Chapter 20: Aftermath
A week had passed since the CADMUS situation happened, and after some minor consequences were dolled out and served, the protégés were gathered at Mount Justice. Even Superboy and Superman were there, though the younger of the two more or less clung to his daddy's leg. Conner was still a little uneasy around the Justice League, afraid they were going to take him from his already deeply beloved daddy and give him back to CADMUS. But then despite his best efforts to stay close Dick came running up and pulled at his free arm.
"Conner come on, come play with us!" Dick begged as he hopped in place and pulled his new older brother's arm.
Unsure how to answer, Conner looked up at his father for guidance. With a smile and a gentle nudge Superman implored his baby boy to go join his new friends.
"Go on Conner, go play with your friends I'll be right here the whole time." Clark said, assuring and comforting his son.
Conner looked at the smiling Dick and immediately started to smile too.
"Ok, I'll be back daddy!" Conner said as he hugged his father's leg one more time and then ran off with Dick.
Clark smiled as he watched his little boy run off to play, happy his child had friends to help him learn how to just be a child and push him out of his comfort zone. Flash then came speeding up to him and rested his elbow on Superman's much taller shoulder.
"So how is fatherhood treating you?" Flash asked with a cheeky smile, knowing exactly how Superman felt just by the blissful look on his face.
"Is been an adjustment, but I've reallyâliked it so far. I just hope I don't screw it up, the precious child has put a lot of trust in me and I don't want to hurt him." Superman opened up as he watched his child play with the other protégés.
"Do not worry Superman, children are most forgiving and loving beings. They only desire your love, time, and guidance, so just balance that with an appropriate amount of discipline and you'll be fine." Aquaman chimed in to comfort the new father.
"It sounds so easy when you say it like that, but it feels harder." Superman commented worriedly.
"Just give your best, kids aren't hard to please. Besides, that little guy is practically attached to your hip, so I don't think you have much to worry about." Green Arrow commented with a light chuckle.
"I seems daunting at first, but with time you'll learn how to best nurture and love your child." Batman said simply but wisely.
"Thanks Batman, thank you all, I'm just happy I have someone to help me out here. Actually your advice has given me an idea, I think I'll introduce Conner to Ma and Pa after today. Help him feel welcome to the Kent family." Superman said with bright eyes.
"That's a great idea, I'm sure he'll love it!" Flash chimed happily.
"I agree, but we can discuss this later, Martian Manhunter has arrived, so let's start the meeting." Batman said as he looked at a communicator on his cuff.
All the mentors nodded in agreement and were about to leave when Superman caught an alert with his super hearing. He could hear something was going on in Metropolis, and he knew he needed to go and help. Though he was hesitant, not wanting to leave his baby boy without guidance as the meeting would go on.
"There's a problem in metropolis isn't there." Batman commented knowing the distressed look on the kryptonian's face well.
"Yes there is, can you watch Conner during the meeting till I get back. I promise I'll be quick." Superman said anxiously.
"I'll keep an eyeâ" Batman started to answer before a high pitched cry interrupted him.
"No! Daddy please don't go!" Conner cried, hearing the whole conversation with his own super hearing, as he ran to his father and hugged his leg in protest.
"Conner please I promise I'll be super quick, I'll be back before the meeting is over." Superman pleaded as he crouched to face his son, his heart breaking as he saw the sadness in his child's eyes.
"Daddy pleaseâI need you." The seven year old begged as tears leaked from his eyes.
"I know little man, I don't want to leave you. But someone is in trouble back home, and I need to help them. I promise it won't be long, I'll be back in twenty minutes or less." Superman said as he wiped away his son's tears and held his face in his hands.
"Promise." Conner asked barely keeping his tears in.
"I promise, now Batman's gonna take good care of you while I'm gone, so be a good boy and make sure to listen to him. I'm so proud of you and that you're gonna help this new team. So just focus on that and I'll be back before you know it." Superman said as he hugged his child close and rubbed soothing circles around his back.
Conner hugged his father back, doing his best to be brave and strong.
"There we go, now be good and pay attention, your team is going to need you. I'll be back soon, I love you." Superman said as he kissed his son's forehead.
"I love you too." Conner said as he simply nodded and then kissed his father
Superman then flew off and Batman came up and quickly took Conner's little hand.
"It will be ok, he'll be back soon. For now let's focus on the task at hand." Batman said to both comfort and distract the little boy.
He felt great empathy for him, knowing how hard it was for Dick when he'd leave for an undisclosed amount of time. But luckily he knew how to handle it, so he led the boy over to where Dick stood for their meeting. Dick immediately clung to the older boy's arm, nuzzling into him affectionately. Conner smiled at this and felt a little better as the tiny boy showed him that he wasn't just loved by his daddy. It was then the meeting started, all the protégés standing near the holographic map of the globe while Batman stood in front of them.
"Alright, this team is going to be the beginning of your training to officially join the senior ranks of the Justice League. For now it will be strictly training, so no unauthorized missions." Batman said as he implied their recent incident.
All the boys felt a little guilty, since they were just freshly released from their punishments.
"You will eventually be given missions, but that is the next phase of this team. For now you will be trained in working as a team and further honing your abilities and skills. Which speaking of you will have one last additional member join you." Batman said as he turned behind him.
Everyone watched as Martian Manhunter walked up to them, only this time a small green little girl was walking beside him. She had beautiful hazel eyes, fiery red hair, and little freckles that speckled her cheeks. Her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt like top with a red X like design on it, a short blue pleated skirt,a red belt, a waist length blue cape, blue wrist length gloves, and knee length blue boots. Conner's eyes went wide, his heart skipped a beat, and his cheeks flushed a little at the mere sight of the girl. Little did he know but the little Martian girl felt the exact same.
"Boys this is M'gann, my niece, but she will be known as Miss Martian on this team. Go on, child, say hello." Manhunter coaxed his little niece.
"Hello everyone!" M'gann waved bashfully.
"Wait, Martian Manhunter has a niece?" Kaldur whispered to Roy.
"I guess so, I'd never heard of her until now." Roy whispered in reply.
"Hello M'gann, I'm Kid Flash but you can call me Wally." Wally flirted cheekily.
"Oh hi." M'gann greeted back a little taken back by the slightly smaller redheads forward demeanor.
"Wally don't scare off the poor girl, besides didn't you just say yesterday girls are yucky and have cooties?" Roy commented to the young speedster.
"I can change my mind, can't I!" Wally pouted, feeling embarrassed he openly showed feelings for a girl he had a crush on.
"Anyways M'gann it's nice to meet you, I'm Roy but I go by Speedy as my hero alias. The rest of these guys are Kaldur also known as Aqualad, Dick also known as Robin, and our other most recent recruit Superboy but his real name is Conner." Roy politely introduced.
M'gann blushed at the mention of Conner's name, made her shirt and cape transform into a copy of Conner's black and red Superman shirt, and looked down bashfully. This also caused Conner to blush, making all the mentors struggle to hold in chuckles as they saw the puppy love set in between the two.
"I like your shirt." M'gann said as she twisted her hands.
"Th..thanks." Conner said as he bashfully rubbed his head.
"They sure are actin silly." Dick whispered to Roy.
"You mean like you do when you meet Zatanna?" Roy responded cheekily.
"I don't know what you're talkin about." Dick said with a blush.
"Alright now that everyone has been introduced, everyone take your seat. We'll be talking about how this team will operate in its first phase." Batman announced as he turned around to hide the smirk he couldn't keep from his face.
Everyone sat on the ground, criss cross applesauce with a side of M'gann next to Conner, to listen to the Bat explain their purpose. As the explanation went on Superman returned in a hurry, practically running to where his son was.
"Conner I'mâ" Superman started to shout before he was shushed by the other mentors.
"Oh sorry, how's it going so far, has Conner been ok?" Superman asked worriedly.
"Oh I'd say he's been a little more than alright." Flash chuckled.
"What do you mean by that?" Superman asked a little weirded out by Flash's response.
"Oh nothing, just that Conner and Martian Manhunter's niece M'gann totally have crushes on each other." Green Arrow chimed in.
"What!? When did that happen!" Superman whisper yelled.
"Literally five minutes ago, just look at them now." Flash said, pointing at the two little ones sitting in the back.
Superman turned his head to see the two sitting next to each other with their hand mear inches away from the other.
"Wow, that's my boy right there!" Superman said proud of his boy's charm and appeal to the ladies.
After the introduction the team did a few training exercises, including a baseline test of their powers and abilities. For Speedy they tested his hand to hand combat skills and archery. Aqualad was tested on electrical output and water magic capabilities. Then for Superboy they tested his strength and super senses. Miss Martian was tested for her telekinesis, telepathy, and shapeshifting abilities. Kid Flash was obviously tested for his speed and particle control. Robin was tested for his combat and detective skills.
All the protégés did very well, but it was clear they still had much area for improvement. By the time they finished up everything they were all tired and ready to be done for the day. Each protégé was taken by their mentor back home, though not before they could say goodbye to each other. This particularly applied to M'gann and Conner who did so quite bashfully. Dick noticed this and decided to ask his daddy a few things about it.
"Daddy how come Conner and M'gann are actin so funny?" Dick asked from the comfortable place provided by his daddy's arms.
Batman turned to what Dick was looking at and smirked ever so slightly.
"Well little bird, when two people like each other but don't want to say it out loud they sometimes act a little silly." Batman explained as simply as possible, wanting to avoid giving the talk quite yet.
"Really why?" The curious bird asked very innocently.
"Wellâ.. do you remember our conversation the day before Valentine's Day?" Batman asked nervously, feeling too close for comfort to "the talk" zone.
"Uh huh." Dick replied.
"There's lots of different kinds of love, and they sometimes make us act a little funny. The way M'gann and Conner feel are very similar to how you feel about Zatanna. It's a little hard to explain but you understand it as you get older." Batman managed to explain simply.
"Oh I see." Dick said with a slight blush, as he thought of Zatanna.
"I thought you would, now let's go home, Alfred has lunch ready for us." Batman said with a light smile as he ruffled his son's hair affectionately.
Dick giggled happily and looked back at M'gann and Conner as they were picked by their mentors/loved ones. He watched how even from the position of their relatives arms they looked at each other with great admiration. This made Dick smile, excited to see how this kind of love could grow. Especially since it meant he now had a sister to love and bring into his growing family.
While the death of his family had been and would always be, it also gave him a family he never had before. A family with aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and a daddy he loved with all his heart. He felt loved and cared for, and he would do anything to protect that family from harm or anything that would make them go away. With all that in mind Dick wrapped his arms tightly around his daddy's neck and nuzzled his face into it, displaying the love he had for his new family in one singular action.