A/N - Long time no see! Had to set this one on the backburner until I had Red Knight wrapped up, but now that's finished, so I'll be updating this one and Keep Your Enemies Closer as often as possible. Once I finish these two longfics, I'll finish up Mourning Mother's Day and A Light in the Dark.

To refresh your memory about the timeline, Steph died on Sunday night.

Bruce calls Tim Monday afternoon and then Tim and Conner find out they're soulmates, ending with Tim sleeping over at Conner's; Crystal's drama in Ch. 13 also happens all throughout Monday, and Cass confronts Bruce Monday night and then meets Jason.

On Tuesday Bruce calls Dick about Steph's death and then Dick calls Jason, who drags Slade into the phone call. Tim and Kon's interview took place on Tuesday morning and Slade and Dick meet Jason and Cass on Tuesday afternoon.

This chapter takes place late Tuesday afternoon.

Chapter 15

Timmy looked awful. His heart rate had been steadily increasing ever since they'd crossed the bridge from Bristol into Gotham proper, but now that they were driving through a rundown neighborhood with shabby rowhouses crammed into narrow streets that their limo could barely navigate, Timmy looked almost as green as kryptonite.

Conner squeezed his arm around his soulmate's shoulders a little tighter. Tim gripped his hand hard and nestled closer into his side.

Conner couldn't imagine how it must feel, losing your best friend. He didn't have a best friend, for one thing. He hardly had any friends at all; at least, not ones his own age. Sure, he had his pack of three or four disgruntled rich kids at Metropolis Academy who resented their parents and hated the school and therefore loved Conner's easy defiance of authority. They ate lunch with him and snickered when he sassed the teachers and covertly copied his uniform violations, although with much less success, seeing as how their fathers weren't Lex Luthor.

But Conner had to keep so many secrets about his abilities and origin that he never felt like he could truly get close to his little crew. Not to mention the fact that he loved his dad more than anything, which was quite the opposite of how his friends felt about their own parents.

Conner had longed to get to know Tim ever since he'd shown up as the new kid in school a few months ago, despite how different they seemed at first glance. Tim was all shirt neatly tucked in, homework done on time, head down in class. Nothing like Conner. Except - Timmy's eyes sparkled sometimes with secret humor, when he thought no one was looking - which they weren't, because Timmy's eyes most frequently sparkled when all eyes were on Conner for his latest infraction.

But he'd never talked to Conner, not even to say hi. It had stung, although maybe not as much as it could have, because Tim had no friends. Literally not one. He answered politely when he was spoken to, even smiled shyly once in awhile if someone else smiled first, but he kept to himself at lunch and never reached out to anyone.

Conner would've tried to make friends with him, he would have - but - well - Timmy was gorgeous, ok? Like, seriously beautiful. And when he nerded out in class with excitement over some stupid math problem or science lab, it was the hottest thing that Conner had ever seen.

And sure, Tim might be amused by Conner's antics, but that didn't mean that Tim liked him. Maybe Tim was laughing at him, derogatory, instead of laughing at him, complimentary. Just because Conner considered himself the coolest kid in school didn't mean that the hottest boy in school was of the same opinion.

And Conner wasn't as brave as he seemed, ok? It had been really hard to learn how to interact normally with people and not flinch every time that somebody spoke to him after his dad had saved him from Cadmus. Conner probably would've been considered the school freak for very uncool reasons if Floyd and Polaris and Shade and Star hadn't spent so much time with him after his initial rescue, teaching him how to make jokes and banter and talk back instead of talking like a fucked-up, shell-shocked science experiment.

Star Sapphire had dubbed their little group of super-villains his cool aunt and uncles and Conner loved them. His dad pretended that he found them annoying, but Conner read the truth in his dad's eyes - how grateful he was to his friends. How pleased he was that all four of them felt possessively protective of Conner after saving him and decided to stay with them, for months and months, to help Conner learn how to be a person instead of Experiment 13.

It was undoubtedly the super-villains' influence that had made Conner into the rule-breaking troublemaker that he'd almost immediately become when his dad had finally decided after a long adjustment period that it was time to enroll him in school. Sass and eye rolls had become second nature to Conner by that point. But hey - eye rolls were way better than heat vision.

Authority figures filled him with rage, rage like he'd felt towards the Terrors, especially when the teachers' rules were arbitrary and pointless. And when they tried to lord their authority over him? As if Conner was a bug they could squash? Yeah. They didn't know how lucky they were that his new family had given him the gift of sarcasm and silent but blatant fuck-yous.

Not that Conner wanted to hurt anybody - he didn't! Not really. (Not except the Terrors, but his dad had done that for him.) It would be so easy for Conner to accidentally hurt somebody, though. Too easy. And then the judge might say that Superman was right, that Conner was an abomination and a weapon and -

In through his nose, out through his mouth. That was what his therapist had taught him to do, for when he got panicked or angry. Slow breaths in and out, count to five each way.

Timmy could use some slow breaths too, right about now, Conner thought. But Mercy was already pulling to a stop in front of what had to be Steph's house. Conner would have to suggest it another time.

For once in his life, Conner wasn't embarrassed when his dad turned on the schmooze. It probably helped a lot that his dad wasn't trying to flirt with Mrs. Brown when he grasped her hand in both of his and kissed her cheek. He genuinely felt awful for her. Conner could tell.

Ever since Tim had explained in his ugly white living room how Steph had died, Conner's dad had been reliving the nightmare of discovering his unknown son being abused by Cadmus. Conner saw it in his eyes, every time his dad looked over at him all worried and apologetic and protective, like he wanted to rush in and save him all over again, or hug him forever, or kill Superman to protect him.

Conner knew his dad killed people sometimes. He'd seen the dead bodies in the lab on their escape from Cadmus, for one. He hadn't been able to care about them, not after what they'd all been doing to him. And when Amanda Waller had died in a car crash about a year after Conner's rescue? Conner knew, he knew it was thanks to his dad.

His dad hadn't said so, of course. But he'd showed him the obituary and kissed his forehead with a very self-satisfied gleam in his eye. Conner wasn't sure how his dad had managed it, because Waller had been killed in a head-on collision that killed the other driver, too.

Surely his dad hadn't paid someone to commit suicide? Conner hoped? Because that would be awful. Terrible. Nauseating. His dad had promised him he didn't have to worry about the other driver, though, when Conner had asked in a panic. And his dad's eyebrow had done the twitch. The twitch that meant that something was secretly funny.

Maybe it had been a robot driving the car and Aunt Star had planted a random dead body there after the crash or something. His dad was super smart, so Conner tried to trust that he hadn't had to do anything too awful to accomplish his revenge.

Conner was worried about Steph's ex-boyfriend, though. His dad had gotten the Lookduring their interview when Tim had said how old and creepy Dean was. His dad always tried hard to keep Conner out of all of his villain stuff, but considering who his awesome aunt and uncles were, well. Lex Luthor's villainy was basically an open secret between him and Conner.

Conner didn't really mind too much, though, that his dad was supposedly a villain. Because look what the US government had done, secretly creating Conner with stolen DNA and then abusing him! And they wanted to call his dad the villain? Yeah, right. His dad was one of the kindest, nicest, best people on the planet. Plus, Conner thought - at least, he really, really hoped - that his dad didn't kill people very often. The only ones he knew about were the ones who had hurt him, and that was well deserved, Conner thought.

Dean, though, Conner had a real bad feeling that his dad was gonna kill him, too. Because Timmy was Conner's soulmate and Steph was Tim's best friend and Conner suspected that his dad saw the situation almost the same as if he was protecting Conner from his abusers, even though Steph wasn't alive anymore. Her baby was still alive, though, and maybe one day her kid would do one of those online DNA tests and find Dean. She wouldn't know he'd been a rapist, so maybe she'd try to meet him and -

Yeah, it was probably ok if his dad killed Dean, Conner suddenly decided. But only because he was an abuser and Steph's baby could still be hurt by him one day and that was unacceptable. Geez, though, Conner hoped like hell that Tim had arrived at the same conclusion. Conner had heard his heart rate spike through the roof when his dad had asked him for Dean's last name.

Tim had to know. He had to know his dad was gonna kill Dean when he gave him his last name this morning. Because - Conner hadn't meant to snoop yesterday, when Tim had stayed behind in his apartment to talk privately to Mr. Drake for a minute. Conner had very diligently sung-screamed The Black Parade in his head so that he wouldn't accidentally listen in on their conversation with his super-hearing. But when Tim had mentioned Superman's name, Conner's attention had zeroed in on him in a panic.

And - holy fuck. His soulmate had been Robin. And Bruce Wayne was Batman, and - and - he'd fired Steph and let her get killed, but - Batman was supposed to be a good guy, a really good guy. He'd stood up for Conner at his custody hearing and told the judge to give him to his dad and he'd threatened the whole Justice League with blowing up the Watchtower if they tried to take Conner there.

And everybody knew Superman was Batman's best friend, but Batman had been so angry at him at the trial, all because of how he'd treated Conner. Because Batman cared about kids. Because Batman was a real hero. Unlike Superman.

Conner had already felt terrible for Tim when he'd explained to them all in his living room that Batman hadn't done anything to save Steph. Batman was Gotham's protector. He was supposed to keep everyone safe, but especially the city's other vigilantes - and especially especially the vigilantes who were kids. But once Conner accidentally learned that Tim had been Robin? Conner couldn't even imagine how crushed and devastated Tim must be over Batman's failure. Mr. Drake was an awful dad and Batman liked kids. He had probably been like Tim's second dad while Tim had been Robin.

Conner would never admit it to Tim now that Batman had screwed up so bad, but Conner used to wish and wish that Batman had been his second dad, instead of the terrifying Kryptonian monster that his DNA had been culled from. Batman would've loved him just like Lex did, Conner thought. And maybe he even could've taught Conner how to be a superhero, too, one day.

Then Superman could've been reassigned to the Watchtower and kicked out of Metropolis for good and Conner could've watched over his city all by himself, like a good hero.

Like Batman.

Except, Batman didn't seem so good anymore. And Tim had been Robin, which meant that he had to know who Lex Luthor really was behind his outer businessman persona. Hell, Tim might even know more about his dad than Conner did, considering everything his dad wouldn't tell him.

But Timmy genuinely seemed to be liking his dad, despite what he knew. Conner could tell how much it had meant to Tim when his dad had tucked him in last night. Plus, every nice thing that his dad said to Tim practically made Timmy all teary, and Conner could tell it wasn't just because of Steph dying. It was because Jack Drake was an asshole, not to mention the fact that Tim's mom had apparently died last year, too.

Add on Batman letting Tim down in the world's worst way possible - (Well, second worst? Losing track of Steph and letting her get tortured to death was really, really damn bad - but was it worse than calling your scared, abused kid an abomination and wanting to lock him up? At least as horribly as Batman had fucked up, Steph dying had been an accident. A preventable accident, sure. But it wasn't deliberate like ugly, old Superman's cruelty to Conner had been.)

But anyway. Batman had failed Tim, which meant that Conner's dad had to be looking even better by comparison. Not to mention that his dad totally would've had Uncle Floyd kill Black Mask, if Red Hood hadn't already done it. Conner could tell how pleased Tim had been to learn that Black Mask was dead. His soulmate wouldn't have minded at all if Conner's dad had been the one behind it instead of Red Hood, Conner bet.

Red Hood seemed like another good hero. Conner wondered how well Tim knew him. Maybe one day Red Hood could teach Conner how to be a hero, if Batman was off the list? Wait, maybe Tim could teach Conner -

Conner was pulled out of his reverie by his dad gently pushing his shoulder forward to shake Mrs. Brown's hand.

"I'm really, really sorry about Steph," Conner said sincerely, feeling sympathetic pain rip fresher through his heart when he saw the dead, empty look in her mom's eyes.

"Thanks, honey," Mrs. Brown said kindly. She took in his gelled spikes and eyeliner and goth-styled black suit and smiled sadly. "I think Steph woulda liked you," she announced.

"I hope so," Conner said thickly. Mrs. Brown turned her gaze to Tim.

"C'mere, Alvin and the Chipmunks," she teased, opening her arms wide for a hug. Tim looked surprised by his giggle, and more than a little embarrassed at being called out on the fake name he'd had to explain using with Mrs. Brown in the past, but he squeezed Steph's mom as hard as he'd hugged Conner's dad last night. And, oh shit. He was crying again, too.

Oh, Timmy, Conner thought with a pang. He glanced over at his dad, unsure if he should try to comfort Tim or not while Mrs. Brown hugged him. His dad gave a slight head shake but wrapped his arm around Conner's shoulders and snuggled him in close, leaning his head down to press a kiss to his forehead. Conner loved his dad's forehead kisses. He had a feeling that his friends at school would ridicule him if they knew (both that he got them and that he loved them) but his friends didn't know - didn't know so much about Conner's life, and that's why they would never understand. Could never understand.

Which is why Conner felt lonely sometimes, even though he was glad for their friendly company at school. He was even more grateful for Aunt Star and Uncles Shade, Floyd, and Polaris, but even though they knew everything there was to know about Conner, they were adults. It was a little different than having buddies his own age to hang out with (not so different, his dad always complained, but he was just teasing.)

Because they might be giant goofballs or act immature sometimes, but his aunt and uncles had been through a lot of hard things in their lives. Hell, they'd had entire childhoods, something Conner would never truly understand. And they'd grown up and made mistakes and had soulmates and break-ups and love and jobs (mostly illegal jobs, but still) and they were the best family Conner could ever have wished for, but they weren't peers.

Conner used to feel guilty for feeling like his dad and his super-villain family weren't enough to completely fill up all the holes in his heart, but his therapist had explained about what peers were and the value in having friends at a similar life stage, and then he'd felt better. At least about the holes. He'd still longed for even one real friend his age, though, to plug the hole.

But, oh God. Conner wished Steph hadn't had to die for him and Timmy to discover their soulbond.

"Did y'all know Alvin here was Steph's Lamaze coach?" Mrs. Brown proudly boasted as Mercy drove them to the funeral home.

"No," his dad said in surprise, looking truly impressed.

"What's Lamaze?" Conner asked, though, because his dad had taught him to never feel stupid for not knowing something. To his surprise, Mrs. Brown started panting like a dog, making all kinds of funny shapes and noises with her mouth. And then Timmy joined right in with her until they both ended up giggling.

"It's special breathing exercises that are supposed to make giving birth hurt less and be easier," Mrs. Brown explained. "I would've done it with Stephie if she'd asked me, but she really didn't want me involved with her delivery or anything," she mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"Teenagers love to be independent," his dad said comfortingly, reaching out and squeezing Mrs. Brown's hand. "I'm sure it wasn't a reflection on you."

"I dunno," Mrs. Brown muttered. "I wasn't a very good mom." She paused, chewing on her lip. "Arty - my husband, you know - he was so hard to deal with, livin' with him - always fucking up and losing money and doing shitty crimes and tryin' to be famous like Eddie - and he'd lose his shit with me a lot when he got frustrated, you know? Which was, like, all the time," she sighed. "I started doin' oxy," Mrs. Brown mumbled, lifting a hand up to rub her nose. "Was easier to deal with that piece of shit when I was zoned out."

" But - I think maybe I wasn't there for Stephie like I shoulda been, because of that," she said quietly. "Maybe - maybe I woulda noticed she was sneakin' out playin' superhero -" she broke off as her voice got choked with tears. Conner's dad hummed sympathetically.

"Your situation sounds like it was very difficult," he said gently.

"Yeah," Mrs. Brown sniffed. "Yeah, it was, but - I guess maybe Stephie's was worse, huh?" No one knew what to say to that. Conner suspected that if Steph had been alive and his newfound soulmate's best friend, that his dad would be laying into both of her parents if they were abusing or neglecting her. He'd probably even invite Steph to move to Metropolis and live with them and Tim. But it was too late for all that, and that's why Conner knew his dad was a good person, because his dad was choosing to be kind, and to someone who didn't even really maybe deserve it that much.

Everyone who called his dad a super-villain could go fuck themselves, Conner thought grumpily. His dad was the best. In fact -

"I really appreciate you callin' Ozzy for me last night," Mrs. Brown was saying to his dad.

"It was no trouble at all," his dad assured her. "He and Riddler won't be bothering you anymore."

"Penguin and Riddler were bothering you? Now? With what happened to Steph?" Tim gasped, looking horrified.

"Well, I kinda beat Ozzy up a little bit yesterday," Mrs. Brown admitted with a small smirk. "Fucker wanted to give me money for the funeral, like him and Eddie weren't the whole reason my baby girl was dead. Dragging my husband into their Big Boy games so's Stephie felt like she had to go out and be Spoiler to stop him."

"Oh," Tim said in quiet understanding. His eyes had gotten a little wider when Mrs. Brown said she'd beat up the Penguin, which made them look extra beautiful. The mascara that Tim had let Conner add also helped with that. Conner just wished that he could drive the sadness in Tim's eyes away as easily as he could make his blue irises pop.

"Say, you don't have that little autistic girl's phone number, do you, honey?" Mrs. Brown asked Tim. Tim wrinkled his forehead up.

"An autistic girl?" he asked.

"Little Asian girl. Didn't talk. Steph and her were always hanging out together," Mrs. Brown said with a complete lack of decorum.

"Oh," Tim breathed out in horror. "Cass." He swallowed hard and tears began making his eyes shine for all the wrong reasons. "I don't have her number, actually," he said, looking distressed.

"Shit," Mrs. Brown groaned. "She hasn't been around in months. Stephie said she went back to China or somethin,' but they were always Facetimin' each other. I want to let her know what happened, but Stephie's phone went missin' when she - uh," Mrs. Brown blinked rapidly and twisted her hands together.

"Maybe there was a back-up on the Cloud?" Conner's dad suggested.

"I ain't even gonna pretend I know what'cher talkin' about," Mrs. Brown sighed, but she tried for a tiny smile.

"If you let me know your service provider, I'll make some calls and see if we can access Steph's phone remotely," Conner's dad said. Beside Conner, Timmy freaked. Not obviously. Not even so that his dad would notice. Which, huh. Was pretty scary that Timmy could freak out so secretly that even Conner's super-observant, super-genius dad couldn't tell anything was wrong. Tim's blood pressure and heart rate had gone through the roof, though, thundering loudly in Conner's super-ears. And - oh.

Timmy did know the five beats in, five beats out breathing. He was doing it right now, to control his reactions. Conner wondered if Batman had taught him that. Probably. It seemed like a Batman thing to do. He wished he could reassure Tim that it would be ok, but - um.

It actually would probably not be super-ok if his dad found out from Steph's phone that Tim had been Robin. Maybe it would? His dad had respected Batman a lot ever since Conner's custody hearing. But losing Steph to Black Mask - not to mention the danger that Batman had put Tim in, by letting Tim be Robin in the first place -

His dad might want to hurt Bruce. But as angry and as hurt as Tim was by Bruce Wayne, Conner was pretty sure that his soulmate still wouldn't want his former mentor killed.

Oh, man. Sometimes his dad being a super-villain was a little, tiny bit inconvenient.

Well. Conner would talk to Tim about it later tonight, after the viewing. Tim had promised to tell Conner his secret anyway, and then Conner would tell Tim how he was a super-powered super-genius. And between a former Robin and a current super-genius (whose father loved him very much and would probably refrain from murder if his much-loved son asked him to), surely they could figure out how to talk to his dad in a way that didn't end with Bruce Wayne dying in a completely innocent car crash.

Conner hoped.

A/N - I'll see you all again with the next chapter as soon as I can manage.

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