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A familiar type of green portal opened and spat someone out. Kon looked at Tim, who’d glanced over at him as well. Tim shrugged and headed over.
“How are you two so cool with that?” Cassie hissed near Kon’s ear.
“That’s a ghost zone portal,” Kon said like it explained everything. “Impulse, call Cap.” They were running a training exercise in the desert at night, but they were still on mission and in uniform. Kon was getting a lot better about only using codenames, but he still slipped sometimes. He was pretty proud of himself for not calling Impulse Bart or mentioning Billy’s name.
“On it,” Bart chirped. Billy shouldn’t be too far away, so he should be there pretty soon.
“You just wanna test your ghost tech,” Cassie grumbled. The pair of them jogged over to where Tim had approached the figure on the ground.
“I mean, I’ve already tested it,” Kon said with a big smile. Every time Val came by to train with them, she brought new Fenton or Foley tech. Of course, Tim carried the most, but all of them had an anti-overshadow wristlet on if nothing else. Kon had a few Fenton Net Traps in his pockets. If it was a hostile, they should be able to manage, and Billy could handle it if they couldn’t.
“K, get over here!” Tim called. Kon stopped jogging and flew to Tim’s side. Tim was kneeling over the figure, who was groaning, slowly pushing himself up.
“Cool, dude, is that you?” Bart asked, suddenly standing right next to Kon, who slowly lowered himself to stand on the ground.
“What hit me?” the Kon on the ground asked. He wasn’t in Kon’s Superboy suit. There was no bright red blue and gold. He didn’t have a studded belt or the modified koala bag Val had gifted him. He didn’t even have the leather jacket! And forget about the sunglasses! His ears weren’t even pierced! Instead, the other Kon was wearing a black shirt with the crest of the House of El. His hair also lacked curl. Otherwise, though, it was him.
“Not a clue,” Tim said to the other Kon. “You okay?”
The other Kon opened his eyes. He blinked slowly at Tim. “Rob? The hell? The guy said-”
“Does that guy happen to be blue, wearing purple robes, constantly shifting between young and old?” Kon asked. His other on the ground jolted, whipping his head up.
“Yes. What?” The other him was rapidly blinking, like that would make Kon disappear. He slowly ran his eyes up and down Kon’s outfit. Kon was pretty sure he was being judged, so he just smirked. Good, maybe the other him would gain some fashion sense. Kon was mildly offended to see a version of himself dressed up like a basic white boy.
“Oh, great, Clockwork was involved,” Billy said, landing gently. He knelt down next to the Kon on the ground. “I’m Cap-.”
“I know who you are,” the Kon on the ground said shortly, cutting Billy off. Kon nearly kicked him. Yeah, Billy was Cap right now and therefore the adult in charge, but it was still Billy!
“Okay, well, I’m going to check you over. You’re practically bleeding displacement magic, but I need to make certain you’re stable.”
“Why wouldn’t I be- what do you mean by stable?” The other Kon laid a hand over his eyes. It was night, not bright at all, but the other him was acting like it was bright sunlight and he had a migraine.
Billy’s hands started to glow. “We’ve recently found out that clones tend to destabilize when yanked through time. If that was the case, you’d need to get you to Phantom or the Fentons immediately.”
“I didn’t know that,” Kon said.
“I’m surprise Ellie didn’t tell you,” Billy said. “Though, maybe not that surprise.”
“Not all of us live part time in Amity Park,” Kon grumbled.
Billy continued like Kon hadn’t said anything at all. “Clockwork’s pretty selective of who he pulls from a timeline. This is a new discovery for Danny. I just thought they’d have given you a heads up.”
“Unlike you, I don’t haunt Phantom’s lair.”
“Har har,” Billy said, rolling his eyes. “You need to see about getting a stabilizing agent to carry with you, just in case. Hypothetically, you shouldn’t have a problem.” They were in the selected timeline, after all. “But treat it like an epi-pen.”
“We’ll all start carrying one,” Tim said, turning to glare at all of them until Kon, Cassie, Bart and even Billy mumbled their assent. Kon was certain that Bruce was about to get a lecture about this too, which meant the Batfamily and probably the rest of the Justice League would have to follow suit too.
Billy shook his head and the glow went away from his hands and eyes. “Okay, Connor, can I call you Connor?”
The other him nodded, then winced like he regretted the motion.
“Well, this isn’t going to get confusing at all,” Cassie grumbled.
“Great,” Billy continued. “So, good news is that you do not need emergency stabilization and a one-way trip to the Far Frozen. Nor do I need to call Mr. Constantine to exorcise you, since this has Clockwork’s fingerprints all over it. Since you’re not here maliciously, you should be good to get some sleep, food and a shower before you need to get a full check-up.”
“I don’t know what in the world you all are on about,” the other Kon growled. He did lower his hands from his face. “Headache’s going away.”
“That’s you adjusting to the time stream,” Tim explained. He was still kneeling at the other him’s side. “You are Kon, right?”
“Yeah,” the other him said. He glanced among them. “Where’s M’gann, or Kaldur?”
“Who’s that?” Kon asked. The other him stared at him in shock.
“Is- this isn’t Young Justice?”
“Teen Titans,” Tim said. “YJ dissolved. It wasn’t pretty.”
“I didn’t know that,” Kon said.
Things happened before he was rescued, of course. He was used to not knowing things, but Kon never realized there’d been a team before the Teen Titans. Well, he knew Dick used to lead the Teen Titans, and still lead the adult arm of the team, but that had to mean there was a weird transition period where the adult Titans hadn’t given up their old name and Tim and the others were part of some other group Kon had never heard off.
Kon had learned to normally not get frustrated about not knowing things, but not knowing this made him feel excluded and he hated that.
“Mostly because there was no reason to talk about it,” Cassie said, laying a hand on Kon’s shoulder. “That’s part of why our team’s so small. Everyone got burnt crispy about it. Batman was also a huge dick about it.”
“Really?” Kon asked. “I mean, I know he’s an ass, but-”
“Don’t worry,” Tim said, his voice soothing. He was helping the other Kon sit up straighter. “Honestly, once Nightwing stopped complaining about us taking his team’s title, this was a lot better. So, Kon.” He turned his gaze to the other Kon. “Can you tell us how you got here?”
“Things were… it was like everything was unraveling. Like the world was suddenly made of yarn. And then there was this guy. You called him Clockwork. He said I’d disappear if I stayed, but he could send me to my friends. So…” He trailed off, looking between them all again. He swallowed thickly, then just focused his gaze on Tim.
“Yeah,” Kon sucked him a breath through his teeth in sympathy. “That was… there’s only one timeline, one permanent one. Which happens to be this one. Eventually, the other timelines break apart. Clockwork will rescue people sometimes.”
“So… my friends?”
“I’m sorry, Connor,” Cap said in a very gentle voice. “It’s just you, I’m afraid. Clockwork delivers everyone all at once in one place. You’re the only one he brought here.”
“Oh,” the other Kon whispered.
Tim put his arms around the other Kon, giving him a hug, which seemed to cheer the other boy a little bit.
“Well, you’ve got me anyway,” Tim promised him. “And we’ll be happy to have you on the team if you decide you want to join. I know it isn’t the same, but-”
“No, Rob, thank you,” Kon said. “And I can make friends with the others with time.”
“Realistically, not everyone you know may be part of the League,” Cassie added. “Maybe you can help find them.”
“Yeah, I guess that is true,” the other Kon said, perking up a little more.
Kon’s heart clenched. In that situation he’d be breaking apart, but his other was able to look on the bright side. Kon was a little jealous that he couldn’t be that resilient, and more grateful that he hadn’t needed to be. And that thought just hardened his resolve to help the other him, his new brother, to settle in and make friends as fast as possible.
And hey, the cult excuse had covered a multitude of sins so far. Who was to say that Lex, ‘his mom’ hadn’t had twins and then gave one to someone else. That would not only fit with the fictious cult, but it would fit Lex Luthor’s personality.
“Alright,” Cap said. “Since we know it isn’t foul play, I don’t think we need to rush to Amity Park and wake anyone up. But also, basically everyone has a curfew.”
“Oh hell,” Kon groaned. He realized just how late it was. He promised his dad he’d be home on time. He was just going to have to hope that Clark was running late. “I gotta go home.”
“Yeah,” Tim said. He looked uncomfortable. “B would probably understand if I was late, but-” He looked at Billy, who B was a lot less understanding about missing curfew unless he or the Teen Titans called in a league emergency. And unless they wanted to drag the other Kon into a full medical work up at the Watchtower that night (which they realistically should do, but Kon wanted to take his new brother home where he’d feel more comfortable), they needed to not alert B to the situation until morning.
“Kon, um, new Kon, I guess, would you like to go with one of us?” Billy asked,
“Yeah, you can come home with me,” Kon said suddenly. Clark was, after all, Team Gay’s dad for a reason. He was the very best at putting people at ease. He was also Superman. He’d help the other Kon feel better. Their apartment probably didn’t look the same, but the other Kon would probably want to stay with their dad. Kon could take the sofa and the other Kon could have his bed. It would be best that way.
“You sure?” the other Kon asked, sounding nervous for some reason. Well, time travel and losing everyone would make Kon nervous too, so that made sense.
“Yeah, no reason not to. We can hit up the Zeta in the morning… or maybe the afternoon.” He still had school, after all, and the other Kon was stable. Kon hoped that his dad and new brother would wait until he got back so he could go with them.
“Okay,” the other Kon said. “I… thanks.”
Kon grinned. “No problem.” He offered his other a hand up. A firm, weirdly familiar hand gripped his own and Kon helped his other up. The other Kon was badly unsteady on his feet. “Uh, maybe I should fly us.”
“Yeah, maybe,” the other Kon said with a weak smile.
“You two go on,” Billy said.
“Thanks, Cap,” Kon said. He gathered his other into his arms and took off. His other put his arms around his neck.
It took a matter of seconds for Kon to get through the window and into the living room. He set his other down on the sofa. A bare second came the gentle swish of their dad’s arrival.
“You just managed to make it back first,” Clark said warmly.
“I told you I wouldn’t be late,” Kon said. He attempted to whip around in time, but his dad got there first, holding Kon from behind instead and lifting him off the ground. Kon laughed. “Dad! Let me down!”
“Never,” Clark said, before starting to tickle his side. “You only got back before me because Lex decided to launch a robot attack.”
A loud laugh spilled out of his mouth. He started twisting and turning to escape, but Clark had a pretty good grip on him. It was probably a funny sight, seeing Superboy and Superman roughhousing like that. What would the neighbors think? Ha! If Kon hadn’t already been cackling, he would have started laughing from that thought alone.
After a little bit, Clark let him go, letting him drop to the floor while Kon tried to catch his breath. Kon was grinning despite (because of) the tickle attack.
“Kon- what?” Clark suddenly sounded like the breathless one. Oh shit! The other Kon! He hadn’t introduced him yet!
“What- oh, yeah, shit I forgot for a second.”
Kon looked up about to introduce his other, when he caught sight of the thunderous expression on the other boy’s face. He was glaring at their dad like he was Lex Luthor himself.
What?
Connor’d had better days, but he was used to everything being extremely weird. Weird was his normal. That was one of the ten million downsides of being a clone of a man who seemed to hate your guts, living so far separated from society that you might as well not even be a person. Being isolated to Mount Justice or missions tended to make one an isolated mole person, after all.
The day had started fine. He and M’gann only had a little fight that morning. Rob had gotten him laughing afterwards so he didn’t feel too bad. Then they got a mission call. Kon was able to go off on his own for a while, which he rarely got to do these days. It always seemed like when he thought Superman couldn’t get more paranoid, suddenly he did and Kon would be kept on a tighter and tighter leash.
Connor had destroyed the device he needed to blow up and was waiting for Robin’s call. Then, suddenly, the world started to fall apart. Someone appeared at his side offered him help. He took it and woke up in a desert in the middle of the night (when he’d been in a field in Nebraska in the day before) with Robin right as this side, a copy of him in a suit that looked pretty damn cool (the leather jacket was really awesome, but the Justice League would never let him get away with wearing anything so cool), and a couple of other people that Connor didn’t know, and fucking Shazaam.
It turned out his world, his time, his life, his friends, all of them were gone, and only he had been saved.
He could roll with it. As Rob would say, “living is hell, what else is new”? His other seemed to be happy with those people, and Shazaam was direct and didn’t try to sugar coat the situation. Turns out this one was significantly better at delivering bad news. The group said a bunch of stuff about people that Connor didn’t know, that apparently knew about cloning, who his other seemed to know and like. Also, everyone seemed awful chummy with Shazaam, which was weird. Shazaam was a really weird adult from the Justice League who tried to hang out with them sometimes but really didn’t belong at all.
Also, it was weird that they didn’t immediately have to go to Mount Justice to debrief. Hell, they didn’t even mention Mount Justice, just an Amity Park and the Far Frozen, neither of which Connor had ever heard of. The other him offered to take him home. Connon thought maybe he meant to see Ma and Pa. The fact that the other Kon said ‘home’ like it was a home and not just a room at whatever JL facility they were keeping him at made Connor a little hopeful. Maybe this timeline was a little kinder. Maybe this other Kon got to live with Ma and Pa. Maybe he got to go to school. Maybe he was at least allowed to pretend to be normal.
He felt sick to his stomach and unsteady even without the headache. Standing was may more difficult than it should have been. He didn’t mind getting flown ‘home’. It was novel, really. They’d have to go to Amity Park in the morning, apparently. But they’d mentioned a shower, a meal and sleep, all of which was a luxury for someone (something) like him.
Connor’s other settled him on the sofa and stood. Connon didn’t even have time to look around and register anything more than the fact that they were in Metropolis and not Kansas before Superman just- just appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed the other Connor and-
Well, just because Connor could see and hear what was going on didn’t make it easy to accept. How could they both smile like that? How could the other him laugh so freely? How did Superman not immediately register him as a threat?
Eventually, Superman let go of the other him. Only then did he notice Connor. His eyes widened just a little, but Connor noticed. He was glaring at Superman, at the man who’d rejected him and always been so suspicious of him.
“Kon- what?”
“What- oh, yeah, shit I forgot for a second.”
“You forgot?” Superman didn’t sound happy. Connor sat up straight. He didn’t know how well his stomach would do if he got up to fight, but Superman definitely deserved to be vomited on, so it might be a win-win anyway. If Superman insisted on punishing his other, then Connor was going to punch him. His other had been kind so far, and Connor never had a problem fighting Superman when he got a chance.
“You distracted me,” the other Connor protested. Hell, he whined out the words. Connor’s stomach twisted. Was his other stupid? Did he not know how dangerous it was to talk to Superman like that! “This is also Kon. Clockwork brought him here. His timeline is gone.”
“Of course, he did,” Superman said, pinching his nose. Connor tensed. When Superman lifted his face from his hand, he turned all of his attention on Connor, which was so bad. Then he turned one of those false smiles to Connor. Oh, he was fucked. “I’m sorry, I was just surprised. How are you feeling? Have you received medical attention yet, son?”
That-
“Wait, what?” Connor got out. His words were shaky. Hell, he felt like he was shaky down to his bones, even though he definitely wasn’t trembling. Superman just asked him if he was alright? Like he was an actual person? And he’d called him son? What?
“He asked if you’re okay. Dad, he had a headache when he arrived. He said it cleared, but he couldn’t stand easily, but Captain Marvel said everything was fine enough that I could take him home.”
“Dad?” Holy shit! His other really saw Superman, The Superman, as his dad! Connor thought he might be having a heart attack. Then the rest of his other’s words caught up to him. “Wait, who’s Captain Marvel?”
His other gave him a weird look. “The guy in red who did magic on you. The one you insisted you knew who he was when he tried to introduce himself.”
“Shazaam?” Kon asked. He could feel his face heating. Shazaam had tried to introduce himself. But what if he wasn’t Shazaam in this world?
“That’s- woah, even names are different,” the other him said with smile. “That’s pretty cool. He’s Captain Marvel here. We normally call him Cap, or Billy when we’re not on mission.” Wait, Shazaam’s name was Billy? Connor’s head wad spinning. “Also, Dad, apparently clones react weirdly to timestream stuff. But Cap said he was stable, so he can go to Amity tomorrow.”
“Good to know,” Superman said. He knelt down next to Connor. Connor pressed back into the sofa. He’d seen a lot of video of Superman lowering himself like that to civilians, but he’d never do that for Connor. This new Superman looked at him with the kind eyes Connor had seen in pictures and videos, and always craved to see directed at him, at least once. “Things are pretty different in your time, aren’t they?”
Connor stared for a moment before slowly nodding.
“You and I don’t get along, do we?” He looked… sad…
“Really?” His other asked, positively gaping. “But dad’s the best. All my friends think so too.”
“Your team is Superheroes. Of course, they like Superman,” Connor said, rolling his eyes.
Still, Rob and M’gann and a lot of his friends would fight Superman for him if he asked. He’d been very careful to never indicate that he wanted help, too afraid that Rob and the others would make themselves enemies of the Justice League. Rob was too clever for his own good, after all. He might manage it, and then Batman would lock him away forever. Connor would never let that happen, especially for his own sake. He'd never been worth that much, not ever.
“No, he means his civilian friends,” Superman explained. He turned to look at the other Kon. “Kon, he probably didn’t have the same first meeting you and I did.”
His other now looked deeply distressed. He started to float in his distress.
“What happened?” the other asked, pinning Connor down with a stare. “Clark’s the best. Why would it go bad?”
“He rejected me,” Connor snapped. The best? Ha! Superman wasn’t a parent, he was a bastard. The idea of him ever looking at Connor with anything other than contempt was laughable. But… but this other Superman not only looked at Connor with kindness and understanding, but he looked at Connor’s other with… with love.
Connor thought his heart might be shattering as he spoke, so he kept speaking. Might as well cut someone else with the knife of his feelings.
“I’m just this dangerous thing to him. I was made to destroy him, so why would he ever trust me! It’s not every day that anyone clones Superman!” He let out a pain filled, half crazed laugh. “I’m liable to turn evil at any moment. I’m half Lex Luthor, after all. My blood’s tainted. I may as well be a monster, forget all the time I’ve spent with Young Justice, or how many people I’ve saved. All that matter is that I could snap at any time!”
He was panting when he finished yelling. Two breaths later, he focused in on his other’s face and wished he hadn’t snapped. The other Kon looked crushed. There were tears in the corners of his eyes and Superman just looked so sad. He’d seen himself be devastated, but he’d never seen himself be so innocent before. And Superman… he’d never seen Superman look like that.
“Does Phantom exist in your time?” Superman asked
“Who?”
“Right,” Superman said with a heavy sigh. “Phantom is a hero who makes videos and a podcast about what it’s like to be a young hero. He was, he came first, before Bruce, before me, before anyone. And he was my hero growing up, so even though he only started making videos a few years ago and it didn’t apply to me anymore, I basically watched them all the time.”
“And you’ve got a huge crush on him,” the other Connor said. To Connor’s surprise, Superman blushed.
“Shush, you.” That just made the other Connor laugh. Insane. This universe was insane.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Connor asked through gritted teeth.
“Phantom was also cloned, and his clone attacked and hurt him when they first met. But things changed, they grew up. She broke away from the person who created her. She was adopted by Phantom’s parents. Now they’re like siblings. I’d heard that story many times. So, by the time I found out about my son, I was already used to the idea. I’d even thought about what I’d do if it happened to me. When I heard about Kon, I was nervous and unsure, but I’d had time to process the thoughts already. And I had someone I could go to for help.”
Superman reached out slowly and laid a hand on Connor’s knee. He gave a firm, but gentle squeeze. For some reason, Connor wanted to cry.
“I can’t promise that it would have been different of he had the same thing. It definitely feels violating to have your DNA stolen and have a whole person made out of you. But the way this other Superman treats you is wrong, Connor. I got lucky that I had a leg up. I’d like to think I would still treat my son the same, but I worry a lot that I wouldn’t have.”
“I feel like I should apologize,” Connor said. He hated himself for saying something like that, even though it was true. This Superman was just… kind. He listened. He didn’t judge Connor for his anger or hate. He thought… he thought the way Connor had been treated was wrong and said as much. He hated making him look sad.
Superman wore a sad smile. The words he spoke were firm and soft, not like quiet but like it wouldn’t be possible for anything this Superman ever said to hurt him. “No, absolutely not. You’ve been hurt, badly. Emotionally if not physically. You should never apologize for needing to deal with that, or for telling the truth. You needed to say it and I needed to hear it.” Superman squeezed his knee again. “If Clockwork brought you here, that means that you live in this time now. If you’d like, I’d like to adopt you too.”
“What?” Connor felt numb all over. He’d been asking that question a lot since he arrived here, but also, it didn’t make any sense.
“Holy shit, dad, you’re becoming Bruce,” his other said.
“Shh.” Superman swatted the air. Kon was still floating. He wrapped his arms around Superman’s neck; around his dad’s neck. He looked like he belonged there. He knew this Superman would never hurt him, not even once. And Connor wanted that so much it made him sick.
“It’s not fair,” Connor whispered. He wished he hadn’t said the words out loud. More than that, he wished Superman’s hearing wasn’t so good.
“What isn’t?” Superman asked.
Connor sucked in a breath and let it out. “That… that this other Connor got you and I got… I got
.”
Superman’s expression got even sadder than before. “Would it be alright if I hugged you?”
Connor froze. Superman didn’t move, didn’t push him, didn’t ask again. He waited. Slowly, Connor unfroze enough to nod. Superman went up on his knees and slowly, so Connor could stop him if he wanted, tugged Connor into and embrace.
Connor had never been hugged by Superman, the man he hated, the man he wanted to be, the man he was terrified of becoming, but the way this Superman hugged him made his insides melt. It was just like he’d always imagined and nothing like the way he wanted it.
Superman didn’t even complain when he pressed his face into his shoulder and cried. He just held him and rubbed his back until Connor didn’t feel like he was shaking to pieces anymore.
Lili was done, done with her parents, done with school, done with the world, done with Lex Fucking Luthor. If she saw that smarmy face on Mrs. Banth’s Fox News BS programs she forced them to watch in the guise for “analyzing news” one more time, she was going to break the TV. She’d already shattered the remote three times. She’d already been yelled at about that enough. So, rather than go to her class and risk suspension, Lili skipped class, left school and headed to the Kents’. Neither of them was likely to be home, but that was fine. She was always welcome. Kon would get back from school eventually. She would text him when she got in. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Whatever. She had a free pass to come and go as she wished, and it wouldn’t be the first time they Kents came home and found her asleep on their sofa.
She climbed the fire escape, opened the window and let herself in, rolling to the floor on accident, letting out a huff of air when she landed on her back. She was grateful that she’d dropped her back in first, otherwise she might have crunched something important, instead of just her back.
“Who are you?”
That was Connor’s voice, but the boy standing front of her was not her goofy friend. For one thing, his hair was straight, for another he had no piercings, and finally, he was wearing a black Superman shirt, which looked cool, but which was also dumb as fuck. Connor might have a Superman keychain, but he wasn’t dumb enough to wear a shirt, even at home.
“The fuck are you?” she demanded. Then the lightbulb clicked on in her brain. “Wait, holy shit! Are you another clone?”
“Another- what do you mean another clone?” The boy puffed up and his eyes narrowed, looking truly suspicious.
“You know, like- like another clone.” The boy just glared more. “Hold on.”
She grabbed her phone slowly where he could see her. She hit Mr. Kent’s speed dial. He answered almost immediately.
“What did you do?” he asked. He already sounded tired. Normally she’d tease him about it. Mr. Kent would know it wasn’t an emergency because she wasn’t calling for Superman. Also, he was used to her shit.
“So, does Connor have a brother?” Lili asked.
“Why are you in my apartment, Lili?” Boy, he did not sound amused.
“If I see Luthor’s stupid fucking face one more time-”
“Was he at the school?!”
“No,” she said quickly, wincing. The other clone’s eyes had gotten huge. “I meant Mrs. Banth won’t stop playing his interviews. I didn’t want to break the tv.”
“Please don’t give me a heart attack, Lili. Put me on speaker.”
She did as she was told.
“El, this is Lili. She’s Kon’s best friend. She’s aware of the situation. You can tell her whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“So, you’re name’s El?”
“Connell seemed like a good name,” El said.
“Can I call you El?”
“Sure,” the boy said shortly. “Will Kon be home soon?”
“Not likely. Lili, don’t you dare tell Kon where you are. He needs to stay in his classes.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll keep El busy while you’re gone.”
There was a moment of silence. “Please don’t get in trouble. El, I’ll be home after work. Call me if you need anything.”
“Right, got it.”
Clark sighed. “Okay. I’ll see you two in a few hours.” Then he hung up.
“So, you are another clone?”
“I’m from another timeline,” El said.
“Oh! So, you’re also Connor?”
“He… my brother already had the name.”
“Oh, would you prefer if I called you like… Er or something? For Connor?”
El looked surprised. His shocked expression morphed into a little smile. “No, El’s good. I like El. The Superman from my timeline never let me claim my family name. So, this… it’s nice.”
“Wow, you came from the asshole!Superman universe,” she said. “You going to be starting school soon?”
“Yeah,” El said. “Next week, probably. Kon said he wanted to introduce me to his friends before that… do they all know about him, about us?” There was disbelief and caution in his eyes. She didn’t blame him for that.
“Right now, it’s just me,” Lili said. “Everyone else “knows”-” she used finger quotes, “That Kon was in a cult and that his mom’s name was Lex and Lex Luthor was around the cult enough that Kon’s afraid of him. So, they’ll know why you’re weird.”
“Wow, thanks,” El said dryly.
“No offense, my guy, but you’re pretty damn intense.” Lili grinned suddenly. “So, has anyone introduced you to Uncle Connie yet?”
El shook his head. “Who?”
“Oh, I am going to love this. I’ll give Hera a call once Kon gets home. She’ll get Noah involved.”
“I feel like I should be scared,” he said slowly.
“You should be,” she said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, El. You’re going to be one of us now!”
“I…” El looked surprised and touched. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, how about you and me plan world domination before the squares get home? I can teach you how to play Risk.”
“Oh! I know Risk!”
“Great. We’ll crush them like the bug they are,” she said gleefully. And, according to plan, El started to laugh.
Good, it was nice to know his sense of humor was close to his twin. She could work with that. They’d get him integrated into Team Gay in no time.