"Do we have to do this?" Kid Flash asked mentally he peered through a set of black binoculars.
"We don't get to pick and choose our missions," Robin replied through the mental link.
"I think I'm with Wally on this one," Artemis chimed in, her mental tone one of displeasure. "Isn't there like, a world-ending threat we need to stop, bad guys to punch, hell, kittens to save? Anything?"
"See!" Wally exclaimed. "If she's agreeing with me you know it's bad."
"As… unconventional as it might be, Batman's intel is good," Aqualad said. "There are League of Shadow Assassins on every rooftop in a two-mile radius."
"League of Shadow?" Superboy huffed in disbelief. "For this?"
"I suppose when you are Lex Luthor's daughter you have access to the best sort of bodyguards money or favors can buy," Aqualad replied wryly. "But it does seem like overkill, especially for a prom."
The last word stung Conner though he didn't show it. Happy Harbor's prom was going down right now too. The Happy Harbor High theme this year centered around gardens. For half-a-week the decorations were being strung up. And for longer than that the boy had been asking the girls out. It almost seemed like every girl had been asked, all save for M'gann.
He looked over to her, seeing her head turned away faintly from the bright lights crisscrossing back and forth on top of the Luthor Grand Hotel in Metropolis. She didn't say it, but he could feel it stung for her.
Irritation boiled within him. What was he supposed to have done? He wished to ask her. No one on the team knew they were dating yet, not even the Boy Wonder. They had kept their relationship buried deep, secret and to themselves. No one was going to monitor the security feeds unless there had been a breech in the cave and Red Tornado, for all his power, was still an android. He didn't, couldn't, pick up on their looks nor did he realize that when they said they were going for a walk on the beach it was more than that.
They had a quiet sort of relationship which helped things. He wasn't much of a talker and she simply enjoyed being around him. Anyone looking on most of the time would only assume they were friends, perhaps even just comfortable acquaintances. They were not aware of the private mental link that was up nearly all the time with…
Oh the mental link.
Conner searched for her personal presence in his mind then heaved a mental sigh of relief. She wasn't there. Shame hit him a moment later. Of course she wasn't, she wouldn't just enter when she saw fit. He could always sense when she was asking for permission and she had taught him enough to be able to do the same. The private linked they shared was like a door between both of their minds. If she took away the door he couldn't access it at all, but she kept it there between them, just closed for both of their privacies. All he had to do when he wanted to open it was knock and let her do the rest.
He debated whether to knock and have her open the door so they could communicate, but he didn't know what he'd say to her.
Feeling like a coward he turned away, his gaze settled upon the building. He would have to talk it out with M'gann later, for now there was the mission.
"So let me get this straight, Lex gets to hire the League of Shadows and we have to watch over this party too?" Superboy demanded to know.
Robin scowled. "Threats from the supervillain Red X have been escalating. He has sworn to see Luthor suffer."
Superboy snorted. "You sure he's not no our side then?"
"Very sure," Robin replied firmly. "Red X has stated if he can't get to Luthor personally he will get to what he loves. His daughter is innocent in all this and that hotel is currently full with some of the world's greatest minds, many of them who don't agree with Luthor but their kids go to the same school as his daughter." Robin tapped a button on his gauntlet bringing up a map of the building. "We can go where the League of Shadows can't, right into the heart of the party."
Wally huffed aloud. "Easy for you to say, you and Aqualad are on stakeout duty." He gestured down to himself. "We have to wear this!"
Kid Flash and Superboy wore black suits while Artemis wore a green, sleeveless gown. In Superboy's left ear was a red earring, a glamour charm courtesy of Zatanna so that if Luthor or any Cadmus goons were at the party none would recognize him. M'gann of course was in her normal attire, she would shape-shift before it all went down.
"I don't envy you, that's for sure," Robin laughed.
Wally stuck his tongue out at the Boy Wonder. "You would if Zatanna was here."
"But she is not," Aqualad cut in. "And neither are any members of the Justice League for that matter. This is a quiet, covert mission. We're just watching out for trouble." He looked at them all sternly. "Stay under the radar, don't draw attention to yourselves and we will make it through the night."
The team nodded and stood upon the roof top, they stepped onto the ledge ready to go down and into the prom, but a beep on Robin's gauntlet stopped them. He tapped a key and Icicle Jr., Captain Cold, and Killer Frost showed up. "Okay, looks like we do have a little action tonight. A trio of cold crooks are hitting up the Metropolis Museum of Fine Arts."
Aqualad sighed and looked to the east where the report was indicating the trouble. "We let the League handle it. We have our mission."
"Batman to team. We trouble on the East Side of Metropolis." Batman said suddenly in their earpieces.
"We are aware, Batman," Aqualad replied firmly. "If you called just to make sure we weren't going to be distracted, rest assured, we are still focusing on the mission."
"The mission has been altered ," Batman informed them. "There are no Leaguers in the vicinity to take care of these three ice criminals. It's half-way across the city but it could be a distraction, drawing the police's attentions away from the hotel. We need to interfere. If the threats from this Red X prove true, he might believe we've fallen for the bait and overplay his hand. Kid Flash, Artemis, you two can handle them, call Aqualad or Robin if you need backup."
Artemis smiled and clenched a fist in victory. "Yes! Prayers do get answered! I'd rather take on some frozen bozos before going to prom," she exclaimed across the mental link.
"What about the rest of us?" Conner asked to Batman, trying to hide his anxiety.
"We still need to ensure the hotel is secure," Batman said. "Superboy. Miss Martian. Continue with the mission as planned. Batman out."
0000
For the first time in his small life Superboy wished they had gotten caught, but the tech the Justice League had, along with the magic at their disposal made getting to the prom easy.
A bulky, Luthor-thug with a shiner under one eye and posing as a security guard checked over his list on a tablet. He looked over the edge of the tablet then back down at his screen. Conner knew what he would see. For the night Conner was Cory Kinkaid and M'gann was Melissa Mace, new transfers to the illustrious Lexington Academy.
"Huh, weren't there supposed to be four of you kids?" the guard asked, scratching at his scalp.
M'gann shrugged. "Yeah but two of them… uh… caught a cold."
"Right," the guard replied with disinterest. His tablet beeped the confirmation to their identities and he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Alright, in ya go."
Conner and M'gann walked in side by side. Conner's head moved on a swivel, trying to look at everything at once. He told himself it was to scope out the room, but in his heart he knew it was so he didn't look at M'gann. The room was huge and sat at the top of the Luthor Grand Hotel. The lights were faintly low and a few smoke machines hummed away sending mist purling against the floor. A band in red leather and fingerless gloves stood on a stage and jammed away to some old 80's tunes. The theme for this prom was 80's retro and whoever had been hired to makeover the room had done a damn good job of setting the classic 80's mood.
A flash suddenly snapped in Conners eyes, drawing his surveillance to a screeching halt. He growled and threw a hand up, ready to defend himself against whatever trap they'd just walked into but instead of gunfire and fists happy laughter met him, throwing him off his guard. When the spots faded from his vision he saw a woman with a camera in her hands smiling at them.
"Here, a picture for the cute couple!" The woman stepped forward and thrust a freshly snapped picture into Conner's hands. It wasn't a good photo. In the image he was frowning and M'gann was looking away.
Conner's heart clenched. They didn't look like themselves at all and he thought that was apt. She wasn't going to pretend this was their prom, it wasn't.
But he could see the hurt in her eyes.
The flow of people behind them naturally pushed them to the side. They stood beneath a cluster of pink balloons with 'love is in the air' written on them.
Despite his better judgement, Conner mentally 'knocked' for their private mind link and he felt a rush of relief when she opened it. "M'gann…," he began but realized, to his horror, he had nothing to say. What could he say to her? She was hurt and he couldn't give her any good reason as to why he hadn't asked her to prom.
"Don't worry about it, Superboy," M'gann replied. He could hear the ice in her mental tone. "We're on a mission, right? I'll take this half of the room, you take the other."
"Oh so I'm just 'Superboy' right now?" he asked, feeling his ire rise. His anger began to bury his guilt and he welcomed it gladly. He didn't need her to be mentally calling him Superboy right now. Though she did not know it, new revelations about just who and what he was had recently been revealed to him and the name felt raw to use.
"Well you obviously didn't want to be Conner Kent prom date," she snapped.
His brow furrowed as his anger helped him grope for an excuse that she might believe. "Well maybe I didn't want our secret getting out. As I recall we both made the decision to keep what we are under the radar. Red Tornado may not be the best at understanding human sentiment but do you really think he wouldn't notice us leaving the cave in a tux and a dress with these stupid corsages?"
"Only we go to that school, Conner!" M'gann replied angrily. "You've snuck out of the cave plenty of times. If you wanted too you could have."
That stung, mostly because it was true.
He struggled for a reply. "Well… what if something went down in town? What if we got caught?"
"No, I think the real question is, what would happen if you actually had to make a little effort and explain the real reason why you didn't want to ask me!"
His blood boiled at that. How could he make her understand? He had a lot going on right now. He didn't have time for prom, not when he knew such a heavy, shameful secret.
He opened his mouth, forgetting they were supposed to only be talking in their minds, but fortunately no words came out. Instead an arm slipped around his and spun him away.
In a heart-stopping moment he was staring directly into the face of Leana Luthor.
She was beautiful this Laena Luthor. Red hair, green eyes, and a charming smile. She wore a long, sleeveless sequined dress in bright red and her hair was pinned and teased high. It was out of style, but the theme of the whole prom was intended to be some sort of retro homage to the 80's so she blended right in.
"Well well, I've never seen you around Lexington Academy," she commented with a playful laugh.
Conner blinked in stupefaction. "Well I…" He found himself again lacking for words. He hadn't actually expected to meet Leana Luthor.
She giggled at his lack of cohesion and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the dance floor. "You're cute when you stutter and those big blue eyes, man you're a heartbreaker." She looked over Conner's shoulder to M'gann. "Sorry, but I'm borrowing your man. I'll bring Blue-Eyes back soon!"
"You can have him all night," M'gann replied coldly.
Conner looked back but M'gann was already looking off to the side. Her arms were crossed and he could partially see the angry frown etched upon her face. He felt his own anger rising again. If she told Leana she could have him for the night then that's exactly what she would get.
The music throbbed as Conner and Leana entered the dance floor. Leana pulled him into the center. He looked over to where M'gann had been standing and saw her still rooted there. Her eyes were stapled to him, fury evident in her gaze. He could still feel their mental connection though, could still feel her anger fizzling through it. His own anger braced his decision and with a mental command he slammed the door shut in his mind, pushing her out of his head.
Then he danced.
0000
And danced….
And danced….
It was the longest night of Conner's life. He desperately wished for action of any kind. If Sportsmaster or Chesire or even the mysterious Red X had swooped in to destroy the prom he would have walked right up to them and shook their hands.
Guilt weighed heavy on him. The longer he fraternized with Leana, the more effort he showed into keeping close to her, the more guilt he felt swelling in his chest. Fun eluded him. The argument kept replaying in his mind.
He had wanted to get back at her for her words, but as the night wore on he realized this wasn't the way. If anything it was making him feel like scum, and who knew what M'gann was feeling.
The dancing almost distracted Conner but it wasn't enough. Leana was a good dancer and had tons of friends. They came and went but she consistently had him as a dance partner. He didn't know if it was luck or curse that had gotten him so close to the target he was supposed to protect.
The dancing, insofar, had been upbeat 80's rock tunes. Colored overhead lights dappled the floor in rave-like patterns. It was easy to get lost in the shriek of guitars and the screaming band.
"You're really bad at this, Blue-Eyes!" Leana laughed, though it wasn't cruel.
Conner couldn't even fake a smile. "Never done it before."
They had danced for hours and he hadn't gotten the rhythm of anything. He was almost glad the others weren't there to see him bungling.
The last full-blasted song faded and suddenly the lights stopped their crazy movement over the floor and dimmed. The next song started slow and calm. The singer began to croon. Conner looked from left to right and to his horror saw the dancers partnering off, hands on hips, arms around necks and began to slow dance.
"Maybe this will be more your pace, Blue-Eyes?"
Leana stepped in with her arms raised but as she closed the distance between them Conner stepped back.
Leana arched a plucked brow inquisitively at him, as if questioning his actions then clarity washed over her. "Oh. I see," she said quietly.
She lowered her arms and grabbed his right hand, pulling him off the dance floor. "Why don't we take a break, Blue-Eyes? It looks like you could use a breather."
Conner needed no such thing but didn't protest. He followed her helpless as a lamb as she walked to a door leading to a roof's balcony. The two guards let her through and with a word she dismissed the other two guards on the outside of the door. They weren't supposed to go off but she was the boss's daughter after all.
The night was cool and the roof lit softly with yellow lights strung overhead. Conner thought more people would have been on the roof, snipers or League of Shadow members or hell even guests, but no one was out there save the two of them. It was only then Conner realized what it must look like, going off with Leana Luthor to a private rooftop balcony. What the hell was M'gann going to think?
"This wasn't a good idea. We should probably go back inside," Conner suggested hastily.
Leana shrugged. "No need. Dad's got assassins in a two-mile radius around the place and a protective shield up here meant to absorb the force of missiles. You can't see it, but its new tech."
Conner looked back at the door and watched as it finally, fully closed shut. "I mean, still…."
"Listen, we both needed a breather. I get sick of being the center of attention all the time." She sighed and moved to a white chair nestled beside a tri-legged table. She kicked off her shoes and began to tease the pins out of her hair. "You were pretty good interference against all those kids who's parents tell them to suck up to me."
"You were using me?" Conner asked, surprised.
Leana flicked him a knowing look. "Same as you were using me, Blue-Eyes."
For a heartbeat Conner worried that Leana knew who he was. He tried his best to look innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You were using me to get back at your girlfriend for what she said." Leana tossed the hairpins on the table and leaned back in the chair.
Conner's emotions flipflopped between relief and anger. She hadn't discovered who he was, but her words stung, filling him with the poison of guilt and shame all over again.
"How do you know all that?" he asked defensively, trying to rouse his anger to deaden the pain. It didn't work this time though, Leana's words had been too striking.
Leana shrugged. "You've barely taken your eyes off of Miss Mace all night and when you lost track of her I thought you were going to snap your neck trying to spot her all over again." Her soft smile met Conner, but it wasn't one of attraction for which he thanked his lucky stars, Leana was technically his half sister after all. "You've really got it bad for her but you both seemed upset when you got here. That's why I picked you, figured you weren't going to enjoy the evening with her, so I could snag you up to keep everyone else at bay."
Conner sighed defeatedly. He looked around as if to ensure no one else was on the roof and stepped to the edge of the balcony. He leaned his arms on the railing and looked down to the busy, light filled streets below. "You're not wrong. We… argued. About the prom."
"She didn't want to go?" Leana asked curiously.
Conner shook his head. "She did. The problem was I didn't ask her. I knew she wanted me to but…." He shook his head again. "I've got things going on. I learned something about myself recently and it's… getting to me."
Lex Luthor was his father. He hadn't imagined himself to be more of a monster than he was but somehow, someway, it just got worse.
"So you told her about what was eating you up and she still insisted on going to prom." Leana made a disgusted snort. "What a bitch."
Conner whirled around instantly, eyes flashing. "Don't you dare call her that," he snarled. "It wasn't her fault."
"Why? she's more concerned about prom than about you?"
"No! She's never like that. She's not selfish or obsessed with some party. I didn't tell her."
"So you're more concerned about your problems than her?"
Conner started to protest but her words hit him a moment later, nearly bringing him to his knees. That was exactly what he had done, wasn't it? He hadn't tried to put her first, hadn't tried to be open. When something devastating struck he had just retreated into himself as he always did and had left her on the outside, wondering, worrying, breaking her heart for no good reason that she could see.
"Ah so you get it now," Leana said, a small smirk on her face.
Conner scrubbed a hand through his dark hair in disbelief. "I'm a bastard."
"No, Blue-Eyes, you made a mistake. We all make them," Leana soothed. She sighed suddenly and came to her feet, slipping back on her shoes. "I've got to get back to the party or every thug in the building is gonna start searching for me." She turned to Conner, smiling. "Don't beat yourself up too bad, Blue-Eyes. Kicking yourself isn't going to fix this. What matters is that you make it right. If your girlfriend cares about you as much as you care about her, she'll forgive you."
She would, Conner knew she would and it wracked him with emotion. "I don't deserve her, you know," Conner blurted suddenly. "She's everything to me and I don't feel as if I'm ever enough for her."
Leana tossed her head back and sighed all sufferingly. "Well tell her that, dummy," she said in a sisterly-fashion. "Men! I swear you're all from different planets! You want to know a truth, Blue-Eyes? No relationship, no matter what type, has ever survived with secrets for long. My dad's Lex Luthor so believe me, I know."
A flicker of pain crossed Leana's eyes but it disappeared as she strode to the door. She knocked and a guard opened it. She took a deep, steadying breath then slipped inside, waving at someone she knew and disappearing into the crowd.
Conner sighed as the door closed. He turned back to the roof edge and pushed his hands against his eyes. "Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Why can't you ever just get it right the first time?"
"Most people never get things right the first time" M'gann said from behind him.
Conner whirled and there she was, not Melissa Mace, but M'gann as she normally looked in her human guise but still wearing her soft baby-blue dress with elbow-length white gloves. It was a risk to be out there like that, but with Leana inside there was little chance anyone was watching the roof too closely.
"How long have you been out here, M'gann?" he asked softly. How much had she heard?
M'gann blushed. "I've been here the whole time. When I saw Leana drag you out here I went invisible and slipped through behind you."
"Spying?" He arched a brow.
"No! I mean…." She sighed. "Yes."
"Did you think I was going to do something with her?" he asked, not angrily, just bewildered. Not only was Leana his half-sister it hadn't crossed his mind to try his hand at romance with her. Say what you would about Conner Kent but he was not unfaithful.
M'gann shrugged awkwardly. "When you didn't invite me to the prom I thought there might be… someone else that maybe you had your eye on, or that you'd gotten bored of our relationship."
"There is no one else, M'gann and I don't think I could get bored of what we have. It's one of a kind. I wake up every day thinking of you." His eyes searched her green gaze. "I hope I never give you that impression again. I didn't expect you to think that, though, to tell you the truth, I didn't think about how you would take it all." He wanted to punch himself. How else was she have supposed to have taken it? He had kept her in the dark.
M'gann shook her head. "And I think I knew that too, Conner, but I was angry and I started making up scenarios that fed my anger; too keep me mad at you for not asking me to prom. I shouldn't have said those things to you earlier tonight."
"I should have sat us down and explained everything," he returned gently.
"Conner, despite what I said before, you don't owe me an explanation."
The Boy of Steel took a deep breath. "Yes I do. It's too important to keep from you." He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I meant to ask you to prom but every time I tried I couldn't find the right words. I kept putting it off until I realized I didn't know how to ask you. So about a week ago I came to Metropolis, hoping to ask Superman about his family, to maybe secretly pick up some advice on how he had wooed his wife, but as fate would have it I ran into Luthor instead. His goons were stealing some sort of chemical from a Wayne Enterprises research facility. I tracked them to a warehouse where Luthor's limo was waiting. When I confronted them he used some sort of code-word to freeze me in place. I couldn't move a muscle. I thought he was going to cart me off to Cadmus Labs again, but he didn't. Instead he... he spoke to me. He said he was glad to see his creation had returned. He told me things about myself I had never known. He told me that part of my DNA was his. He told me that that made him my father."
"Conner he was lying," M'gann said. "He was trying to get into your head."
"Yeah I thought so too," he huffed mirthlessly. "But I have a final friend at Cadmus and I went to him demanding answers. I trust him and he told me that it was all true. Luthor's human DNA stabilized my Kryptonian. He's part of me, M'gann, part of his festering evil is inside of me." He found her eyes again and gazed at her steadily. "Every time I find out something new about myself its worse than before. I couldn't handle it. I shut down again and left you out in the cold."
She placed a hand on his cheek. "Conner… I could never imagine how you felt learning that. You're not like him in any way."
"Aren't I?" he didn't sound sure.
"No you're not, because Lex Luthor wouldn't have told a soul," M'gann replied passionately. "Lex Luthor would have hid it away for a secret use. Lex Luthor would have lied and hid behind that false, waxy smile of his and it would have been business as usual."
"I've got his coldness, M'gann."
"You were trying to figure things out," she insisted. Like a light in the darkness he felt her words bringing out his soul again. "That's how you try to cope with things, you try to bottle them up but never use them to your advantage, never keep them away to use them as bartering chips."
"You might be right, but the fact of the matter is that I closed myself off from you again. I crept back into my little Fortress of Solitude and slammed the door. I let you down."
M'gann shook her head, refusing to let him carry all the blame. "I should have seen that you were struggling with something major. I should talked to you and not fumed over some stupid dance."
Conner placed his hands on her waist. "It's not stupid. It meant something to you."
"I should have told you that it did," she insisted as she laid her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe you would have opened up then and we wouldn't have both been angry at one another for no reason. The mind link goes both ways, as we say on Mars."
"We should have both told each other," he agreed then hesitantly held out his arms. "Maybe there's enough time to make things right. M'gann, will you dance with me?"
The music was still crooning softly from within. The song the band played came to the roof muffled and soft but it was just enough to get by.
M'gann looked at his hand, then took it, her white glove tightening against his grip. "When the slow music started playing I saw you back away from Leana. It… touched me you did that."
"There's only one girl I want to slow dance with," he said with a soft smile.
He closed the distance between them. Their feet found a clumsy rhythm and slowly they spun, moving in sync with one another. Conner eyes were riveted to hers. He had never seen her more beautiful.
Conner felt himself falling into her eyes and just kept falling. He could have stayed there forever, dancing on the roof with her. This is where he would go, he promised himself, instead of the Fortress of Solitude in his heart he would remember this night, her warmth and beauty and strength that embraced him and didn't let go. He wanted to give his all to her, he realized. He wanted nothing to stand between them ever again.
"Leana was right about the secrets," he said finally. "We can't keep them and expect this to last. And I want it to last. So let's make a promise to each other – no more secrets?"
M'gann did not respond. Conner wondered at her silence but didn't push it. He fell into the warmth of the May night and the smell of perfume on her.
Conner lost himself in the moment until M'gann laid the side of her head against his chest. "No more secrets," she whispered at last. He thought he almost heard a quiver in her voice but he was too happy to give it further notice.
His heart constricted and he lifted his arms from around her waist to wrap around her middle. He soaked her in, feeling the curves of her familiar body against his, feeling her hair tickle against his jaw. "Good, then here's my final secret – I love you, M'gann M'orzz."
He felt her arms wrap tighter against the back of his neck. She said nothing for long moments then he felt her tears soaking through the lapels of his suit. "I love you too, Conner."
A/N: Posts will be a little slower. I go back to work this week.