Summary: Harry never asked to be trapped in a new world filled with heroes. And he certainly never asked to be reborn as a clone of a hero. Slash.

Unbeta'ed

A New Dawn

-Chapter 9-

1

"So, this is going to be a regular occurrence?"

The sound of the distant waves crashes over Harry's words, making them seem muffled and small. Despite this, Harry knows Death can hear him as clear as a dragon roaring through an empty sky. So he continues to aim his focus on the ice cream cone and the sensation of sand between his toes. Happy Harbor's beach is colder in the evening, but it does not match the coolness of his ice cream and the way it makes his sensitive teeth rattle. The sudden craving for something simple but sweet had taken over him. This is the reason he is having it at such an awkward time. Ron would say… Well, Ron would say that there is always time for ice cream. It does not matter when. All that matters is that it's in a time of need. Molly had once scolded him and Ron after she caught them eating ice cream in the darkness of the kitchen. But she did not take it away from them. Instead, she opted to join them in their challenge of who can devour their ice cream first. Molly won but they were all left with a stomach-ache the day after.

"What is?" Death asks in a dull tone, breaking Harry away from his thoughts. "Visiting you?"

"Yeah."

Death hummed in thought. "Why should it not be?"

Harry shrugs.

Death has done her part in his reincarnation. She had brought him to a place where no one knows him and with no 'immediate' danger against him. Immediate being the highlighted word because Harry would say that he is in danger. Of what? He does not know. Although, he knows it must have something to do with Luthor and his experiments. There is no way the man would give up after a small break-in at one of his labs. Not when a test subject as successful as Conner is released from his hold. The man must be biding his time, and Harry has come to accept this. Sometimes he wonders why he couldn't have been reborn into a simple family. One with no issues, but he got what he was given. So he might as well be satisfied with that. However, this does not answer the question of why Death is still here.

"Did you think I would leave you all alone?" Death says between slow chuckles, but another wave crashes down and swallows up her words. "How cute."

Harry flushes but says nothing.

"I'm not, you know, going to leave you in an unfamiliar world. You're my adorable master. Plus, you deserve a better life. A kinder life. One where you can make a name for yourself without a name being made for you." Death pauses for a second as Harry turns to look at her. "I'm not saying this world is easy. There are dark forces about. Ones that may wish to hurt you. But unlike the wizarding world, you will not be at the forefront unless you choose to. The world you left behind has hurt you in so many ways. Let this new world heal that. After all you've done, the wizarding world…"

Death hesitates with her next words.

What? Harry wants to say. The wizarding world what? But his throat is painfully clenched up as if being strangled by thick vines. As if noticing his pained expression, Death raises a hand and places it upon Harry's right cheek, her thumb wiping away invisible, unshed tears. Her unnaturally dark eyes gazing into his.

"The wizarding world does not deserve you."

Harry ducks his head down and his eyes trail off towards his ice cream. Some melted parts of the vanilla ice cream are almost spilling over onto his hand, but he doesn't care. Not right now.

Death soon let's go of his cheek. "I have some news as well."

Harry quickly darts out his tongue to lick the ice cream while he listens.

"He's been looking for me. Batman, I mean."

Harry's eyebrows shoot up before he finally finds his voice. "Looking for you?"

"Yes," she says in a cheeky tone. "I've had to make him follow false leads. How do you think the name Doctor Samantha Hall sounds?"

Harry snorts. "Like a grandmother who recently lost her practising licence."

Death makes a false wounded sound. "That hurts. How could you say about me? After all, I did save you in the lab?"

The edge of Harry's lips points up. "You've done enough."

For me, goes unsaid but Death catches it.

"No," Death says, the mocking voice gone. "I really haven't."

2

The cave is quiet when Harry enters it.

He guesses the others must have retired to their rooms. Before doing the same thing, Harry decides to have a shower because of the mess he has become. Ice cream on the beach sounded lovely in theory, but in practice, it is one of the most frustrating things. He had to walk back to the cave with sand between his clothes and dried ice cream clinging to his hands. The feeling just made him uncomfortable. So Harry strolls over to his room and rids himself of his clothes before stepping into the shower. The water is warm against his skin as all the tension from the past few weeks exits him. He makes sure not to take too long as he is more than ready to sleep. After he is done, he wipes himself down and puts on his pyjamas. But a feeling of thirst overtakes him.

Harry chooses to grab a cool drink from the fridge. He selects the mango carton and pours it into a tall cup from one of the many cupboards. Then, between taking a few sips, a voice calls out to him.

"You must be Harry," a feminine voice says from behind him.

Harry almost drops the cup while wondering how exhausted he must be to not hear a person sneak up behind him. He spins around to face the unknown intruder. Blonde hair is the first thing he takes note of. The woman before him seems attractive with symmetrical facial features and a slender yet toned build. She is wearing a black one-piece leotard with grey stockings and heavy boots. Black fingerless gloves cover her palms and a blue leather jacket shields her shoulders. Harry stares, trying to recall where he has seen her before. She seems familiar. It's then he remembers. She is one of the Justice League members. Something something is her name. But Harry cannot remember for the life of him.

"Umm," is the first sound out of Harry's mouth, causing the woman to smile.

She speaks before Harry can say anything else.

"I'm here to introduce myself as your new combat instructor," she says while her eyes scan over him, making Harry feel as if he is under another examination.

"Oh right," Harry says in a weak voice, fatigue hitting him hard. "Hello."

The woman nods at the greeting. "Hi," she returns with amusement. "I've also been waiting to speak to you. Conner had said you went out."

Speak to me? Harry thinks in surprise. Why did she want to speak to me? But Harry decides on saying, "Yeah, I was at the beach."

"The beach, huh?" She replies. "Why there?"

Harry feels a little taken aback at the sudden question, but he sees no reason not to answer it.

"I find it relaxing."

The woman's smile grows wider. "That's good. There's also something else. I should explain that I'm here on behalf of Batman. He asked me to act as a team councillor, meaning someone you can talk to when things get too tough."

"But what does that have to do with me?" Harry says aloud before he can stop himself.

"I heard about your panic attack. I'm here to help you through it, so when it happens again you know what to do."

Harry blinks. "Okay," is his reply.

The woman nods again. "Glad you understand. Our first session is tomorrow. 10:30 sharp. I'll be seeing you."

Then the woman walks away, leaving Harry with many questions wanting to escape his mouth.

But one thought dominates the questions.

I never got your name.

3

The next morning Harry is sat at the kitchen table with sandwiches M'gann has made for breakfast. His own sandwich filled with chicken and salad. It tastes amazing and Harry makes sure to tell M'gann this. Conner is also sat beside him, eating his own food, but he seems distracted with his eyebrows creased together in thought. Something is bothering him, that is plain to see. Not one to beat around the bush, Harry thinks of asking him what the issue is and why he seems reclusive early this morning. But M'gann asks her question first.

"Conner," she says his name with a slight blush on her face. "Is the food not good?"

Blush? Why is she…?

Conner's gaze snaps up at her, his thought-filled look gone. "Yeah," he says without care.

His absent-minded tone makes a flash of hurt flicker across M'gann's face and her smile drops. Conner takes no notice of this, returning to his thoughts while taking small bites. Harry wants to sigh. Loudly. But he makes no move to. He does not understand what is happening between the two of them to make things awkward this early in the morning, but he hopes it's sorted out soon. Harry does not think he can bear the uncomfortable silence. It can be a little suffocating at times. Harry decides to fill the silence with his own voice.

"What's wrong?" Harry asks in between his own nibbles of food.

"Harry," M'gann says while scowling, "you should chew your food before you speak."

Harry sends a grin her way before returning his attention back to Conner. The older boy is looking down at him with a cautious expression. It seems as if he wants to say something but is too afraid of the reaction. Harry decides to beam at him, his lips curving upwards in a smile of his own. The smile helps Conner visibly relax with his shoulders no longer wound tight.

Conner takes a deep breath. "I'm going to see him," he says.

It takes a few seconds of complete silence to realise what Conner means. If Harry had to choose, the first thing out of his mouth would be that there is no need to see the man. Not after everything he has put them through. That Harry had already told him their thoughts. But he understands. This is something Conner has to do himself before he is able to move on. To be his own person.

"See who?" M'gann questions, oblivious to the meaning behind those words.

"Superman," Harry answers in a solemn tone.

M'gann leans forward, placing her right elbow on the table and face resting in the palm of her hand. "Is that wise?" she begins. "You can always wait for him to come to you."

Anger takes over Conner's face, but he draws another deep breath. "I've been waiting. We've been waiting since we got here, and he says nothing to us. Completely ignores us. That's why I want to speak to him. Just once and then no more."

"I understand," Harry says, fiddling with a piece of chicken which fell onto the table. "Go speak to him, if it helps."

A look of thankfulness washes over Conner as he gazes at Harry. "I'll be going after breakfast. Superman's city is quite far so it will take me a day of travelling before returning here."

"Need me to come?"

Harry knows the answer to this, but he just needs to make sure.

Conner shakes his head. "I can handle it."

"Well, I hope everything goes all right," M'gann says, standing up from her seat and picking up the finish plates. She seems upset with her downtrodden expression, which confuses Harry.

"I hope so too," Conner replies.

I hope so as well.

But it doesn't.

It doesn't go well.

Author's note:

I'm back! But with quite a short chapter. I hope that is okay. Thank you to all those who reviewed the previous chapter! I'm so happy that this fanfic is going well and that people like it.

It's also my birthday today and wanted to surprise you guys with a chapter. So hope you guys enjoy it!

The next chapter will have more Robin in it! So look forward to that!

Please review and give me your thoughts.