Chapter Text
Conner never planned to end up like this.
Everything had been so good he was a hero, he had a team, he was happy… or at least that’s what he thought.
It all began with Wally’s death. When Wally died, something broke within the team. The fights started arguments, even punches when their mentors weren’t looking. And despite everything, they tried… they tried to stay together.
Then came his breakup with M’gann. At first, everything was normal a few small arguments here and there, like any couple. But everything was fine, or so he thought.
Until he discovered something terrible through old recordings that had almost been erased. Apparently, M’gann had been cheating on him with multiple people throughout their relationship. And every time Conner found out, M’gann erased his memories manipulating them.
That shattered Conner’s heart. He broke up with M’gann in front of everyone to make sure she couldn’t mess with his memories again.
After that, the tension within the team grew unbearable. Conner tried to stay professional while working with everyone, but eventually, the team still fell apart.
Even so, Conner tried again he tried to get along with the new heroes of Young Justice. But apparently, the new heroes didn’t like him, even though he did his best to be friendly, with Nightwing’s help. Still, nothing worked.
Not long after, Conner was expelled from the team over a mistake. A simple mistake. One that plenty of the original heroes had made before… but when he did it, they just kicked him out.
The mistake? He punched Bart in the face after Bart hit him first and called him a “stupid, brainless clone,” just because Conner accidentally ate one of Bart’s candies.
Conner hadn’t even hit him that hard Bart just had a small bruise on his cheek, he didn’t even fall to the ground. But apparently, that was reason enough to expel him.
Soon after, all the heroes began to distance themselves from him, believing he was “unstable.” This even led Superman to strip him of the Superboy title, forcing him to hand over his hero suit.
That was one of the things that hurt Conner the most because the hero left him right where he took the suit away, telling him to go home and take it as a “vacation.”
Completely forgetting that Conner didn’t have a home outside of Mount Justice like the others. So technically, he had been fired and abandoned in the city.
After that, Conner tried to find a job and a place to live, but no one would hire him because he was underage. And since he had no guardian to sign any consent papers, he couldn’t work anywhere.
He had to resort to dumpsters and abandoned buildings though he was soon kicked out of those too, since in Metropolis, old buildings were always being demolished to make way for new ones.
That meant Conner had to move constantly. And it’s not like he could contact his friends he didn’t have a phone, and he didn’t know their numbers.
Then came the Meta Virus. It had been created by Lex Luthor to kill Superman every meta who inhaled the virus in gas form would die slowly over the course of a week.
Lex managed to release the gas in a small plaza before the Justice League arrived and contained it, defeating Lex. Luckily, there were “no victims.”
But no one noticed that Conner had been in that plaza affected by the gas.
Soon after inhaling it, Conner had to be transferred to Metropolis Central Hospital and placed in quarantine while doctors tried to find a cure.
None of his friends or fellow heroes knew he was there, so no one came to visit.
A few days later, Conner’s life slowly faded away… on the seventh day.
The door burst open just as the machine flatlined and the doctors, resigned, began to disconnect it.
Standing at the doorway was none other than Clark for the first time, breathing heavily and sweating, as if he had run all the way to the hospital.
Clark’s breathing grew uneven as his eyes swept across the room until they found the young body lying on the bed.
He didn’t even realize when he had approached the bedside, staring at Conner’s now lifeless body.
His skin had turned an uneven pale tone, his lips were starting to go blue, the dark circles under his eyes looked deeper, and his once-bright blue eyes were dull and empty.
Clark slowly reached out, his hand brushing against Conner’s cheek, which was quickly losing its warmth.
“Conner… wake up. It’s not time to sleep,” Clark said softly, trying to wake the boy.
“Conner, sweetheart… come on, I’ll take you home. Wake up.” Clark’s voice broke as tears began to fall down his face, landing on Conner’s pale skin.
The doctors began to quietly leave the room, glancing back with pity and sorrow though some couldn’t help but feel resentment. The boy had been hospitalized all week, and Clark hadn’t bothered to come until now.
“Come on, Conner, don’t do this to me, please. Come on, my boy, please wake up. I’m sorry for being so stupid… but please, wake up,” Clark pleaded, cradling Conner’s head and letting his tears fall into his hair.
At the same time, Nightwing rushed into the hospital room, tears streaming down his face, followed by the old Young Justice team.
“Conner!!” Dick shouted, running to his friend’s bed, staring at the lifeless body at the eyes that no longer held their familiar blue shine.
“Gods, Conner, wake up… don’t do this to us,” Dick begged, ripping off his mask as tears fell from his eyes.
From afar, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Artemis cried, unable to approach too afraid of what they were seeing.
“Sweetheart, come on… I’ll take you home, and we’ll decorate your room together after you eat your favorite meal,” Clark whispered, stroking Conner’s hair.
Nightwing just cried bitterly, resting his head against Conner’s chest where his heart used to beat so strongly, now silent.
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And then… Conner began to slowly open his eyes.
To be continued.