Tim went back to ignoring Conner after their little hallway talk. And Conner went back to ignoring Tim. He had no time or patience for people who didn't shoot straight. Conner approached his usual lunch table the next day, tray stacked high full of tater tots. Per custom, Bart sat next to Jaime, fluorescents bouncing off of wild auburn hair. Jaime had school work scattered across their half the table. Greta and Cassie occupied the other half. Greta took up as little space as possible and Cassie sat with a home made lunch in front of her. All of them ignored Conner as he walked up.

Not used to not being the center of attention, he noticed they all appeared to be staring across the cafeteria.

He turned. Over at the Waynes' table, in faded blue jeans and a fraying purple sweater, was Stephanie Brown. She stood, playing with her hair. In front of her sat Tim and the impossibly graceful girl that Conner now knew was named Cassandra.

Cassandra Wayne sat staring up at Stephanie with rapt attention. The intensity of her gaze did not match the nervousness in Stephanie's stance. Beside Cassandra Tim sat quietly, apparently following the girls conversation. Conner made a move to go over-

"Don't you dare," Greta hissed, spotting him and pointing at an empty seat at their table.

"But-"

"Shh," Jaime said.

"I can read lips," Bart offered. The table turned to regard Bart with great skepticism. Bart rolled his eyes and leaned forward, squinting in the direction of Stephanie, Cassandra, and Tim.

Tim spoke now, too quiet for any of them to hear over the cafeteria din.

"He's saying...uh...something something...I like you...something about-no way!"

"What?" Cassie snapped around to look at Bart, eager for any kind of answer.

"I think he's asking her to homecoming."

Jaime groaned. "Bart that's...thanks for trying but I don't think Stephanie's ex-boyfriend is asking her to homecoming."

Bart grumbled something about unreliable friends and slumped in his seat. And Conner watched Tim say something, smirk, and then look directly across the room at him. Blushing at having been caught staring, he quickly sat in the seat beside Greta. The group sat in awkward silence until Stephanie walked up to the table. She looked pink, but not upset.

"So who wants to come dress shopping for homecoming with me?"

The table exploded.

"You have date?" Greta grabbed Stephanie and forced her into a chair. Conner had never seen her so exuberant. "Who? When? Just now?"

Stephanie sat down, still blushing. "Don't look," she said, in a futile attempt to stop Bart's overt staring. "It's not...it's Cass."

Conner peered over at the other table once more. Tim still watched them with obvious distaste, but the girl Cassandra stared only at her food, smile on her lips. The rest of the family seemed oddly chipper, but no one was speaking.

"So you asked Cass to homecoming?" Greta asked, intent on dragging the gossip out.

"Oh God no, have you seen her she's so-," Stephanie stopped herself and turned a brighter shade of red. The table laughed, but for once Stephanie had no comeback. She simply stared down at her hands, smiling, but looking frazzled. Lovestruck, if Conner had to guess.

Despite himself he felt a twinge of jealousy. It might have been about the dance, the dance he would miss, the dance that all his new friends would have stories about. It also might have been the slight panicky feeling sometimes crept up on him despite himself. A feeling that whispered insidiously about how abnormal he was. When someone finally bothered to ask him about his dating history, what was he going to tell them? That he only dated women twice his age with criminal histories?

Conner had felt lovestruck only twice. Once with Tana, who left him, rightfully so, when he acted like a spoiled brat. And once with Kay, who left him hurt and broken to take the fall for her crimes. It was probably for the best he didn't like any of the girls who had asked him to homecoming. If his history was anything to go by, his taste in women was poor, and frankly part of him wondered if lovestruck was something reserved for the less experienced. People who hadn't been burned. Tana had always said she wanted something more mature, more responsible in her relationships. Maybe growing up meant Conner was past the blushing, butterflies, phase.

Stephanie, giggling in a very out of character fashion as she relayed some of her conversation with Cass to the table, snapped Conner out of his self-pitying spiral. He looked at Cassie to see the tomboyish girl leaning into the conversation with a huge grin.

Cassie didn't strike him as particularly dangerous, old, or likely to engage in violent crime. She seemed sensible. Reasonable. Nice to a fault. She caught him looking at her, and she smiled.

Conner made the decision in that moment that if visiting Lex didn't result in an implosion of chaos, he would ask Cassie Sandsmark to prom.

Dress shopping got pushed back when it became apparent that Cassie and Greta were not going to let her go by herself. Conner had absolutely no interest in shopping, but when he brought up the entire thing with Clark during one of their dinner bonding talks, Clark looked delighted.

"I have a car, I could drive you kids out to the Burnley, over by GU. There's a bunch of shops there. I can give you cash for lunch."

Conner tried not to look as appalled as he felt. "Clark, it's like, a girl's day thing. I'm not going dress shopping."

"Then tell Jaime and Bart to come. There's an old school arcade on the campus you could check out."

"No one goes to arcades anymore Clark, god, you're so lame."

Conner, however, made the mistake of mentioning Clark's lame suggestion to Bart in passing the next day, and just like that Conner had weekend plans for Saturday.

Tuesday came with a rushed bell schedule and announcements of a super special school assembly. Conner had never been to a school assembly before. Apparently they were a staple of Gotham Unified Public School District upbringing.

"There's the drunk driving assembly, the drugs assembly, the violent crime assembly-" Stephanie listed off for him when he asked during English.

"Wildlife preservation assembly, that one time that lady came in and told us all she would send us to Black Rock Juvenile Detention Center if we skipped assembly," Cassie continued, "Sometimes they actually do ok stuff, like bringing in minor celebrities to talk about dumb shit."

"Last year it was Bruce Wayne," Stephanie added, "They're probably just calling assembly to remind us not to do anything wild during homecoming week."

The rest of the morning passed with a tangible buzz in the air. Classes got cut ten minutes short each to account for the assembly schedule. Teacher's barely tried to teach. Conner tried to pay attention if only to salvage his falling grades, but wound up bored more than anything.

At last the bell rang and students were released to the assembly. Conner trailed after Stephanie and Cassie who planned to sit together.

"We can probably ditch, after," Steph added, as they weaved through teenagers in hoodies and bags twice their size.

The auditorium was big enough to fit the entire student body. Conner squeezed into a row with a wild group of freshman. Cassie on his left, Stephanie on his right, they sat on the left hand side of the auditorium. Looking around, Conner felt again that rush of relief over the face that here, in Gotham, he wasn't anything other than one face in a sea of thousands. A few rows down he caught sight of the dark haired Waynes taking their seats behind a bunch of kids all still dressed in their gym clothes. They were missing two of their number, Jason and Cassandra, though it was hard to tell from the backs of their heads.

On stage, the principle, a mousy haired man in big gold glasses, struggled to quiet the masses.

"Student, students," a wheezy voice screeched through the speaker system. Conner winced. "I'd like to welcome you all to our first assembly of the year." He paused for half hearted clapping, "As usual I'd like to remind students that here at Edward Elliot we have a zero tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol, or criminal behavior."

The principle droned on, explaining that Edward Elliot did not condone drinking or drug use, but that there was a rehabilitation center down the street. That students who needed it could apply to the daycare center run out of the main administrative building. He also reminded everyone to stay safe, and not walk home alone at night. Typical school stuff. At last he stepped aside with a sweeping gesture and a man in a lab coat walked onto the stage to stand beside.

"Finally students, in preparation for our upcoming homecoming week, we've invited Dr. Langstrom from Gotham Mercy General Hospital to talk to you about this year's blood drive."

Dr. Langstrom was a narrow, willowy man, with a nervous air. He flitted about the stage as he talked, holding the microphone too close to his face. "H-Hello students! My name is Dr. Robert Krikland Langstrom and today I wanted to ask you all to save a life."

"Every donation can save up to three lives. You must be seventeen to donate, weigh over 110 pounds, and have not donated in the last two months. Everyone who donates gets a sticker and a cookie."

"I cannot overemphasize how important this is. People often donate only during a crisis, but unfortunately 2000 units of blood are needed everyday in the Gotham area to keep giving people the second chance they deserve. Please consider donating today. Thank you."

He handed the mic back to the principle.

"All right students, you heard the man, let's show Gotham General Mercy Hospital how much school spirit we have!"

His announcement met with mild applause, and the assembly carried on for another twenty minutes of safety reminders regarding costumes and pranks during homecoming week, which Stephanie openly mocked and Conner ignored. Dr. Langstrom never left the stage, seemingly uncertain about how or where he should go, and eventually the the Assembly dissolved into a Q&A about the blood drive, which quickly dissolved into smart alec students asking the doctor about the most gruesome things he'd seen at the hospital.

"You still down for skipping?" Conner asked Stephanie as the bell sounded. The principle tried to talk over the thunderous sound of every student moving at once, but eventually gave up.

"Hell yes." Stephanie said.

Getting out of the school had been simple. Stephanie knew a back door by the lab rooms and after that it was simply a matter of walking like they weren't doing anything wrong. A skill Conner had mastered. Stephanie, for her part, seemed to know exactly where they were going to the point that Conner suspected she did this a lot. They crept off campus, onto a side street, and then took a couple back alleys to get away from the school.

"We really shouldn't be doing this," Cassie said, only once, before they emerged onto the main road.

This strip of street was littered with restaurants and convenience stores, as well as the rehab center and a church. It was a fairly busy area, though fairly low in foot traffic throughout the day. As always, Gotham was shrouded in the kind of off key grey that seemed to come with living in the most gloomy city in the world, and it made even the normal street seem slightly unsettling.

Conner, Stephanie, and Cassie gladly made a trip the ice cream shop that sat between a the Barnes & Noble and an Italian buffet. Conner paid for Stephanie and Cassie's ice cream, which earned an eye roll, and a "What are you after Kent?" and the three wandered into the Barnes & Noble.

Stephanie immediately dragged Cassie into the paranormal romance section of the teen books and Conner wandered off to hobbies and games. Back in Hawaii, Mack Harlin and the rest of the administration were constantly on Conner's case for skipping. Of course, back in Hawaii he had thought he had better things to do than be in school. Still, he half expected that a truant officer would show up any second to scold him, and the apparent freedom with which he could slip out of school was a welcome surprise.

He was so lost in thoughts about what he would do with this new knowledge he didn't notice until he was stumbling into his leather clad frame that Jason Todd Wayne was glaring at him.

"Watch where you're going punk."

Conner spluttered. "What are you doing here?"

Up close Jason Todd was every bit as pretty as Tim, but in a very different way. He was older, with sharp blue eyes, but where Tim was pale as a ghost, Jason looked like he'd seen some sun. Warm tan skin peaked out from beneath his coat collar. His hair sat in a disheveled mess, like he perpetually ran his hands through it. And he looked at Conner with a gaze that said he thought Conner was the scum of the earth, leaving no doubt in Conner's mind about his relation to Tim.

"Skipping, obviously."

"At a bookstore?" Conner felt at the end of his rope with these Waynes, and despite the fact Jason had never actually done anything other than save his life, he snapped at him.

"I can be cultured when I want to," Jason said. Conner wanted to point out that they were both standing next to a case full of Naruto action figures, which was hardly culture. But Jason looked thunderously angry, and Conner realized a bit belatedly that Jason had taken the question for more of an insult than it was. A twinge of sympathy, and suddenly Conner felt somewhat endeared to the other, obviously short tempered boy. It helped Jason's case that he reacted so viscerally. Conner would never get such surly retorts from Tim. Gleefully, Conner stood.

"Apologies, I didn't realize you were a man of taste." Conner said, giving a short gesture to the glass encased hokage.

Jason scowled. "Idiot." He turned to look at the Funko Pops on display next to the glass case.

Truly, the two of them made quite a pair. In their leather jackets, Jason with his designer gloves and combat boots, Conner with his shitty earrings and falling apart converse. Conner grinned despite himself.

He tried a new tactic. "You look good in that jacket."

The way Jason startled under that praise made Conner wonder if people said nice things to him very often. And actually, now that Conner looked at him, really looked at him, up close Jason's jacket didn't look so designer.

"Jealous?" Jason asked with a grin, clearly meant to be a challenge.

"Nah," Conner said, feeling more at ease by the minute. He patted down the front of his own leather. "I got this from an ex-girlfriend. Wouldn't trade it for the world. Memories and all."

"Sentimental," Jason said, like an insult. He paused though to really look at Conner's jacket. Seemingly having found his answer, he returned to the toys, but this time when he turned to look at the shelf he gestured for Conner to keep up.

Conner gladly followed him along the shelves. "I never did get a chance to say thank you. For saving me from the van."

Jason rolled his eyes with a a level of teenage obstinance that far exceeded Conner's capabilities. "You were the idiot standing in front of a van."

"I really don't get how this is my fault."

"It was completely careless," Jason said, but his tone was completely free of any real venom.

"Well thank god you were there to save my idiot self then."

Jason nodded, satisfied with this response, and they moved down the aisle towards the cheaper action figures, the ones not encased and under lock and key.

"So what does a-" Conner said.

"Hold that thought," Jason said, holding up a single, fingerless glove clad digit.

And, in the course of a split second, Conner learned for the second time since coming to Gotham that the Waynes were more trouble than they were worth. In a movement so skilled and quick Conner only saw it because he was standing right next to him, Jason tucked a Spider-man trading card set, and a Funko Pop into his jeans.

"What are you doing?" Conner hissed, because despite his obvious bad boy good looks, Conner wasn't a bad guy. He was a misunderstood guy with a good heart at worst.

Jason glared. "Are we cool, Kent?"

Conner shifted, and looked around. No one in the store appeared to notice them. Conner could hear Clark's disappointment. Probably saying something about how Ma had raised him better than this. Ma hadn't raised Conner though, which he was sure would be a great excuse if Clark ever found out about this. Or Lex.

Jason looked cool as a cucumber, leaning against the shelf, and regarding Conner with an indecipherable look caught somewhere between a challenge and a glare.

Already regretting it, but realizing the only other option was to walk away (and when had Conner ever walked away from anything?) he nodded stiffly.

"We're cool."

Jason grinned.

Though every minute they spent wandering the toys sent Conner further into a spiral of panic. If they got caught and Conner was somehow held responsible, it could mean very bad things for his already bad criminal record. And if Clark found out, Lex would too, and then Conner would live on house arrest in Metropolis.

Oblivious to the way Conner's life flashed before his eyes with every passing moment, Jason gleefully started lifting with abandon, shooting Conner knowing grins that the other boy ignored. Jason navigated the store with the practiced casualness of a long time shoplifter. Conner followed him like he was being dragged, and it was only sheer force of will and a miracle that saw them both out of the store safely because Conner felt certain any outsider could have seen how uncomfortable Conner felt.

Out on the street, Jason laughed. He didn't look like he was carrying a bunch of crap. In fact, Conner bitterly felt he looked as if he had everything he could ever want in the world. Jason walked with a tangible skip in his step, leading them down the street, and snickering every time he looked over at Conner.

"You should have seen the look on your face," he informed Conner.

"You're a criminal," Conner retorted.

Jason laughed. "A criminal with culture." He tossed a package at Conner and out of reflex Conner caught it. A Funko Pop of Naruto stared up at him. Conner hastily shoved it into his jacket pocket and glared.

"I hate you," he said, under his breath.

Jason beamed.

Eventually Jason led him to an alley. He rattled the ancient fire escape on the left side building, and it rattled down with ease. He tossed Conner another look of challenge, and clambered up. Figuring he was already in too deep, Conner followed.

When they had climbed to the top, Jason made Conner give him a boost up over the ledge of the roof. Jason in turn helped him over. And despite the fact Conner still thought Jason was more trouble than he was worth, he could appreciate the boy's style. One look around and he could see Jason came here often. There was a duffle with a blanket in one corner, which Jason quickly unpacked, as well as empty beer cans and what looked like chalk drawings. The building they stood on was probably an apartment complex of some kind, and it was just high enough that Conner could see the sparkling GU campus and Gotham Clocktower on the horizon. He could even make out one of the many rivers that intersected the city, though he couldn't name it.

Jason took a seat and started emptying his pockets. He managed to store things in every crevice of clothing. Jean waistband, under his shirt, in the cuffs of his gloves. In total Jason had walked out with four fidget toys, a Spider-man action figure, several booster packs for a card game Conner didn't recognize, dice, two more action figures, a notebook, and a t-shirt.

"Dude," Conner said, looking at the pile of loot and feeling his faith in humanity drain. "What the hell?"

Jason just laughed and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "You smoke?"

"Only on special occasions," Conner answered truthfully.

"Consider it an occasion then." Jason handed him a cigarette and a lighter. Conner let him light it, but hardly bothered to smoke it, too preoccupied with the fact Bruce Wayne's fucking billionaire child was an apparent klepto. He wasn't exactly surprised, but still.

"Take whatever you want," Jason waved at the pile.

Conner picked up a fidget spinner. Without much grace, he freed it from the plastic, held it up, and balanced it between his finger so he could spin it in front of Jason's face.

"Really?" he asked Jason, referring to both his choice in stolen goods and behavior.

Jason scowled, and tried to snatch the spinner away from him. "Oh please, get off your high and mighty horse, Kent."

Conner snatched the toy away from him just in time. "Uh, I'm not the one stealing dollar fidget spinners, Wayne."

"Todd," Jason said.

"What?"

"My real name's Todd. I didn't fucking change it. Everyone's a fucking loser." He took a long drag of his cigarette and glared into the late afternoon smog.

Conner could, at least in part, commiserate with the misery of names and what they meant, so he took a puff of his own cigarette.

"For the record I don't condone this," he said, trying to keep his tone light.

Jason seemed to find this very amusing. "Didn't hear you kicking up a fuss in the store."

"I was in shock," Conner said dryly. "I was arrested once. Charges didn't stick, but uh, crime doesn't pay. Personal experience."

Conner felt as lame as Clark as soon as the words left his mouth. Now Jason looked at him like he was the loony one.

"Excuse me?" But he sounded delighted by this news.

"I-it's complicated. But I'm just saying. You probably shouldn't. Uh. Cops aren't super nice."

Jason snorted. "Thanks, but too late for that. Bruce knows anyways. He's the one who always sends the checks to the stores afterwards to pay for what I did plus damages. He always knows. I bet he's writing a check to Barnes & Noble right now."

Conner would have doubted this if it weren't for the bitterness lacing every word. He tried not to seem too relieved at this news.

"Trust me when I say he never lets me fuck up."

"Is everyone in your family this weird?" Conner asked.

"Spent some quality time with them, have you?" Jason asked. The bitterness didn't let up.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in a tense silence atop the roof with their stolen goods. Jason seemed content not to elaborate any further, and they found comfortable spots leaning against the ledge and looking out over the city of Gotham. Conner felt equally driven to leave, and to stay ask see if Jason would elaborate further. These drives cancelled each other out, leaving him silent and sullen on the rooftop until he got summoned back to the store by a text from Stephanie, and by then Jason had already finished half his pack.

"I'll, uh, see you at school," Conner said, but Jason ignored him.

Stephanie bought a vampire romance novel, which Conner teased her for endlessly, having not yet learned not to tempt fate. He told her nothing of where he had been and though she looked curious, she didn't ask. And despite Jason's act of rebellion, nothing bad, certainly no cops, came for Conner. He went home without even a call from the school to rat him out to Clark.

The week's classes went by without much except poor grades to punctuate the bell schedule.

There was one, notable change, and that was the fact that Jason Todd seemed to appear out of thin air, with some regularity, in Conner's peripherals. None of his friends noticed. They did notice, however, that Jason Todd frequently and openly smiled at him when they passed by at lunch. Conner recognized this as the smile of a man who wanted to egg him on, but his friends' snickering told him he was alone in recognizing Todd for the instigating little shit he was.

"New friend?" Stephanie asked, feigning disinterest.

"Not in the least," Conner said, ignoring her meaningful look.

Tim continued to loathe him. If anything his behavior seemed more agitated, and the one lab they had together over the week consisted mostly of clipped tones and Tim muttering under his breath about delinquency, dashing Conner's hopes of Jason not saying anything about their afternoon off.

Everyone in his friend group was still wound up with the news of Stephanie going to homecoming. And even Conner, who did not want to go shopping in the least, was beginning to look forward to the upcoming Saturday.

In Chemistry Ms. Isley informed them that she would be taking the time out of class Friday to bring everyone down to the blood donation drive, to the thrill of many a struggling student. Though, when the day came Conner noted Tim was absent.

But he didn't spare that, nor the absence of the Waynes from lunch, much of a thought. Perhaps he had grown too used to their peculiarity.

And before anyone knew it, Friday slipped away into Saturday.