AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone! I got a lot of PMs asking when I'd update this fic and my others...I just want to say thank you for still being interested in reading it. I'm getting over from a bad cold I caught and I've also been busy with working on a novel and trying to get paid for my writing. I had some more progress today in the form of a guy I worked for recommending me to a publishing group. Pretty exciting stuff.

Enjoy!

Chapter 17

Connor woke up with a scream in his throat. At the foot of his bed Krypto whined as he sensed his owner's distress. A second later the dog was on top of him licking his face. Connor started coughing as he tried to push the dog off him. Only succeeding in Krypto whining even more like a pup as he pawed at the teen. Nuzzling his hands and face as he tried to attack him with sloppy kisses.

"Down, Krypto! I'm awake, I'm awake. What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream like I did?" Connor asked as he sat up. He got the dog in a choke hold and wrestled him for a minute. Krypto continued to whine but it his tone soon changed into excited barks. Wiggling his entire body happily as he began to play with the clone. They played for several minutes before Connor pushed the dog off the bed. Watching as Krypto dashed off to go take care of his own personal business before begging for breakfast.

"Weird dog." Connor muttered as he moved towards the bathroom. He rubbed his face trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. The dream he had of Bruce had been far to real. His hands still tingled from having held Bruce's hands in his own.

He really does have pretty eyes.

Connor found himself thinking as he turned on the faucet. He splashed cold water on his face as he tried to get his groggy mind to wake up. He wanted to do nothing more but to go back to bed to return to his dream. His situation felt as if it were getting steadily worse. From what Robin had told him Batman had only grudgingly decided Connor would remain with the Young Justice team. At least temporarily until they could find Mercy Graves.

The thought of his mother had his stomach in knots again too. He wanted to be out on the front lines looking for her. So far he had been kept inside headquarters forced to wallow in his own guilt. Krypto seemed to be the only one fully accepted by the team of teens. Then again, despite Connor's wishes they had already made the dog their mascot. Despite his new status Krypto would still lay down by an empty armchair in one of the living spaces. No doubt waiting for Bruce to walk in to sit down to read one of his many books. One hand brushing over the braille while the other reached down to scratch Krypto behind the ears.

Connor shook his head drying his face on a clean towel. He didn't like this place. To clean. To formal. He missed his old room out in the country. Waking up to hearing his own music blasting before he headed down to breakfast. With a tired sigh he left his bedroom soon after cleaning himself up and getting dressed. Connor grit his teeth when he heard voices down the hall. However, it turned out to be the TV as he entered the living room. In the kitchen area he saw the green Martian girl, Megan, cooking what appeared to be breakfast. Krypto was sitting off to the side his ears erect as he watched her intently. No doubt waiting for her to give him some food.

"Krypto, get out of there. You're not allowed to have bacon in the morning." Connor called. The dog whined but trotted over to him obediently. Once he came to his owner's feet Krypto dropped to the floor. Rolling onto his back the dog began to scratch his back in the familiar throws of doggy ecstasy. With a sigh Connor knelt down to scratch the soft underbelly as Megan turned around to gaze at him.

"Oh, you're awake! I thought you were going to sleep in. It's only seven o'clock. I thought Krypto might like some breakfast. Would you like some too?" Megan asked nervously tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear. Connor nodded as he moved away from the happy canine.

A quick scan of the kitchen showed where the dog food was. He went over to the pantry and opened it. An unopened bag of dog food sat off the side where probably one of the team members had left it. Grabbing it Connor ripped the top open. Going over to pour a generous amount into Krypto's makeshift dog bowl. The dog barked excitedly as he dashed over to the bowl. Quickly starting to eat as fast as he could as if he were starving.

"I'm not sure what kryptonian dogs ate. He seems to like the bacon a lot too. Are they always like that?" Megan asked. Connor sighed glancing at her as he picked up the water bowl. Dumping the old water into the sink before he filled it back up with a fresh water.

"You mean they act like they're starving? Yes, Krypto is always like that. He'll eat anything given the chance. It's not healthy for him though. He seems to be fine when he eats regular dog food. So Bruce just feeds him that. Krypto only gets table scraps once in while or else he'll get spoiled. If he eats anything like bacon for to long he'll refuse to eat his normal food." Connor explained placing the water bowl back on the floor.

"Do you like bacon?"

"I love bacon."

"Okay, well, I'm making some eggs too. And pancakes if you're interested…" Megan twittered nervously as she moved back to the stove. Connor watched her with a mixture of apprehension and confusion. She seemed nice enough despite hardly knowing him.

"Thank you." Connor said after another minute. He saw her blush at his words pretending to busy herself with breakfast.

Connor wandered back out of the kitchen to study the TV. I was a large flat screen which nearly took up half of the wall. It reminded him a bit of his mother's place. She often complained how she had such a huge television but never had time to watch any of her shows. It brought a sad smile to his face at the thought. Wherever she was, he dearly hoped Mercy was okay. She was smart. Smarter than Lex Luthor was on a certain level. Perhaps she had caught wind of what he was up to and had fled before anything serious had happened. Maybe at this very moment she was even looking for him herself.

Connor listened to Megan talk to him over breakfast. It turned out the rest of the team had returned to their own homes for a rest. Connor could only hope he had a place to return to after all this. As he ate he caught sight of Flash come in from the hallway. The superhero didn't speak out at first. Instead he stood in the doorway making no attempt to disguise he was listening in on their conversation. After a few minutes the hero motioned for Superboy to follow him. Krypto had decided to keep his silent vigil by the armchair again. Yet when Superboy moved to dump his plates into the sink the dog stood up immediately.

As Connor headed towards the hallway after thanking Megan for the meal his loyal hound came to his side. Gazing up at him with baleful eyes as if silently asking him what his next plan of action was. Connor scratching the dog behind the ears before following after Flash. He frowned, wondering what the hero was doing when he saw Flash take a corner up ahead of him. Shaking his head at the idea he continued walking. Only able to catch the hero as he darted around a corner.

It wasn't until he reached the hangar he caught up to the older man. Flash was leaning up against the wall of the hangar calmly gazing at the opposite wall. As Connor came in he studied the man's legs again. He definitely noticed a slight difference in one of the legs. How it was just oddly bent at a certain angle. It was nothing noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. But the contrast stood out strongly once you knew it was there.

"I know you and I hardly know each other. And I'm not going to pretend to be your friend. But I just want you to know I feel responsible for you. For Bruce's sake." Flash started straightening up from the wall once Superboy walked in. The youth nodded at his words but he said nothing. Krypto sat down beside his owner gazing at the hero as well. As if he too had come to listen to what the older man had to say.

"Okay. Did you lead me all the way here to tell me that? Batman has been keeping me on lockdown ever since I got here." Connor snapped. Flash nodded, not denying that fact.

"I know. I'm sorry about that. He's just…this is has been a very sensitive issue for him. Not that it excuses his actions for the way he's treated you. How have you been? Have you been adjusting well here?" Flash asked in an attempt to make the meeting a little more casual. When Superboy only frowned at him the hero sighed. Reaching back to draw off his mask. Giving the Connor the full view of his true features.

"Okay, so maybe this isn't the best time to be asking you those questions. Look, Connor, I'm going to deliver it to you straight. Superman is looking for you. He was up at the Watchtower today asking around. No one said anything. He doesn't even know we have a secret team of teenagers hiding out here." Barry explained.

Connor and Krypto's reactions were instantaneous. Krypto's haunches immediately rose as the dog bared his canines. All his fur standing on end as he began growling menacingly. His eyes starting to turn red with his heat vision. Connor clenched his teeth to keep from punching in the nearest wall. Knowing if he had Krypto's powers at the moment he would have already been on his way to the rebuilt Watchtower to take Superman on.

"That son of a bitch! He's moving that fast?" Connor demanded of Barry. Barry nodded, holding his hands up to calm the angry animal. Superboy bit back his retort as he knelt down next to his dog. Wrapping his arms around Krypto in a tight hug as he whispered for him to calm down.

"Yeah. Why do you think I'm down here? The rest of the team up there is…supportive of him. More than half, anyway. Jonn refuses to talk to him outright. I know Batman left a while ago saying he had to deal with something in Gotham. I think he's considering going into hiding." Barry explained. Connor nodded his headed continuing to pet Krypto's head as he listened.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, I don't know who else to tell. I know for a fact he's looking for Bruce. Superman actually cornered me before I could leave and tried to feed this bullshit lie he regrets what he did to me. Also…you're probably the only person who can take him on. You gained Superman's powers once before, right?"

"Yeah, but only because I had these special stickers I could use. My mom probably still has a few leftover. But I don't know where she is though. If you want me to defend Superman we need to find her. And Bruce." Connor stated grinding his teeth at the thought. Flash licked his lips as he ran a hand through his blond hair. Closing his eyes as he tried to think the matter through.

"Alright. So we find your mom first. I'm still looking for Bruce. Dick has been doing a follow-up search for him. He's also trying to get Supes back under lockdown but…I doubt that will ever happen. Can you tell me how you defeated Superman last time?"

"I'm telling you right now it was a million in once chance. Even Bruce says so. I had the stickers on, but Superman was winning the fight. Then….I'm not sure what happened. Only the next minute Superman was screaming in pain. Bruce is beside me urging me to get up so I did. Then I blasted him with my heat vision to blind him." Connor bit his tongue trying not to let a string of curses leave him.

"That didn't last long." Barry stated quietly. He didn't say it as an accusation at the teen. It was only a statement of fact. Connor bit the inside of his cheek as he nodded mutely to the man.

"I'm going to check up on Mercy Graves again. See if I can't find anything on her. But, Connor…would you mind if I borrowed Krypto?" Flash asked quietly. Connor froze as he glanced down at his dog. The hound had finally calmed down but still growled now and again.

"Why?"

"He's our best bet at finding your mom. If she really does have those stickers like you said…then, well, he'll be the best one to track her down. And I need backup in case Superman comes after me." Flash pointed out. He felt guilty for recruiting the dog, but he truly needed him.

Connor hesitated wondering if that would be the best course of action. But at the same time he doubted they had any other option. Of course Connor's first priority was finding Bruce. The second one defeating Superman but…Bruce would never be safe is his former tormentor was walking free. After a minute Connor hugged Krypto tightly to him. Knowing he probably had to make one the hardest choices in his life.

"Krypto, you have to be a good boy for me, alright? You need to find mom. You remember her scent, right, boy? You're going to go with Flash, okay? Just for a little while." Connor said. Krypto began to whine at the news. Clenching his teeth Connor placed a kiss on the top of the dog's head. Straightening up as he pointed at Flash.

"Follow, Krypto. Obey him, Krypto." Connor ordered trying to keep his voice steady. The dog whined again tucking his tail between his legs. Moving to lick Connor's hand. Connor refused to react though.

"Follow. Obey him." Connor ordered a second time. Krypto continued to whine, but obediently went to Flash and gazed up at him. Barry held his hand out for the animal to sniff. Letting him get his scent before he put his mask back on.

"I'll get your friend back to you as soon as I can. Come on, Krypto, we need to go find a certain someone." Barry said to the dog. Connor held his breath, but there was a flutter of wind before the two were gone. Krypto would have no problem keeping up with Flash's super speed.

"Good boy." Connor said to the empty room. Clenching his fists he headed back inside to help Megan to wash the dishes. His mind continuing to circle the implications of allowing Krypto to leave.

But what choice did he have?