Dependents

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice and/or any and/or all concepts and/or characters. It all belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network. I am a mere Fanfiction author. With far too much time on her hands and no social life.

Rating: T

Prologue:

She stared at the toddlers. Toddlers that used to be teenagers.

Stupid evil demon boy. Stupid spell. Stupid team. Stupid Wally…

"Robin has safely been transferred into Batman's custody," Kaldur'ahm entered the room, smiling softly.

"What about those three?" she demanded, pointing at the three toddlers.

Kaldur'ahm frowned, "They have been put under our care…J'onn cannot take care of M'gann without exposing them both, Wallace cannot be entrusted to his parents…"

A low, angry but almost protective growl ripped from her throat; if that bastard laid one more hand on Wally she'd rip out his organs, through his nose, slowly.

"Barry cannot take him in without exposing them both and possibly Mister Garrick," Kaldur'ahm continued. He had heard the growl but let it pass without comment, "And as for Conner…"

Artemis growled that same growl, louder and it was definitely protective this time; another bastard of a dad. By god if Big Blue wasn't invulnerable he'd have had the shit beaten out of him, multiple times, by Young Justice, for how he was treating Conner. She'd lead the assault.

She sighed, "Fine."

"Zatara explained that they will go through an abbreviated childhood, that it might last a year or more. However Wallace and M'gann may have some memories of their true selves…"

"What about…?"

"He is a blank slate."

Artemis nodded.

Part One:

The doors chimed as the trio stepped into the Wal-Mart store. Each teen grabbed a cart and a basket.

"C'mon Conner," Artemis lifted the toddler and set him into the seat of her cart. The dark haired child submitted to her whims silently, glancing around carefully.

He didn't remember anything. Nothing at all. True, he remembered how to speak, in an awkward way befitting his toddler mind and body, but nothing else. The woman and man with him now had told him his name was Conner Kent, that he was a very special person, that they were named Artemis and Kal, and that he'd always be safe with them. They had two other kids, an annoying boy who could move really fast and a nice but odd looking girl, both about his age. He had learnt that he was a super-kid, just like someone called Superman, and had to be careful because of that. Although he did like the woman and man…they were nice…

The other two kids stayed home with more adults but Conner had been brought along. (Privately the Justice League, Artemis and Kaldur'ahm saw this spell as a chance to give Conner a semi-normal, if not very short, childhood and hoped that doing so would leave him a better adjusted teenager once the spell wore off. And so to that end he was going to be smothered with attention and socialization…)

"So," Artemis looked at the list she held, "divide and conquer?"

Kaldur'ahm shook his head, "No, it is better that we remain together…"

"Fine…" she rolled her eyes, "So where to first oh fearless leader?"

"The kids are our main concern, so we should do the shopping for them first…"

"Alright."

And all was fine, until two little grannies drifted over and began whispering loudly to each other; "Getting younger and younger these days…"

"So many young lives ruined…"

"Probably became intoxicated…"

"Definitely not the father," they eyed Kaldur'ahm, "look at the skin difference…"

"Probably abandoned—"

"Bastard children are so—"

"OKAY! THAT IS ENOUGH!" Artemis had had enough and left Conner with her comrade, "Listen here you old nags; first off Conner's not my kid. My friend and me are caring for him and his cousins because their parents are messed up. Second, even if he was my kid you don't know me or him so you shouldn't be assuming anything. Thirdly you definitely shouldn't talk crap where the kid can hear you. EVEN IF I DID GET DRUNK AND KNOCKED UP IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HIS FAULT HE WAS BORN SO DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ANOTHER APPARENT FAMILY OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HUNT YOU DO—!"

"Artemis," Kaldur'ahm put a hand on the archer's shoulder, "that is enough. You have made your points—"

"Not ye—" she snarled, eyes narrowed and on her targets.

"Yes, you are done here…You are scaring Conner…"

She whipped about, ponytail cracking like a whip, the change in her bearings startling even Kaldur'ahm, and spotted Conner cowering in his seat. "Conner!" she rushed to him and pulled into a tight and close hug. He buried his head into her shoulder, still crying as she rocked him.

"Madams," Kaldur'ahm spoke lowly, to the two older women, "I think it best you move along now. Artemis is distracted as is Conner..." The two little old ladies wisely took his advice. Conner had calmed to sniffles but stayed on Artemis' hip, holding onto her with the strength of an adult man, while she had an arm wrapped about him.

Kaldur'ahm noted this with interest, especially when she began an easy conversation with their charge and managed to get him to reply in more than monosyllabic replies, but remained quiet. The female archer had always intrigued him and this was definitely a new aspect of her personality. So he wanted to observe. He had seen her 'mothering' Robin, helping Kaldur'ahm to get the bird and speedster under control or making him take things easy when he was feeling ill or injured, but then again they all had a soft spot for the Batman's young protégé. He was the smallest of them after all; it seemed like the only one who didn't outright intervene was Conner but the clone did his fair share to make sure their young teammate was safe. (The only one who placed higher than Robin on the clone's list of important people was M'gann.)

But this...Artemis was being outright maternal.

"Do ya think you can walk for a little while hon?" she asked Conner gently after some time of carrying him around. (Kaldur'ahm blinked; did she just call the child 'hon'?)

Conner reluctantly nodded and she set him on his feet but kept hold of his hand and shortened her stride to allow him to keep up. And so they continued shopping, with Conner picking out the things he wanted when he was allowed to.

Thus was the next problem. They had been picking out sleepwear for the children. For Wally they had picked out a Flash themed set, a Hot Wheels set, and a GI Joe set. For M'gann they had chosen a My Little Pony set, a Barbie set, and a kitty and puppy printed set. For Conner, well he chose for himself and herein laid their problem. He had chosen a Batman themed set, an animal themed set and...He had pulled down a Superman themed set. He looked at it; he felt sad and couldn't understand why.

Artemis and Kaldur'ahm were looking over bed-sets when Conner began bawling. They jumped, turning to find Conner sitting in the middle of the aisle and sobbing like his puppy just died.

"Conner," Artemis knelt before him, "Conner, what's wrong?"

He pointed at the pajamas. Artemis picked the set up, her face paling as she turned to Kaldur'ahm, whispering furiously, "I thought he wasn't supposed to remember!"

Kaldur'ahm joined her on the floor, replying softly, "Rejection by a parental figure does do its' fair share of damage, perhaps his subconscious mind remembers..." Kaldur'ahm reached forward to pick Conner up, pulling him close, "Conner, Conner, listen to me," Conner calmed to sniffles, watching; Kaldur'ahm smiled, "We will never leave you, we will always care for you. You do not have to worry about us abandoning you. So please stop crying."

Conner nodded and hugged Kaldur'ahm, a hug that Kaldur'ahm returned in equal measure.

They wrapped up their shopping trip within the hour and the trio headed home, to face the toughest mission of their lives; dinnertime with three toddlers.

Part Two:

"I'm gonna so kill that little—URGH!" Artemis threatened as she scrubbed the ceiling clear of spaghetti sauce and meatball pieces. Kids loved spaghetti and it was an easy meal to make. Unfortunately it could also get messy and Wally had yet to learn the concept of not throwing his food everywhere in his haste to eat. M'gann had yet to figure out how to use human eating utensils and Conner was having trouble controlling his strength. End result; food everywhere.

"The boys are clean and occupied by the television; a show called 'Pokemon'," Kaldur'ahm entered the room, drying himself off slightly, "M'gann is waiting. I shall continue to clean up..."

"Yeah, good luck with that," she scowled as she stepped down from the step ladder, handing him the sponge mop as she passed him. She rolled up her sleeves as she headed toward the bathroom. She found M'gann still covered from head to toe in food. The green Martian looked so tiny and vulnerable that Artemis softened, the scowl slipping away. She knelt and smiled, "Are you ready to get cleaned up M'gann?"

"Yes Artie." M'gann replied. Her guardian winced internally at the nickname but smiled, "Great, can you get undressed?"

M'gann nodded and began undressing as Artemis ran her bath, keeping the water temperate but not hot.

"Ready?" Artemis asked. M'gann nodded and held out her arms for Artemis to pick her up. Artemis picked her up, lowering her slowly into the tub while checking for any signs of discomfort from the heat. M'gann hit the bottom and Artemis let go, reaching over the child's head to grab a bar of soap and a soft sponge. She lathered it up quickly, beginning to wash her de-aged friend firmly and yet gently. "Tell me if I start hurting you…" she implored the child, being unused to caring for someone else's hygiene. Skin cleaned they moved onto the sticky, meaty red residue matting scarlet hair. She lathered her charge's head in William and William's shampoo, scrubbing the soap into the skin and skull, making sure to get every hair covered and cleaned.

Once spotless she plucked the girl from the tub and set her on her feet, beginning to dry her with a fluffy towel. After a good rub down, a slight dusting and some patting, Artemis brushed M'gann's hair out and put it into a ponytail and then braided the ponytail. Then she dressed the girl before letting her out to go watch television with the boys so Artemis could go help clean the kitchen. Or salvage it.

Unfortunately this meant they had left the three kids alone, without any supervision. Had it just been M'gann and Conner things would have been fine. But they also had a young, rather untrained, Flash in the mix.

It all started, as it was wont to, when Wally got bored; when Wally got bored things got destroyed like a tornado came through the place. So, bored with television Wally wanted to explore. But he didn't want to go alone, the cave was big and kind of scary, so he tried to get one of the other two to go along with him. Conner and M'gann both told him no.

"Kal say sway ut." Conner argued, "So we sway ut." M'gann nodded her agreement.

"But this show boring!" Wally said back, "I bored. Go look."

"No thank you." M'gann replied, a bit more mature than either the metahuman or Kryptonian clone due to her Martian biology.

"Be shush!" Wally bit out at her, "You gwirl! Gwirls give cooties. I no talk you!"

"Say sworry!" Conner stood up, seeing M'gann begin to cry.

"No! Gwirls icky!" Wally argued, "Gwirls no feel like bwoys!"

"She nice! She no icky!" Conner told him angrily.

"She gwirl, she icky. All gwirls icky."

"Artie gwirl and she not icky!"

"Artie not gwirl," Wally rolled his eyes, "Artie mom! Moms not gwirls!"

"You swupid." Conner snorted.

"Say sworry!" Wally demanded.

"You first!"

What happened next would be hotly debated for years afterwards, all that could be known for certain was that Kaldur'ahm and Artemis were busily cleaning the kitchen when they heard a bang, an explosion, and then crying. The two teens looked to each other before dropping their things and racing to the television room. There they found chaos. The television was shattered, the couch torn up, and the three toddlers bruised and bawling

"I am never having kids." Artemis declared resolutely, and caught Kaldur'ahm nodding in agreement from the corner of her eye, before going in.

Hugs and kisses and a couple Band-Aids were administered, apologies were extracted, and then the kids were put to bed.

It had been decided, earlier in the day, that the kids would be kept in the same bedroom and the teens would sleep on an inflatable mattress in the same room. Kaldur'ahm's room had been chosen as he, being the leader, had the largest quarters. Wally and Robin's beds had been moved in, taking the place of Kaldur'ahm's own bed, which had been moved to Artemis' room just to get it out of the way, and pushed together. It was dressed with a standard Queen sized fitted bed sheet, with a fitted rubber covering beneath it just in case, a matching loose sheet, three matching pillow cases, and a thick Tarzan printed comforter.

(The Teen bed was covered in a green bed set.)

They tucked the kids in and told them a story (which was more trouble than it was worth as Wally still didn't believe in Magic and felt the need to argue every point. But honestly they were doing it more for Conner than the other two). A few more kisses and hugs, wishes for sweet dreams, they plugged in a couple night lights, and let them to fall asleep although the door was open part way.

Kaldur'ahm and Artemis then returned to cleaning. Then collapsed to their bed.

Part Three:

It was a bright, sunny, clear, and cool day and so Young Justice had gone to the park. M'gann had disguised herself quite well, as a child that could be passed off as that of Artemis and Kaldur'ahm. Wally wore a bracelet that blocked his powers as did Conner.

"All right," Kal knelt before his de-aged friends, "You must remain secretive about your abilities. You may go anywhere within the playground, as long as Artemis and/or myself can see you. You may not talk to adults you do not know without Artemis or myself beside you. Do not follow any children beyond the playground. If a child or adult asks you to follow them you are to politely say 'No thank you' and return to me or Artemis and tell us. You are to be polite and kind to the other children, if we find that you have physically or verbally harassed another child we will be greatly disappointed and will be forced to take corrective actions. Do you understand my instructions?"

The three nodded; "Very well," Kal smiled, "enjoy yourselves."

The children took off; Kal stood up, looking around, "Where did she go?"

Artemis was spying on a woman who was sitting on a park bench, watching a redheaded child. She was sure it was her sister, Jade, but had yet to see her 'off-duty' since the older sibling ran away from home years ago. Besides, she was pretty sure that Jade did not have a child…was the kid a new assassin being raised from birth? The blonde eyed the boy. Something in her told her she knew him but she couldn't place from where. She never dealt with children before this de-aging fiasco.

"Art," Jade drawled, rolling her eyes, "you know I can see you, you never really were good at hiding from me…"

Artemis sighed in frustration before dropping from her perch, "Off duty?"

Jade nodded absentmindedly, examining her nails, "Yeah, you?"

"You could say that." Artemis took a seat, "The boy?"

Jade smirked, "Now, now, Artie where's the fun in that? You do know him however…"

Artemis studied the boy, the truth dawning on her, "Roy!?"

Jade sighed, nodding, "De-aged by a damned demon…"

"Why do you have him?!" Artemis demanded.

"He de-aged during a fight," Jade explained, "He was in the middle of the League. I couldn't stand by and let a kid get killed-I do have some morals you know-so I grabbed him and we ran, settled in Hawaii to wait it out…"

"How old is he?"

"About seven, we think," Jade smiled grimly, "he does remember bits about everything though, any idea how long it'll last?"

"About a year maybe more," Artemis sighed, before asking, "Sister Secret?"

Jade looked at her warily, "How old are you?"

"C'mon Jade," Artemis said seriously, "you promised…"

"When we were like eight and four!"

"C'mon!"

"Fine!" they did the complicated handshake and made the vow they had devised when they were young.

"Young Justice has been de-aged." Artemis told her quietly, "Only me and Aqualad are at our right ages…"

"But why does that bother you?" Jade asked confusedly.

"Because," Artemis sighed, "Only Batman can or will take care of his protégé. Kid Flash would expose his entire group if given up to them, besides his father is abusive but thankfully it's his uncle that has the speed…"

Jade had growled lowly and almost angrily at the information that the boy's father was abusive but Artemis continued, "Miss Martian's powers aren't really developed yet so if she reverts to her Martian look she could expose the Martian Manhunter. And for Superboy, Superman's a deadbeat."

Jade's eyebrow went up slightly, "Do tell."

Artemis grimaced, "Superboy's a clone of Superman, one created without his permission and to be used as a weapon against him. So he doesn't want anything to do with 'that thing' as he calls Superboy. He couldn't even give Superboy a real name, MM finally gave him one."

Anger flashed through Jade's veins, "Let me get this straight," she hissed, "Superman, the Big Blue Boy Scout, the holier than thou, how-dare-you-even-think-badly, with the father's I'm-so-disappointed-in-you stance, he who fights for truth, justice, and the American way, calls his own kid a 'thing'?!"

"Yep," Artemis nodded, "Sad thing is Superboy is now only a year old in real time, he was grown to sixteen in a test tube. When the boys finally freed him from Cadmus he went up to Superman, wanting acceptance and Superman ran! Flew off! Tail between his legs! And every time he tries to make contact, get help with his powers, which you and I both know can be world ending if abused or misused, Superman still runs! Hides! Finds excuses!"

The anger Artemis felt, the fury she felt at the situation, was mirrored in her sister.

"How dare he!" Jade began ranting in Vietnamese, Artemis joining her.

And then suddenly a little boy came running up, "Artie!"

"Conner! What's the matter?!" Artemis asked quickly, alarmed.

"Nothing. Miss you!" he gave her a tight hug before running off again.

"Superboy?" Jade asked quietly.

Artemis nodded, "Yeah, thank god he doesn't remember anything about being a teenager or a clone and nothing about Superman…."

Jade smiled, "Good, give him a good year of childhood."

"That's the plan."

"Miss Jade," a small voice spoke and they looked down to see Roy, yawning and rubbing his eyes, "can we go home? I'm tired…"

Jade smiled softly, standing up, "Sure Roy, c'mon…." she dug about in her pocket to retrieve a card which she gave to her sister, "This's our address, come by soon…" the assassin scooped up her charge and they disappeared.

Artemis would have followed except for the fact that her own charges called for her to join them. With one last look Artemis did just that.

Part Four:

She had just gotten Robin to sleep, the kid had some lungs. It was rather unnerving. He was so quiet at his normal age but at the age of six months he was a screamer. Damn Batman for needing them to babysit. Six hours. God sakes, it took six hours!

She turned to find Conner sitting against the wall. She was surprised that he had stayed through the wailings. His hearing was even more sensitive than Kaldur'ahm's and the Atlantean had needed to leave Robin because of the screaming. How had he stayed? She scooped him up, leaving the make-shift nursery as not to wake the infant Bat.

She carried the sleeping child (how in the world he managed to fall asleep through that she'd never know) to the bedroom they all now used, except for Baby-Robin, and tucked him in. She was about to leave when he whimpered, causing her to turn back to find him looking at her, big eyes and all; "Don't weave…" he whimpered, "You no bad man, don't weave me…"

She dropped to sit on the bed's edge, "What bad man?"

"Bad man hates me," he replied sadly, "wants me away…"

"Do you know the bad man's name?" she asked, a sinking feeling in her gut.

He shook his head, "He sway I bad, he sway I not real. I alone. Always. Forever."

"Oh Conner," she shook her head, "You'll never be alone, and you're definitely real and not a bad person."

"I break things," he argued, "No lie! I bad, I break things!"

"No, you're still just learning. Like M'gann and Wally. Now, this bad man, what does he look like?"

"Me." Conner replied, "He me. I him. But he bigger. Blue. Red. 'S' with yellow."

'Superman' "Conner, I promise you're nothing like him. Nothing. Nobody but him hates you and he's an idiot anyways…Now, go to sleep and kick his ass if you see him again…"

"Okay…" she waited until he was deeply asleep before rushing out silently. She had an idea, "Kal! We need to talk. Now." She went sliding on the smooth cave floor when she tried to stop in front of him. But her socked feet wouldn't allow that and so she slid, into Kaldur'ahm who had turned to look at her. She hit him, finding that he was firm in his spot and that the collision did not move him an inch in any direction. So she hit him, face hitting his chest, before her legs tried to crumple beneath her. Yet he had gently grabbed her biceps and helped set her right asking, "Are you okay Artemis?"

"I…I think I just hit a cement wall…" she said vaguely, slightly dazed, "what do they feed you in Atlantis? Protein? Steroids? Rare Candy?"

His lip quirked into a smile, "No, you did not hit a cement wall. I eat a balanced diet similar to the perfect diet for humans. I do not focus on meat alone, I am not a sports star or a bodybuilder, nor am I a Pokemon. Now, what was the idea that required you to run…?"

"What…" She shook her head to clear it, "Oh! Right, duh. Okay. It hit me, Superman's not exactly one of a kind is he?"

"Obviously…There is Conner, Krypto, and then…" he trailed off as it dawned on him. They had been such morons to focus on getting Superman to help Conner when there was, "The Supergirl, of course; I had forgotten all about her…" he face palmed.

"We all did." Artemis reassured him, "And I'm betting good money that SuperAss hasn't told anyone on his side of things."

"Yes," Kaldur'ahm nodded, "I would join you on that bet. I will request a meeting with her through Batman and Black Canary. Perhaps she could help Conner, and do something about Superman…"

She smiled, "Great," before looking around, groaning, "Where're they?"

Kaldur'ahm put a finger to his lips and led her into Conner's room, showing her that both redheads were asleep, before saying softly, "Conner's room is soundproof and it was time for their naps…"

"So," she whispered brightly, "we're free?"

He nodded.

"Race ya."

When Batman arrived later to collect Robin he found the two teens asleep on the pull out sofa, collapsed together and deep into the lands of Nod. The great detective frowned; perhaps he should rethink the arrangements…

Part Five:

Wayne Manor was very large, very large, and they were surprised by the fact. They were equally surprised to find out that The Batman was really Bruce Wayne, that Robin was Dick Grayson, and that he invited them to live in his Manor until everything was back to normal.