he drifts between clouds underneath the bright moon.
The celestial body reminds him of freedom, of Wally, of his team. And his chest aches at what they're doing now. With their new team member. He pictures her batting that bright, wide smile at his team and instantly being accepted as quickly as she was by Superman. After all Supergirl wasn't a clone like him. Supergirl wasn't angry all the time. Supergirl wasn't wading through every social interaction blind because they had no idea what to say.
'Supergirl can fly without needing a ring.' His toxic internal voice adds spitefully.
Superboy manages to ignore that voice this time. He already knows the answer why that was. And it wasn't helpful. Superman was there teaching her all the things he had said Superboy didn't need to be taught. Clones don't deserve to fly it seems according to Superman.
But this ring said he was.
It picked him. Not Supergirl, not Superman. Not anyone else.
It picked him.
And he knows it might just be because of pity. But its something that his alone.
He experiments with the ring daily. The voice of the ring had gone utterly silent after he received it. Using what little he knew of the green lanterns to make his way with the ring. The purple lantern in his duffle feels weighty and he knows at least that will recharge his ring when it runs out.
Some features work instinctively, the ring grants him a purple aura that improves what super strength he has to at least as strong Superman and gives him flight. Constructs elude him no matter how hard he wills them into existence. But he can at least shoot beams of violet light from his ring.
He finds the most useful power on accident, when he turns into the night beneath a underpass during a miserable thunderstorm.
He wishes for a brief moment that he could be somewhere sunny and bright far away from the rain and the ring obeys.
A giant gaping portal of purple energy appears before him. He steps cautiously towards it and instantly the sun is high up in the air, the cement under his feet is replaced with hot sand.
He learns later the ring has transported him from Gateway City to Honolulu in the blink of an eye. And he practices a few more times over the days, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, he even manages the moon before returning to the warm island.
With the ring he doesn't have to worry about the league appearing on his shoulder or the barriers that he has with the lack of identity. He's not as fast as Superman or Flash. But with this ability…
He is free.
Clark is more tired than he's ever been. Being drained by Parasite feels like a mercy compared to the constant exhaustion that's ached his body since news of Superboy's disappearance.
He checks hospitals, soup kitchens, group homes, homeless shelters, any place that a teenage runaway might go daily. Spreading his web all across the country. He spends his nights crawling the streets for any villain who would love to brag about capturing a baby kryptonian.
Silence.
He digs through Superboy's room in the midst of the sidekicks' glares for any hint of where his clone would gone. But his room is so barren Clark wouldn't have known anyone lives there if it wasn't for his clothing.
Normally as a last resort he'd be able to track someone by the sound of their heartbeat.
But he didn't know Superboy's.
Taking a break from days of searching in the Watchtower cafeteria, he only has a few minutes of solitude before Batman enters the room. The dark knight takes a seat beside him
"Wonder Woman and Flash are looking through Cadmus in case they might have a idea of where he is. And we're stretching the search to non-leaguers," Batman says, sliding a photo the Kryptonian. "Blue Beetle, Icon, Ice, Fire, Plastic-Man and everyone else we can think of have received a copy of his photo."
The photo of Superboy is less a photo and more a capture from the mountain's video feed. He's not looking anywhere near the camera frowning at something just off screen with his arms crossed.
"Couldn't find a better picture?" Superman asks.
"He wasn't fond of photos," Batman says, before adding, "mirrors either. I wonder why?"
Clark's chest clenches like a vice at that sentence. But he pushes on. "Can't Zatara track him down?"
"If he was magical, sure." Batman says. "Black Canary and Red Tornado were hoping you had something that can track kryptonians in that fortress of yours."
Clark shook his head. He barely knew how fortress worked on most days. Much less use it to track someone down. The fortress might take it as a order to eliminate him knowing his luck.
He stares at the photo for several minutes in silence, Batman staring at him impassively.
"What's his name?" Superman asks finally. "I would have asked Dinah, Red or the kids but it looks like I'm not their favorite person right now."
"No, really?"
"Bruce!"
Batman leans into his chair and takes a large exhale as he rubs his temple. "He doesn't have one. We didn't make a identity for him yet."
"B-But it's been months." The league didn't normally make mistakes this large. How could they ignore something so vital for someone under their care? "How could be not have a name?"
"He doesn't leave the mountain outside of missions. Everyone he ever interacted with knows he's Superboy. And we weren't sure if he was ready to be enrolled in a school yet. So it's been on the back burner. "
"A school!" There was no way he was ready for a school. How could they be so reckless, Superboy barely knew how to use his powers. He barely could control himself at sixteen with years of experience. Superboy would be completely out of his depth in a place as emotionally taxing as a highschool.
"Honestly," Bruce says. "We were waiting for you. We didn't think it was right for any of us to name your kid without you. It's why no one stepped up as a mentor full time for him either. We were waiting for you to finally get your head out of your ass."
"He's not-" Clark stops the sentence in its track. There was no point in getting into this fight again. This isn't helping find Superboy.
But it was painting a picture. A rather pitiful one. The barren room, trapped at the base when not on the job, the lack of a name or any form of socialization outside the kids who all had full lives outside of him. Mentors they could turn to while he had pale facsimiles. Superboy had been given practically nothing. And then had to see him give all that to Supergirl over night.
No wonder he—
Of course he would—
Clark cups his face into heads and sighs,"We all fucked up with that boy."
Their communicators go off and Wonder Woman's panicked voice comes in.
"Wonder Woman to base, Wonder Woman to base. Attention all leaguers. Find and contain Red Arrow. It's a matter of league security. He's to be considered armed and dangerous."
Kaldur frowns as Red Tornado orders the team on lockdown on the mountain until further notice, delaying their mission in Bialya. The rest of his team already on edge with Superboy's disappearance.
Kaldur has spent weeks replaying the argument to see what he could have changed. He should have disagreed with Canary, and tell Superboy's the existence of Supergirl. He didn't want to hurt his friend. But all he wound up doing was betraying whatever trust he built with his teammate.
Normally Superboy would come yelling, screaming. All rage and fists. Desperate to hurt something as much as he was hurt. His heart on his sleeve. That the team could deal with. They could work with that and be able to talk him through.
The silence they had received since that night was deafening.
In the best case scenario, Superboy didn't they were worth confronting after that fight, which is devastating.
In the worst…
Kaldur didn't like to think of that. His friend was safe and alive.
He had to be.
Most of the team had scattered splitting up in their search for the clone with their mentors. Leaving the mountain uncharacteristically empty over the past few weeks. This mission to be their first reunion in ages.
He skims his teammates and takes the delay as a blessing in disguise.
M'gann looks like she's about to burst into tears. Her crush on Superboy was obvious to anyone with a pulse. And her normally viridescent skin became a washed out green.
Their newest teammate Artemis' attraction was less obvious. And to Kaldur was the embodiment of skin deep. Yet her affection for the kryptonian was real. Isolating herself on of the love seats, she looked less frail than the Martian. But he could see her long hair was matted and she was ready to snap at the next person who spoke to her.
Wally, usually the life of the room was quiet and sullen. Sitting on the couch beside his crush M'gann, he barely acknowledged her. His eyes distant and unfocused.
Robin had kept himself busy going through the league's computers ever since Superboy vanished. Doing his best to track the boy down. And even know was keeping himself busy with the mountain's systems searching for any clue that he may have missed.
The talk of Supergirl joining the team never comes up from their mentors. And Kaldur counts his blessings. The kryptonian girl had quickly become a unwitting scapegoat for what happened between them and Superboy. And any mention of her name had quickly become forbidden. He doubted anyone on the team would accept her joining them. Not as long as Superboy was missing.
"Recognize: Zatara: 1-1. Captain Marvel 1-5."
Red Tornado walks towards the duo and they whisper in quiet tones that Kaldur that couldn't hear. When they finish, Zatara turns his attention to the Zeta Tube console and types rapidly.
"Access granted: Zatanna: A-0-3."
A black haired girl in a purple top and white capris materializes and Zatara walks over to her.
"Team, this is my daughter, Zatanna," the magician introduces to the dour team. "She will be staying with you and Captain Marvel for the next few hours."
"What's going on?" Robin demands.
But Zatara ignores him, turning his attention to his daughter instead. "Be good," Zatara says, kissing the girl on the cheek.
Red Tornado and Zatara leave, leaving Captain Marvel behind. And instantly the entire team pounces on him for information.
"What's going on?"
"Did you find Supey?"
"Are they okay?"
As the superhero is bombarded with questions he waves them away.
"In order: I don't know, no and I don't know." Captain Marvel says gently, separating himself from the group of heroes. The normally jovial hero is uncharacteristically stern. "Your mentors will tell you what's going on in a bit. Just stay here for a bit until we get things cleared up."
The lack of answers sucks the sails out of the team. And they sink back into their seats, tired and miserable.
Zatanna skims over the team, noticing their sad expressions and says, "Yeesh, did someone die in here?"
But no one answers her, leading to her open displeasure.
Kaldur walks up to her and says politely, "We apologize that we're not the best of company at the moment. Our friend is missing."
"I'm sorry." Zatanna apologizes sincerely. "I should have noticed one of you guys were missing. Supergirl should be here too, right?"
Wally slams his hand on the coffee table in response, shattering the glass and cutting himself. Immediately shocking the room and forcing M'gann into action as she goes to fetch the first aid kit.
"Supergirl will never belong here," Wally says, his expression dark while his hand bleeds openly on the floor. M'gann returns and starts to bandage the wound but Wally ignores her to turn his attention directly to Zatanna. "She'll never be on this team as long as I'm around. She's not taking his place."
Lex skims the report Mercy drops on his desk and frowns.
"It seems Mr. Harper has been liberated from Cadmus," Lex says.
"What do you plan to do, Sir?" Mercy asks.
Lex leans back in his chair. The Red Arrow clone had lost his only purpose as a infiltrator into the league. Any commands in his head likely already erased by Martian Manhunter.
But this is why pencils have erasers. His connection to Cadmus was buried through legions of shell companies. Even the league would need years of digging to find anything. And the clone's handler was Sportsmaster. A villain with long established ties to the League of Shadows.
The only troublesome was the real Roy. He might be able to ID him since he had been snooping around his companies during his capture. He can hear Klarion's nagging voice now. The Witch Boy had been adamant to get rid of the real deal as soon as he was copied. And Lex had pushed him aside to continue his experiments.
After all without the boy, he would not have been able to make his super clone.
Speaking of Superboy, it seemed that the Cadmus raid has been in search of his wayward son. He knew his relationship with Superman was fraught but to see it devolve to this…
The new kryptonian girl must have pushed him over the edge.
He could use this.
Grabbing his fatherbox from his desk, Lex casually locates the boy to Hawaii. And a plan starts to form.
"Call Vandal, we'll need to move some things around to take care of Mr. Harper. And get us ready for a surprise inspection to our Hawaii branch."
"Yes, sir."
"Let's get my boy back."
Please comment. Every word brings me joy.
Notes:
update: fixed some spelling and grammar issues that I didn't catch. Updated the tags with the ship and the characters that will be appearing.
It took several months in the YJ timeline to name Superboy. And I felt really irritated that it was treated so dismissively and with so little care. You name the kids under your care JL. You name them immediately .
I like Black Canary. I love her relationship with Superboy. But it's a lot more distant than fandom thinks it is it.
For one thing she trains the teens solely physically not emotionally until Disordered. Superboy's first therapy lesson is from Hugo Strange in Terrors. So emotionally Superboy's a complete mess that no adult has properly sat down and talked to. Every time Superboy mentions Canary before Disordered, it's to explain how she taught him a new move. Confirming it's only physical training. Superboy canonically doesn't have a substantial emotional relationship with any adult leaguer.
Superboy's hatred for mirrors come from the tie in comic. Where M'gann reveals Superboy doesn't keep them in his quarters to Superman because he can't stand his own appearance.
And Lex will be coming to take advantage of all these issues soon.
Match isn't in Cadmus. I love Match. But he muddles this story of Clark and Superboy too much for my liking. So he's been quietly relocated.
As the aged up character tag implies S2, S3 and the tie in comics will be stripped for characters and parts that I like and aged up to fit season 1. Along with assorted parts of the dc animated movie universe and DCAU that I like.