Work Text:
Kon was having a nice dream, until he was abruptly pulled out of it. Something was on his chest… confused he slowly opened his eyes. The sun was already streaming from the blinds causing him to squint a bit before looking down on his chest. Spotting the orange fur of his current arch nemesis, he gritted his teeth trying to decide the best way to defuse the situation and remove the cat from his chest. "Stinky. Stinky kitty."
The old alley cat looked up at him opening his one eye. "I need to get up." The cat ignored his plea and stretched out still laying on top of him. He had been trying hard to get on his good side he didn't want to ruin it by kicking the cat off him. However, now that he was awake, he knew he needed to get up before he accidently slept in any longer.
"Stinky please." he begged. The cat made a wheezing cough sound before standing up. 'Yes! He's moving!' Kon smiled knowing he was going to be free.
That hope was quickly dashed as Stinky moved up his chest and headbutted him in the face. He groaned and the cat turned away, his butt now directly in front of Kon's face.
This was unfortunately the only warning he got.
-
A scream echoed through the house. Karen just chuckled to herself, knowing what probably happened. She'd had Stinky for years. He had earned his name properly by terrorizing her teammates during her time in the European branch of the Justice League.
She continued looking through the paper for any articles about the mission Young Justice had been on. Helena had teased during her last call. Saying she had fully become a mom, clipping newspaper articles about any mention of Kon.
She sets the paper aside, as Kon comes into the room, scraggy orange cat in his arms. He was in the batman themed pajamas she had gifted him as a joke. 'You already wear the S-shield all day. Bats and Supers go together like peanut butter and jelly.' She had teased when she saw the confused look on his face.
She smiles reaching her arms out to take him. “Aww, were you snuggling with Kon," she asks the cat, as Kon drops him in her arms.
"Oh, he was having a blast; farted in my face and everything. I could have sworn I shut my door last night," he grumbles and sits across from her.
She smirks pushing a bowl of cereal that had been made earlier towards him. "You did, but he was standing at your door looking soooo sad. I knew he wanted to see you, so I cracked the door for him."
"This is soggy…" his tone flat as he stirs the soggy cereal around. He looked up at her, squinting suspiciously. "Oh, I see what this is. This is some sort of hazing since you said you were taking me to the JSA headquarters today. Evil."
She rolled her eyes before answering. "I'm not hazing you. The JSA do not haze people. This is just the consequence of not waking up on time like I told you to." Her voice shifts to a more playful one as she talks to the cat. "Isn't that right, Stinky?"
"That cat is a menace," Kon grumbled as he eats his soggy cereal.
She let out a loud, boisterous laugh. "You should have seen him back in the day! The Justice League's guard dog, they called him. Guy Gardener still curses him to this day!" She wipes the tears from her eyes as she continues to laugh thinking of the past.
Kon lets out a low whistle which reverberated down the hall as they enter the headquarters. "Fancy"
"Dodds Manor. Wesley Dodds left it in his will for the JSA. It’s now both a headquarters, museum as well as a second home for the members of the team," she explained as they walked further into the mansion.
"Karen!" Stargirl flew down the hall crashing into her with a big hug.
"Hey Star," she smiled softly petting her hair. "Thanks for being here this weekend."
She turned towards Kon to introduce the girl hanging off her. "Superboy, this is Stargirl."
"We've met before," he smirked as he nodded at her. "We tried to ask her to join Young Justice."
"Speaking of are you stepping into the big leagues? Is that why your here? PeeGee didn't give any clues, just asked me to be here since she was bringing you?" She looked him over, trying to find anything that might give the answer away.
"Nah, wouldn't want to pull him away from his team." Karen answered as she puts Stargirl down. "Mister Terrific and I are going to make him a civilian identity today. Thought you could show him around for me? I figured he would much prefer a tour from someone around his age rather than one of the old men around here." She teased as she imagined how bored Kon would be following around Alan or, heaven forbid, Ted. "Is Jakeem around too?"
"He was, he’s probably in his room playing games with Impulse."
A wide smile spread on Kon's face. "Imp is here!?"
Stargirl let out a small sigh, her shoulders slumping just thinking about it. "Jay must have mentioned you were going to be here today because he ran through here 30 minutes ago looking for you."
Karen watched them talk, with a soft smile on her face. Happy that Kon seemed to get along so well with other heroes his age. She hums, satisfied she could leave him knowing he wouldn't just be bored waiting on her to finish.
"Star I'm leaving you in charge. Make sure the boys get a tour of the manor and the museum."
"You got it! Come on S.B. let’s go round them up."
—
As they walked down the halls towards the bedrooms, Stargirl stole a glance over her shoulder. "I'm jealous you get to have PeeGee as a mom. She’s cool, I look up to her a lot."
He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck "Oh, she’s not my mom… She's just being nice and letting me stay at her place and stuff. I don't have parents."
Stopping, she turned to look at him. Despite her mask hiding her eyebrows it was obvious she was raising them.
"Ok, Orphan Annie. That's why she’s adopting you," she mocked. "God, boys are so stupid."
Surprised, he grabs her shoulders shaking her. "She is? Why?"
"I'm going to barf!" she screeches trying to pull away.
He let go of her, a bit apologetic. "Sorry…" He was just excited to know the answer.
"Boys, I swear." Stargirl let out a deep sigh as she steadied herself with her staff, trying to keep herself upright and her eyes from spinning.
"Look if you don't want her to adopt you, just say something. Usually, kids don't get to pick their parents. Trust me; I hated Pat, my stepdad, when my mom first married him." She waved the thought away since she had a good relationship with her stepdad now. "PeeGee seems to care for you, that's why she scheduled this whole play date because that's totally what this is. I'm sure if you explained you didn't want her to adopt you, she would help you figure something out."
"No, I don't hate it. I was just surprised that's all." Kon shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, a feeble attempt to seem nonchalant about the whole thing, despite how ecstatic he felt.
The time he's stayed with Karen over the last few months has been nice. She helped him feel like a normal teenager. She was both a superhero and owned a company, so him being Superboy didn't benefit her. She wasn't asking him to use his powers, or trying to make merchandise of him, or interview him. She didn't care he was Superboy. To her he was just a teenage boy who needed support.
Well, saying she didn't care was wrong, she did care, but not in the way he was used to. When he arrived at the apartment after a mission with Young Justice, she would ask him if he was OK, before sending him off to clean up while she ordered them some dinner. Then during dinner, she would listen to his stories and offer advice. It was the closest thing to those family dinners on TV that he’s ever gotten.
'That's why I come back again and again it feels nice... Like an actual family.'
Distracted by his thoughts he hadn't noticed they had stopped walking till Stargirl waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello earth to Superboy?"
"Yeah, 'sup?" Kon quickly shook the thoughts from his head, deciding he could figure out his relationship with Karen later.
"We're here." She gestured to the door that they were standing in front of. It was cracked open, the sound of some game spilled into the hall.
She waited for him to collect himself before opening the door the rest of the way. Inside Bart was playing what looked like a fighting game while a young Black boy held up the game manual.
"You’re pressing the buttons too fast it’s not registering the input, that's why the combo is failing!"
"Impulse! Jakeem!" Stargirl tries to get their attention. "Superboy is here!"
"One second! Bart almost has the combo down," Jakeem quickly replied. Impulse was trying to complete the hardest combo and he was excited to see it. Before he could finish his sentence though, Impulse was already up launching himself at Kon.
"S.B.!" He slammed into Kon sending them both backwards before the controller even realized it was no longer being held.
"Damn, almost had it too." Jakeem sighed as Impulse's character was killed.
Stargirl clapped her hands to get everyone's attention "Okay, now that everyone is here, we should give Superboy the tou-"
"S.B.," Impulse cut her off. "You got to play with us! I can’t wait to kick your butt!"
Suddenly, the elder Flash with the metal helmet appeared in the doorway. A stern look on his face as he intoned, "Bart."
"Jay!" Stargirl welcomed him - happy someone was there to help reel the boys in.
"Hey Star, I thought I would come help give the tour. Especially since someone ran off earlier while I was in the middle of talking with Max." The old man’s eyes landed on Bart again, who deflated a bit.
"You and Max kept talking about the past! It was going to take forever. We were here during Thanksgiving, so I knew how to get here." Impulse tried to defend his reason for running off and arriving ahead of Jay.
He shook his head not accepting the excuse, before clapping his hands "Let’s go, boys. It seems Stargirl has been tasked with giving a tour and I'm only going to let you delay it."
Mister Terrific, watched as Karen sat at the computer creating a civilian identity for Superboy. She was being thorough, making sure to create history records, so it looked more authentic. "You could have completed all of this at Starrware Industries."
"I could have," She nodded her agreement, not looking away from the screen. "But, I wanted to bring him here. The JSA is like a family to me." She stopped for a moment, "The support from this team has helped me through some hard times.
"I wanted to bring him here. Not to join - he's already making a name for himself with his own team. And I want him to continue learning how to be his own hero. Not a shadow of Superman, and not a shadow of me." She smiled softly thinking about everything he’d accomplished, before getting back to work. "I wanted him to meet my team - the people I trust. People he could go to for help if he needed it."
Terrific nodded in understanding, before he glanced at the information on the screen. "'Conner Vern Starr. Adopted by his aunt, Karen Starr.' Does he know his new civilian identity has been adopted by you?"
"Didn't discuss it," Karen said with a shrug. She always acted without fear and remorse. But for some reason she was afraid to ask Kon what he thought of being adopted - afraid he would refuse.
"Vern? Poor boy." Wildcat interrupted as he walked into the room. "Having that as a name, and having you as a parent? Feel sorry for the kid." He smirked as he teased her.
"It’s sentimental, Ted." She rolled her eyes. "I picked it out back when I was being used as a Kryptonian incubator. Thought it would be fitting to give him the name since he’s technically my son now."
"Not that I would tell him that…" She quickly added, under her breath. "Don't want him to feel like he has to live up to yet another name that has been forced on him."
"Oh, um..." Ted stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to say. He was used to butting heads and fighting with her, not emotional vulnerability. "Can you throw me out the window now?"
"Or," Terrific interjected, "He might see it as an honor, you never know unless you talk to him and be honest. If you keep something secret because you’re worried about the outcome, you look more guilty." Terrific put his hand on her shoulder. "Ask him about the name, and about the adoption."
"You're right. I just…" Karen sighed, "He's only been around a few months, but I’d do anything for him. Every other adult in his life has failed him. I want to give him a family and be there for him. But I'm me. I know I come on too strong, and I don't want to scare him away."
The kids sat around the dining room table as an old woman who'd been introduced as "Ma" fretted about.
"You kids need to eat up now! Balancing young lives, school, and crime fighting is a big task - you need the energy!" She smiled warmly as she sets another plate on the table. She turned sharply to the Flash the moment the plate left her hand, a stern look on her face. "The kids learn from your example, you should sit down and eat too before I call Joan."
Flash only laughed. "You know she makes sure I get enough to eat. But I wouldn't mind sitting down for a cup of tea. How about we sit and catch up a bit? I can tell you all about the garden we've been working on." He smiled as the two of them headed to the kitchen.
Now that it was only the kids, Stargirl smirked looking over at Impulse and Superboy. "You know Ma Hunkel was the original Red Tornado."
"What!?" The two boys reacted in unison.
"Yeah, her costume's in the museum. The one with the pot for the helmet." Jakeem added throwing his thumb over his shoulder to gesture towards the museum part of the building.
In a blink and you'll miss it moment, Impulse rushed back to the museum they had just explored earlier. Checking the suit out before he settled back in his seat. "It's there! Nameplate and everything! Wait, is she also a robot?"
Stargirl and Jakeem just laughed. "No, she's human."
"Man, I can't wait to brag to Rob we met the original Red Tornado. Definitely got to ask Reddy the story how he got the title passed to him." Kon leaned back, smirking as he imagined Robin's smug face getting all broody when he found out the two of them had met her and he hadn't.
Suddenly, someone not at the table cleared their throat and everyone's attention snapped to the door to see who. Power Girl stood there with a melancholic smile.
"Do you kids mind if I steal Superboy?"
—
Kon looked around as they stood quietly in the greenhouse, she had led him here but had yet to say anything.
“Soooo?” He rolled his shoulders, unable to take the silence, anxiety pooling in his stomach. She didn’t seem like the kind of person to kick him to the curb… but neither had Clark. 'I don't want her to tell me to stop coming over.' He pulls on the collar of his suit. He wore it every day, but right now it felt like it was choking him.
“Sorry… was in my head to much trying to think of how to start this conversation.” She looked over at him as he sat down. She notices the anxiety on his face and quickly moved to his side. “Hey, Kon breath for me, ok?”
Kon nodded, taking a deep breath as she rubbed his back. 'It’s better to just rip the band-aid off and get the conversation over with.' He took his jacket off, balling it up and hugged it against his stomach
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stress you out. I just wanted to talk about your new civilian identity." Still rubbing his back, Karen gave him a small smile before handing over a manila folder.
He looked at her before looking down at it. He knows now he’s not being kicked out, but he can’t stop his hand from shaking a bit as he took the folder and opened it. Inside there were different legal documents, but what caught his eye was the copy of a birth certificate - his birth certificate.
Conner Vern Starr
"I-is this me?" He asked as he traced the name with his fingers. "That's your last name?"
"It is." She nodded gently, placing her hand on his arm. "I know the name Kon-El is important to you, so I chose Conner as your civilian name since it sounded similar."
"About the middle name…" She hesitated for a moment. "Back when I was pregnant, I had picked out two names: Vern for a boy and Autumn for a girl… I never got the chance to have or name that baby. But I still felt I had to give that name to my son.
"Which is why I would like you to have it, if you accept. I would like to adopt you and make you part of my family." She gave his arm a small squeeze. "If you don’t want it or don't like it, I can change it…"
He looked at her in shock before looking back at the name. 'She’s giving me the name she picked out for her son… She is giving it to me! She’s saying I can be her son!'
"W-why?" He croaked. "You chose this… It's important! Why me?"
She gave him this heartbroken look. "When we first met, I wanted to help you out, because I saw myself in you… But within a short span of time knowing you, your presence has touched every part of my life - changing it for the better. It's like you were always meant to be there.
"No matter what happens, even if you turn my offer of adoption down, please know I'll always be in your corner. That I came to love you, not because I wanted to replace what I once lost, or because of your boundless talent. But because of your kindness, your spirit, and because I couldn't see the future without you there." Karen smiled as she waited for his reply.
Frozen in shock, he sat there a moment before gently putting the folder down beside him. He looked back at her with wide eyes as he tried to process everything.
"Kon-El, you have made my life better just being in it. Would you please accept the name and let me adopt you?"
He couldn't find the words. He couldn't think straight anymore. She wanted him. Him! It didn't matter that he was a clone, she didn't let that information change how she treated him.
His eyes burned as the world around him became harder to see. He nodded and launched himself at her, hugging her tightly as he hid his face in her chest to hide the tears streaming down his face.
She smiled, hugging him back just as fiercely.
"Welcome to the family, Conner."
