Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters. Really, I don't.

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Chapter 4: Superman || Bruce & Clark & Conner.

Superboy was in his room, sitting on his bed with his eyes closed as he concentrated on his super hearing. He didn't have to close his eyes to do it, but he found it was easier while he practiced. Eyebrows furrowed, he worked on blocking out the background noise inside the mountain, focusing on just one place: The lounge.

"Dude! You just ate the last cookie! That's not cool."

"Dude! You ate all the cookies Agent A sent to the team. How's that cool?"

"I was hungry. Besides, they were soooo good."

Superboy worked to shift his hearing, all the sounds in the mountain, reducing the conversation between Robin and Kid Flash to nothing more than intelligible murmurs. He wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping on the others anyway. He tried to focus his hearing on one place again and caught a buzzing sound he remembered having heard before, and a moment later the faint sound of a female voice humming and murmuring quietly. It was M'gann. Now that he thought about it, that sound was from one of the machines from the kitchen. A mixer. Yes, that's what she had called it.

He blinked blue eyes open, surprised to realize he had been listening to M'gann moving around the kitchen for a while now. Abashed, the clone forced his super hearing away from the kitchen.

"- teach him."

Superboy paused, recognizing Batman's voice. If he wasn't supposed to eavesdrop on the team, he definitely shouldn't do it on Batman's conversations. There shouldn't be a way for Batman to know he was listening in if he was only human like everyone said he was, but Superboy didn't feel ready to test that.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Superman. That was Superman's voice. Superboy may have heard only a few words from him since he got out of CADMUS, but he could still recognize his voice and that meant Superman was here in Mount Justice.

"Superboy's powers are here whether you like it or not, and ignore them is not going to change that. You already saw him out in the field now and know he doesn't have full control of his powers."

Superboy had never wished more for Superman's x-ray vision as he did now, sitting very still on his bed and looking at the plain walls of his room.

"At this point, we can't be sure if he's truly on our side. I don't think we should give him the tools to beat us later."

The clone bowed his head, eyes squeezed shut and fists clenched tightly at his sides. A weapon. He was a living weapon and nothing more, Superman was right.

"You don't have to share your secret moves and techniques with him," Batman's deep voice answered. "I'm talking about teaching him the basics of how to handle his powers in order to prevent his lack of experience end up hurting or killing someone. Canary is already training him in hand-to-hand combat along with the rest of the team, but that's not enough."

Anger bubbled up inside the clone at Batman's words, assuring he needed help. He wasn't stupid, he could figure out how to work his powers on his own. The anger was gone a second later, drowned by the hope that Batman might convince Superman to train him. Superman thought Batman had his training covered like he told him, but if Batman asked him to take over, maybe Superman would agree. He held his breath, waiting for Superman's answer.

"He's a living weapon created with the sole purpose of taking me out or replace me, those were his own words, and now you're asking me to train him."

Superboy swallowed, wanting nothing more than to stop listening as Superman rejected him again, but he couldn't. He needed to hear this. He needed to understand why Superman couldn't bear to be near him.

"I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm telling you Superboy needs help to learn how to control his powers. I'm simply giving you the choice to take charge or take part in his training if you want to."

"I don't- How can you of all people be so calm about this? We don't have all the information about how he was created. What if there's a way he can be controlled we don't know about? What if whoever can control him knows he's here and is just waiting for us to let our guard down to set him against us?"

The clone bit his lip, clenched fists shaking slightly. No one had told him that to his face, but he knew they were all worried about that, even the team. He was worried about the possibility that at some point he could end up hurting M'gann. The others in the team and even the mentors too. Superman was right not wanting him close. He was dangerous.

"We have as much information as it was available to us. I don't like it, but that's all we have. We can't just leave him on his own and hope everything will work out okay, so the only thing we can do it's prepare as best as we can. What you said it's a possibility, and if it happens, we'll deal with it. Just like we have every time you have been mind controlled."

Superboy's head snapped up, wide eyes looking at the wall before him as if he could see through it. He had heard stories about Superman being mind controlled before, but he never considered the parallels with his own situation.

"You- It's not the same."

"Isn't it? Being mind controlled means your thoughts, behavior, emotions, and decisions are controlled by an outside source. I frankly don't see a difference with what you're suggesting regarding Superboy. 80% of the times you're mind controlled you come after me, and every time you have done it you have fought me just as hard as you fight any of your opponents. It doesn't matter if you know me. You fight me because that's what the villain in turn was forcing you to do."

"Bru- B, I'm sor-"

He could hear the true regret in Superman's voice. Batman may not show it, but everyone saw him and Superman as good friends. It made Superboy angry sometimes. Jealous. That Batman had connected with Superman like that while Superboy couldn't even say more than two words to him. It wasn't fair.

"I didn't tell you this to get an apology for something you had no control over, but because you need to put Superboy's situation into perspective."

"We've talked about this."

"I know. And maybe I was wrong when I told you to act like a father. I understand it's not that simple. But the rest, everything I told you is true. Superboy needs you to stop ignoring him. He needs you to stop running away from him and be something in his life."

A father. The word echoed in Superboy's head over and over. It had never occurred to him to link that word with Superman. Mentor, master, predecessor, and so many other words had, but not- not the word Batman had used.

"You're right," Superman said softly. "I know you're right, I just ... I can't do it."

There was silence.

"I understand, but I think you're making a mistake. And I hope you realize that before Superboy gets tired of waiting for you to at least acknowledge him."

Superboy blinked, looking down at his hands now resting on his lap. He didn't feel well. He felt like there were so many thoughts in his head he couldn't tell them apart, and his stomach felt strange too.

"That's all I wanted to discuss. You can leave."

"B..."

"I'm busy, that's why I asked you to come here. Canary and I are already developing a training program to start working with Superboy as soon as possible, but we needed to know your position on the matter before moving forward."

"You and Canary are going to train him."

"Of course."

"It could be dangerous."

"I think Canary and I have demonstrated we're both capable of handling ourselves around metas."

"I know, but this is different. This is someone who doesn't know how to control powers like my own, using them against you. He could hurt you. Or Canary."

Superboy furrowed his brow, lips pressed together. What if Superman was right? He didn't want to hurt Canary or Batman, but he was starting to think maybe he did need help with his powers. The obvious solution would be if Superman accepted to train him -with him being invulnerable and all that- but it was clear that wasn't an option for Superman.

"That's why teaching him to handle them correctly is so important. And you should know Canary and I are well aware of the possible magnitude of his powers. That's why we're working on a special training program for him. Besides, you should have a little bit more faith in Superboy. As I said, Canary has been training with him and hasn't been hurt."

The silence this time was longer. Were it not for the fact Superboy could hear the faint sound of their breathing and heartbeats, he would have thought his super hearing had shifted away again.

"Alright. I'll see you later in the Watchtower."

The whooshing sound that announced Superman's departure was heard just a moment later, followed by the already familiar sound of Batman's typing.

Superboy stayed where he was, sitting on the edge of his bed. He set all of his focus on blocking out every sound and trying not to think about what he heard. Or anything else.

...

a/n: Bruce's opinion here pretty much reflects my personal mine about the whole Superboy-Superman issue, so I hope he doesn't come as too OOC. Basically, I don't feel like getting into the 'Superman is an idiot, let's all hate on him' mode because I don't think it's fair. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the way he acted toward Superboy, and I think he made a big mistake with the way he handled -or not- the issue, but given the circumstances, I think it's understandable. At least a bit.

It is also my own opinion that Bruce made a mistake telling Clark that Superboy needed a father. Not because he wasn't right about that, but because it didn't seem like a very smart move if he was trying to make Clark stop running away from Superboy. Clark is having enough problems accepting he now have a clone as it is, and then he's asked to act as his father. I guess Bruce was aiming to reach the goody farm boy in him, but I still think it was a mistake. I know the situation is very different, but I don't think Bruce thought of ever acting as a father figure to Dick when he became his ward, so given his personal experience, I would have expected him to have a little bit more of tact than that. Also, the chapters aren't in chronological order, so Superboy doesn't have a name yet here.

Anyway, let me know what you think, not only about the fic, but the Superman-Superboy issue too! Also, thanks to everyone still reading! I hope this chapter was good enough to be worth the long wait.