Hey all! Doing my own AU based heavily on the Apokolips War movie. Overall you can expect similar story beats to the film, but with my own twists and turns added. First crack at doing a love-triangle.
Conner fought to keep the grin off his face, doing his best to hide his amusement at Pa Kent's tirade. The patriarch was highly offended at the safety measures Clark insisted upon and his angry voice had been cutting through the laptop's speakers for over ten minutes.
The Kents did not take kindly to hiding in some backwoods cabin while their children tangled with alien gods on distant planets, and they did not care who knew it. Ma's disapproval was quieter than her husband's, but somehow even sterner as she appeared on screen.
"That's enough, Jon. He doesn't need to hear anymore of our bellyaching," she focused on Conner, "Hopefully you Titans won't need to do any fighting - and don't give me that look!" she snapped at his annoyed frown, "- but if you do, promise to be careful. Pa and I want you home in one piece," she finished.
They were being silly, Conner knew. Both he and his "father" were basically invulnerable and couldn't exactly be expected to sit this one out. Still though, he appreciated their concerned fawning more than he would ever admit.
"Yeah, yeah, I promise. You guys worry too much," he said with a reassuring smile.
"We worry just the right amount, young man," Pa replied gravely.
Conner paused before speaking again, "You guys be safe too, no sneaking away from the safehouse."
Lois had been pushing him to be better at reciprocating affection, rather than always hiding behind a cocksure attitude and one-liner. He could hear her in the background on another call, using her trademark no-nonsense voice with some unfortunate soul who'd displeased her. Kents sure did gravitate towards imposing women. Conner wondered if he'd be the same.
A loud pounding on the door interrupted their conversation. Briefing time.
"Off you go then, son," Pa ordered, "Get to protecting the world."
He bid his adopted family farewell and snapped his laptop shut before rushing out of the room. He wondered how his team would react to Superman's plan, relieved not to have to keep it to himself anymore. Side effect of his first year of life spent with Lex - he hated secrets.
He flooded into the briefing room with a cluster of other heroes, ensuring that he tossed Donna a saucy wink. She rolled her eyes in response, but grinned all the same. All the former Titans had been recalled and with the new members who'd joined over the last few years, they made an impressive sight.
The massive screen in the room came to life, and Superman wasted no time diving in.
"This is Apokolips, homeworld of Darkseid."
Conner rocked on the balls of his feet all throughout the briefing - it was a nervous habit that Lex had tried and failed to beat out of him. It unsettled him that so many members of the League spoke out against Clark's plan though he was unsurprised Lex was among them. Perhaps it was the gloryhound in him, but he'd been thrilled to hear they'd finally be going on the offensive against Darkseid. Only to be bitterly disappointed when he found out he'd be staying behind.
More than anything he wanted to go to Apokolips with Kal-El, to show he was just as much a hero as his Kryptonian progenitor. Ma and Pa had welcomed Conner into their lives with a depth of love and sincerity that had flustered him at first, but with Clark there was always some kind of barrier. He was never anything less than polite, but it was easy to tell that the clone unnerved him. Conner supposed he couldn't blame him.
Forcing down his bitterness for now, he let himself fantasize about single-handedly saving the Earth in the League's absence, a proud and grateful Clark bestowing the Superman mantle onto him, all the babes. It'd be great.
The moment the transmission ended, Robin made his value-judgement.
"This will be a debacle."
"Optimistic as ever, Damian," Nightwing said airily.
"Be serious. They're charging in completely blind. Who's to say they're not playing directly into Darkseid's hands?"
Conner felt a sudden spike of doubt, coupled with embarrassment that he hadn't considered the possibility of the New God intentionally drawing the League to him with his little phasing stunt. It...actually made sense.
"You think it's a trap?" Raven asked.
"I think there are too many unknown variables to justify an assault like this."
"I think you're afraid," Speedy taunted, "Don't worry, little guy, we'll protect you."
The younger man turned angrily towards the archer, his body language suggesting a fight was imminent. Dude had serious anger issues.
"There are always risks in war," Nightwing interjected, stepping between the two, "Batman is on board with this, Damian."
"You say that as if he hasn't been wrong before," Robin replied pointedly as he stepped around his predecessor, throwing a scowl at Speedy as he left the room.
Kori sighed, "It's perfectly normal to feel concerned, or even afraid," she told the rest of them, "Make no mistake that this is an extremely dangerous mission. If the League fails, it's up to us to keep the world safe from Darkseid and his monsters. Take some time to digest that and try to avoid antagonizing each other over the next few days," she finished pointedly.
Speedy rolled his eyes, "Robin's default setting is antagonized. But sure, Princess, I'll be nice."
Conner tried to swallow his newborn doubts. Robin was just being paranoid, and the Justice League heroes were too powerful and intelligent to be drawn into an ambush. Plus, it seemed unlikely Darkseid would expect them to face him on his own turf when all they'd ever done in the past was play defense.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Donna's voice yanked Conner out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the rest of the team filtering out. The Amazonian stood in front of him with a knowing smile.
"I had a little sneak peek," he admitted with a grin of his own.
Casual flirting with Donna sounded like a good distraction from his misgivings, so he figured he may as well go all in.
"Sounds like we could be spending our last few days on earth, Donna. Anything on your bucket list I can help with?" he asked cheekily.
"Well, I've always wanted to throttle you," she mused.
"Kinky."
She punched his shoulder playfully, and Conner's grin widened even as the shadows refused to leave his heart. It was all so phony at the end of the day, just another kind of mask. Oh well - going through the motions was better than wallowing in his doubt. That's what they had Robin for.
Good luck, Kal-El.
Too many, Conner thought distantly as his fist tore through another paradoom chest. The fight had been going on for what felt like an eternity, and the sky was still thick with monsters. He felt like he was operating on autopilot as he weaved, dodged, punched, kicked, and blasted his heat vision. Every muscle in his body burned with the strain, and his eyes felt ready to melt out of his head.
He shot a quick glance towards the ground, which was covered in corpses of friends and enemies alike. A cobalt colored beam flashed near him as Blue Beetle engaged another cluster of paradooms. Too many, the thought echoed, Need to find Kori, we need to retreat. He looked around for the Tamaranean as he raced through the sky, dodging claws, teeth, and lasers.
Black magic swirled somewhere below, indicating Raven was still in the game. He had already passed the corpses of Speedy, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl. Flying fast, he saw Bumblebee thrown down and impaled on stray rebar. Kid Flash's broken body loitered nearby. The more he saw, the more convinced he became that none of this was real. Surely it was just some bizarre nightmare brought on by Robin's persistent pessimism and his own subconscious fears.
He finally spotted the alien princess hovering high in the air with her back to the Tower, four creatures bearing down on her and barely seeming to feel her starbolts. Conner moved to aid her, but had barely started in the right direction when two paradooms caught the redhead between them and tore her in half. The Kryptonian froze in midair, staring in fascinated horror as her body fell from the sky. This was definitely just a nightmare.
Staying still proved to be unwise. Movement flashed in Conner's peripherals and he felt his ribs shatter as a terrific blow swatted him to the ground. There was the briefest sensation of impact before his vision went dark.
Conner awoke with a jolt, breathing heavily as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. It took a moment to realize he was buried in rubble from his crash landing. He tried to move and groaned in pain, feeling like he'd been hit by a truck made of kryptonite.
Shaking his head, he concentrated his superhearing and scanned the area with his x-ray vision. Night had fallen, and the Tower stood brokenly in the distance. There were no signs of life.
Tentatively, he muscled his way out of the rubble, broken ribs screaming in protest.
They're all dead. I have...I have to go check on Ma and Pa and Lois.
Thankful for the cover of night, Conner flew low and fast towards the isolated safehouse Clark had set aside for the Kent family. He should have gone to protect them the second they lost contact with the League. He definitely should have after Shazam had returned one-legged and screaming. It might have made him a lesser hero, unworthy of being Superman, but he would have traded all the glory in the world to personally know they were safe.
Long black hair soaked in blood. Pa draped gracelessly over Ma, trying to protect her to the end. The house in ruins.
Nononononono.
He leaned weakly against the stone wall, pounding it with his fist repeatedly and willing away images of the Kents.
They should have been safe - holed up in the middle of nowhere in a nondescript cabin, miles from any cities. There was no reason the paradooms should have been there.
Darkseid knew where to find them. Somehow.
The cherry on top of his invasion, one last blow to the Man of Steel. Conner couldn't even stay at the scene long enough to bury them, racing back to the Tower he'd been calling home for the last year. Barely remembering that his Titan family was also dead.
The stone was fracturing beneath his blows, and he was making noise, so much noise, but he couldn't care. It didn't matter.
Out of control, he slammed his forehead against the rough stone, and the crumbling wall buckled. Oh, he'd better find another one.
A distant voice seemed to be calling to him, but he ignored it. Have to find another wall.
His muscles bunched in preparation for flight before a small hand locked tightly around his forearm.
"Conner!"
Weird. Sounded like Raven, but Raven was dead. Also, she never raised her voice. Once Gar had slipped an ice cube down the back of her leotard and the mage's only response had been a dark look and a portal that dumped the changeling in the ocean. But maybe she screamed when the paradooms killed her. I bet Ma and Pa screamed.
"Conner," the voice was quieter now, and a little out of breath. Definitely Raven.
Wonderingly, he turned and stared unapologetically at the violet-eyed witch. In another life, he used to love throwing her suggestive glances and teasing smiles (primarily to annoy the clearly infatuated bat-brat she spent most of her time with), but he knew his current expression had to be one of dumb shock. Before this second, Conner was certain he would never see anyone he knew alive again.
An unknown, desperate instinct took hold and he suddenly lunged, tackling her to the ground and wrapping his arms tightly around her middle. He buried his face against her stomach and sobbed for the first time in his short life. Despite the tortured, choking sounds he was producing and the agony in his heart, there were no tears. He was unable to cry - one of many gifts from Lex.
Raven murmured soft words he couldn't understand and ran soothing hands across the planes of his back. He tightened his hold around her in return, needing to make sure, really sure she was actually here.
After an indiscernible amount of time, Conner was too tired to continue. He still clung, but his sobs had devolved into shaky breaths and light trembles.
"Kon-El?"
Her voice was soft and comforting, but it was the use of his Kryptonian name that finally encouraged him to pull slightly away from her warmth and look up at her face.
She gave him a small, encouraging smile and pushed some hair from his eyes, "There you are."
He was staring again, but couldn't find it in himself to care. She was strong, and he needed guidance.
"What do I do, Rae?"
"First, you loosen your grip a little," she told him in a quiet, chiding voice.
Conner obliged, guilty at the realization of how he must have been crushing her with his superstrength. She inhaled deeply, and the sound was musical.
"Much better."
He almost managed to smile at her when another voice cut through the odd moment they were sharing.
"Secondly, we need to get out of here."
Conner flinched violently, leaping up to face the...well, not exactly newcomer. Judging by his relaxed seated position on a nearby pile of rocks Damian had been there quite a while. His uniform was covered in blood, but he seemed unhurt.
Raven rose as well, her languid and graceful movements imprinting themselves into Conner's mind in a way they never had before.
"Raven and I are going to lead the League of Assassins. This fight isn't over yet, and we'll need whatever help we can get," Damian explained, his voice and expression hard.
"Come with us, Conner," Raven said, "We need to stick together."
She really was a sweetheart beneath her eerie goth exterior, a distant part of him mused. He'd have to tell her that, someday. The fear of being alone here again was currently at the fore of his mind though, and he could only nod dumbly at the pair in front of him.
"Heh, for sure. You two are in good hands," he gloated weakly, throwing them a frail approximation of his trademark cocky grin.
Damian scoffed, turning to Raven and giving her the coordinates to their destination. Conner crossed his arms as they walked into her glowing portal, only now registering the lack of pain and realizing his broken ribs had been mended.
Feedback is appreciated, will attempt to update at least every few weeks. Thanks for reading!