Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Young Justice and make no money from these writings.

Little Things

Moment Five

When Conner's key slid into the lock of the apartment's front door it was already well past midnight but still a few hours off from dawn, so he was surprised when he opened the door and still heard noise coming from the living room. Holding the door open for Kaldur, they could both hear Kagome speaking Japanese to someone.

"I think she's talking to her mom," Conner clarified for Kaldur as he quietly shut the door behind them, able to hear a faint static response. He listened to a little more of the conversation before he said, "She's worried."

Making their way to the living room, they saw that the TV was turned onto a news station covering the attack on Star City earlier in the evening. The footage now mostly consisted of clean-up efforts, searching for missing and injured, and replays of heroic highlights during the fight. A fight that Conner and Kaldur had been part of. A fight that Kaldur had been injured in.

As if on cue, footage flashed across the screen of Kaldur protecting a couple of teenagers but getting caught in an explosion immediately afterwards.

Her back was to them, but they could see Kagome from where she sat on the couch as she covered part of her face with one hand and spoke to her mother again in a shaky voice.

Not able to take seeing her worry over the newscast, Kaldur approached the couch with slow, soft steps so as not to irritate his sore bruised ribs or make his pounding headache any worse. Placing a gentle hand on Kagome's shoulder, he felt her jump in surprise as he said, "It's okay, we're home now."

Kagome bid her mother a hasty goodbye before hanging up and dropping her phone to the couch. She was on her feet to face the two heroes a second later with a look mixed with relief and lingering worry.

These moments always broke Kaldur's heart. It wasn't the first time he or Conner had come home a little worse for wear, not the first time she'd had to sit at home and try to follow the news for any indication that they were okay. Her red-rimmed, puffy eyes spoke volumes to how much she'd been crying while they were away, but the way she looked at him, took in his scrapes and bruises and burns, knowing he was the cause of that sadness twisted his stomach in awful ways.

"Kaldur," Kagome breathed before biting her lip to keep her voice from cracking. "I was watching the news. I saw...are you okay?" Her eyes traveled over him again, looking carefully for anything that might need immediate attention.

"I'm fine," Kaldur tried to assure her but flinched and had to brace himself when Kagome moved to hug him. He was surprised but grateful when Conner stopped Kagome with a hand on her shoulder.

"You should probably hold off on the hugs for a few days," Conner told her.

"Why?" Kagome asked looking between the two. When she didn't get an answer right away, she focused on Conner and tried again. "Conner, why?"

Conner sighed because as much as they didn't want to worry her more, they also couldn't not tell her. "Look," he began as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "We went to the Watchtower after the fight. Kaldur got checked out, he's okay, but he'll probably be sore for a while; there's some bruised ribs, burns, and...maybe a small concussion."

Kagome's eyes went wide and she opened her mouth to say something before she stopped and took a few deep breaths. "Okay," she said as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Okay, you're both home safe and mostly sound. I'll just be happy it wasn't any worse." Fixing her gaze on Kaldur, she told him firmly, "I want to look you over myself in a minute though." She looked back to Conner and ran a gentle hand down his arm as she gave him a once over. "What about you?" She asked. "Are you okay? Not hurt anywhere I can't see?"

"I tore my shirt," Conner said as he stuck a finger through a decent sized hole in his black t-shirt. "Other than that, nothing a shower and a good night's sleep won't fix."

For the first time since they'd gotten home, Kagome smiled a genuine smile. "That's good to hear," she told him as she moved to wrap her arms tightly around his middle. "Because I have to hug someone."

Kaldur stepped closer to the other two and stroked Kagome's hair before kissing the top of her head. "Thank you for worrying," he murmured as he tried to straighten back up with a low grunt when his ribs protested the movement.

"Okay, that's it," Kagome said as she patted Conner's back and pulled away from their hug. "You guys get cleaned up and then I'm looking you over."

"Kagome, really, I'm okay," Kaldur tried to tell her only to be cut off as she took his hands in hers and looked up at him with eyes that held no room for argument.

"Please," she stressed, "just...let me do this."

Seeing how important it was for her peace of mind, Kaldur sighed and gave in with a nod. "Okay," he said. "I'll take a shower and then you can examine to your heart's content." He paused, giving one of her hands a gentle squeeze, before adding, "Just...gently."

"I promise," Kagome smiled as he dropped her hands and headed towards the bathroom. Glancing up at Conner, she quietly said, "Go keep an eye on him? You know, just in case of a concussion. I don't want to risk him passing out in the shower alone."

"Got it," Conner agreed before he followed after Kaldur, calling out, "Wait up, I'll join you."

While Conner and Kaldur were in the shower, Kagome went about turning off the TV, straightening up the living room, and letting her mother know that everything was fine and not to worry. She could hear the shower just being turned off as she entered their bedroom and started turning down the sheets on the bed and crawled onto the mattress.

Kaldur left the bathroom first, towel in hand and wearing a pair of pajama pants. "Kaldur," Kagome breathed his name for the second time that night. His dark skin was discolored in large splotches across his ribs and sides. She wondered if he would have been able to walk away with less injuries if the heat from the blast hadn't weakened him.

"Can you dry my back?" He asked extending the towel. "I'm having trouble reaching tonight."

"Sure." Kagome took the towel and waited for him to sit on the edge of the bed. She had to bite her lip again when she saw the state his back was in. His skin was marked with burns after taking the brunt of the exposure to the explosion; some burns worse than others but thankfully none that were too bad. Patting gently at his skin, she slowly dried his back one area at a time. When she was finished, she pressed a soft kiss to an unmarked patch of skin and said, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Kaldur agreed as he turned so that he could kiss her without too much discomfort, knowing it was something that would help both of them feel better.

"I feel left out now," Conner teased as he stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of boxers, scrubbing a towel over his head to help dry his hair. As he passed by the two on the way to his usual side of the bed, he dipped down to kiss the blond fuzz of Kaldur's hair and say, "We're both glad you're okay."

"I heal quickly," Kaldur assured the other two. "So there really is no need to worry, even with the injuries I have now."

Kagome gently pushed at his shoulder to coax him into lying down before she followed, lying down and getting comfortable beside him. "Still," she said as one of her hands became engulfed in a soft pink glow, "I'm not taking chances."

Kaldur closed his eyes as Kagome's hand gently traced paths up and down his sides and across his ribs. There was a pleasant tingle deep in his muscles as some of the pain began to gradually ebb away.

"You won't be instantly healed or anything," Kagome told him as she continued pushing her power into the damaged tissue. "But this should at least help make sleeping tonight a little more comfortable."

The bed shifted noticeably when Conner joined them, turning off the lights before moving closer to spoon Kagome. He laid his arm over Kagome's waist and took Kaldur's hand in his, and Conner was finally able to sigh in contentment. He'd tried to keep it together when Kaldur had been hurt, knew that someone would need to be steady when they came home since Kagome could be just as emotional as him (moreso at times). He was tired and relieved and finally had a sense of peace again with the two people at the center of his world safe and protected within his reach.

In the dark and quiet, the world shrank down to just the three of them as they fell asleep together bathed in slowly fading pink light.