Epilogue.-

The night was warm and heavy in Blüdhaven. It figured. Fresh air was not allowed in hell.

Way to go, Tim.

As if depressive metaphores were going to help me.

I sat at the edge of the building, watching the city that lay at my feet. I was suposed to protect them... It was scary, come to think of it.

I heard someone landing behind me.

Superboy.

He needed to learn a little subtlety.

"Hi." I said, not turning.

He sat besides me, his bulkier frame shadowing mine.

"I still have to learn to do that."

"You still had to learn not to move like a mamooth."

Con grunted, but I could tell he was not angry, only terribly anxious.

So we sat there, silent, contemplating the city lights. It was just a few seconds, but it gave us the courage to spoke.

"You wanted to talk." He said, finally.

"I think we have to. If not for our friendship, for my own sanity."

"Ok. You've done it. Now you have scared me. Why can't you talk like normal people?"

"I misstook the thessaurus for a novel when I was a child." I joked. Sometimes joking was as good a shield as kevlar.

"Funny, man. Really funny. Don't play jackass with me, ok? I'm really worried, so, seriously..."

"Seriously?" I swinged my feet, looking for words. "Seriously... It can take some time. My thoughts are mixed with my feelings, with my own subjective and twisted perception of the matter."

Con shivered.

"You sound like a psycologist." He looked at me with a frown and a grimace that was not a smile, not at all. "Don't tell me you are analizing yourself... Just don't tell me."

"I won't. But belive me, theory is easier than practice."

"That's just..." He snorted, flailing his arms, giving up. I thanked him for chewing up the word 'nuts'. "Just... go on, ok?"

"I will. I'll try." I sighed. "I'm aware you must have figured most of it out, but still..."

"It's about your dad's death..."

"Yes. And not. It's about the dead, and it's about the ones still alive. It's about having lost a lot in so short a notice that I..." My voice craked and I stopped, sucking in a deep bearth. "Stephanie died.. And then Dad... And Nightwing just left...And next time I check you are gone too! And I don't want to belive you will come back because you are taking an awful amount of time to make your mind! And I feel alone... No. I AM alone. What I feel is abandoned... rejected..."

"But that's not..."

"I know, ok! Do you think I don't fucking know that's not so!" Suddenly I had raised my voice, my hands in my head, trying to pull thouse thoughts out of my brain, out of my soul. "I know Nightwing has his own problems to deal with! Fuck! I'm well aware Dad didn't die on purpouse!" I crouched, hiding my head down my knees. "But I just can't rationalize this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I just can't! And I'm alone. I'm so alone..."

Silence fell after my outburst.

Hell!

I hated silence.

"Sorry." Came finally from Conner lips in a nearly mute murmur. "I didn't knew. You were acting so confident, so strong..."

I kept my head between my knees, trembling. It was cold all of a sudden.

"Con..."

"Yes?"

"Can you please shut up and hug me before I end up crying and embarrassing the both of us?"

His arms folded around me, giving me a warmth I thought I had lost forever. There, soothed by human contact, I gathered myself.

I had begun opening myself.

I had to finish.

"Aren't you going to ask?" I said, still not moving away from him.

"Ask what?"

"Why? Why I moved to Blüdahaven. If I felt so lonely... why I moved?"

"Er... well... now that you mention..."

"Truth is... I don't know, and that scares the shit out off me."

He let go of me, searching my eyes, but I couldn't look into his.

"You say you are scared of Luthor's genes, that you are afraid of not becoming Superman. Well..." I snorted half a laugh. "I'm afraid of becoming Batman."

"You mean..."

"It's been haunting me, Con, since we were there. My future self..."

"That jerk was not you, now matter how we look at it!" He snapped, angrily. "And cyborg... well, future Cyborg, said that, if we stick toghether it's not going to happen."

"Are we sticking toghether? Really?" I finally looked at him.

"Er... well... I..."

"No, we are not. And perhaps it's for the best."

"What? Why you..."

I stood up, wrapping myself up with my cape, fighting the cold.

"When we were there I asked you... well, him, Superman... what had happened to him, what have turned him into... that."

"Well, obviously, Luthor." He nearly spat the word.

"That was not his answer."

"No? What did he...?"

"'You, did'"

"No, not me. HIM, ok? I'm not going to be him."

I chuckled, even if my heart was on my throat.

"No, you dumb. He said: 'you did'. This meaning... me."

"You?"

"Yes, me. He implied I was the one that turned him... YOU! That turned you into a monster. And I dont' want to do it. I don't want to turn you into a monster... but I don't want to let go of you either. You are my best friend!"

Con frowned, looking up at the starless sky of the city.

"You once said you won't let me became Luthor... Well, if I ever see you stepping a little too far, I promise to break your jaw."

I was looking at my feet.

"Promise me you'll do it even if I step over the line and we'll have a deal."

He passed his arm over my shoulders, brushing my hair.

"Deal. But just don't get all girly and moppy just because I'm so charming it hurts."

"Don't worry. You are not."

But still he held me a little longer and I let him protect me from all harm. It felt good.

"You know I'm still not ready to come to the tower, though." He said, finally.

"Yes, I know." I admited.

"But it does not mean I can't come to Blüdhaven every now and then. You can help me with my boring homework and I can help you... er... do whatever you do here every night."

"Fighting mad men that want the price the Penguin has put over my head?"

"Er..."

I smiled.

"Don't worry, Con. It sounds just great if it's just your homework."

"No, wait. I have a better idea! Once a week Timmy Drake and his best pal from Kansas, Conner Kent, can go to the movies. Or perhaps to the arcade... or to all those cool things I cannot do in Cowvile."

"It sounds even greater."

"Of course, it's my idea." He beamed, his eyes bright with inspiration. "Oh, oh, oh!" He waved his arms. "And even better! There's a Spring Break in just a few weeks. We can go to the beach! We can tell Bart, too! And Cassie!" He paused. "Although you want it to be a boys only thing... which will be allright to me..."

"We can tell Cassie too."

He grinned, blushing.

"And we can also tell Anita, Cissie and Greta." I added, carried away.

"Oh, yes, she will love to see you."

Now I was the one blushing, trying to kill him with a stare.

"Don't be absurd."

"You know she was head over heels for you."

"She was not! And even if she was..."

"Ok. Ok. I won't touch the subject, promised. So... Can I plan it? A spring break for old Young Justice?"

"All yours. But you better plan it smoothly. Last time I went to the beach with a friend I ended up in the Himalaya, fighting yeties."

He looked at me, deciding if I was fooling him or not.

I grinned. I wansn't.

"I cannot promise you yeties, but I think bigfoot's fare is not very high." He said, grinning too.

And that washed the loneliness away.

I didn't know how long it will last, but damn me if I cared at that very moment.

We were still scared of the future, of course, but.. in fact... are not all teenagers scared of it?