Pairings: Gen for now

Genre: Drama, Family

Summary: AU! Gen. YJ Anon Prompt. Superman loved and accepted Superboy the moment he saw him. Too bad the Justice League was not as understanding. Father!Superman, Brother!Billy

Inspired by a prompt from the YJ anon meme with the premise of Superman accepts Superboy and the league does not.

You Are Not Alone

Clark was sixteen when his parents revealed the spaceship they hid in the cellar and learned of his alien heritage and the fact that he was now the last of his species.

"Jor-El might not have known everything," Pa consoled him as they left the cellar. "Maybe other parents got their children off world in time as well. You can't give up, son"

Clark deeply hoped he was right.

He was twenty-two when he makes his public debut in Metropolis and uses his powers publically as Superman. It is the most frightening, exciting time of his life. Between the sudden onslaught of metahumans determined to fight him, the letters of how people are glad to see he is protecting them, and those wondering if he's here to start an invasion.

"Did you hear?" Lois asked him one morning. "Superman, seems to be have gotten some competition?"

"Oh?" He asked raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

Lois slides him a picture of a dark haired woman, flying through the air in a brightly colored armored swimsuit. "This was taken in Washington. She's calling herself Wonder Woman. Do you think they're re-"

But he is already gone.

Lucky for him, Wonder Woman is surprisingly easy to find. He found her after her sound defeat of a woman who looked to be more cat than human in downtown Washington.

"Superman," She greeted with a smile, glowing from battle "I heard about you. You've been doing good work."

"Can we talk?" He asked.

"Of course," She said.

Wonder Woman soon turns out to be one of the nicest women Clark has ever met. And not a day goes by that Clark isn't grateful that he has met her.

But she was not Kryptonian.

His friendship with Wonder Woman only grows, and he meets others heroes along the way, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern and so many others fighting the big fight with him. And by the time he's thirty, they even form an organization, a Justice League to protect others. He doesn`t feel so alone anymore. Even when Hamilton tells him that he cannot have a child with a human female.

"There's a guy calling himself Captain Marvel that's appeared in Fawcett City recently," Flash said during one of their meetings. He puts up a picture of a flying dark haired man with a lightning bolt emblazoned on his chest. "Nice guy from what I heard. Maybe he should be up for league membership."

"He is a nice guy," Hal confirmed. "I met him. Seems like a bigger boy scout than old Supey here. He seems like he'd be a fine addition."

"We're not a clubhouse," Batman growled lowly. "He shouldn't join our organization for a reason as simple as you liking the guy, Hal."

"Now wait a minute." Hal said, raising his finger towards the dark knight, preparing to start one of their very common arguments.

"What are his powers?" Black Canary asked interrupting the fight that was about the take place.

"So far all we've seen is Super Strength and Flight, like Diana and Clark." Flash said. "Heck, he even looks like Clark."

And with that, a spark of hope that Clark long thought was gone is instantly re-lit.

"Maybe I should check him out?" Clark asked turning his attention to Bruce. "That way we can see if he's a good fit."

"Do whatever you want," Bruce said.

And so Clark did.

Captain Marvel turns out to be another false lead and Clark's heart breaks in a way he couldn't even believe was still possible.

The cheerful Captain was a good person and obviously league material.

But he was not Kryptonian.

"I got my powers magically one day," he told him omitting the exact circumstances that occurred. "And now that I got them. I really just want to help people. Like you," he added his cheeks turning a dark scarlet. "You're like my role model you know."

"I'm sure you'll do great." Clark told him with conviction.

By the time the new hero named Icon appears, in a space-ship just like him, with powers, just like his Clark has learned not to get his hopes up.

But that does not stop him from keeping up with exploits anyway.

After a long fight with Wotan who tried to blot out the sun, Clark is prepared to collapse when he finally gets back to his apartment. Just as he's about to change out of his costume, he hears the call.

With a sigh, he turns on his communicator to hear the familiar voice of a certain dark knight on the other side.

"Get to the hall," Bruce ordered. Before he could even ask why, the dark knight had already hung up.

With a sigh, he turns right around and flies back towards the Hall of Justice.

Bruce isn't there to greet him. Instead a concerned Wonder Woman is standing outside the entrance, her arms crossed.

That couldn't be a good sign.

"What's going on?"

"It's better if you just see for yourself," Diana said, gesturing for him to go inside. Along the way, she apologizes for Bruce's absence and tells him he had to leave due to a dangerous stunt that the sidekicks had apparently pulled in Gotham.

She drags him into one of their rarely used interrogation rooms hidden in the back of the hall, and Superman is growing more and more concerned by the moment. She guides him to behind one to their one sided mirrors to peer inside.

"He scared the life out of Catherine and the security team by the way." Diana said as he walked inside. "They were locking up when they saw him."

Superman peered inside to see what had caused so much commotion and gasped.

Inside was a boy.

A teenage boy, a little past sixteen was dressed in overly large clothing was pacing around the room, barefoot. Dirt and grime covered the plain green and large hoodie and jeans he was wearing along with several burn holes that revealing a white material that seemed to actually be glowing underneath.

His spitting image at sixteen.

"He said he wouldn't talk to anyone else but you," Diana told him.

But he barely hears her when he sees eyes that are so blue they are almost glowing meet his gaze.

He is Kryptonian.

And Clark suddenly feels so light; he wondered how he managed to still keep his feet on the ground at the moment.

"I'm going to talk to him," He said to the Amazon and walked inside before she could say another word.

"Superman!" The boy exclaimed with a younger version Clark's own voice.

"I heard you wanted to talk to me?" He asked with a neutral expression. Hiding the fact that his heart thumping so loudly in his ears he wondered if the boy could hear it.

The boy opens his mouth and starts to tell him one of the strangest stories, he has ever heard.

Clark learns several things about the boy in quick succession.

He is named Project Kr: The Superboy.

He is the product of years of research of a facility that would make Frankenstein have nightmares. The clone of the Superman, created for the sole purpose of replacing Superman in the situation he dies.

And he has just run away from the only home he has ever known.

Superman isn't sure how to process all the information that he is bombarded with. The horror of being cloned is quickly squashed by the feeling of wanting to console the obviously distraught teenager.

"What am I supposed to do now?" The boy asked him after finishing his long story, nearly begging as he said it. His eyes filled with fear and confusion.

"Anything you want," Clark told him. "You're not alone anymore."

Neither was he.

Notes: Young Justice! Superman was obsessed with finding another Kryptonian in canon in Icon, in Captain Marvel which is why it bothered me so much he ignored Superboy. So I got interested in a universe where he accepted Superboy right away.