Hey guys, sorry that this is so late. These past two weeks have been majorly hectic. With how this story is going I'm most likely not going to be updating every week. It'll probably be pretty random so sorry. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Conner's POV:

The conversation with Clark didn't sit right. Of course it doesn't sit right! I yell at myself. You're not made for her. You're your own person. You make your own decisions. I nod in silent response. Walking into the gym I begin to release my anger on one of the many punching bags. Clark had brought in extra after he first showed me the fortress. The reinforced material is enough to withstand the first twenty minutes, but after half an hour the seams begin to burst slightly and sand starts to trickle down onto the floor. I stare at the steady stream, envisioning time running through an hour glass. I snort. Time, I have more time than I need. With my lack of aging, no one's really sure how long I'll live. I could be immortal for all they know. I glance back at the punching bag and hope more than anything that that's not true. I can't watch everyone die and be left alone. That would be a cruel fate. Then a thought occurs to me. Will Kara age? She doesn't seem to look like she's twenty. I'm sure she could still pass as a sixteen year old as much as I can. It would be nice to have someone to share that with. I shake my head and growl, returning to the punching bag. First they tell me I'm a weapon, and now they try to make me a father? I continue my assault on the equipment before me. I'm a person. They can't control what I do and who I'm with. With a shout and final strike the bag bursts, releasing the contents onto the floor below. They can't control me anymore.

"Conner?"

Spinning around quickly I glare at Clark and Batman. I hadn't noticed them come in. Instead of apologizing I simply glare at them and shout. "They can't control me! That can't tell me who to be with. Who do they think they are?" I grab my head and turn back to the trickling sand. "It's like they're getting in my head again. Making me think that I'm supposed to carry out a purpose." I shake my head as my vision begins to blur. Blinking away tears I sigh. "It just feels like M'gann is doing it all over again."

Clark comes up from behind and rests a hand on my shoulder. "What do you mean Kon-el?"

I shrug. "The confusion, the hurt, it just reminds me of when she tried to make me forget."

"What did she do?" Batman asks harshly as he steps forward.

My eyes widen. I look to Clark for assistance but he just shrugs. "I was going to tell him anyway." As I being to glare he continues quickly. "Batman is technically still in charge of the team. It's only right that he knows the situation."

"What situation?" Concern begins to creep into his voice as Bruce comes forward and Batman takes a back seat. "Conner?"

I sigh and look to the floor. "M'gann has been…" I fall silent and glance up at the Dark Knight. "I never wanted to get her in trouble, so I just…" I sigh. "She's been using her powers to extract information from prisoners as usual, but now she's starting to become more aggressive. She's not as careful as she used to be. Now she just rips at their minds until she finds what she wants, practically leaving her victims brain dead."

The whites of his mask turn to thin slits. "That's not everything is it?"

I sigh and shake my head. "No, it's not." He waits for me to continue. "After I spoke with her about it, she didn't want to see reason. So that's why I… yeah." He gets the point. "After that she knew I was still angry with her so she went into my mind without permission and tried to change things."

After a moment's pause Batman asks. "What do you mean change?"

I drag a hand down my face, not really wanting to continue. "She tried to change some of my memories and emotions. Make me forget what she did and keep me from being mad at her."

His eyes widen as his mouth opens slightly. I've never seen Batman shocked before, so I decide to remain silent. "But she wasn't successful."

I shake my head. "No, I noticed her presence and pushed her away. She began to persist, but I think she started to feel guilty and stopped then." I sigh and gaze intently at my boots. "I haven't talked to her since."

Clark comes over and wraps his arms around me. I feel a kiss on the crown of my head as I tighten my grip around his waist. This doesn't happen often, but when it does I don't let the brotherly moment slip by. Bruce leaves after mentioning some investigation he has to do on the subject. I ignore the sound of his departure and the leaving of the jet. Clark still engulfs me in a hug as I cling to him. It's all just so much. I never thought that I would find myself being so manipulated after leaving Cadmus. But even now, years later, they still find ways to get in my head.

I take in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. Clark sighs and gives another kiss. "You alright little brother."

A smile gleams at the corner of my lips. I always love it when he calls me that. With my head still buried in his chest I nod my head and break away from his embrace. "Yeah." I clear my throat. "I'm fine, sorry." I mumble, not meeting his gaze.

He places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, what are big brothers for?"

Grabbing me in a headlock he ruffles up my hair. I shove him off and can't help but laugh. "Have you talked to Kara yet?"

He shakes his head. "No, after Bruce spoke with her she went outside for some air." He shrugs. "I figured I'd give her some time alone to think about things."

I nod. "Do you mind if I go talk to her?"

Kara's POV:

Feet dangling over the edge I stare down at the icy cold water over a hundred feet below. I silently wish that I could go back to the farm. I snort. "Now there's a thought." I mumble to myself. Glancing back at the fortress I wonder if either of them have heard me. "Doubt it." My spot is well over a mile away. I let out a heavy sigh, enjoying the solitude away from the two men. Not that they haven't been wonderful these past few days. They've been more of a family than anyone else has, more connected and caring, more concerned and interested. I never had many friends. Being an only child and having to stay in after school every night tended to make relationships rather difficult. I sigh once more and bring my knees up to my chest as I begin to think about relationships. One specific one in particular. I scoff and roll my eyes. "It's not even a relationship." I tell myself out loud. "It's just what they wanted from us." I glance back at the fortress and remember my anger at Cadmus and how quickly that anger switched to Conner. I shake my head. "It's not his fault though. He's as much a victim as I am in this case." I gaze back out at where the ocean meets the horizon and allow my mind to drift. "I wonder what it would be like if I had never left and if Conner had stayed." Much different. A scenario begins to play in my head. My hand enveloped in Conner's as we walk down a cold, disinfected hallway. I scrunch my nose at the thought of them watching and monitoring us. We would never have a minute of privacy to ourselves. I grimace. "How awkward would that be?"

"How awkward would what be?"

I perk up as I hear his voice. "Conner?"

He laughs slightly. "Over here on the balcony." He calls out. I glance back and see him wave. I sigh as I stand and begin to fly toward his awaiting form. Landing before him he smiles. "Looks like you've got your flight skills down." I nod, remaining silent. He frowns as an awkward pause fills the air between us. "Kara…" He breaks off and sighs. "Are… are you okay?"

I lean back against the railing and shrug. "Not really, are you?"

He shakes his head. "No." Crossing his arms another silence begins. "Can I talk to you inside? It's a little chilly out here."

I nod, though the cold doesn't bother me. Maybe it does him since he's only half Kryptonian. I follow him down the hall and into the den, sitting on the opposite side of the couch I tuck my feet up and stare at him. "So what's up?"

He shrugs. "I'm not really sure. I just thought that maybe we should talk considering the circumstance."

I nod. "What do you think about all of this?"

He rubs at his eyes and sighs. "To tell you the truth, I'm really not sure. After what happened with M'gann and-"

I cut him off. "Wait, what happened with M'gann?"

He looks up at me. "We broke up."

"You two dated?" He nods. "Why did you break up?"

He sighs. "Some things just happened."

Pain shows in his eyes. "What kind of things?" He shrugs it off but I continue. "Conner, what did she do?" I ask more sternly, though I don't know where this overly protective concern comes from all of a sudden. He sighs once more and rubs the back of his neck. After he's done telling me what she did to him I stare in shock. "What? Did you tell anyone?"

"Just Clark, and then Batman found out today."

"Well are they going to do anything about it?"

He looks up at me in slight horror. "I'm not sure. But Kara, you can't tell anyone. I don't want her getting in trouble."

My brow creases. "Conner, something has to be done."

His anger begins to flare. "No it doesn't."

I calm down before continuing, knowing that it'll help my case in the end. "Conner, what if I told you some guy I was dating started to take things too fast when I told him to stop?"

He sits up straighter. "Who's the guy? I swear if he touched you-"

I place a hand on his knee. "Conner if I told you that he took advantage of me what would you do?"

As he looks at me his shoulders visibly slouch. "I would tell someone and make sure you were safe. But this is different. She-"

"Conner, she broke into your mind and tried to change things to better suit herself." He doesn't break eye contact. "She tried to hurt you and make you do what she wanted even though she knew you didn't want it to happen." His eyes begin to tear up. "You may not think it's the same thing, but it is. She tried to make you do something you didn't want to, and now she has to be stopped from doing it to anyone else." He looks down to his lap and begins to play with my hand in order to distract himself. "Okay Conner?" He nods silently as a single tear drips from his chin. I sigh sadly and scoot next to him. "Come here." Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, he buries his face into my neck and clings to my form. We stay like this for a while until Clark walks in.

Clark POV:

I frown as I hear an escalated heart beat and quick gasps. Using my x-ray vision I spy Conner and Kara in the den and rush toward them. When I enter the room I stop for a moment. There's Kara holding an emotional Conner, soothing him and rubbing small circles into his back as he pours out his heart to her. I've never seen nor heard him express himself so freely. Besides anger and slight happiness, Conner typically doesn't openly show much emotion. Walking over I kneel before them and place a hand on both of their knees. They both flinch slightly and pull away from each other to look at me. Kara wears a slight smile, while Conner gives one of his usual passive stares. I smile warmly at them both and gather them into a crushing hug. They quickly accept as they both hold on tightly. I smile over both of their shoulders. My family. "You guys okay?" I ask as I pull away from them.

They both nod quickly and wipe away tears as Kara explains. "Conner was telling me about what happened with M'gann." The young man flinches slightly at the mention of her name, but Kara and I choose to ignore it. I nod in understanding and pat my younger brother's knee. "It's difficult to deal with." I look him in the eyes. "But we're here for you Kon-el." The boy nods and gives a slight smile. I glance between the two of them and decide to acknowledge the elephant in the room. "So how are the two of you dealing with this, then?"

Conner shrugs. "We haven't really gotten a chance to talk about it yet."

I nod in understanding. "Alright well, I'm going to get supper going awhile then." As I get up to leave Kara stops me.

"Hey Clark?" I turn to acknowledge her. "Why do you call him Kon-el?"

Conner groans. "You had to ask that didn't you?" I raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugs and turns toward his half cousin. "Prepare yourself for a long cultural spiel. I hope you're comfortable."

I chuckle and begin this "spiel" that I know, deep down, Conner personally enjoys.

Kara's POV:

After Clark finally stops talking, he goes to the kitchen to make dinner. Conner looks over at me and begins to chuckle. "You had to ask didn't you?"

I shrug and smile. "I was curious."

"The oysters were curious too."

"Yeah, but I won't listen to the walrus when he tries to tell me that the world is a magical place."

He shakes his head. "You've read the book?"

I nod. "It's one of my favorites."

"You'll get along with Artemis then."

"I wouldn't mind meeting her."

He shrugs. "You have a pretty good handle on your powers now. You'll probably be going to the mountain soon and meet the rest of the team."

I sigh. "So I'll be drafted into the hero squad?" I hug my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them.

Conner scooches closer to me. "You don't have to be a hero, Kara."

I shrug. "I think that's already been decided."

His brow scrunches. "What do you mean?"

I lean back against the couch and look over at him. "That's what I'm supposed to be. Whether it's for Cadmus or the Justice League, I'm still going to be a hero no matter what."

He sighs. "Just because that's what they had planned for you, doesn't mean that you have to go through with it."

"You did."

"Because it was what I wanted."

"You sure about that?"

He pauses for a moment. "What do you mean?"

I shrug. "From what I've heard, after you left Cadmus you were put right in with the team. You lived at the cave and hung out with the other heroes. Sounds like they just threw you in with the rest because they figured that you were going to become one."

He looks to the floor for a moment, collecting his thoughts. After a moment he looks at me and shakes his head. "I still chose that life. I agreed to train. I agreed to go on missions."

"But if you decided to not be part of the team, how would you have felt living at the cave? If I was you, I would have joined no matter what because it would have helped me make friends and if I wasn't part of the team, I would have felt awkward staying there."

Conner stares at me for a moment. His brow furrows as if he's attempting to walk through the different scenarios. His mouth opens and closes several times as he tries to come up with a solution. He grunts after a while. "Maybe you're right."

I nod and turn to face him. "So Cadmus has decided our fates as heroes." He nods. "Then what else have they decided?"

He glances up at me. "Kara, we don't have to do anything we don't want to."

I sigh and lean forward resting my elbows on my knees. "I know. It's just, they kept us from the world to serve their own purpose. They used us. I just…" I don't finish. Mostly because I don't know how. So instead I give another shrug. "I'm just angry."

He scoffs. "I know how that is." I hug my knees to my chest once more as tears begin to cloud my vision. "Kara?" I don't answer. Sliding over toward me he pulls me close. I rest my head against his chest as my fingers latch onto his T-shirt. "What's wrong?"

I sigh in frustration. "It's so much. Leaving home, discovering I'm not even human, finding out my best friend is the same thing and a hero, not to mention that he's meant for me, and then becoming a superhero that the world will look to in time of need, it's insane. What if I don't want to do that? What if I can't?" Pushing away from him a tear runs down my cheek. "What if I fail?"

He cups my face with is hand and wipes away the tear. Smiling, he gently shushes me and kisses my forehead. "Everything will be fine, Kara. You'll see. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to. You don't have to be a hero." He shrugs. "You can just be Kara and live in Metropolis with Clark and I. It's not a big deal if you don't become Supergirl."

I raise an eyebrow. "Supergirl?"

He shrugs. "Well you need a name don't you?"

"I guess so. But super-girl? I'm twenty."

"So, I'm twenty-two and you don't see me complaining over super-boy."

"But you had that name before you even got out of Cadmus. Plus super-man was already taken."

"But super-woman doesn't have the same ring to it."

I pause. "True."

He gives a hearty laugh. "So does this mean you're reconsidering already?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I feel like it would be selfish if I didn't."

He nods. "But at the same time, you don't want to because someone told you that you had to."

I look up at him for a moment and meet his eyes. He knows what it's like. He knows exactly what it's like. Cadmus had his entire life planned out. They sculpted him into their weapon, tried to decide his fate. Just like they tried to decide mine.

We talk for the next thirty minutes or so. I lean against him with my head resting in the crook of his neck. The beat of his heart seems familiar and clams me, as the rise and fall of his chest when he chuckles makes me laugh. Clark comes in a few minutes later to tell us that dinner is ready.