Superboy walked into the kitchen after a minute of thinking, cautiously accepting a plate of 'cookies' from M'gann. The 'cookies' were more like black disks. He was sure Robin could use them as a personal batarang, should he need one.

"Would you like some milk?" The Martian smiled, holding a glass to the super with a red face.

Superboy just nodded, taking it from her hands. He watched as his team talked among each other; about training, a movie, cookies. But, if he listened closely, he could hear Core humming quietly in his room, moving around. It was a gentle sound and calming to the clone, easing the tension in his body.

"Ready for training next week?" Wally asked, not noticing Robin flailing his arms and making an abort gesture.

"Yeah," The super answered, picking up a cookie and looking at it. "Whelmed."

Robin had a tiny but smug grin on his face at the clone's use of the word, "Good 'cause Canary's having you fight Kid Dork on Wednesday."

Superboy just gave a small hum, picking up his plate and glass of milk. He paused at the doorway, seeming to contemplate something, before turning to M-gann, "Thanks... For the cookies."

"You're welcome!" The Martian said brightly, clasping her hands together.

Superboy entered his room quietly to see Core laying on his bed, a small book opened up. It was his book, How To Open Up To People. "That's..."

"This stuff is actually pretty good," Core shifted on the furniture until his upper half was hanging off the side and the book was held in the air. "Good stuff to know." He took a sniff and turned his body to look at the super, "Are those cookies?"

"Er," Superboy looked down at the plate in his hands. "Yeah, I thought you'd want some. M'gann made them. They might not be good. They're... Kind of black..."

"Oo, give 'em. J'onn used to make cookies for the League all the time when he first came to Earth. He doesn't make any now, it's kind of sad. But I love cookies! They're just... Amazing."

"Hmm," Superboy walked forward, handing the plate and milk to the other. "Batman came by. He mentioned the League was looking for you. He also mentioned something interesting about your age..." He could visibly see Core tense, the plate lowering to his lap. "He said you were nineteen when you visited and that Robin was four but you're nineteen now and Robin is thirteen." When the other didn't respond, simply tapping the side of his plate, the super sighed, "But you don't have to tell me."

"What?" Core looked up in surprise, the tapping stopped.

"I know when it's hard to talk about something, when you don't want to," The super shuffled his feet a bit, looking to the side with narrowed eyes.

"You're smarter than you look, Baby Blue," Core laughed, stuffing a cookie in his mouth. "It's refreshing."

"Hmm," Superboy tilted his head at the name and shrugged. He tilted his head to the living room.

"Do you think he's okay?" It was M'gann.

"I'm sure Supey's fine." That was Wally if the fast talking was any indication.

"Yeah, he seemed different today, and not a bad different either. He was... Happy," That was Robin, the Boy Wonder.

"What'cha listening to?" Core stood next to the super, hands stuffed in the pockets of his sweats.

"Nothing, just my team. They said I seemed happy today."

"That's a good thing, right? In any case, I figured since we don't actually need to be in a training room for this, we can work on your control," Core swung his arms like a child. "What do ya say? Yes? No?"

"I'd..." Superboy thought back to all the times his team, and Superman, were wary around him. They thought he was dangerous, unable to control his anger and strength. "I'd like that."

"Crash," Core grinned and the clone figured that meant 'awesome'. "Come sit over here," He walked over and patted the super's desk chair. "Okay, hold this," He pulled out an apple from who-knows-where and tossed it to Superboy.

Superboy caught it with one hand, looking down at it, "What's this for?"

"I was going to use an egg but I only have a pack of apples," Core tilted his head to the open closet which had a crate of apples sitting in the corner. "Hold on to this, roll it in your palm, throw it up and down. This is a life," He tapped the fruit, looking at the super. "This is Robin, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Batman, Canary. These are all the people you care about. Break this and you could break them. Understand?"

"If I manage not to break this, I can control my strength better?" Superboy tilted his head.

"Basically, yeah. Just... Picture your teammates when you hold this and picture the apple when you're with your teammates. You don't want to crush them or bruise them," Core pointed to a dark spot on the apple where the clone's thumb was. "This is only the first stage of control, Superboy. Once you master this, we can move on to another exercise. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Superboy held the apple up, frowning when it was crushed in his hand.

"Hey, no worries. I got more. Let's pretend that was a monkey," Core grinned before going into his closet and picking out two apples. "Try again. You seem like a fast learner so I'm sure you'll get this down by Monday, no sweat."

"Robin said I was sparring with Kid Flash on Wednesday," The clone said, rolling another fruit gently in his palm.

"Okay, so that gives me two days to get you a basic form," Core nodded, a hand on his chin. "No big deal. Anyways, focus on this exercise, okay? Even when you're with your team in the living room. It doesn't have to be an apple. That's just all I had."

"Right," Superboy nodded, determination seeping in his eyes. He got up to go back to the living room when Core stopped him again.

"Hey, while you're at it, bring me some blueberries. I love 'em."

Usually, Superboy would snap because he doesn't like to be told what to do but he just nodded, "Okay."

"Crash," Core grinned, flopping down on the clone's bed.

Robin watched as Superboy sat on the couch watching No Signal, the static buzzing calmly in the air. The super was rolling an apple in his hand, seeming lost in thought. Ever since he got those cookies from M'gann two days ago, and even before that after training, he seemed different, almost happy. Now, he always had an apple in his hands, just rolling it around or throwing it in the air. He growled when the apple broke in his hand and Robin was tempted to tell him to just put it down but something he saw stopped him.

At the beginning, Superboy broke the apple whenever he held it, sometimes accidentally bruised it, and he would become frustrated with it. Now, the clone didn't so much as dent the fruit and the Boy Wonder realized that Superboy was controlling his strength. It was an amazing thing to watch and Robin felt proud for his teammate. He told Kaldur, who smiled gently at the sight of his teammate, "That's amazing."

"Yes!" Core smiled brightly when he saw the undamaged apple, "I'm so proud of you, Baby Blue! This is progress! Now for the next step," He rubbed his hands together, giddy with happiness. "We'll have to go to the training room for this. Anyone home?"

Superboy tilted his head, listening for any sign of his teammates or mentors, "No. All clear."

"Crash."