This little ditty is in response to the Roll a Die or Pick a Pair challenge by orangevbnin over in the YJ Challenge Forums. I was assigned Superman and Superboy. It's the first time I focused on Superboy at all and I hope I didn't crash and burn!
This is rated K. The standard disclaimer applies; I write for pleasure not for profit. And I'm certainly not lucky enough to own anything relating to DC Comics. But a girl can dream..
Megan held her ear to his open mouth, listening for an intake of breath.
There was nothing.
Then she touched her slender green fingers to his neck, feeling for a pulse.
"He doesn't have a pulse!"
She brushed her hair back over her shoulder, swiped at the sweat on her brow with the back of her hand and resumed chest compressions.
"One, two, three, four…"she counted off the compressions breathlessly as she worked, her cheeks flushing with the effort. When she got to thirty she stopped again. Tilting her ear to his mouth she listened for a breath.
Again there was nothing.
She placed two fingers against his neck to feel for a pulse.
Still nothing.
She moved back into place to resume chest compressions when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Well done, Megan. You can stop now. It's Superboy's turn," Black Canary said, helping Megan to her feet. Canary turned to the rest of the group to address them. "CPR is a necessary skill you will all have to learn. It is as vital as your combat skills. If one of your teammates or a civilian is injured, you will need to know first aid skills as well as CPR."
Robin handed Megan an antibacterial wipe to clean off Kevin, their CPR dummy.
"Too bad you couldn't save Kevin, Miss M. It's a shame to lose such a vital member of our team," he said, barely managing to suppress his laughter.
"Looks like I'm one-for-one with CPR then. I saved Wally but I couldn't save Kevin." Megan laughed and glanced at Wally who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Best thing that ever happened to me, being knocked out and thrown in the pool," he teased. "For you to come to my rescue was amazing." His green eyes twinkled as he winked at her.
"And that's the only time you'll even come close to kissing Megan," Artemis muttered as she elbowed Wally in the ribs. "So don't get your hopes up."
Superboy remained quiet, his face serious. He kept glancing at Kevin and then down at his hands.
"Alright, everybody quiet down," Canary interrupted. "It's Superboy's turn." She ushered him forward and knelt down across from him. "Okay, now remember what we've talked about. You tilt his head back, rest your palm gently on his forehead, pinch his nose and give him a breath."
Superboy nodded nervously and held his ear over Kevin's mouth. He used his left hand to tilt Kevin's chin up, pinched his nose with his right hand and gave him a breath.
"Okay, now begin chest compressions." Canary backed off a bit to observe.
Superboy squared his shoulders, locked his elbows, crossed his hands together and began pushing down on Kevin's sternum.
"One, two, three…" he counted off each compression, working a bit too slowly. His forehead was creased with worry.
"You'll have to speed up a little. If you go too slowly, it won't work," she prodded gently.
Superboy's compressions sped up a bit, but on number twenty-four Kevin's plastic sternum snapped loudly.
Canary watched carefully as he worked to contain his frustration. He slowly sat back on his heels, staring at Kevin's fractured chest cavity.
"It's okay, you know. You'll get it eventually," Canary said quietly. "You and I can work on it again tomorrow."
Superboy shook his head. "Don't bother. I'll just break the next dummy, too." He stood up and walked away, hands balled into fists at his sides.
"Alright, guys and gals, this training session is over. The test for the first aid skills will be tomorrow," Canary said as she glanced at Kevin. "I'll contact Batman and have him bring in a new mannequin."
Kaldur stayed behind, staring at Kevin.
"Looks like I have to take matters into my own hands," he said quietly. He picked up Kevin and hoisted the dummy over his shoulder.
He had a phone call to make.
Kaldur met Superman in the garage later that evening.
"Ok, Kaldur, I'm here. What's going on?" Superman leaned against his car, the one he drove to 'keep up appearances'.
Kaldur gestured to Kevin who was currently occupying the work bench. "We were learning CPR today. Superboy managed twenty-three compressions before Kevin's chest plate fractured."
Superman eyed Kevin curiously. "And you called me here because you need a new dummy, or what?"
Kaldur sighed. "I called you because Superboy needs a mentor. He's making progress in controlling his strength and improving his skills, but he needs someone who knows what he's dealing with to help him." He approached Superman, stopping several feet in front of him. "How do you think he feels every time one of our mentors shows up?"
Superman didn't answer at first, not having anything to say. He thought for a moment. "What do you want me to do? How am I supposed to approach a boy who is literally my clone? I didn't make him, I don't see why it's my responsibility..."
"Actually, with all due respect sir, you did," Kaldur interrupted.
Superman's eyes widened. "What?"
"You may not have harvested the DNA and cloned it, but you made him. He is made from you, Superman. You have the chance to make him into something great. To train him to use his abilities the right way." He thought about all that Superboy did to help Megan while they were in Bialya. "Don't doubt him. You would be quite surprised to see how far he has come without you." Kaldur gently squeezed Superman's enormous shoulder. "But imagine what he could do with you to guide him."
He made eye contact with the Man of Steel and smiled before turning away. He left Superman alone with his thoughts and with Kevin lying on the workbench.
Superman swallowed hard at the thought of Superboy inadvertently crushing someone's chest while trying to save a life.
Maybe a quick lesson wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Superboy looked around frantically as the ceiling caved in around him. He covered the woman's body with his own, a beam breaking when it hit his shoulders. He cried out in pain as the beam splinted and the hot embers dropped from the floor above.
They were trapped.
He carefully laid the woman on the floor and checked for injuries. Coughing a bit as he inhaled smoke, his eyes widened in fear when he noticed she was completely still.
"Ma'am?" He tapped her cheek softly. "Ma'am, are you okay?"
He didn't get a response and instinctively leaned down over her, listening for a breath. When he couldn't detect one he touched his fingers to her neck.
She wasn't breathing. She didn't have a pulse.
He was going to have to perform CPR and somehow not kill her.
On a rooftop across the street, Superman flinched as the roof of the building caved in. He could see Superboy and a woman inside huddled on the floor and he heard Superboy cry out.
"Batman, we have to do something."
Batman put a gloved hand to Superman's chest. "Superman, just give him a minute. I think he can do this."
Superman stared at Bruce a moment, his mouth agape in surprise. "Bruce, he could die if we don't go. And that woman would die as well; she's not breathing. I'm not sure Superboy can save..."
Bruce glared at Superman and tightly clamped Superman's wrist. "The least you can do, Superman, is have a little faith in him." Superman flinched as Bruce emphasized the first part of his name, mocking him. "The rest of us do." Bruce released his vice-like grip on Superman's wrist and turned back to the scene below them.
Superboy touched the communicator piece tucked in his ear.
"Can anyone hear me?"
He got an earful of static for his trouble and ripped the communicator out of his ear. He flexed his fingers and knelt down next to the woman.
Concentrate. You can do this without killing her.
Taking a deep breath he tilted her head back and plugged her nose. He gave her a breath and noticed from the corner of his eye that her chest rose. He gave her one more breath.
Moving to kneel beside her he began chest compressions.
"One, two, three, four…"
His brow knitted in concentration, focusing on using just the right amount of pressure to keep her heart pumping. When he reached thirty he gave her another two breaths.
Still no breath sounds, still no heartbeat.
He continued working, going through another thirty compressions. He felt her head move slightly and stopped working.
A weak cough escaped her throat. She was breathing.
He laughed aloud at the sight of her breathing on her own. It worked. He managed to save her.
Taking a look around the room he saw the support beams along the far wall had burned enough to weaken the entire structure. He picked her up and carried her across the room. With a swift kick he broke the beam and the wall collapsed.
A moment later they were outside. His frantic teammates all rushed toward him, relief washing over their faces. Superboy glanced up when he saw movement on the rooftop across the street. Batman was standing at the edge of the roof, watching.
Superboy nodded once to acknowledge the Dark Knight who nodded in return. He felt himself smile.
Then he noticed Superman standing a few feet away from Batman. Superman wasn't smiling. He was frowning.
Superboy was now frowning as well.
He felt an EMT tap his shoulder. Turning around he saw a gurney waiting for the woman he was still holding. He put her down onto the gurney and watched as they rushed her toward the ambulance. The other EMT clapped him on the shoulder and grinned widely.
"Nice work, kid! We thought you were both goners. Good thing you knew CPR or she wouldn't have made it."
Superboy merely nodded in reply, still taking it all in. He turned back to the rooftop. Superman was still standing there.
I bet he was waiting for me to fail so he could swoop in and save the day, Superboy thought bitterly. It's not like he would actually help me.
Superboy stalked back to the bioship, not wanting to bear the weight of Superman's heavy scrutiny any longer.
Kaldur and Superboy were in the kitchen that evening making themselves a late-night snack.
"I knew you could do it," Kaldur said as he waited for his bread to toast in the toaster. "I knew you had it in you."
Superboy shrugged in response. "I wasn't so sure, but I knew I had to try."
"I'm glad you did. You saved her life." They both turned quickly when they heard a voice from the doorway.
Superman entered the kitchen, eyeing his clone warily.
"What are you doing here?" Superboy put down his sandwich. He wasn't hungry anymore.
"I wanted to talk to you. Is that alright?" Superman stopped at the end of the counter, directly across from Superboy.
"I think I'll go to my room now," Kaldur said quietly. "It is nice to see you again, Superman." He smiled knowingly at Superman as he passed.
"I wanted to say how.. proud.. I am of you after what you did today," Superman said.
Superboy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure you are."
"No, listen to me. I'm really impressed with how you handled it. Saving a life is a big deal at any age, let alone when you're 16."
Superboy crossed his arms and eyed him. "How long were you watching?"
"I got there as you entered the room and found her lying there." Superman mirrored Superboy's posture subconsciously, crossing his own arms in front of him.
"So you saw everything and just let it happen? What if I had failed?" Superboy started pacing the length of the large kitchen, like a lion at the zoo pacing its cage. "What if she'd died because I couldn't control my strength?"
"Well, I admit. I was scared of that possibility. But Batman had faith in you."
Superboy froze and looked up at Superman, hurt replacing the anger on his face. In that moment he looked every bit the child he was instead of the teenager he appeared to be. "You came all the way here to tell me you have no faith in me and don't trust me? You could have said that simply by staying away like you normally do."
"What I was going to say was that Batman had faith you could save her. And after seeing what you did today, it's faith that I now have in you that I should have had all along."
Superman approached Superboy hesitantly, trying to make clear his attempt to set things right. The younger of the two super beings relaxed his defensive posture, his shoulders slumping a bit in relief.
"Does this mean you'll train with me? Show me how to use all of.." his made fists and flexed his arms, "this?"
Superman smiled. "If that's what you want, then yes. That's what it means."
"Let's see what you've got, then, old man."
Kaldur smiled from his perch in the doorway of his room as he watched the pair make their way toward the gym down the hall.
It appeared as if Superboy was finally feeling the aster, as Robin would put it.