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tallihensia2012-11-22 07:45 pm
seagull2eagle.livejournal.com) wrote in tallihensia2012-11-22 07:45 pm
Teaser part two
Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans. ^^ Happy Thursday to everybody else.
I'm still extraordinarily busy, so fic time is ... well, there's not much of it. But since it's been awhile, I decided I might as well post a bit more of Making Plans, the next Conner story. Just to be mean. ^^ No, well, just to say, "yes, still here and still going". Eventually. ^^;
Repeating the first 1k from the first teaser, just to have it streamlined. This isn't a work-in-progress for links - when the full thing is done, I'll post as a whole. (For one thing, I'm never quite done editing it until the whole is completed.)
Conner practically bounced down the stairs next to his dad. He was so excited he barely remembered to put his feet on the steps. His dads were meeting with the Justice League. Just a few of them, true, but it was official and real and they were going to know that Dad Two wasn't the villain they thought he was.
"Conner," Clark warned with a long-suffering sigh contained in Kon's name.
With a guilty glance to his feet, Kon floated back to the ground. Then he left his father behind and ran down the rest of the stairs, leaping when he got to within five steps of each landing. He'd seen normal teenagers doing the same, and it was easier to stay grounded when he was moving fast. An odd combination, that. In normal Earth physics, the opposite was true. Kryptonian physics were definitely not Earth physics. Conner wondered if he could figure out just what laws did govern Kryptonians on Earth. The Fortress was no help – it knew Kryptonian physics all right... but only as far as they had existed on Krypton, which didn't turn out to be all that different to Earth. The effect of the yellow sun on former red sun inhabitants was something the Fortress had no clue about.
Thinking about that kept Kon occupied long enough for his dad to make it a normal human's time down the stairs.
"Conner," Clark's voice this time was laced with disapproval.
"So I'm a teenager, sue me," Kon said defiantly. He'd kept to normal human speed and ability that time, really he had.
"This is serious," Clark said. "Not a game." He kept walking through the small lobby and out the door to the city.
Kon watched after his dad for a moment, then followed more soberly. He knew. He knew it was serious. Dad Two thought that his dad, Kon's grandfather, was the devil incarnate, and Conner knew it was true. His early life had been full of evil, as he and his brothers had been trained to kill, practicing against each other against their will. The revelation that it had been his grandfather that did all that sent chills down his spine.
He wanted to destroy that evil, to make his own grandfather pay for the lives of his brothers. Truthfully, he wanted to kill his grandfather the way his grandfather had made him kill his brothers. He knew, though, that killing was wrong and he shouldn't want to. He'd killed enough, he didn't want to kill any more. As a hero-in-training, Kon fought with villains, and he intellectually realized that at some point he might have to kill one of them, but that would be in defense of others. Protecting people, innocent people who didn't know evil the way he'd known evil, was Conner's new life goal. He'd been created to destroy, but he would live to protect.
"I know, Dad," Kon said quietly as he caught up with Clark. "It's just... there's more."
As much as Conner wanted to take down his grandfather, Kon also wanted to see his Dad Two unvilified. He wanted his dads together, to be his parents and for him to live in a home with both of them, secure and loved forever. It was an impossible dream, yet Kon believed it could come true.
Already, his life had come so far, in ways that he and his brothers had never dreamed. He had a father who loved him. He had another one too. People who loved him and cared for him and would protect him. People who mourned his brothers as much as he did, though they'd never met them. Conner didn't know by what miracle he had been the only clone to survive, and he felt guilty about it sometimes, but there was no point to dwelling upon it. There was only striving to make it all worth it.
Clark didn't verbally reply, but he put his arm around Kon's shoulders and they walked together for awhile like that; a father and son, together.
At the next block over, in an area where construction created a sidewalk scaffolding and there were none around, Clark speeded up to full zoom mode, running one quick circle around Conner so Kon could also see him and come up to a similar speed.
They flew up the side of building, where they knew there weren’t any security cameras, and landed on a forgotten balcony to change into their uniforms.
When Conner had found out how many clothing caches Clark had hidden around the city, he realized there was another reason for Clark's standard garb of dorky suits – they all looked the same and nobody would notice. Conner had pouted bitterly when he thought about his variety of t-shirts and the cool jokes on most of them. When Kon had said something, Clark just laughed – apparently for a teenager, appearing in a different shirt the same day wouldn't be all that surprising, for one reason or another, so Conner could keep his different designs in the clothes catches.
They were flying west when the sound of metal crunching and a cry caught their attention. A construction scaffold had crumpled on one support end. Superboy immediately dropped down to help, only noticing after he'd rescued the first man that his dad was a few seconds behind him.
After Superman got the second person down to safety, he flew up in the sky again, not waiting for thanks. Kon blinked, then quickly made his own farewells and dashed to catch up.
"What's up, Dad?" Superboy asked as he pulled alongside.
"We have to get to the meeting." Superman grimaced as he saw a traffic accident. "Oh for heaven's sake, people, drive safer!" he muttered under his breath as he dove down to help.
A few more minutes of assistance, and they were on their way again.
"Dad, the meeting's not for another three hours! I thought we were going to patrol first."
Clark glanced wryly at him. "Kon, they're professional paranoids. I can almost guarantee that they're all going to be early. And I want to be there first."
"Three hours early?" Not that Conner didn't disbelieve his dad, but...
"Lex probably had Mercy or Hope stationed out there as soon as Oracle sent us the coordinates yesterday."
Okay, Kon had to give his dad that one as a certainty. Dad Two totally would have. But the rest were heroes.
"I mostly want to be there before Hawkman shows up," Superman admitted. "If he and Lex are there on their own... there may not be any survivors if we get there afterwards."
Superboy sped up his flying and ignored a fire that the firemen were already taking care of.
They flew over roads leading east out of town. While they had coordinates, directions were still easier when following lines and patterns below.
When they came to the smaller roads, though, that weren't as easily seen from above, Kon let his dad lead. He wasn't sure what Clark was using for guidance, but he seemed to know his way. They were a good couple hundred miles out from Metropolis at this point. That was... probably a few hours drive for normal people. Conner wasn't quite sure, not being all that familiar with car speeds.
"Have you been here before?" Kon asked, curious.
Clark shook his head. "Oracle picked the location. I checked, it's a private resort in the woods, doesn't seem to be connected to any of us. Haven't been there, though. I almost went by last night," he admitted wryly, "but I didn't want to interfere with whatever patrols Hope or Mercy were doing."
Conner closed his mouth on a remark about professional paranoids. Though he supposed in Superman's line of work, it was to be expected. After all, Lex ambushed him on regular occasions, not to mention the other villains. Dad Two had even told Kon about some of his successes attacking Superman, barely containing his satisfaction and glee while Conner was hard-put to keep his horror repressed. Kon had weird parents.
They landed by a nice lodge-type building. It was one-story, with ramps instead of steps leading to the doors, a rustic look combined with modern efficiency.
"Hi, Hope," Kon greeted the pretty blonde bodyguard. She probably wouldn't thank him for using those terms when thinking of her. Then again, she was the one who had said her breasts were a useful distraction to attackers.
"Superboy," she greeted him coolly in return, stepping from the side of the building where she'd been mostly hidden. She nodded at his dad. "Superman."
"Hope," Clark returned the coolness.
Conner rolled his eyes. Much more of this and the weather would be in the Arctic.
"Lex is on his way," Hope informed them. "Be warned, I will tolerate no tricks."
Conner's "It's us, Hope," ran over Clark's serious agreement.
Hope shook her head in disapproval at Kon, then turned to continue her patrol around the building.
Clark went into the building without saying anything else. Kon stayed out for an extra minute, looking at the (oak? elm? beech? what's in Kansas?) trees all around them and admiring the setup. They weren't all that far out from a town, yet from here, one didn't know it at all. There were birds in the trees, a constant background sound that Conner heartily approved of. He liked this even more than the farm. No cows, for one thing.
Eventually, Conner went in, only to stop short with his feet barely over the threshold.
"Wonder Woman?" he asked incredulously, though she was very clearly standing there talking to Clark.
"Superboy." She greeted him with a genuine smile.
Kon had always liked her, from the moment he'd first been surrounded by super heroes all pissed off because he'd tried to kill his dad. Wonder Woman had been one of the few not judging him. His dad, of course, had been the main one, and Kon's focus had been on him, not the others, yet he'd never forgotten the others.
He'd liked her even better when he found out Wonder Woman liked Lex. That was a rarity among the heroes. Conner cleared his throat. "Hi. Um, aren't you a bit early?"
"I wanted to get here before Hawkman."
Kon stared at her in disbelief, then he turned to face his father. Superman spread out his hands in a "I didn't set this up" gesture.
"Also, I'm putting up the defenses." Wonder Woman gestured around them where there was nothing.
Almost nothing. Conner blinked a few times, turned his head to one side, and finally saw a faint shimmering in the air. Great. Magic. He hated magic, it made no sense. "Is Lex going to be okay with that?"
Wonder Woman smiled. "I cleared it with Hope first."
"Luthor likes magic," Superman sighed, sitting down in one of the low leather chairs. "He was even going out with a sorceress for awhile. Personally, I would have thought it would make him even more paranoid, something he can't control or predict."
Kon had been wondering the same, yet hearing it spoken made it snap into place. "Another mystery to explore..."
Clark glanced up, eyes narrowing. "He does like his mysteries," he agreed, an old bitterness in the words.
His dads really had a lot of history to work through. Conner was frankly surprised they'd gotten as far as they had so quickly. Though he was happy they had. It had seemed like forever while it was happening. It still was, to a certain extent. They were together, but awkward moments made up more of the time than real connections. Conner could see every time Lex bit back sharp remarks and the way that Clark tiptoed around Lex just made Lex madder. There were the heated looks they didn't try and hide now, but there was also silence and recriminations. Still, it was more than they'd had before, and Kon was hopeful.
Wonder Woman broke the lengthening pause. "Technically, it's religious. So metaphysical, yes, but not magical."
Conner and Clark both stared at her, though Conner was the one to ask. "What's the difference?"
She laughed, a light chiming sound that was nothing like Cassie's hardy rich tones. She ran the fingers of her right hand over her left bracer, then dropped down to her whip. "Magic generally is a type of science – if the properties are correct, and the conduits of the right material, you go through the steps and something occurs. In religion, though, I'm not the one performing the acts directly. Instead, I ask the Goddesses if something can be done, and if they agree, then it can happen. Sometimes, they ask first. However, it's not always the same."
"Magic is science?" Conner hadn't ever thought about it that way. But if there were rules and properties... "Huh."
"Oh, now you've done it," Clark said with resignation, the words directed to Wonder Woman.
She merely looked serene. "Once things are not as mysterious, they are no longer as frightening. Of course, the channels that magic can take are different as well depending on what properties have come to Earth and who can interact with them. Now that science is well-established, both magic and the gods are starting to return."
Superman straightened up in the seat where he'd been lounging. "I don't like the sound of that."
Wonder Woman shrugged. "Haven't you wondered 'why now?'? Why are there so many mutations, so many differences, so many things the world had never heard of before?" She casually leaned against an empty wall. "The world is returning to how it used to be, though things will not be the same as before. Humans have evolved and grown, and the response to such things will likewise not be the same." Her fingers went around her bracers again, slipping over the metal with a determined movement. "Don't worry, though, there will be time."
"Time for what?" Superman asked, his gaze intent.
"Time to adjust, time for them to slip in slowly, time for people to learn along the way." She gestured between herself and Superman. "We are the first generation." The motion of her hand then signaled out Kon. "They are the next. There will be more following. Earth and the universe adjusts, and so do their children."
"You don't normally..." Superman hesitated over a word, finally choosing with a slight frown that suggested it wasn't ideal but would do. "... discuss things like this."
Diana pushed off the wall and paced around the room. Conner noticed that there was a lot of room for it. From what he'd seen and the artificial memories he had, most sitting rooms were crowded with furniture, tastefully designed, but definitely not sparse. Giving options of places to sit, with tables and knickknacks everywhere. This room was both luxurious and bare. The leather seats were wide and comfortable, but there weren't that many of them, and there were wide open spaces between. The walls had forest and animal paintings, but they were placed high up, leaving the walls where a person would stand free and clear. There wasn't even the all-important coffee table in the middle, just a few lamp tables near the chairs.
A place designed for fighting? There would certainly be the room for it.
"Times change, people change." Diana's hands restlessly moved around her body, not settling. "In the Amazonian culture, I am no longer a maiden, and that means a shift in my learning and my duties. A warrior will not be all that I am."
Clark snorted softly. "It never was."
Diana stopped pacing and they shared a glance together; a look full of memories and experiences, past times that Kon knew nothing about. The basics might be in Legion histories, but what the two heroes had been through together would always be only theirs alone.
History and memory. Two things Conner didn't have a lot of on his own. He was trying, but he felt the weight of his youth and his inexperience. A couple of years out of the tubes, and barely a year in the real world wasn't a lot to draw upon. Every moment he was in now had to count for the fourteen he'd not really lived.
The moment passed and Diana settled into a recliner diagonal to the door that faced the outside windows. From that spot, she had a direct line to the door and could see the rest of the room easily. She tucked her feet under her and relaxed, looking very like Cassie as she did so.
"So," Conner perched on a chair arm on the opposite diagonal. He could see anybody coming in the door and Diana easily, but Clark was behind him and others could get so. He wasn't worried about his back with Dad behind him. "Gods. Is Zeus really Cassie's dad? What's he like? Outside the myths, that is?"
With a laugh, Diana answered, and the talk turned to myths and realities. Deep in the discussion, minutes ticked by, not unnoticed, but at least not painfully slow.
At one point, Conner caught a wistful look on Clark's face. While continuing to listen to Diana, Kon thought about it. It looked like Dad's Lex-thinking expression. But what did Dad Two have to do with Amazons?
At the next opportunity, he asked a little hesitantly, still not sure why it would matter. "Should we wait for DT to talk about this? I mean, it's not business, but..."
"DT?" Diana raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, Lex. Lex, I meant." Kon hadn't actually thought up a good secondary explanation for the DT yet. He hoped Wonder Woman wouldn't ask.
"Everybody needs a nickname," she remarked mildly. Then she grinned. "I assure you, Lex Luthor and I have already had this discussion and many, many more like it. Any time I'm near, he asks me about the mythologies. Unlike most scholars, he doesn't mind learning that most of what he knows is wrong."
At that, Clark snorted, almost but not quite muttering something under his breath. An aborted thought before it became actual words.
The wistful look had, though, gone away. At least Kon had done something right there.
The sound of steps on the wooden ramp and porch outside caught everybody's attention and they turned to look at the door. With all the wood construction on this place, it would be hard to sneak up without flying powers. Kon glanced at the clock on the wall. Still two hours early.
The door opened and in came Hope, with Lex behind her and Mercy bringing up the end of the train.
Looked like Dad had been right. Kon rolled his eyes. Two hours before the meeting... If they weren't there, what was Dad Two going to have done? Played poker with Hope and Mercy?
All three of the newcomers were scanning the room, ticking off the people inside and visually assessing the hazards. None of them, not even Lex, acknowledged Conner by so much as an extra nod or a pause when seeing him. Instead, Hope peeled off to an inside door, opening it and stepping inside the corridor that presumably lead to the rest of the lodge. She didn't go any further, though, just stood there assessing it as well, before turning back to the room, angling so she could also see down the hall.
Lex took a step forward and to one side, removing himself from the direct line of the door, while his attention flicked back over the room again and then settled on the people. There was the brief pause of eye contact that Kon had been missing, though Lex didn't maintain it long before he nodded to Wonder Woman then focused on Superman. His expression was still and careful, not showing a lot of anything.
Mercy... after the scan through the room, she also stepped to one side, but the opposite side of the door from Lex. After assessing Kon and Superman, her gaze went to Wonder Woman.
All is clear.
Greetings.
Conner blinked. He had caught the dialog but not in sound. In sound, Lex was saying "Superman," with dripping scorn. Conner almost turned around to see Dad's expression, but the more interesting expressions to watch right now were between Mercy and Wonder Woman.
How have you been? That from Wonder Woman.
Did you set protection? Mercy ignored Wonder Woman's question and responded with something else.
At least Kon thought it was something else. Wonder Woman's question could have been, 'How is the situation' but he was pretty sure it was personal. He wasn't quite so sure about Mercy's question about 'protection' either – it was strange, not something he and his brothers had discussed much. The scientists hadn't let them talk to each other, they'd been punished for speaking outside the trials, though they'd done so anyhow. Instead of speaking, they had relied more on expression, focus, a twitch of a hand, a slight turn of the body, a dip of an eyelid. They could 'talk' quite well to each other without speech. All of them did it, and they had done it every day.
Conner hadn't seen it's like since the rest of the clones were killed. Not until today.
I did. X..y and X..y are both interested in this meeting. Are you well?
Kon blinked several times. He hadn't picked up the names at all. He was sure they were names, and names both were familiar with, but whatever they were, they were outside his frame of reference. He was concentrating so hard on trying to figure out what Diana and Mercy were saying that he completely ignored whatever Clark and Lex were talking about. Their exchanges were white noise to the focus Conner had on the silent conversation.
Mercy's lips twitched in what might have been a smile. A pre-smile. Or something. I survive. What about--- Somebody listens.
The conversation stopped abruptly and both women turned to face him, expressions now still and silent, not saying anything at all.
Conner kept blinking. He looked from Mercy to Wonder Woman to Mercy to... "Oh my God..." he breathed. "Mercy's an Amazon!"
................
yes, I'm mean
I'm still extraordinarily busy, so fic time is ... well, there's not much of it. But since it's been awhile, I decided I might as well post a bit more of Making Plans, the next Conner story. Just to be mean. ^^ No, well, just to say, "yes, still here and still going". Eventually. ^^;
Repeating the first 1k from the first teaser, just to have it streamlined. This isn't a work-in-progress for links - when the full thing is done, I'll post as a whole. (For one thing, I'm never quite done editing it until the whole is completed.)
Conner practically bounced down the stairs next to his dad. He was so excited he barely remembered to put his feet on the steps. His dads were meeting with the Justice League. Just a few of them, true, but it was official and real and they were going to know that Dad Two wasn't the villain they thought he was.
"Conner," Clark warned with a long-suffering sigh contained in Kon's name.
With a guilty glance to his feet, Kon floated back to the ground. Then he left his father behind and ran down the rest of the stairs, leaping when he got to within five steps of each landing. He'd seen normal teenagers doing the same, and it was easier to stay grounded when he was moving fast. An odd combination, that. In normal Earth physics, the opposite was true. Kryptonian physics were definitely not Earth physics. Conner wondered if he could figure out just what laws did govern Kryptonians on Earth. The Fortress was no help – it knew Kryptonian physics all right... but only as far as they had existed on Krypton, which didn't turn out to be all that different to Earth. The effect of the yellow sun on former red sun inhabitants was something the Fortress had no clue about.
Thinking about that kept Kon occupied long enough for his dad to make it a normal human's time down the stairs.
"Conner," Clark's voice this time was laced with disapproval.
"So I'm a teenager, sue me," Kon said defiantly. He'd kept to normal human speed and ability that time, really he had.
"This is serious," Clark said. "Not a game." He kept walking through the small lobby and out the door to the city.
Kon watched after his dad for a moment, then followed more soberly. He knew. He knew it was serious. Dad Two thought that his dad, Kon's grandfather, was the devil incarnate, and Conner knew it was true. His early life had been full of evil, as he and his brothers had been trained to kill, practicing against each other against their will. The revelation that it had been his grandfather that did all that sent chills down his spine.
He wanted to destroy that evil, to make his own grandfather pay for the lives of his brothers. Truthfully, he wanted to kill his grandfather the way his grandfather had made him kill his brothers. He knew, though, that killing was wrong and he shouldn't want to. He'd killed enough, he didn't want to kill any more. As a hero-in-training, Kon fought with villains, and he intellectually realized that at some point he might have to kill one of them, but that would be in defense of others. Protecting people, innocent people who didn't know evil the way he'd known evil, was Conner's new life goal. He'd been created to destroy, but he would live to protect.
"I know, Dad," Kon said quietly as he caught up with Clark. "It's just... there's more."
As much as Conner wanted to take down his grandfather, Kon also wanted to see his Dad Two unvilified. He wanted his dads together, to be his parents and for him to live in a home with both of them, secure and loved forever. It was an impossible dream, yet Kon believed it could come true.
Already, his life had come so far, in ways that he and his brothers had never dreamed. He had a father who loved him. He had another one too. People who loved him and cared for him and would protect him. People who mourned his brothers as much as he did, though they'd never met them. Conner didn't know by what miracle he had been the only clone to survive, and he felt guilty about it sometimes, but there was no point to dwelling upon it. There was only striving to make it all worth it.
Clark didn't verbally reply, but he put his arm around Kon's shoulders and they walked together for awhile like that; a father and son, together.
At the next block over, in an area where construction created a sidewalk scaffolding and there were none around, Clark speeded up to full zoom mode, running one quick circle around Conner so Kon could also see him and come up to a similar speed.
They flew up the side of building, where they knew there weren’t any security cameras, and landed on a forgotten balcony to change into their uniforms.
When Conner had found out how many clothing caches Clark had hidden around the city, he realized there was another reason for Clark's standard garb of dorky suits – they all looked the same and nobody would notice. Conner had pouted bitterly when he thought about his variety of t-shirts and the cool jokes on most of them. When Kon had said something, Clark just laughed – apparently for a teenager, appearing in a different shirt the same day wouldn't be all that surprising, for one reason or another, so Conner could keep his different designs in the clothes catches.
They were flying west when the sound of metal crunching and a cry caught their attention. A construction scaffold had crumpled on one support end. Superboy immediately dropped down to help, only noticing after he'd rescued the first man that his dad was a few seconds behind him.
After Superman got the second person down to safety, he flew up in the sky again, not waiting for thanks. Kon blinked, then quickly made his own farewells and dashed to catch up.
"What's up, Dad?" Superboy asked as he pulled alongside.
"We have to get to the meeting." Superman grimaced as he saw a traffic accident. "Oh for heaven's sake, people, drive safer!" he muttered under his breath as he dove down to help.
A few more minutes of assistance, and they were on their way again.
"Dad, the meeting's not for another three hours! I thought we were going to patrol first."
Clark glanced wryly at him. "Kon, they're professional paranoids. I can almost guarantee that they're all going to be early. And I want to be there first."
"Three hours early?" Not that Conner didn't disbelieve his dad, but...
"Lex probably had Mercy or Hope stationed out there as soon as Oracle sent us the coordinates yesterday."
Okay, Kon had to give his dad that one as a certainty. Dad Two totally would have. But the rest were heroes.
"I mostly want to be there before Hawkman shows up," Superman admitted. "If he and Lex are there on their own... there may not be any survivors if we get there afterwards."
Superboy sped up his flying and ignored a fire that the firemen were already taking care of.
They flew over roads leading east out of town. While they had coordinates, directions were still easier when following lines and patterns below.
When they came to the smaller roads, though, that weren't as easily seen from above, Kon let his dad lead. He wasn't sure what Clark was using for guidance, but he seemed to know his way. They were a good couple hundred miles out from Metropolis at this point. That was... probably a few hours drive for normal people. Conner wasn't quite sure, not being all that familiar with car speeds.
"Have you been here before?" Kon asked, curious.
Clark shook his head. "Oracle picked the location. I checked, it's a private resort in the woods, doesn't seem to be connected to any of us. Haven't been there, though. I almost went by last night," he admitted wryly, "but I didn't want to interfere with whatever patrols Hope or Mercy were doing."
Conner closed his mouth on a remark about professional paranoids. Though he supposed in Superman's line of work, it was to be expected. After all, Lex ambushed him on regular occasions, not to mention the other villains. Dad Two had even told Kon about some of his successes attacking Superman, barely containing his satisfaction and glee while Conner was hard-put to keep his horror repressed. Kon had weird parents.
They landed by a nice lodge-type building. It was one-story, with ramps instead of steps leading to the doors, a rustic look combined with modern efficiency.
"Hi, Hope," Kon greeted the pretty blonde bodyguard. She probably wouldn't thank him for using those terms when thinking of her. Then again, she was the one who had said her breasts were a useful distraction to attackers.
"Superboy," she greeted him coolly in return, stepping from the side of the building where she'd been mostly hidden. She nodded at his dad. "Superman."
"Hope," Clark returned the coolness.
Conner rolled his eyes. Much more of this and the weather would be in the Arctic.
"Lex is on his way," Hope informed them. "Be warned, I will tolerate no tricks."
Conner's "It's us, Hope," ran over Clark's serious agreement.
Hope shook her head in disapproval at Kon, then turned to continue her patrol around the building.
Clark went into the building without saying anything else. Kon stayed out for an extra minute, looking at the (oak? elm? beech? what's in Kansas?) trees all around them and admiring the setup. They weren't all that far out from a town, yet from here, one didn't know it at all. There were birds in the trees, a constant background sound that Conner heartily approved of. He liked this even more than the farm. No cows, for one thing.
Eventually, Conner went in, only to stop short with his feet barely over the threshold.
"Wonder Woman?" he asked incredulously, though she was very clearly standing there talking to Clark.
"Superboy." She greeted him with a genuine smile.
Kon had always liked her, from the moment he'd first been surrounded by super heroes all pissed off because he'd tried to kill his dad. Wonder Woman had been one of the few not judging him. His dad, of course, had been the main one, and Kon's focus had been on him, not the others, yet he'd never forgotten the others.
He'd liked her even better when he found out Wonder Woman liked Lex. That was a rarity among the heroes. Conner cleared his throat. "Hi. Um, aren't you a bit early?"
"I wanted to get here before Hawkman."
Kon stared at her in disbelief, then he turned to face his father. Superman spread out his hands in a "I didn't set this up" gesture.
"Also, I'm putting up the defenses." Wonder Woman gestured around them where there was nothing.
Almost nothing. Conner blinked a few times, turned his head to one side, and finally saw a faint shimmering in the air. Great. Magic. He hated magic, it made no sense. "Is Lex going to be okay with that?"
Wonder Woman smiled. "I cleared it with Hope first."
"Luthor likes magic," Superman sighed, sitting down in one of the low leather chairs. "He was even going out with a sorceress for awhile. Personally, I would have thought it would make him even more paranoid, something he can't control or predict."
Kon had been wondering the same, yet hearing it spoken made it snap into place. "Another mystery to explore..."
Clark glanced up, eyes narrowing. "He does like his mysteries," he agreed, an old bitterness in the words.
His dads really had a lot of history to work through. Conner was frankly surprised they'd gotten as far as they had so quickly. Though he was happy they had. It had seemed like forever while it was happening. It still was, to a certain extent. They were together, but awkward moments made up more of the time than real connections. Conner could see every time Lex bit back sharp remarks and the way that Clark tiptoed around Lex just made Lex madder. There were the heated looks they didn't try and hide now, but there was also silence and recriminations. Still, it was more than they'd had before, and Kon was hopeful.
Wonder Woman broke the lengthening pause. "Technically, it's religious. So metaphysical, yes, but not magical."
Conner and Clark both stared at her, though Conner was the one to ask. "What's the difference?"
She laughed, a light chiming sound that was nothing like Cassie's hardy rich tones. She ran the fingers of her right hand over her left bracer, then dropped down to her whip. "Magic generally is a type of science – if the properties are correct, and the conduits of the right material, you go through the steps and something occurs. In religion, though, I'm not the one performing the acts directly. Instead, I ask the Goddesses if something can be done, and if they agree, then it can happen. Sometimes, they ask first. However, it's not always the same."
"Magic is science?" Conner hadn't ever thought about it that way. But if there were rules and properties... "Huh."
"Oh, now you've done it," Clark said with resignation, the words directed to Wonder Woman.
She merely looked serene. "Once things are not as mysterious, they are no longer as frightening. Of course, the channels that magic can take are different as well depending on what properties have come to Earth and who can interact with them. Now that science is well-established, both magic and the gods are starting to return."
Superman straightened up in the seat where he'd been lounging. "I don't like the sound of that."
Wonder Woman shrugged. "Haven't you wondered 'why now?'? Why are there so many mutations, so many differences, so many things the world had never heard of before?" She casually leaned against an empty wall. "The world is returning to how it used to be, though things will not be the same as before. Humans have evolved and grown, and the response to such things will likewise not be the same." Her fingers went around her bracers again, slipping over the metal with a determined movement. "Don't worry, though, there will be time."
"Time for what?" Superman asked, his gaze intent.
"Time to adjust, time for them to slip in slowly, time for people to learn along the way." She gestured between herself and Superman. "We are the first generation." The motion of her hand then signaled out Kon. "They are the next. There will be more following. Earth and the universe adjusts, and so do their children."
"You don't normally..." Superman hesitated over a word, finally choosing with a slight frown that suggested it wasn't ideal but would do. "... discuss things like this."
Diana pushed off the wall and paced around the room. Conner noticed that there was a lot of room for it. From what he'd seen and the artificial memories he had, most sitting rooms were crowded with furniture, tastefully designed, but definitely not sparse. Giving options of places to sit, with tables and knickknacks everywhere. This room was both luxurious and bare. The leather seats were wide and comfortable, but there weren't that many of them, and there were wide open spaces between. The walls had forest and animal paintings, but they were placed high up, leaving the walls where a person would stand free and clear. There wasn't even the all-important coffee table in the middle, just a few lamp tables near the chairs.
A place designed for fighting? There would certainly be the room for it.
"Times change, people change." Diana's hands restlessly moved around her body, not settling. "In the Amazonian culture, I am no longer a maiden, and that means a shift in my learning and my duties. A warrior will not be all that I am."
Clark snorted softly. "It never was."
Diana stopped pacing and they shared a glance together; a look full of memories and experiences, past times that Kon knew nothing about. The basics might be in Legion histories, but what the two heroes had been through together would always be only theirs alone.
History and memory. Two things Conner didn't have a lot of on his own. He was trying, but he felt the weight of his youth and his inexperience. A couple of years out of the tubes, and barely a year in the real world wasn't a lot to draw upon. Every moment he was in now had to count for the fourteen he'd not really lived.
The moment passed and Diana settled into a recliner diagonal to the door that faced the outside windows. From that spot, she had a direct line to the door and could see the rest of the room easily. She tucked her feet under her and relaxed, looking very like Cassie as she did so.
"So," Conner perched on a chair arm on the opposite diagonal. He could see anybody coming in the door and Diana easily, but Clark was behind him and others could get so. He wasn't worried about his back with Dad behind him. "Gods. Is Zeus really Cassie's dad? What's he like? Outside the myths, that is?"
With a laugh, Diana answered, and the talk turned to myths and realities. Deep in the discussion, minutes ticked by, not unnoticed, but at least not painfully slow.
At one point, Conner caught a wistful look on Clark's face. While continuing to listen to Diana, Kon thought about it. It looked like Dad's Lex-thinking expression. But what did Dad Two have to do with Amazons?
At the next opportunity, he asked a little hesitantly, still not sure why it would matter. "Should we wait for DT to talk about this? I mean, it's not business, but..."
"DT?" Diana raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, Lex. Lex, I meant." Kon hadn't actually thought up a good secondary explanation for the DT yet. He hoped Wonder Woman wouldn't ask.
"Everybody needs a nickname," she remarked mildly. Then she grinned. "I assure you, Lex Luthor and I have already had this discussion and many, many more like it. Any time I'm near, he asks me about the mythologies. Unlike most scholars, he doesn't mind learning that most of what he knows is wrong."
At that, Clark snorted, almost but not quite muttering something under his breath. An aborted thought before it became actual words.
The wistful look had, though, gone away. At least Kon had done something right there.
The sound of steps on the wooden ramp and porch outside caught everybody's attention and they turned to look at the door. With all the wood construction on this place, it would be hard to sneak up without flying powers. Kon glanced at the clock on the wall. Still two hours early.
The door opened and in came Hope, with Lex behind her and Mercy bringing up the end of the train.
Looked like Dad had been right. Kon rolled his eyes. Two hours before the meeting... If they weren't there, what was Dad Two going to have done? Played poker with Hope and Mercy?
All three of the newcomers were scanning the room, ticking off the people inside and visually assessing the hazards. None of them, not even Lex, acknowledged Conner by so much as an extra nod or a pause when seeing him. Instead, Hope peeled off to an inside door, opening it and stepping inside the corridor that presumably lead to the rest of the lodge. She didn't go any further, though, just stood there assessing it as well, before turning back to the room, angling so she could also see down the hall.
Lex took a step forward and to one side, removing himself from the direct line of the door, while his attention flicked back over the room again and then settled on the people. There was the brief pause of eye contact that Kon had been missing, though Lex didn't maintain it long before he nodded to Wonder Woman then focused on Superman. His expression was still and careful, not showing a lot of anything.
Mercy... after the scan through the room, she also stepped to one side, but the opposite side of the door from Lex. After assessing Kon and Superman, her gaze went to Wonder Woman.
All is clear.
Greetings.
Conner blinked. He had caught the dialog but not in sound. In sound, Lex was saying "Superman," with dripping scorn. Conner almost turned around to see Dad's expression, but the more interesting expressions to watch right now were between Mercy and Wonder Woman.
How have you been? That from Wonder Woman.
Did you set protection? Mercy ignored Wonder Woman's question and responded with something else.
At least Kon thought it was something else. Wonder Woman's question could have been, 'How is the situation' but he was pretty sure it was personal. He wasn't quite so sure about Mercy's question about 'protection' either – it was strange, not something he and his brothers had discussed much. The scientists hadn't let them talk to each other, they'd been punished for speaking outside the trials, though they'd done so anyhow. Instead of speaking, they had relied more on expression, focus, a twitch of a hand, a slight turn of the body, a dip of an eyelid. They could 'talk' quite well to each other without speech. All of them did it, and they had done it every day.
Conner hadn't seen it's like since the rest of the clones were killed. Not until today.
I did. X..y and X..y are both interested in this meeting. Are you well?
Kon blinked several times. He hadn't picked up the names at all. He was sure they were names, and names both were familiar with, but whatever they were, they were outside his frame of reference. He was concentrating so hard on trying to figure out what Diana and Mercy were saying that he completely ignored whatever Clark and Lex were talking about. Their exchanges were white noise to the focus Conner had on the silent conversation.
Mercy's lips twitched in what might have been a smile. A pre-smile. Or something. I survive. What about--- Somebody listens.
The conversation stopped abruptly and both women turned to face him, expressions now still and silent, not saying anything at all.
Conner kept blinking. He looked from Mercy to Wonder Woman to Mercy to... "Oh my God..." he breathed. "Mercy's an Amazon!"
................
yes, I'm mean
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Heh, I know the landscape in the show isn't much like real Kansas, but I'm trying to be a bit more realistic in the fics. Which, I admit, is a problem when it comes to some of the reconciliations. ^^; Shouldn't be too hard to look up trees, though, just needs me to be at the internet for a bit. ^^ (I don't like to interrupt myself while writing, and aren't always hooked up on internet either.)
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For the first few seconds, I thought it was Conner thinking to himself. Then the penny dropped. :-)))
"Heh, I know the landscape in the show isn't much like real Kansas..."
I think not, though I've never been to Kansas. But I'm pretty sure Kansas isn't on the Pacific coast, on the edge of a rain forest. :-)))
"Which, I admit, is a problem when it comes to some of the reconciliations. ^^;"
Yeah, really. But realism is the last thing I expect from SV in any form. I'm just happy when Lex has Conner around, on his side. Can't wait for the rest of this story. Take care.
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