Chapter 7 - We Are Family

Of course once his head hit the pillow, Superboy couldn't sleep. He had problems sleeping at the Watchtower the day before, never having slept on a bed. It was weird, sleeping laying down and not up, but he had managed a couple of hours last night.

Now, however, he was too awake. The night with the Kents had left him with a lot to think – good things, fortunately. Claire was nothing like he imagined when he first heard about her. He thought she was going to be a little wary of him, maybe even ignore him like her father did at first, but that wasn't what had happened. Claire was nothing but warm, welcoming and happy that he was there – calling him 'little brother' and a lot of affectionate names, and also planning things to do with him.

The feeling of being wanted swarmed him and left him being glad that Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash had disobeyed Batman's direct orders, no matter how much trouble they could get for that. He couldn't regret being freed, couldn't regret the choice of leaving Cadmus and its sterile labs and halls. He was no more a weapon, designed to end enemies of his creators; he was Superboy. He was his own; he was wanted by Claire, wanted by Clark now.

Of course, that also made him a little nervous. He had very little information about the world he was in. Cadmus' education had focused on history of Earth, and knowledge about the heroes of the Justice League, and a few other useful things, like driving, reading, writing and so on. But practical knowledge... Like the thing about 'secret identities' and other things he heard Clark and Claire talking at dinner... He had no clue.

And what if his lack of knowledge of these things made him unfit? What if those things were too much, and Clark and Claire ended up deciding they didn't want him for that? What if he wasn't enough?

That made him restless. He didn't know what to do, and his brain was going a thousand miles per minute trying to find answers he didn't have.

With his superior hearing, he heard when Claire turned off the light of her bedroom and went to bed. Heard when her heartbeat slowed and she fell into blissful sleep. He heard when Clark got out through the window again, his cape fluttering behind him. He also heard when he got back, something like thirty minutes later, locked the door and windows and went for another shower, and then slept. The house was silent, and Superboy was never more awake.

He decided he would get out for a little air. His bedroom was too new, too unfamiliar, and he was too awake to sleep now, anyway.

He got up, getting out of his bedroom as silently as possible. The fact that all the people in this place has super hearing was tricky, he knew he could wake them with the littlest of noises.

Fortunately, that didn't happen, and Superboy went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He wasn't really thirsty, but something in the back of his mind told him that usually when people had trouble sleeping, a glass of water or warm milk were useful. It wasn't, he realized as soon as he finished the glass.

"Trouble sleeping?" a female voice interrupted his thoughts about trying milk.

He turned to see Claire in her pajamas, smiling to him as she poured a glass of milk for herself.

"Actually, yes..." he admitted, deciding to be honest. "It's weird sleeping laying down."

"I see." she smiled. "I woke up with dad's snores, for some reason, and now I can't sleep either. We could watch a little TV, maybe? Or talk with each other. Maybe that'll help us."

He nodded, and they went to the living room after Claire served them both with a glass of warm milk, making Superboy smile a bit. At least he knew about that.

They sat in the couch, and he thought she was going to turn on the TV, but instead, she turned to look at him.

"I have to be honest with you."

She was serious, and something on her eyes made him uneasy all of a sudden.

"Okay..."

She took a deep breath before talking.

"I always wanted a brother. Since I was a little girl. It's kinda hard to grow up as an only child." she smiled a bit. "But I was a miracle. Dad's DNA is too different from humans' to actually have a child, but something on my mother's DNA was mutated, which allowed for her to conceive from him." she explained slowly. "I shouldn't exist, basically. So since I was a kid and dad told me this, I knew it was impossible for me to have siblings. And that always made me kinda sad."

He stood perfectly still, listening to her story without so much as flinching. Claire looked pained for some reason.

"Dad always knew this, and it breaks my heart to think of how many times he had to ignore my pleas just because he couldn't do anything about it. Also, he's 37 by now..." she sighed, and then looked at him. "When he told me he had a clone, a sixteen year old clone, you know what my first thought was?"

He shook his head, honestly wanting to know.

"I was happy." she shrugged. "My dad was telling me that his enemies had somehow cloned him, with evil purposes, and I was happy. In my mind, all I could think of was that I finally had a brother. Someone besides my father to call 'family', and that..." she smiled. "That feeling was amazing."

"I could be evil." Superboy said, slowly and his voice very low. "I could be on the side of the villains."

"Yes, you could." she admitted. "That didn't mattered to me at the time, even more so when dad told me you chose to leave the lab."

"What if I hadn't left?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

She smiled again. "It wouldn't have mattered. Of course, you would never be here now, but the fact that I had a brother somewhere... That would've made my day. And I assure you, I would find a way of finding you and bringing you home, convince you to come to the side of the heroes, so to speak." she laughed a little.

"You really wanted a sibling, then." Superboy said, smiling at her admission.

"Yes. What I'm trying to say to you now is that you're not alone anymore. I don't care what happens from now on, I want you to know this:" she took his hands on hers, tightly, before saying the rest. "I love you. You are family, and I'll always be here for you, to help you in everything I can and support you in everything I can't help you with. I'm on your side, Superboy, and nothing and no one can change this, understand?"

Suddenly, Superboy's thoughts of not being enough went away. Here she was, saying exactly what he needed to hear, even though he hadn't known he needed to hear this. He smiled for her, feeling a lot better.

"I do. Thank you, Claire."

She smiled largely. "You're welcome, little brother."

They laughed together, and she kept holding his hands. He didn't let go either.

"So, I guess we could be twins." she said. "I'm about to make sixteen in August, and you are sixteen, so..."

"Being twins sounds wonderful." Superboy admitted, smiling for his sister.

"Yeah, it does." another voice said.

They both turned to see Superman – Clark, he has to get used to his name – standing, leaning on the wall, dressed only with sweat pants, and looking at them both with pride in his eyes. Smiling.

Superboy's chest constricted, but in a very, very good way.

"I have twins now." He said.

"Yes dad." Claire laughed. "You do. Now it's two against one."

He laughed at that.

"Why does it have to be against? I can't with both of you. We can always get to an agreement."

"Yeah, we can." Superboy said, before he even knew what he was talking. "We're family... Right?"

Clark and Claire looked at him with watery eyes, before Clark ended the silence.

"Yes... We're family."

The feeling on his chest only intensified at that, and Superboy was really, really glad he was there in that moment.

"Now, we all need to sleep." Clark said, after clearing his throat.

Claire whined, but agreed. They all went to their respective rooms, and after a hug from Clark and Claire, Superboy thought that he didn't have to wonder about his future with the Kents anymore.

It was obvious as the sun: they wanted him, and it didn't matter where he was from, and how he came to be. He was family, and that was the only thing they needed to accept him.

With this thoughts, Superboy didn't have any trouble sleeping after he went to bed again. His mind kept remembering him: no matter what would happen next, he had at least one person on his side, one person that could help him with anything.

If anything went wrong, at least, from now on, he would always have his big sister.

- The End -

To the anon who left a comment saying that by canon, Claire should be 12: I thought about that, but my idea is basically having them as 'twins', so that wouldn't work. So I'm ignoring canon, and making it like this: Clark became Superman at 25 (Claire was 4), and now he is 37 (as said in the chapter). Just a little different from canon, but still. This is a AU for a reason. ;)

Like I said before, this is the last chapter of THIS STORY. There will be more. I have ideas for a lot of stories in this AU. The next one it's called "Identity" and it's a two-shot, that should be out by Tuesday, so you can wait for that. ;)

As usual, tell me what you think of the chapter, and if you find any errors, tell me so I can edit and improve my writing.

I loved writing this, and I can't wait to get into this universe a little more, so... See you soon!