Sorry for taking forever to update. Things have been very hectic.

Superman is very hard to write. I'm used to writing the Superman from Superman the Animated series (a.k.a my childhood) who is this trustful, peaceful, kind man who seems to love everyone until proven otherwise. However, i noticed when comparing that Superman to Young Justice Superman, there were a handful of differences, so i had to attempt at writing Young Justice Superman. Sorry if he seems out of character, i'm trying really hard.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.18

Athena frequently visited Mt. Justice, where she also practiced her powers. She could move things with her mind for about two seconds, but she was proud of her progress on her telekinesis. (Or as Dick called it, her "Force".)

Her flight was improving as well, but when she got excited, she still often would float. However, she didn't seem to have any more abilities.

Athena only went to Wayne Manor and Mt. Justice. That was it. Sure, she did sometimes go to Happy Harbor, but Bruce didn't ever take her into Gotham city. However, that was going to change.

One day during breakfast, Bruce's cell phone rang, which was strange because usually his cell phone never went off. Not many people had his number.

Bruce answered it at the table, earning him a pointed glare from Alfred, which he tried to ignore.

"Today?" Bruce questioned in a low voice.

Athena looked over at Alfred, hoping for an answer, but he had none. Instead, the butler said gently,

"Miss Athena, perhaps you should wait out in the living room." He suggested, as he picked up the girl's plate.

Athena nodded and walked into the room, but couldn't deny the fact that she was curious who was on the phone with Bruce.

After about two minutes, Bruce walked into the living room, and looked at Athena.

"You should get your wig and contacts on. We're going out to a diner I know to meet someone." He informed.

"Who?" Athena inquired, cocking her head to the side.

"It's a surprise." Bruce informed with a small smile.

The word surprise made any seven year old excited, and this included Athena. She started to float, and before Bruce could say anything, she quickly flew to her room… until she crashed into the wall, having yet to perfect turning, and stopping. Athena's directions were forward, up, and down.

"Athena…"

"It's okay! I'm okay! The wall's okay too!" Athena exclaimed from upstairs, and Bruce sighed. He couldn't imagine what she was going to be like when she got older.

Athena was quickly downstairs again with her short curly brown wig, and brown eye contacts. It was obvious she was having some difficulty keeping her feet on the ground.

Bruce extended his hand and she took it happily, trying to keep herself from floating off the ground, while excited over what the surprise could be.

"Let's go, Athena."

~*~*~*~*~*~At the Diner~*~*~*~*~*~

Bruce stepped into the Diner with Athena, and looked over at a man sitting at a booth with circular glasses, blue eyes, and short black hair.

"See that man?" Bruce questioned, and Athena nodded. "That is one of your fathers." Athena looked at Bruce in shock, then at the man in the booth.

Bruce gave her a small pat on the back, then walked back to the door.

"Father…"

"Go talk to him." Bruce stated with a small grin. Athena was suddenly nervous. She was always nervous about meeting one of her parents. She wanted them to like her.

Athena took in a deep breath, and slowly walked over to the man at the table, and she could see Bruce watch her get to the destination, then leave the shop.

"Hello." Athena said in a small voice, and the man smiled at her kindly. Now up close to him, she was surprised how he looked so similar to Conner.

"Hello. Are you Athena?" he inquired, and the girl nodded shyly, and the man looked at the seat across from him.

"You should have a seat." He informed, and the girl did so. Her mind was going through who he was.

Could he be Martian Manhunter? She wondered, but quickly dismissed it. She met the Martian quickly in passing, but she met him nonetheless. However, she realize that she had met all of her parents except for one.

Superman.

"I'm sorry I haven't met you sooner." The man apologized.

"I-It's okay. You were busy." Athena shrugged lightly.

"Conner has told me a lot about you. You two seem close." The man smiled, and Athena smiled slightly. She liked Conner. He was like another one of her father's.

"Yes. He's very nice." Athena nodded.

"My name is Clark, by the way. Clark Kent." He said with a smile, however, when he told her the information he looked like he had to force himself to keep the smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Clark." She said politely, ignoring the way he smiled previously.

"Same here, Athena. I really have wanted to meet you for a while, now." Clark said, truly sincere. Athena smiled because she really did want to meet him as well, and she could feel herself start to rise from her seat.

Her eyes quickly widened and she grabbed the bottom of the seat, pulling herself down and she started to take in deep breaths, relaxing herself.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, waiting to be reprimanded. He was Superman. Controlling his flight was probably easy for him. She expected him to be upset that she couldn't do something so simple.

Instead he gave her a small smile.

"Are you having some problems controlling your flight?" he inquired, and Athena nodded mutely.

"I can help you with that if you want." he informed in a soft voice. "I already talked to Bruce, so we have the entire day to spend with each other." Clark stood from the booth and extended his hand for her to take.

Athena slowly took his hand, and Clark held it as tight as he could without harming her. Athena couldn't help notice the differences between Clark and Conner.

Conner never held her hand as tight as Clark was. When he did, it was a firm, yet gentle hand-hold. To be honest, Athena felt like Clark thought she was going to run away, like he didn't trust her.

Also, her conversations with Conner had never been so… awkward.

She could practically smell the uncertainty coming off of Clark. It was as if he was trying to trust her as much as he could, but there was something pulling him away.

"What's wrong?" Athena questioned with worry, and Clark raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." He informed, and Athena shook her head.

"You seem to be acting strange around me. I am not trying to sound rude, but it's true. Is there something wrong?" she inquired, but was completely serious.

Clark took in a deep breath as he walked next to the girl, and sighed. He quickly led them to a bench at a nearby park, and sat down.

"Athena… Bruce told me everything about your past and what you are." Clark stated, and Athena looked at him confused.

"What I am? I'm human." She informed plainly, but Clark shook his head, and said in a low voice,

"No, you are not. Not fully. Your part human, part Amazonian, part Kryptonian, part Atlantian, and part Martian. In short, you are a lab experiment. A proje-"

"Please don't say that." She whispered, cutting him off. Her face was down, out of Clark's sight.

"I'm sorry, Athena. I just have some doubts, and I feel I have a right to. You don't know how to control your abilities, and what abilities you even have." Clark paused for a moment. "I am a very dangerous person. If you have my abilities and then some, that makes you a very dangerous person too." He explained.

"I-I don't want t-to hurt anybody." Clark's eyes widened as he heard the small sobs of the girl who was holding her contacts that slid off due to the tears.

"Athena… I didn't mean to make you cry. I just thought…"

"That because I was grown in a test tube I'm not a person?" she questioned with some bitterness in her tone, but she was still crying, very upset. It felt like someone punched her in the stomach.

"No. Never. You are a person, Athena. I just… I have found out the hard way that when you trust someone fully, you will get hurt even more when they betray you." He informed.

Athena refused to look at him.

"Maybe when you refuse to trust someone, the more isolated you become." She whispered, but his words from earlier echoed in her head,

"In short you are a lab experiment. A proje-" she knew he was going to call her a project. It made her heart ache and she wanted to get away. To get somewhere safe. To go to someone safe. To go to…

"Please, take me to Conner." Clark looked at her, surprised.

"Athena, I didn't mean…"

"I want to see Conner. Please." Clark wanted to deny her, but he noticed that he had already done enough damage. He felt like punching himself. He had his chance to bond with his "daughter" and he blew it due to his mistrust.

Clark wished that she could understand him. He didn't mistrust her he only mistrusted what she was. Until proven otherwise it was going to stay that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~At Mt. Justice~*~*~*~*~*~

Conner was shocked when he saw Athena walking next to Clark, looking away from him with her arms crossed.

Athena loved holding hands, but she appeared to want absolutely nothing to do with Clark.

Something was definitely wrong.

Athena ran to Conner and hugged him tightly. Conner placed a hand on the girl's head, then looked up at Clark.

"What happened?" he questioned, then looked back down at the girl. He gently picked her up and patted her back.

"We'll talk later." Clark informed, but he sounded… well Conner couldn't exactly place it. It was a mixture of disappointment and remorse, yet not exactly.

"Athena, what's wrong?" Conner questioned once Clark left the room. The girl lowered her eyes and small droplets of tears streaked her face.

"I'm angry, Conner." She informed sadly. "I don't want to be angry, but I am. I want to love Clark, really, I do, but I am so mad at him. I don't want to at all, because he's my…" Athena paused. "He probably doesn't even see me as a daughter, so why should I even think about referring to him as a father."

Conner raised an eyebrow, and looked the girl in the eye.

"What happened, Athena?" he inquired.

"He doesn't trust me." she whispered. "And if I didn't cut him off he would have called me a Project." She shook her head. "I just want to be seen as a person, not a project."

Conner sighed. He really needed to talk to Clark about improving his father child relationships.

"I know how you feel, Athena." Conner informed, kissing the top of her head. "After I was freed from my capsule, Clark didn't want anything to do with me for several months." Conner grimaced slightly at the memories of that. "But it will all be alright. You just need to give it time, alright?"

Conner placed Athena on her feet, and brushed a tear on her cheek away with his thumb.

"Come on, Athena. how about we go into town and get some ice cream." Conner smiled, and Athena smiled back, drying the rest of her tears and placing her contact back in.

Conner knew that he was going to have to talk to Clark.