Summary: During the Failsafe simulation, Conner awakens with a lot more than he bargained for. Armed with five years' worth of memories including the death of his teammate, he desperately tries to change the future for the better.

Cover Art by: Riipeachyjam (used with permission)

Phantom Tomorrow

Chapter One: Five Years in Five Days

Conner woke up to the piercing scent of disinfectant that filled his nostrils. People often forgot that Kryptonians had enhanced senses besides hearing. But the scent of cleaner was practically suffocating in its abundance.

Blearily he looked around to get his bearings; his semi-barren room had been replaced with white walls and medical instruments. An empty chair was to the right of him and a blue tipped needle was inserted into his arm connected to a IV.

He didn't feel good. His body felt heavier than the time an actual building had collapsed on him and it refused his commands to move. His head had felt like it had been cracked open like one of M'gann's many eggs. It was pounding relentlessly.

Before he could figure out what had happened, the door opened and Black Canary walked in holding a purse and a cup of coffee.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," she greeted.

"W-What happened?" he wheezed, only then realizing how parched he was.

"You had a seizure," Black Canary said soothingly, brushing his hair with his fingers. "It gave us a bit of a scare. You've been sleeping for a day."

A day?

Conner wondered what possibly could have taken him out for a whole day.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked.

Conner wracked his aching brain for information.

He and M'gann rushed to Artemis' side as she bled out onto the sand. The stab wound on her body was a large and ugly sight as Nightwing desperately tried to perform CPR on her body.

But he knew it was futile. Just like Tula before her.

He couldn't hear her heartbeat.

"A-Artemis died?" he asked in horror. Desperately trying to force his unmoving body to get out of his bed.

"No, no, no," Black Canary said, moving her hand to his shoulder to calm him down. "It was a simulation. Remember? We told you before you went in?"

At her prompting, the image of the beach was replaced by a montage of others. Instead of warm sands, he saw Artemis disintegrated in the cold artic, by the same invaders that had murdered Superman and the rest of the league. He remembered Kaldur'ahm sacrificing himself in the Hall of Justice to save the life of the soldiers that supported them. He remembered Robin asking him to sacrifice himself so they could save the world. He remembered the peaceful feeling of being Superman just before the invaders closed in on him.

Before he could reflect on the other, stranger vision, Black Canary continued.

"When you died in the simulation, you had a stronger reaction than the others. Probably because of Cadmus," Black Canary spat the last word with venom. "So we moved you here to STAR Labs for observation. Are you feeling okay?"

He looked down at the sleeping Wally's face, passed after a heavy night of partying in the name of celebrating of the kryptonian's birthday, his arms wrapped around the also sleeping Artemis, barely in better shape herself. With a sigh he placed a comforter on them both.

Luckily Kaldur had been away on a undersea mission and M'gann could drink like a fish. Otherwise he'd have to deal with two drunk metas alongside his human friends. Dick, in offense to being the youngest member of the group had challenged his best friend to a drinking contest and had managed to collapse on the kitchen island. Conner dragged him to a love seat and wrapped a comforter on him.

Conner shook his head at the impulsiveness. Batman was going to kill him tomorrow.

"Recognized. Black Canary. 13."

The blonde woman stepped off the platform and looked at the scene with a bright smile. "Looks like you had fun tonight."

"Clearly," he said drily pointing to the mess of empty cups and liquor bottles that littered the ground between them. Grabbing a garbage bag, he started to clean up. Black Canary without any prompting quickly joined him.

"Happy birthday, Conner," she said as she slipped an empty bottle of absinthe into one of the bags.

"Thanks, Canary."

"You're a man now, Conner." She said leaning in for a kiss on the cheek. "You can call me Dinah."

He was brought back from the impossible memory by the sound of Black Canary snapping her fingers in front of his face. "You okay?" Black Canary asked. "You just started looking off in the distance for a minute."

Conner stared at her in confusion. Just like the scene on the beach, that memory that played out before felt strange. It felt real. Realer than the simulation ever was. He could smell the choking scent of alcohol, the softness of the comforter, the warmth radiating off of Wally in droves.

"-inah," he tested weakly. His throat was now drier than a desert. "T-That's your name?"

Black Canary's eyes widened comically in alarm before her lips pursed into a frown. "Why do you know that?"

"I-I heard it."

He omitted the part where she was the one who told him in an impossible memory.

She sighed deeply. "I've told Green Arrow a thousand times not to call me that in costume. And now look." She pulled his face closer to hers, her blue eyes blazing in worry. "Listen Superboy, a secret identity is very, very important. You understand? You can't ever call me that in public."

He made a quiet sound of agreement. The woman took a step back and visibly relaxed. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"W-water?"

"Oh. Oh!" The newly named Dinah said in realization. "You must be thirsty. I'll be right back with a water bottle." Practically running out of the room and leaving the kryptonian alone to his thoughts.

What was going on with him?

It took another day of sleeping before Conner finally had enough strength to leave his bed. The members of STAR Labs eager to examine the after effects of a seizure on a Kryptonian put him through every test possible under the sun.

Black Canary, stayed beside him the entire time as a constant to hold his hand.

The strange visions continued without rhyme or reason. Not following any pattern that he could predict. Sometimes he could tell you every single detail of the scene before him, the information and background, second nature. Sometimes he saw a scene full of strangers, that he wouldn't be able to pull out of a line up. Anything in the world triggered it, leaving Conner looking off in the distance in a daze.

After the third time, Black Canary had finally said enough and called the head doctor in charge to explain the incidents.

His Doctor, a man named Pieter Cross had after one of his spells told him and Dinah that the fogginess was standard in larger seizures and would wear off in time with plenty of rest.

Conner didn't find it appropriate to correct him.

He didn't know what they would do if he told them about his strange visions. He had only been here for two days and he was already losing it. Who knows how long they would keep him here if they knew what was going on in his head.

Excluding that one strange vision on the beach, they were scenes of his friends. Older, happier and together. Flashes of untaken dates with M'gann, kissing her, touching her in ways he was too shy to currently try.

It was of Superman. Looking at him. Smiling at him.

He walked slowly behind a man decked in pale blue suit wearing a pair of spectacles, feeling the grass under his feet as they headed to a small two-story house in the short distance.

A sturdy elderly couple awaited them at the door. The woman had her white hair cropped to a stylish bob, she was wearing a pale blue dress covered up by a lemon coloured apron. The man wore a pair of denim overalls and black spectacles.

"You must be Conner," the woman said with a smile so bright that it could rival the sun. She closed the distance between them with a speed that could rival the Flash and embraced him tighter than he ever remembered. Instinctively he stiffened at the touch as he stared at bespectacled man in confusion, while the other simply chuckled.

"These are my parents. They really wanted to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," he practically croaked.

"It's Ma and Pa when you're in this house, young man," she corrected, taking his hand and patting it. "Now come inside for a proper meal. A growing boy needs to eat."

And he had to admit, feeling the phantom hug wrapped around him. No matter the cause. These strange premonitions weren't so bad.

On the third day, The Team had finally gotten approval to visit him. He could hear from the other side of the door, Black Canary speaking in whispers to them to take it easy with him. That he was delicate at the moment; Conner ruffled at that comment but simultaneously appreciated the gesture.

After several minutes of hushed whispers that he could obviously hear, it was Robin who helpfully reminded the group of his super-hearing. And moments later, the door to his hospital room opened with Wally leading the charge carrying a cartoonish large bouquet. Robin and Artemis came with more reasonable welcome gifts of teddy bears and balloons telling him to, 'Get well, soon'. M'gann empty handed shuffled in meekly behind them, closing the door behind her Kaldur was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Supey," Wally said with a wave. Taking the flowers to a nearby empty vase, he clumsily tried to fit his large bouquet in the small container.

"We missed you," Robin continued wrapping the colourful helium balloons around the bars of his hospital bed. "Kaldur got called away by Aquaman. But he said he'll visit as soon as he can."

Artemis placed the teddy to the right of him. Conner instinctively grabbed her wrist. Over the past week he had seen his teammate die twice in front of him. As he felt the warmth of her hand, he gave himself confirmation. She was here. She was real. She was alive.

Artemis turned pink from the contact and Conner realized what he was doing. Letting her go, he turned his attention to his girlfriend.

Now that he could get a better look at her, he could see that wasn't in good shape. Her normally neat hair was sloppy, her clothing wrinkled. A feat all in itself considering it was biological. And her brown eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"This is my fault," M'gann said, wrapping her arms around herself in comfort.

Before he could disagree, the room around him fell away to another peak into that illusionary world.

He should have known something was wrong when M'gann offered a peace offering, a quiet night without their usual drama. Their fights had been getting worse and worse over the past few weeks. Always about the same subject: the abuse of her powers.

He had spent his entire life feeling the distinct touch of psychics on his brain. Whether it was his genomorph siblings, Psimon, Lex and even more examples than he could care to count over the past five years. By now it had become a second nature to him.

As they made love on his bed, he felt the memories of his previous fights with the woman become clearer.

M'gann was talented.

M'gann was powerful.

But she wasn't subtle.

Her touch focusing on these memories in particular was obvious.

"Get out," he said lowly ripping the covers off of her in one quick movement.

"I-I wanted us to stop fighting," she stammered as she slipped out of the bed. "I didn't…I love you."

"Out," he growled in disgust. He was shaking in rage at the childish excuse to violate his mind. "We're through."

"Conner!" Wally said panicked, shaking him out of the reverie. And Conner returned to the present. The spot M'gann was once standing was now empty, the door wide open. "M'gann ran off!"

Artemis frowned. "I'll go after her."

Conner knew he should worry.

But.

He just couldn't seem to care.

It took hours before the grip of disgust and rage that the pseudo-memory had brought towards his girlfriend had finally let go of his mind. He didn't know why he thought of Lex, a man he never met before during it. The team long gone after they had spent the required time regaling him of what he missed. It was clear to the kryptonian that their smiles were force in an effort to not worry him. He remembered the simulation. It was obvious they were still reeling too.

He called her nearly a dozen times before the Martian picked up. The girl apologizing relentlessly, Conner comforting the best he can while he apologized in kind. Certain more than ever that the strange premonition he had seen was ridiculous.

M'gann was the sweetest girl in the world.

She would never…

The next morning he woke up, a superman inspired teddy bear had joined the toy that Artemis had left him also wishing him good health. There was no card or anything to reveal the buyer.

He brushed it off. It was probably one of the doctors or nurses trying to be cute.

The doctors for the most part had given him a clean bill of health. Though Conner admitted they seemed upset that their time with a Kryptonian would end soon.

Conner had just finished up his lunch, when his team leader had finally made an appearance. Knocking on the door gently, Kaldur'ahm greeted him before taking Black Canary's traditional seat next to his bed, the super-heroine having gone to her house to refresh herself.

"Welcome back," Kaldur'ahm said, his voice as cold as the icy waters behind him to the surprised Artemis. Before she could recognize the danger, he stabbed her in one fluid movement with his water-bearers as she collapsed in front of him. Without taking a second glance at his former friend, he walked back to his father.

He and M'gann rushed to her side as she bled out onto the sand. Nightwing, there already desperately tried to perform CPR on her body.

But he knew it was futile. Just like Tula before her.

He couldn't hear her heartbeat.

His body reacted before his mind could catch up. Jumping out of his bed and lifting the Atlantean off the ground by his throat before either of them knew what going on. Kaldur'ahm widened his eyes in alarm.

"Superboy," he said calmly, as though he wasn't being choked by a kryptonian. "What are you doing?"

His voice brought Conner back down to earth.

"Sorry, I'm not—" he struggled to make up an excuse as he let the Atlantean down. "Sorry."

Far from angry, Kaldur'ahm placed his arm on Conner's shoulder. And it took all of Conner's strength not to slap it away. The anger and hatred of the memory practically consumed him. He killed Artemis! He betrayed the team! HE BETRAYED YOU!

Conner did his best to drown the new feelings with logic. Artemis was alive, not dead on a beach. Kaldur'ahm was right here in front of him. He never even met Tula. He didn't betray anyone.

First M'gann. Now Kaldur. The originally sweet visions had gone sour.

Was it a trick from Cadmus? From a super-villain who thought it funny to turn him against his friends using these visions from the future to mistrust them?

Conner shook his head in an effort to smother those feelings. He loved his team.

"K-Kaldur," he croaked. He had to tell someone quickly. Before it further infected him. Before it twisted his feelings further.

And in response, his head exploded.

"Superboy!" He heard Kaldur'ahm yell as the world around him flipped on its head before turning dark. "DOCTOR!"

Sphere had transformed into a flying bike in an effort to cheer him up.

Five teenagers in a similar vehicle blocked his way.

Their leader a black boy decked in green wearing a strange helmet demanded. "Return the New Genisphere and the rest of the technology you have stolen from New Genesis, human."

Conner knew that the sentence was mostly English. But he couldn't understand it, "Who are you?! What do you—"

The large red haired boy of the group sighed in frustration. He pointed at Sphere and spoke in a slow and deliberate tone that one uses with a small child. "Let's keep this simple. That belongs to us. Give it back."

He marched his way to Lex, currently smirking as he leaned against his stark white limousine.

"There was a tracker in that box you gave me," he stated as evenly as possible. It was taking all his energy to not rip his head off.

"A good businessman has to keep track of his assets. " Lex said casually, as though he didn't just use him to betray Dubbilex's location. As though he didn't use Match against him.

Unfazed, the billionaire continued his tirade. "But none of that is what really bothers you. Half your DNA is human. Haven't you wondered who the donor was? Or have you just been afraid to acknowledge the obvious. Face it, son. You have much more in common with me than Superman."

Batman pulled up the screen to show a red haired archer.

"The mole was Red Arrow."

Superman stood in front of him. Superman was talking to him.

"The Team did good work here. YOU did good work." He said with a smile.

"Uh thanks." Conner inwardly cursed. He had been waiting for this moment for months and that's all he could say to him?

"So I heard you took a name."

"Uh, yeah. Conner Kent."

"My secret identity is 'Clark Kent'." Superman said.

Did he think he already knew that? That he was forcing himself on him by taking his name? "-I didn't know! I wasn't tryin' to –"

Superman placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "No, thing is I'm glad, Conner Kent. It seems right."

M'gann fell asleep in his lap, the episodes of, 'Hello Megan' playing in the background. Brushing her red hair aside, he kissed her on the cheek.

How did he ever get so lucky to find her?

He should have been paying more attention; Silver Banshee had gotten the drop on them, collapsing the three-story structure on himself and Robin.

It was taking all of his energy to hold the structure up to not crush them. He'd survive. But Robin wouldn't.

Speaking of the boy wonder, he was not in good shape. He had hit his head and a bit of pipe had impaled his thigh. It was a nasty wound and would probably take him out of commission for a few weeks out if they got out of this.

When. He corrected himself. When they got out of this.

"D-Dick," Robin wheezed.

"What?"

"If we don't get out of here…My name is Dick."

M'gann wrapped her green arms around him. The zero-g of the watch tower, the closest he'll ever get to flying.

"I love you, Conner Kent," she said leaning into him.

"I love you too."

Tula beamed widely at him. Their first mission together, a success.

"You're not such a bad guy, Conner Kent," she said, punching his arm lightly. The early nervousness of Aquagirl had utterly disappeared. "Once you get past that whole grumpy, loner thing. If M'gann didn't snatch you up. I'd be up for it."

"What about Garth?" he asked in mock seriousness.

"Him? He's dead coral," she said waving him off, before bursting into giggles.

He and M'gann were about to prepare the transfer of Dr. Polaris to Belle Reve when M'gann stood in front of the purple clad super-villain.

"Tell me what you know," she demanded, her warm brown eyes had become a harsh green.

Dr. Polaris' face went slack and he slumped to the ground.

"M'gann!" he yelled horrified at the scene in front of him. He leaned down, shaking the man futilely but received no response. "What did you do?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Just doing what needs to be done. I know where The Light's next meeting is. Let's go tell Nightwing."

Garth lovingly caressed Tula's body after he pulled her from under the rocks. The rest of the team surrounded the duo.

If Conner didn't know better, he would almost guess she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful. But her chest didn't rise, her heart didn't beat.

Aquagirl was dead.

Wally and Artemis had called a meeting of the original team. They were not called often, mostly to speak of things that they felt was inappropriate for the younger children's ears. A safe space between friends.

It had been the first one since Aqualad had disappeared into the night after Tula's death.

"We've been thinking," Wally said. "And with college and Tula and everything that's been happening lately…"

"We're retiring from the team," Artemis finished. "We're going to try being normal students."

M'gann slammed a plate against the ground. The cookies she had prepared surrounded by glass.

"You were the one who told Nightwing not to put me on the mission?" M'gann asked. "You don't trust me?"

"You want me to be honest?" he said. "I don't."

He watched the scene of Aqualad walking side by side with father Black Manta again and again, hoping against hope that it was an illusion. That it was Clayface or some other shapeshifter. A nasty trick devised by Lex to hurt him.

He would even take brainwashing.

Kaldur couldn't have betrayed them.

Blue Beetle, the newest and oddest member of the group of freshman had translated the alien's speech.

"Where is the stillness of wood? Of stone? Of crystal? Of metal? All this noise. All this life. Is pain. We sense the power in this place. Power enough to destroy us. To end the pain. To be still. Again."

How many times had he thought the same thing after he left his pod? How many times had felt like that lately? Since M'gann…

"I can relate," he said before instantly cursing his casual slip of the tongue as Blue Beetle sent him a strange look. "I mean—we can help you."

M'gann was sitting in the bio-ship frowning at him as he did his best to focus on the instruments in front of him. Her expression was cold and impatient. "So, now we're never talking again?"

"Gee, you read my mind," he said back at her venomously.

"I don't have to read your mind to know how you feel, Conner. But the breakup was your idea."

"Don't pretend you don't know why."

The mountain had been invaded, Kaldur leading the charge. Before he could get his bearings and find his charges. Tommy Terror had slapped a collar around his neck.

"Collar's done shut off your strength." Tommy said with a smirk. He punched him futilely anyway in an effort to hurt the other metahuman.

"And that's not all it can do." Icicle Jr. bragged electrocuting him with a press of a button.

"Don't know about you, Junior. But I'm harbouring some old resentments against this boy."

"I'll get you out of here, Supey," Nightwing declared as he dropped unceremoniously into the backseat of the Sphere alongside Wolf. Conner wanted to respond. To ask about the kids. To say anything. But the collar had done a number on his body and it was all he could do to remain semi-conscious.

They had only just started to leave the mountain when a large explosion rocked the building. He felt a large piece of rock hit him at the side and launch him into the air.

His body touched the water.

And that's all he knew.

Conner awoke with gasp.

His hospital room was dark and neither Kaldur nor Black Canary was anywhere to be seen. A nearby clock flashing that it was a little past five in the morning. His previous headache had seemed like a love tap compared to the pain he currently felt.

The mix and match pieces of visions he had experienced over the past few days finally fit together into a completed puzzle. There was order. Connections. A framework that he could understand.

Conner sat dazed as he tried to take in all the information that had suddenly dropped into his head. His mind running a mile a minute as it tried to prioritize the most important.

The elderly couple he had seen earlier were Ma and Pa Kent. They were Superman's parents. He had Superman's last name.

Lex Luthor was his father!?

Roy was a mole!

Kaldur'ahm betrayed the team!

M'gann betrayed him.

Conner wanted to say that it was a trick. That it was all fake. But he had felt the simulation. He had felt Psimon's touch, of the Genomorphs teaching him about the world. Even the most realistic mental tampering could compare with the realism of what he just experienced. Each felt as real as if he had lived it himself. He could feel the raw emotion associated with each and every scene. And there was five years' worth resting in his head.

Amongst all of them, the last memory bothered him the most. What had happened in that last one? What happened to Nightwing? To Jaime, Bart and Garfield? From what he could gather, the explosion was most likely Kaldur'ahm's bomb that he had threatened them with.

The last thing he remembered he had touched the waters surrounding the mountain. Did he drown? Did he die?

Is that why, he could remember this?

Conner, once more tried to force his body to move. But he felt like he was exposed to kryptonite. Sighing deeply, as his body demanded rest. Conner made a promise to himself.

When morning came, he would figure this all out.

End Chapter