Sorry if this chapter is poorly written. Blah!

Also, if you are Catholic do not take any offense to this chapter please. I know there are some people out there who are like what i describe, but not all Catholics are like that. These are just the three girls that you see later.

So... sorry and i hope you somehow enjoy this really horrible chapter. (BLAH! WHAT IS GOOD WRITING! APPARENTLY I JUST CAN'T WRITE!)

Sorry for the rant been a long tiring day.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.19

The conversation with Clark didn't go as well as Conner had hoped. Trying to sit down and just talk about Athena was troubling to Clark. He knew that Conner wouldn't understand what was going through his mind so he tried to simply dodge any questions from the clone.

However, Conner finally did get a hold of Clark.

"Clark, she hasn't proven herself as someone to not trust, so why do you not trust her? She's just a little girl." Clark sighed and shook his head.

"Conner, she is not just a little girl. She is a powerful weapon. She could go off at any moment and start killing people without even knowing it. She might malfunction, or maybe she might simply drop down dead one day. There are too many unknown variables with her." Clark explained, and Conner ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Clark, you don't understand. She is…"

"You just don't want to believe that she isn't so innocent as you think." Clark stated quickly, then left the Mountain quickly in a huff.

Conner watched as the man left, then collapsed on the couch.

Clark was right that he didn't want to believe in the possibility that she wasn't such an innocent child. However, Conner couldn't help it. The girl was like a daughter to him. A daughter who he didn't want to lose. He didn't care if she was grown in a laboratory, that didn't change who she was.

"Didn't go to well?" Nightwing inquired, walking into the room, and Conner sighed, shaking his head.

"Athena doesn't deserve this. Nobody deserves to be looked down upon by their father." He stated, and Nightwing sat next to Conner on the couch.

"If it makes you feel any better, Superman seems to be the only one of her "fathers" that doesn't like her too much. Also, you are a clone from him. That makes you kinda her father in a way too." He explained. "We shouldn't focus on the people who don't like Athena, we should focus on the people who do."

Conner nodded, but continued to frown.

"Superman mentioned that Athena could malfunction or die. Do you know how likely those things are from happening?" he inquired.

"I honestly don't know." Nightwing informed with a small shrug. "She lived this long though. I don't know why she'd suddenly break down." he paused for a moment, not liking how possible the idea was. "Conner, for all we know Athena could live for a hundred years or maybe she might die tomorrow, but that just means that until we know, we have to make sure every one of her days alive are worth it."

Conner looked over at Nightwing and smiled slightly.

"You're right. And we shouldn't worry about this. Where's Athena now?" he inquired, and Nightwing smirked.

"Batman actually thinks that she should get some kid friends, so she's at some sort of science and history museum kid thingy." Conner gave Nightwing a look, and the man put his hands up in defense. "Hey, it wasn't my idea, and besides, it may sound boring but apparently kids there get to do some cool stuff. Make paper airplanes, make model volcanos, write like a colonial person stuff like that. It's at the science and history museum. And Athena wanted to go too."

"So she's into science and history?" Conner questioned, and Nightwing sighed.

"She seems to like everything. Drawling, writing, reading, sports, animals… really I think she just wants to try everything she can since she's missed out on so much." Nightwing explained.

"I guess that's true." Conner shrugged. "I hope she's able to make some friends."

~*~*~*~*~*~At the Child Science and History Museum~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena never talked to kids her own age before, so to say that she was a bit nervous was an understatement.

Once Alfred dropped her off, she felt completely alone looking at the large crowd of kids getting ready for the event the museum was holding to get children more interested in their school studies.

First she decided to walk up to a group of girls talking and giggling together.

"Hello." Athena said with a small smile. The girls looked her up and down, then smiled at her.

"Hello." A blond girl said. "I'm Molly." A girl with freckles added,

"I'm Gina." And a girl with straight black hair informed,

"I'm Becca. What's your name?"

"I'm Athena." she said with a bright smile.

"Athena?" Gina repeated, crinkling her nose a bit, as if she tasted something sour.

"That's a weird name." Molly stated.

"I've never heard of it before." Becca informed, crossing her arms as if Athena had been lying about her name. Athena looked at all the girl's faces and frowned.

"Well… I was name after a Greek Goddess." She informed in a small voice.

"A Greek Goddess?" Becca repeated, her eyes widening, almost in fear, along with the other girls. "That's bad."

"There's only one God." Gina informed matter-of-factly.

"Do you worship the devil too? My mommy warned me about people like you." Molly stated.

"No! No! I was just named after a Goddess… I… I don't really have a religion yet." Athena informed quickly, however, that seemed to just make things worse.

"You don't have a religion? You mean you never went to church?" Molly questioned, and before Athena could say anything, Becca added,

"Were you ever even Baptized?"

"I… I don't think so… no. I…"

"She's gonna go to hell." Gina whispered to the other girls, but Athena heard what she said. And the girl had read plenty about Hell in books and poems she read in Bruce's small library.

"I… I didn't do anything wrong… I don't think I should go to hell…"

"If you don't convert soon you'll definitely go to hell." Becca nodded, and Athena was truly scared.

"She won't go to hell. Bug off." A voice stated from behind her. Athena turned around to see a boy who was about an inch shorter than her with big circular glasses, curly black hair, and tan skin.

"Why? Are you a devil worshiper too?" Becca questioned to the boy, but he looked at her calmly.

"No, I'm not. In fact, I don't think Jesus would be very happy that you're calling someone you hardly know a devil worshiper. Jesus preached love, not hate, so please don't spread it." The boy stated. The girls gave a small huff, then walked away from the two.

"Thank you." Athena said, turning to the boy.

"No problem. They go to Saint Agnes Catholic school and are pretty snobby, and closed minded. We go to the same church." The boy shrugged, but then smiled. "My name's Ramon." He stuck out his hand to shake, but Athena ignored the hand and hugged him instead.

"It's nice to meet you Ramon. My name is Athena." she informed happily.

"I heard." Ramon breathed through the bone crushing hug. "Nice to meet you too." Athena released him from her hug and he took in a deep breath.

"So, Athena, where do you go to school?" he inquired, and Athena's eyes widened.

"Uh… well… I… don't really go to a school." Athena informed quietly.

"Oh, so your homeschooled?" Ramon questioned, and Athena nodded quickly.

"Yes… Yes! That's it! I'm homeschooled! Yes, I am homeschooled." Athena said with pride. Ramon looked at her with some puzzlement, then shrugged.

"We need to get into pairs or small groups for the museum tour, so do you want to be my partner?" he inquired.

"Okay." Athena smiled happily, grabbing Ramon's hand and swinging it back and forth as she stood by his side, humming what sounded like an Elvis song.

Ramon listened to the humming more and confirmed it as Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes song.

Ramon was quiet for a nine year old. He often didn't talk and kept to himself. In fact, he didn't exactly know why he decided to try to stick up for the strange girl who was, at the moment, swinging his hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do with someone she just met.

However, Ramon couldn't help, but smile. This Athena girl was strange to him, but not in a bad way. Sure, she seemed a bit… off… somehow, but that didn't bother him.

"Ramon, are you excited about getting to make model Volcanos? My brother was telling me about how he made one once and it exploded all over the kitchen." She said with a small laugh. "But don't you think it will be fun?" she questioned with her big wide grin.

Ramon chuckled, looking up at the taller girl.

"Yes. It does sound like fun." He grinned. Is this what making a friend is like? He wondered.

However, Ramon wasn't the only one thinking that.