He had been trying to not think about it. He knew better than to think about things that could not be changed, still he couldn't help it. The small moment of childhood that he spent in that lab with Dr. Spencer, it haunted him. If things had been different, if he had been a normal kid growing up in a place like Smallville, or anywhere else, what kind of kid would he had been?
Would he still enjoy sitting in calm room reading, or would he be outside playing with his friends? Would had he been a trouble maker? Or maybe he would be running around with a red cape or a mask playing the role of the make-believe hero. Would he be called to go inside for dinner by his parents?
He tried to imagine all possibilities, but at the end he gave up. It was impossible to say what kind of kid he would have been given the chance. He wanted to be angry at those who created him. He knew they were to blame in their rush to create a Superman of their own. He closed his book realizing he wouldn't be able to get any more reading done. As he stood up he found himself cursing Lex Luthor under his breath. The walls groaned before he took a deep breath.
He had to remember the good things in his life. The small things like being able to go outside, breathe fresh air, and being free. He stood on the porch and watched the fields being harvested by the farmers from the area. Clark asked him to pause his training until they were done. At first he thought it would drive him crazy, but thankfully there was plenty to do at the Watchtower.
As he drove towards the old shed where the Zeta-beam had been hidden he realized this had become a routine. People who didn't know him waved his way now used to seeing him. He waved back without thinking. He wondered where they thought he was going for there was no much in this direction unless they thought he was going towards the city. He entered the rugged path of a farm which had been abandoned a long time ago. The League set the Zeta-Beam inside the old shed. He parked the truck behind the falling house where it could not be spotted unless you were coming from the old weed ridden fields.
When he stepped into the Watch Tower he almost crashed into Bart.
"Watch it!" the speedster actually sneered at him before stepping into the Zeta-beam.
"Bart wait!" Kaldur followed close by without even glancing at him.
"Not something you see every day, right?" Robin said walking towards him with a scowl.
"What happened?" he seemed almost as upset as Bart.
"Kid Flash wants to build a time machine to go back to his time. It looks like a witch told him his timeline still exists and he wants to go back to help them" he said as they started walking.
"That's insane," he said with a frown. Bart's time had been taken because none of the stronger Leagues had been around. What did he think he could do by going back?
"So you are siding with Kaldur" then he realized Bart already had someone planning to go with him.
"Aren't you?" he asked stopping to look at his friend with worry.
"No, I told Bart I would go with him when the time came, Blue too" he said as they continued to walk.
"But you surely see how dangerous that is" his mentor was Batman after all. The man did take risks but he knew how far he could go.
"He came back and saved us. Who knows where we might be if he hadn't" that was true, and he remembered then that they had also been able to stop the invasion.
Superboy nodded, "but the League won't let him" they considered them too young at times for some missions. He had read the reports and knew this to be true.
"Are you with us?" Robin asked him stopping him before entering the hall that led to the control command where Nightwing or sometimes Kaldur informed them of their missions.
"What are yo-" he couldn't possibly mean what he was thinking.
"Are you with us? I won't tell you more until you answer" even though he was half a head shorter than him he felt as if Tim was towering over him.
He nodded not trusting their surroundings to continue speaking. They would find other means to give their help to Bart. As he got his assignments for the day from Nightwing he couldn't help to feel his friend was trying to pick into his mind.
"Not much today, things are starting to calm down" Nightwing said as he started to turn back to the controls.
"Alright," he said starting to leave.
"We are not bullet proof" Nightwing said "please make sure he comes back home. He still has a father to return to"
"I will" he said before leaving the room glad they had another ally.
8888
He stepped into a small apartment in Gotham.
"Leave that on the table, not the floor" said Red Arrow as he worked on a small table.
"This is still sort of working with the League," he said as he took a seat nearby.
"I am not in the field…" Roy (clone) turned his chair and raised an eyebrow at him, "… and neither are you. This is the third delivery you make"
"Dealing with some stuff" he said before levitating a few pieces set on the work table.
"Huh, that's interesting" Red Arrow said not the least bit surprised.
"Red," for it was difficult to keep track of the two Roys, "do you know anything about Dr. Spencer?"
"Ran away with her tail between her legs, staying low, why?" he said as he continued to work.
"I think she knew about this," he said trying not to let much information out.
"And you think she is going to help you?" he laughed as he turned to the other clone.
"I don't know, but I think she was rather invested on me, so she might have some answers"
"For all we know she could be dead in a ditch, she did help us against The Light" and then he noticed the expression on the teens face, "there is something you aren't telling me"
"Is hard to explain," he said unable to meet his eyes. He knew Roy went through hell thanks to Cadmus and didn't think best to push the issue further.
"Then I don't want to know," he said with a frown. There was a reason why he did not go back to the field. Not because he didn't think he wasn't physically fit, hell Jade made them spar just about every day, but mentally he wasn't. He spent so many years chasing after the bad guys that he almost forgot what was really important. He didn't want to fall into that hole again.
He was already standing when Jade opened the door accompanied by her little girl.
"Well, if it is Super-brat" Jade said with a smirk, "or is it now Delivery Boy"
"Suppey!" the little girl smiled at him.
"Hello Lyan," he said looking at the almost two year old.
"Hmm, I think I have an idea" Jade said with a smile that made Conner shiver.
"No, you don't" said Roy, "he has new powers and he is still working on them"
"Well, maybe next time then" Jade sighed a little tired.
Conner turned to Roy with a questioning look.
"She wanted you to baby sit Lyan. She is a handful. Since she started walking the only one that is able to keep up with her is Artemis" Roy explained.
Conner turned to look at the little girl who at first he thought was giving him a rather innocent smile, but then he saw the resemblance with her mother. Maybe he had just dodged a bullet.
888
"Hey Conner!" Bart waved at him in his usual way. He wondered if he had imagined the angry speedster the morning of that same day. He walked towards the awaiting group and wondered if he had gone mad. What they were planning was insane.
"Are you sure they won't find us?" he asked.
"Blue is blocking the signals and so am I" Tim said before leading them away. It would not do if someone from the League or The Team decided to drop by. They went into a café and sat around a small table. He thought they must look like normal teens as they ordered to their hearts content, especially Bart.
"So where do we start?" Jaime asked once the food was brought.
"I have been doing a lot of research," Bart said, "and there are a few things that we need to get and others we need to make" he said before Conner noted the large backpack he was carrying. He pulled out some papers before spreading them over the table.
He picked one and read through it. He could make sense of some of the words, others he had to resource to the knowledge given to him by the Genomorphs, and even then he could barely make sense of it.
"This is just theoretical work" Tim said who was readying through more of them.
"Actually not," Jaime said reading through them faster and tilting his head every other moment, "but it could be better"
Bart handed him a pen before Jaime started writing in between Bart's notes.
"The Reach wanted to make something similar at one point to return back to the time the Lanterns almost destroyed them, but they were missing something very important…"
"What?" Bart asked. It seemed he had reached a similar conclusion.
Jaime tilted his head as he listened to the scarab before frowning, then he replied with a smile "An anchor," and he followed to explain to them by what he meant.
"But that means we only get one chance" Conner said looking at Bart.
"We have to try," he said with a pained smile.
They had to, didn't they? As they ate, Blue kept adding more notes into what the physical equivalent of Bart's notes would produce.
As night fell they were able to create a list. They divided it in two parts. Some they would have to find, others they had to make. Then they split them on places they would be likely to get them. They thought of friends who could help them, of every source they could consult and split those items among themselves.
"Can't have my parents panicking and calling the League" Jaime said after paying his bill.
"We should head out too" Tim said before the rest also headed out home where people were waiting for them.
Conner found he didn't want to Smallville just yet. He ended up in busy streets Metropolis rummaging through the still open book stores. He was after new books to read back home, not that he expected to have free time anytime soon.
"Kent?" and then someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found a woman who looked familiar but couldn't quite recall. She had long dark hair and incredible violet eyes. She was indeed pretty, he wondered if Clark knew her.
"I think you have me mistaken for someone else" he said to the woman, "Ms…"
"Lois Lane" she said with a raised eyebrow.
Now he recalled. He remembered Clark used to work alongside her when he was still part of the Daily Planet. Also she was known to be the number one source about Superman when he first appeared, though that reputation had faded over the years.
"Then you must mean Clark Kent when you called me. I think you are off for quite a few years" he continued to look for a book worth readying. There was so much teen drama those days that it was hard to find new authors worth readying.
"I thought you were related to him, you could be his son" she said trying to catch his eye.
"A claim that I am sure Mr. Kent would not take kindly, especially since you two don't work together anymore" he was sure he saw her flinch.
"So you don't know him" she said ready to leave him alone.
"I never said that" he said with a smile "I might be a fan of his, especially after he left the Daily Planet"
"And I imagine not mine" she turned her head with a sharp smile.
"Your articles have lost a lot of their edge, as if someone was taking out the spark out of them" censorship and editors took out the parts they didn't think would fit the new image of the Daily Planet. The ugly truths that Clark continued to point to people so there would a reaction in motion were the complete opposite of what the new Daily Planet wanted.
She glared at him before walking out. Conner wasn't sure if Clark was still friends with her, but he was indeed not a fan of her work, at least not anymore. When he finally made it home it was close to midnight and waiting on the porch was no other than Clark. He went to sit next to him and waited for him to tell him what was in his mind.
"There is a very special day approaching…" he started.