Finding Family chapter one: SuperBats gets more kids

Recognized: Superman 01, Batman 02

The heroes entered Mount Justice and saw Superboy sparring with Black Canary. Robin stood off to the side giving pointers every now and then when it seemed Canary was getting bored. Superman and Batman stood near the entrance of the Cave and observed the fight.

"You haven't asked him yet." Batman said to his companion.

"No, but I will today. After he's done training with Dinah I was planning to show him some more powerful moves. Then I'll talk with him." Superman responded.

Conner looked away from his opponent briefly, surprised by what he overhead. That slip gave Canary enough time to send him flying. Robin didn't even try to hide his laughter as he went over to Conner. He muttered, "don't lose focus" which caused Conner to try and punch Robin, but he blocked without a second thought.

Dinah walked over to Superman and Batman, the two founding members of her team, as the boys began their play fight. Together they watched Robin play, while, as usual, Conner was taking the fight too seriously.

"Report back to me with the answer." Batman said as he walked off to collect Robin.

"Yes, I'll 'report' on that." Superman says with a smirk. He turned to Dinah. "Why does he have to say 'report' instead of just asking me to let him know how it goes?"

They watched Superboy obstinately trying to ignore everyone while Batman spoke to Robin.

"How should I know?" she replied. "He's yours, isn't he?"

Superman's eyes went to Batman as he and Robin approach the Zeta tube.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's mine." Superman rubbed the back of his neck. "How did that happen?"

"I'll report back to you on that tonight." Batman replied with a smirk.

Robin covers his ears with a grimace. "Ew! You guys, come on."

"Sorry, chum." Batman ruffled the Boy Wonder's hair as they left the Cave for home in Gotham City.

Recognized: Batman 02, Robin B01

Superman smiled after his husband and their adoptive son fondly. He turned and looked back at Conner who was still in the training area stretching, preparing for another fight.

"Black Canary," Superman said, a little louder than he needed to, so he could get Superboy's attention again. "I'll take over Superboy's training from here."

Superboy turned around to face Superman. Black Canary smirked at the Supers in front of her. "Sure, go ahead. Show him how to fight strong." She winked at Conner before exiting the Cave herself.

Recognized: Black Canary 13

Clark smiled over at Conner. "Are you ready to fight?"

"I was born ready." Conner replied confidently, getting into the fighting stance Canary had taught him. Suddenly Conner straightened, "NO! No, I-I didn't mean-I meant I'm read to fight, not that I'm ready to fight you, but I am ready to fight you," Conner started pacing, "because I was made to fight you, so I mean, I guess saying 'born ready' really is accurate, but I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"Conner!" Clark interrupted. "How about we skip the fighting and go straight to the talking. There's actually something really important I wanted to talk to you about."

Conner nodded sheepishly and walked over to Superman. Clark put his arm around his clone and guided him to the Zeta tubes.

Recognized: Superman 01, Superboy B04

They came out in beautiful Metropolis, where the sun shone brightly and the birds always sang. Conner could see why the "Boy Scout" was always so happy-go-lucky. Superman disappeared briefly before returning as reporter Clark Kent. Superboy frowned at the change, to Clark's amusement.

"Do you want some ice cream?" Clark smiled at Conner again and started walking forward, turning out of the ally, and strolled down the busy street. Conner ran a little to catch up.

"Wait! Sup-er— Mr. Kent, I don't really like ice cream." Conner stammered, trying not to look at Clark.

"Please, call me Clark. And who doesn't like ice cream!" said Clark.

"Watching Wally eat it doesn't make it seem all that good." Conner cringed at the memory.

"Oh, believe me, I've seen that kid eat my weight in ice cream but that doesn't mean it's not a vital part of childhood, and seeing as how you didn't really get to be a kid, the least I can do is buy you some ice cream. Come on." Clark swung his arm around Conner's shoulder again as they walked into Clark's favorite ice cream parlor in all of Metropolis.

After ordering, paying, and sitting, Conner looked up at his role model. "Thank you for ice cream, Clark, but you really didn't have to."

Clark waved his hand dismissively. The two of them sat there for a minute, eating their respective ice creams and trying not to look each other in the eye. Finally, Clark looked up.

"Conner, I have something to ask you." Conner straightened up and put on his serious face, which was his normal face. Clark smiled at him. "I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me and my family?"

"What?" Conner blinked, really and honestly not expecting that. Ever since New Years, Superman had really been trying to reach out to Superboy, training him weekly, talking to him about his powers, even reassuring Conner that all of Superman's powers didn't come to him until he was an adult. But Clark didn't seem willing to talk to him about his personal life.

"My husband wants to meet you, and my son is really excited to have a brother." Clark chuckled to himself. "To be honest, they're both a bit confused as to how and why I have a kid with Luthor, but I think Bruce is over it. He's already wants you to move in and start going to school with our son."

"Wait, husband?" Conner asked, blinking in disbelief.

"Yes," Clark replied calmly.

"And son?"

"Yes." Clark smiled at him. "Is that okay? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"N-no." Conner looked away stubbornly. "Why would I be uncomfortable?"

"It's alright if you are. Plenty of people are. I know my parents were confused at first, but they're from a different generation."

"Wait, parents?! You have parents too?!"

"Yes…" Now Clark was the confused one. "Does that surprise you?"

Before Conner could respond, a women with black hair and a Daily Planet badge sat down next to him. "Hey Smallville, do you have a son we don't know about?"

Clark glared at Lois Lane, annoyed by her timing. "Lois, this is Conner Kent. Conner this is Lois Lane. She works with me at the Daily Planet, when she's not busy chasing Superman all over town."

"Hey, a buff man in tights! I can't believe you're not running after him, too." Lois gibed back. Meanwhile, Conner was looking between the two of them, trying to figure out if he was supposed to find this funny or be worried about Superman's secret identity.

"I am married, Ms. Lane."

"I have met your husband, Mrs. Wayne. And believe me, he's just as much a cape chaser as I am."

"What?" said Conner.

"You don't know Bruce like I do, Lois." Clark went on, ignoring Conner. "He couldn't care less about all that."

"Oh, believe me, Smallville, I know Brucie." Lois gave him a suggestive smile and fluttered her lashes. Clark glared at her while Lois smiled back, unfazed.

"What?" Conner repeated. Lois looked away from Clark and focused on Conner.

"So are you his son? You look so much like him and you have his last name." She looked down at the half melted bowl in his hands. "Huh, you even got the same ice cream. That's cute."

"Okay," Clark interrupted, "Thank you for stopping by, Lois. You can leave now. Bye." Clark stood to pull Lois from her seat next to Conner and ushered her out the door of the ice cream parlor. "Sorry about that." Clark took his seat again. "She comes on strong."

Conner looked Clark hard in the eye. "You have parents, a son, and a husband, but your husband isn't as committed as you are, and it would be plausible for me to be your son." Conner sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge or his nose. "Now I'm confused; really confused."

Clark sighed, too. "I can understand that. All right, first of all, yes, I have parents. I came to earth in a spaceship and I landed on their farm in Smallville, Kansas and they raised me. That's why Lois was calling me 'Smallville', because, apparently, I'm a Kansas farm boy through and through." Clark smiled over at Conner again. "That's also why everyone in the League calls Superman a Boy Scout, I guess.

"And my husband, he is committed to our relationship, it's just—" another sigh, "He hasn't always been the faithful type. Bruce and Lois used to date. Actually, Bruce used to 'date' a lot of people.

"And, yes, I guess it could be plausible that you're my son. There was a girl I used to date in high school. But that was a long time ago and I was a completely different person, a really confused person. There was a lot going on in my life that I wasn't mature enough to deal with.

"And you wanted to know about my son, too?" Conner nods. "Well, his name is Dick, he's about your age, 14. Oh!" Clark snapped his fingers, surprising Conner. "Do you remember the school the Team chased Amazo into a few months ago?" Conner nodded. "Dick goes there. He said that his locker had a fist shaped dent in it. You didn't happen to punch a locker with a picture of Superman in it, did you?" Clark looked at his clone.

Conner blushed slightly and looked down at his melted ice cream. "It had hearts on it." He murmured and shrugged.

Clark laughed at that, and Conner smiled. The rest of their time went smoothly. They walked the streets of Metropolis, with Clark pointing out buildings and landmarks while Conner pretended to care. Eventually, they came back to the Zeta tube.

"So tomorrow night I'll come and get you at the Cave and we can Zeta to Gotham." Clark told Conner.

"Yeah, alright." Conner smiled up at Clark happily, finally feeling like he had gotten to know Superman and could look up to him as a mentor. But even with their new bond, he couldn't bring himself to ask why they were going to Gotham and not Superman's home in Metropolis.

They both tilted their heads to the side, suddenly hearing someone in distress. "I have to go. You understand. I'll see you tomorrow." Superman changed into uniform at super speed and flew off before Superboy had a chance to ask if he could help. Apparently they weren't that close yet.

Conner entered the Zeta tube and arrived at Mount Justice seconds later.

Recognized: Superboy B04

M'gann was there to greet him. Conner smiled at his girlfriend as she floated toward him. "Welcome home, Conner!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Conner smiled as he kissed her back and put his arms around her in turn. When M'gann said 'welcome home' it really felt like he was coming home. "How was your day with Superman? Did you have fun?" She asked after pulling away from the kiss.

"Yeah," Conner said rubbing the back of his neck. His girlfriend took his other hand as they walked to the living room. "He told me that you know his secret identity."

M'gann blushed. "Yes, I do. It really wasn't hard to figure out. You two look so much alike." M'gann smiled over at Conner and he smiled back. "You wouldn't know, but you really do look like him."

Conner shrugged the comment off, not really wanting to acknowledge that fact, yet. So he changed the subject. "Superman invited me to dinner with his family tomorrow night."

"REALLY?!" M'gann squealed, "Oh, that is so wonderful!"

"What's wonderful?" Kidflash asked from the kitchen. As they entered the living room they saw Wally, Robin, and Kaldur sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Why are you here?" Conner asked, rather rudely.

Robin snickered. "Why does KF do anything; food."

"Babe?! How could you?!" Wally put his hand over his heart in mock shock.

"What is wonderful, M'gann?" Aqualad interrupted. He didn't want another one of Wally's fake 'how could you?' speeches. They dragged on too long and even Robin was tired of them.

"Superboy is going to have dinner with Superman's family tomorrow!" M'gann clapped her hands in excitement. She was so happy that Conner's relationship with Superman was progressing.

"That's great!" Robin seemed just as happy as M'gann as he got out of his seat next to Wally and walked over to Conner to smile up at him. "I'm so glad you and Superman are getting along."

"Yeah, wait to go Supey." Wally called over from the counter. Apparently he wasn't excited enough to leave his food. Robin frowned over at him disapprovingly.

"Yes, congratulations, friend." Kaldur said coming over to pat Conner on the shoulder. "How have things been going with Superman? You have been spending a lot of time with him."

"Yeah, it's fine, whatever, can everyone please lay off." Conner shrugged his leader off and walked away from his team. He was feeling overwhelmed by the attention and retired to his room. Conner had a long day.

"Maybe we came on a little strong?" Robin suggested.

"Yeah, you guys are so invasive." Wally said, still looking at his food. Robin frowned at him again.

"I'm beginning to regret my choice in a boyfriend." Robin said to Kaldur.

Kaldur smirked back. "I am surprised it took you this long, Robin."

Wally's mouth fell open. "How could you guys?!"

"Here we go again." Kaldur muttered before he left.

"Oh, look… you scared Kaldur away." Robin waved his arms at Aqualad's retreating form.

"Um, Robin?" M'gann said quietly.

"I scared him?" Wally replied, finally leaving his food and hopping off of his stool. "You're the one who told him you don't want me anymore."

"Wally?" M'gann tried again.

"Yes, and he agreed with me. He left when you started into another one of your 'how could you?' rants. You know he hates those."

"Robin." M'gann said, with force this time.

"Yes, sorry Miss M. What's up?" Robin turned away from his boyfriend and toward M'gann.

"What?!" Wally waved his arms over his head. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Conner wants you guys to stop fighting." M'gann told the Boy Wonder.

"Seriously," Wally said, "He can hear us? Why does he even care? Wait, have you and him been telepathically chatting since he left?"

The Martian turned to face Kidflash. "Yes, he is trying to take a nap, and yes." She told him calmly. She turned back to address Robin. "Can you stop fighting now?"

Wally looked affronted. "Why are you asking him?" Robin nodded at M'gann. "I can stop fighting just as easily as he can!" Robin walked up to Wally mid-rant, put a hand on the back of his boyfriend's neck and kissed him. When he pulled away, Wally's eyes looked glossy. "I'm sorry, what was I saying?"

"You were just telling Megs here how you were gonna come over to my house, remember?" Robin smiled over at M'gann, who was trying her best not to giggle out loud.

Robin took Wally's hand and led him to the Zeta tubes.

Recognized: Robin B01, Kidflash B03

At stately Wayne Manor in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Dick Grayson, and, oddly enough, Wally West sat down at the dinner table to dig into another one of Alfred Pennyworth's heavenly meals. Alfred took a seat after making sure everyone was served.

"I hear from Master Richard that I will be feeding Master Conner tomorrow."

"Oh really?" Bruce said looking over at Clark, "I don't recall hearing that."

Clark shrugged. "I just got here, I didn't have time to tell you."

Bruce turned to Dick. "And your excuse?"

"Wally and I have been here for an hour. You weren't here and Alfred needed to know how many mouths he's feeding." Dick replied, cutting up his food. Bruce looked over at Wally who, unlike Dick, wasn't taught table manors by a British butler and was almost literally digging into his food.

"Yes, I see your point." Bruce raised his eyebrow. Pointing accusingly at Wally, Bruce asked, "Why is he here?"

"Conner didn't want him at Mount Justice anymore." Dick replied nonchalantly.

"So you brought him here?" Clark said frowning.

Wally leaned over to whisper to Dick, "I'm beginning to sense I'm not welcome." Dick giggled to himself as Bruce's usual frown became deeper.

"Wally, go home." Bruce growled at his son's boyfriend. Wally began to get up but Alfred put a hand on his shoulder.

"Master Wallace, sit down. Master Bruce stop being rude to your guest and eat your dinner or you won't have any desert." And Alfred went back to eating, as did the rest of the family.

"So Conner's coming to dinner, how are we going to play this?" Dick asked.

"We will be a normal family." Bruce stated seriously, ignoring the snort Wally tried to conceal. "We won't be the people we show the media, we'll just be who we are." Clark smiled at Bruce and took his hand.

"So you'll be coming to dinner in full cape and cowl?" Wally gibed, earning him a glare from the Bat.

"Dude," Dick whined turning to his boyfriend, "he didn't like you before we started dating, why do you insist on making it worse?" Clark felt Bruce grip his hand tighter.

"Wally," Clark said, "maybe you really should go. This is more of a family meeting." Clark looked at Alfred for his permission. He didn't want to lose his desert, too. A nod from the butler confirmed the decision. Alfred folded his napkin and stood to escort Master Wallace to the door, like any good butler would.

Wally finished his food with a whoosh and stood up to leave. Dick asked to be excused as well. After a curt nod from Bruce, Dick took Wally's arm and they walked out of the dinning room. Bruce sighed heavily, when they left the room. After the young couple and their escort reached the door, Dick asked Alfred to give them a minute alone.

"Certainly, Master Richard. I believe my desert is ready in the kitchen." Alfred excused himself with a small bow and left.

"Man, I wanted to stay for desert!" Wally whined to Dick.

"Well then maybe you'd want to be nicer to my dads in the future." Dick pouted and crossed his arms. "What is up with you? You've been upset all week."

Wally looked over at Dick with an angry expression on his face. "Of course I'm upset. All you've been talking about for the past week is Conner." Dick started laughing at his boyfriend uncontrollably. Wally blushed dark red from embarrassment and anger. "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Dick stopped laughing and took Wally's hands into his own, lacing their fingers together. "Babe, Conner's going to be my brother, not my boyfriend. I've been talking about him a lot because my family is growing and I'm excited! It's like we're having another baby or something! It's funny that you'd be jealous of him. "

"I am so not jealous!" Wally cried out.

"Are too." Dick taunted with one of those smirks Wally loved.

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Fine! Maybe I was a little jealous." Wally looked away.

"Aw, don't worry, Babe." Dick went on his toes to kiss Wally. "I'll still love you just as much when we have a new baby."

"Shouldn't your dads be saying that to you?"

"No, my dads aren't allowed to kiss me, that's pedophilia."

"Dude! So not what I meant!"

"Get out of here already!" Dick turned Wally around and shoved him out the door.

Wally laughed and called over his shoulder, "Miss you, Babe!" before he ran off. Dick sighed as he closed the door, oddly happy at how easily he could make Wally jealous.

Meanwhile, back in the dinning room, one of Dick's adoptive fathers was not fairing too well.

"Why is he always here now?" Bruce growled out. "There is nothing wrong with the West house so why does he need to be here?"

Clark squeezed his husband's hand and supported his own head with the other one. "I think you know the answer to that, Mr. Detective." Bruce gave Clark the 'I am not amused' look. "Come on, don't you remember how clingy I was when we first started dating?"

"Yes, but I like you."

"And Dick likes Wally." Clark reasoned.

Bruce sighed in defeat. "I suppose I could be nicer." Clark smiled and kissed Bruce sweetly. Bruce placed a hand on Clark's cheek to pull him deeper into the kiss. Clark shifted to place one hand on the back of Bruce's neck and the other on his thigh.

"Oh come on!" Dick cried, re-entering the room. "I was gone for like, two minutes."

Bruce and Clark chuckled as they pulled away. "So," Clark started, "Wally's been on your nerves lately?" Bruce shifted forward to listen.

"Oh no." Bruce said. "How sad."

"Don't get too excited, B." Dick said, retaking his seat. "He's fine, we made up. Clark, you shouldn't give him false hope, or easedrop." Bruce frowned and leaned back.

"No, that was wrong of me." Clark said smiling at Dick who smiled back.

"You two think you're funny." Bruce grumbled over his empty plate. Thankfully, Alfred entered the room with a warm pie in his hands.

"I have made your favorite, Master Clark." He said, placing the pie onto the table.

Everyone enjoyed Alfred's wonderful desert while chatting happily. Clark told them about his day with Conner and their run-in with Lois. Bruce laughed at Lois' "cape chaser" theory, finding it not completely wrong. Bruce brought them, mostly Dick, up-to-date on his current cases and theories. Dick told his family about Wally, the rest of his team, and all the current Robin theories that were going around school.

When they had finished, the Bat, the Bird, and the Alien headed down to the Batcave to change before patrol, while Alfred cleaned up and wished them a good night. Superman suited up quickly, gave his husband a kiss on the cheek and his son a kiss on the forehead before flying off to Metropolis. Batman and Robin took a bit longer to change, but were in the Batmobile and on Gotham's rooftops in no time.

That nights patrol went by uneventfully, only a few crimes with boring criminals. For once, Batman didn't have a case to write up; therefore everyone was off to bed at a reasonable hour.

"That was boring." Robin stated, trotting up the stairs to his room.

"Good. I hope every night is boring in Gotham." Clark called, following him up the stairs.

"That's the goal." Bruce yawned loudly and turned into his bedroom. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Dick." Clark mimicked. Dick bid this guardians goodnight as he closed the door to his room. Clark smiled to himself as he entered the bedroom after his husband. "What a great kid."

Bruce smiled over at Clark. "Are you just figuring that out?" He walked over to Clark and put his arms around his neck. "Because I thought we had come to this conclusion long ago."

"No, I knew it. I just like to remember." Clark put his arms around Bruce's waist and pressed their foreheads together. "Do you remember when he came to live with us five years ago, and I was so excited to be a father but you were really nervous and tried to block him out?"

Bruce smiled at the memory. "But Dick is a merciless ray of sunshine and wouldn't leave me alone until I loved him like my own." He sighed. "Now he's a teenager and doesn't want me around anymore."

"What?" Clark pulled his head away to look Bruce in the eye. "Bruce, what are you talking about?"

"He's in high school now. He has a boyfriend. He's even set up his own team. He spends more time at Mount Justice than in the Batcave, if he's not there or at school he's with Wally. He doesn't need me anymore." Bruce buried his face into Clark's neck. "I'm not ready for this."

"Oh, Bruce." Clark held him closer and rubbed his back. "Dick is growing up, no matter how hard you try, and I know you've tried by the way. You can't stop it."

"And now we're getting another one." Bruce murmured into his husband's neck. "Only this time I'm ready to be a father and you're the distant one."

"Hey, I'm trying."

"Yes, and I'm proud of you." Bruce kissed his neck before pulling away and looking him in the eye. "Now, I believe I have a rather long report to finish about why you fell for me."

"Oh, yes, I believe you do." Clark brought his hands back to Bruce's waist, "Please, feel free to present it orally."