Chapter 10; War and Crash

'I don't get it,' Olivia went on, 'If Superboy is the son of Superman, than why isn't Kid Flash also the son of the Flash?'
'Kid Flash is the nephew of Flash,' Morgan said to them, while she cleaned at table.
'Besides,' Annie continued, 'If Superboy is the son of Superman, who's his mother?'
'Really? You guys,' Morgan sighed as she returned to the counter, 'that's what you're arguing about? I mean, just let them save the world!'
'Would Wonder Woman have a daughter, or so?' Olivia asked after she stared for a moment. Morgan sighed and returned to the customers. It had been a quiet evening and Olivia and Annie had been discussing several things about the superheroes since they had showed up on TV. Morgan took a deep breath and walked to a new customer.
'Welcome at the Small Ville, what can I get you?' she asked without even looking at the customer.
'Coffee please,' Morgan looked up. A familiar red head smiled at her.
'Roy!' she said, 'What are you doing here?'
'Trying to get a coffee,' he said teasing.

'There you go,' Morgan placed the coffee in front of him and sat down on the other side of the table. She had not seen Roy in a while. Actually, she had not seen any of the heroes in a while. Including Conner.
'So, what are you up to?' she asked, not wanting to ask about Conner alone.
'We're very busy,' he said and sipper the hot coffee, 'Shit, that's hot!'
'I know, it's fresh,' she smiled at his face, 'I haven't seen you guys in a while.'
'I know,' he said and put the coffee down and lowered his voice, 'That's because they're not 'here'.'
'Not here?' Morgan said not understanding, 'What do you mean?'
'There's some crisis, but it's in an other universe,' Roy spoke very soft and carefully looked around to be sure no one was eaves dropping.
'Are you serious?' Morgan said not believing, 'I just saw them on TV!'
'No, that's Martian,' Roy shook his head, 'Morgan, there is a great war going on.'
'And Conner…' she asked.
'He's doing fine,' he said, 'But I just thought you deserved to know.'
'And Lois?' Morgan thought that she deserved to know too.
'That's not my responsibility,' Morgan looked a bit confused, 'Look, I could not come on the mission and Conner told me to look after you.'
'How long before he gets home, before they get home?' Morgan sighed, 'And why do you always have to look after me!'
'I don't know,' Roy looked in her eyes, 'But Conner cares for you, with all his heart. And since the shooting accident, he told me to stick around as much as possible.'
'Roy, please, you can use you're time way better!' she said, 'Stop listening to others and go your own way, like you used to.'
'And get my head fried? No, thanks,' he smiled, 'How is Lois?'
'Good, she's doing great,' Morgan smiled, 'Getting a bigger belly every week.'
'How far is she?'
'Four months,' Morgan guessed quickly, 'almost five, I think.'
'How is she, without Clark?'
'Holding on,' she said, 'Wishing he was there, but accepting he's not.'
'Good, good.'
'Roy, could you give Clark a message?' she asked.
'I can try, I'm not sure if he'll get it,' Roy tried his coffee again.
'Tell him, that if he is not home when the baby get's born, I will freeze breath him to death,' Roy looked. Did she just threatened Superman with one of his own superpowers, which she did not have.
'And, how are you going to do that?' he wanted to know.
'I'm not sure yet,' Morgan smiled.
'Sure, I'll tell him,' he smiled and laughed a bit.
'So, how are you?' Roy stayed around for a few hours and then went back to the Watch Tower. When Olivia and Annie asked who the men was, she just told them he was a friend of Conner. And that he, just like Conner, was on some college far away. It was weird, but when you told people those things, they just immediately believed you.

'One message, Nightwing, just one,' Red Arrow tried in the Watch Tower. Nightwing shook his head again.
'No, only in emergencies,' he said, again.
'Just move over, it's from Morgan,' Red Arrow pushed Nightwing aside and took the gear, 'Red Arrow to Superman, over.'
'Superboy here, go ahead, over,' Red Arrow heard the cracking voice of Suerboy.
'Superboy, I have a message for Superman, could you give it to him? Over.'
'I will, over.'
'Morgan said that if he is not there when his baby is born, she will freeze breath him to death, over,' for a moment it was silent, then Red Arrow heard Superboy laugh.
'Yeah, I'll tell him, over.'
'And I also had to say that she loves you and misses you, over,' another silence.
'Tell her I love her, and I miss her too, over,' Red Arrow heard shooting on the background.
'That was all, Superboy. Red Arrow over and out,' it was best not to say anymore.
'Superboy over and out,' a click was heard and then the line was silent.
'Freeze breath him to death, really?' Nightwing said as he looked at Red Arrow.
'What? She said it!'
'But still, out of all powers, freeze breath him?'
'I know,' Red Arrow stood up, 'I think I would have fried him or so.'
'Crush him,' Nightwing sat down, 'Or fly him so high into the sky he would freeze.'
'Dude, he's still Superman,' Red Arrow sighed.
'Yes, and she's still his girl,' Nightwing looked fierce at Red Arrow, 'so back off.'

Morgan looked outside her window. It was a lovely morning. It was not very warm, but it was only March. The sun was slowly rising and Morgan loved the view she had from the attic. She sighed and dressed herself. There had been no sign of Justice League for quite a while and some people were already screaming that the Justice League had abandoned Earth. Morgan was very pleased with the president, who had immediately told the people where the heroes were. Because of that she could also talk with friends on her work about it. Annie thought that the heroes indeed had left Earth to its fate, while Olivia and Morgan agreed with the president. Morgan had to be real careful the entire time, not say she had heard the news from Red Arrow himself. Morgan noticed that Martha, Jonathan and Lois were also getting a bit worried. They knew that sometimes Clark and Conner could be gone for quite a long time. But there had been no news of them either and that was what made the Kent's so worried. Ah well, things would be jut fine, Morgan tried to tell herself over and over again. The only thing was, she was not sure for how long she could tell herself that.
'Live for you, this is Lyra McNulster,' the news reported announced herself, while she stood in front of the Watch Tower, 'live before the Watch Tower. Some people have claimed to see some superheroes return home last night-'
'If only it would be true,' Lois sighed, Morgan hushed her and turned up the sound.
'-still, there has been no sign of any superhero,' Morgan always thought that Lyra McNulster was one of the few 'truly interested' news reporters, 'The Justice League have been gone for almost three months, and people are getting worried.'
'How strange!' Morgan gasped sarcastic.
'With me, I have Nightwing-' the camera zoomed out and showed Nightwing beside Lyra. Just like Batman, his face was serious.
'Wonder Boy!' Morgan called out, now she was hushed by Lois. Morgan liked to tease Nightwing a bit with his old names. She would call him 'Wonder Boy' in stead of 'Boy Wonder', or 'Borin' in stead of 'Robin'.
'Nightwing,' Lyra McNulster turned to the superhero, 'when will our superheroes return?'
'I cannot say an exact date,' Nightwing replied cool and serious, as always, 'Because it would not be save to announce when they would return, with villains always watching out to strike. Even now, when only a part of the Justice League have left, more attacks have taken place. But I can assure you, there are more than enough members of the Justice League to defend our planet.'
'That's a relieve,' Lyra smiled, she opened her mouth to ask more but suddenly several people started running and screaming. Behind them, in front of the Watch Tower, a loud crash was heard and cloud of dust was visible. Nightwing immediately ran towards. Morgan and Lois both jumped up as they watched the TV.
'We're live in front of the Watch Tower, where something just….crashed,' Lyra did not know what else to say and carefully approached. When the dust lifted Batman and Nightwing both jumped into the crater. The camera moved closer and looked into the whole. Morgan thought her heart stopped and fell in her chair. On the TV screen she saw Conner. He laid in the crater with only small parts of his clothes still on. He was bleeding heavily and his eyes were open, but dull. From his chest came smoke and a big 'S' laid in green rock on his chest. Around him were several small green rocks. Everyone who saw it knew what it was: Kryptonite. Several other superheroes landed now and quickly removed the green Kryptonite. When all of the Kryptonite was gone, Superman showed up and he lifted Conner and took him inside the Watch Tower. Lois was relieved to see that Superman was fine. Morgan suddenly jumped up.
'Where are you going?' Lois walked behind her. Morgan was already putting her coat on.
'I have to go to him,' she said, searching for her wallet.
'Morgan-' Lois tried.
'Lois, you would do the exact same thing,' Morgan said and looked fierce at Lois. Finally she found her wallet.
'Here,' Lois said and handed her some extra money, 'It's a long ride.'
'Thanks,' Morgan said and took it.
'Be careful!' Lois said and Morgan ran out the door. Lois watched Morgan run down the farm yard, her hand before her mouth. Green Kryptonite was the only weakness a Kryptonian had, even a clone.

Morgan cried the first few hours of the cab ride. The driver was really worried and offered several times if she wanted to use his cell phone to call someone. But there was no one to call, so she thanked the man kindly and tried to get herself together. Morgan told the man to stop at the hospital and paid him with almost all her money. It was still a few miles to the Watch Tower. Morgan took a cab after asking is she could make it to a street nearby. She did, but was now left with five dollars. Morgan quickly ran through the three streets and walked to the backdoor. Tears were already in her eyes again. She knocked on the door, she slammed on the door. Was there anyone still here? What if Conner had died and they were all mourning over him. Morgan almost rammed the door and yelled at it. Suddenly it opened and someone pulled her quickly in.
'Are you mad!' someone hissed. Morgan looked with teary eyes and blinked a couple times.
'O, girl, come here,' Red Arrow wrapped his arms around her and Morgan began crying again. Without saying a word he guided her to the elevator and brought her up. They stopped on the highest floor, and Red Arrow told her to wait in the hallway. Morgan sat down against the wall, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Her hands were shaking.
'Morgan,' she heard a deep voice and a hand touched her shoulder. As she opened her eyes she saw Batman knelt down beside her.
'Bruce,' Morgan said with a high voice and threw her arms around him. She did not care if he wanted it or not. She just needed a shoulder to cry on. To her surprise Batman did not protest against it, he just laid an arm around her and said nothing for a moment. Than he gently pushed her off and looked at her.
'I have to see him,' she said before he could even open his mouth.
'He's not here,' he said calm.
'I have to see him!' Morgan said and felt a new wave of tears coming up.
'Bats-' Red Arrow tried, but with just the sign of raising his hand Batman told him to shut up.
'You can't, he's in the Head Quarter in space,' new tears ran over her cheek, 'We are taking good care of him.'
'No, please,' Morgan cried, 'Please let me go to him!'
'I cannot allow that,' Batman said and stood up again.
'Please,' Morgan jumped up and felt a bit dizzy. She staggered and found her balance against the wall.
'Let the girl go,' a female voice suddenly said behind Batman. Morgan blinked and saw Hawkgirl coming up. Batman sighed.
'No, she cannot go there,' he said again.
'Come on, Bats,' Red Arrow said. Batman looked at them.
'No, it's forbidden,' Batman said firm.
'God,' Hawkgirl cried out, 'let the girl go to him! He needs her! You know how much he missed her, she will be the very first thing he will be asking for when he wakes up!'
'Besides, if everyone's ok with it, why not!' Red Arrow said shrugging. Batman looked at Morgan.
'Please,' she whispered, 'it's the only thing I'll ever ask of you.'
'Only if everyone agrees,' Batman sighed.

Clearly not everyone agreed on it. But when Hawkgirl dared them to tell that to Morgan's teary face, they changed their minds. Some of them were angry about it, but they still agreed. Morgan promised to only go where they told her to go. She would not explore or look around and neither would she ever tell anyone about it. This worked for the heroes, since now they could just put her in the hospital. Morgan asked Hawkgirl why she went through so much trouble, just to get her to their secret HQ. Hawkgirl has simply said that she knew how it was like to lose the one you loved with everything you were. And so it was settled. Within three hours Morgan walked into the HQ as the very first 'normal person', but she could not care less. Red Arrow quickly led her to the hospital and left her alone. Morgan could felt she was shaking all over as she walked into the room. It was a large white room, with one big window and no decoration. There were two chairs and a small table, a cabinet next to the bed and chair next to it. Superman stood by before the bed. Morgan walked to him and only when she stood beside him, he looked at her. She could see he had been crying too. Morgan hugged Superman. There was no need in talking. Morgan looked at Conner. His face was pale and a machine next to his bed controlled his breathing. He was covered up to his waist with a white blanket. His chest was covered by bandages. His face, arms and the small part of chest which was visible were left with scars. Conner only moved with the sound of the machine. Morgan had only once seen this before. Her father, her real father, had laid like this years ago, when his tan had been bombed. He had been a soldier, and Morgan had always been proud about that. But after three months spending in a coma, her father had died. For a moment Superman laid his hand on her shoulder, than he left.
'O, Conner,' Morgan whispered, as if she was afraid that she would kill him if she would talk to loud. She took the chair and sat down next to him. Carefully she took his hand and kissed it. She could not believe it. Gently she stroke his hair and laid her hand on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, still strong. Somehow this was comforting for her, even though she did not know why. Morgan sat back, still holding Conner's hand, and looked through the window. The only thing she saw was darkness and stars. It was beautiful.