Eh…This I Guess

The news doesn’t arrive all at once. It leaks. A whisper at the edge of a conversation. A shopkeeper closing early with shaking hands. The absence of uniforms that had once been as constant as the walls themselves.

Naruto notices the absence first.

She’s good at that—at noticing what isn’t there. You learn to, when people pretend not to see you. When doors close a second too soon, when voices drop just before you pass, when something shifts and you’re expected to act like it didn’t.

The market feels wrong. Quieter, but not in a peaceful way. The kind of quiet that presses in, that waits.

Naruto stands near the edge of a produce stall, fingers hovering over a bruised tomato she knows she can probably haggle down to half price. The vendor doesn’t look at her. That’s normal.

What isn’t normal is what’s missing behind him. No dark uniform stationed at the corner. No sharp, watchful eyes scanning the crowd. No silent presence that said, without words: behave.

“…they say it was all of them.”

Naruto doesn’t turn her head. She doesn’t have to. She’s learned how to listen without being seen doing it.

“All of them? That’s—”

“An entire clan? The Uchiha? Just like that? In one night?”

The words land heavy. Naruto’s breath catches, just a little. No, she thinks immediately. No, it’s not possible — But the market feels like it does after a storm. Not during. Not before. After. When everything important has already been broken.

Her gaze drifts, unthinking, to the path that cuts through the center of the stalls. Saturday. It’s Saturday. There should be…There was always… A man with a straight back and a face too serious for the way he handed out candy. He’d never smiled. Not really. Just held out a small wrapped sweet like it was an official transaction, like he was fulfilling some duty no one had assigned him. Naruto had taken it every time. She never said thank you out loud. You don’t draw attention to things like that. But she’d nodded and smiled as real as she could. He’d nodded back. That had been enough.

Her throat feels tight.

“…heard a kid’s alive,” someone mutters. “The youngest of the clan head.”

“Barely counts. Doesn’t matter. Clan’s gone.”

Naruto exhales slowly through her nose. Gone. Her eyes move again, scanning the edges of the market. There should be another one near the fish stalls—taller, broader, the kind who didn’t have to say anything at all. People just… adjusted around him. Voices softened. Hands stayed to themselves.

Naruto remembers the way he’d looked at a group of older boys once—just a look—and they’d scattered like they’d been burned. She remembers standing there afterward, not moving, not speaking, just… waiting. He’d glanced down at her, given a small, almost imperceptible nod a silent “I’ll have your back”.

Her chest aches. She presses the heel of her hand against it like she can push the feeling down, like it’s something physical she can force back into place. She can’t do anything for them.

The thought comes sharp and clean. They’re gone. Whatever happened it’s already over. Too late to step in, too late to fix, too late to… Naruto’s gaze drops to the tomato still sitting in her palm. She sets it back.

There’s one left.

The thought comes quieter this time. Not loud like the others. Not panicked or sharp. Just… there. Naruto turns and doesn’t think about it too hard. If she does, she might stop. Might second-guess. Might decide it’s not her place, that she doesn’t owe—but she does. Not because they asked. Because they didn’t. Because they never made a big deal out of it. Never demanded gratitude. Never even acknowledged it, really. They just… stood there.And made things a little safer, a little better.

Naruto knows what it’s like to have no one. Knows what it’s like to be too small in a space that doesn’t want you. Knows how long it takes to figure out things no one bothers to teach you. How to stretch food. How to fix things just enough they don’t fall apart completely. How to exist in a place that would rather you didn’t.

She can’t bring back the men who stood at the market corners. But she can do something.

Her steps pick up. Out of the market. Past the main streets. Toward the quieter parts of the village where the buildings grow wider, emptier.

The Uchiha district sits like a wound. Open. No guards at the entrance now. Naruto slows as she crosses the threshold. Reverent and respectful in a way she normally sees no need for. It feels wrong to walk in. Not forbidden, no one’s there to forbid it, but like stepping into a space that remembers what it used to be. Houses line the street, doors closed, windows dark. The air feels… still. Heavy. Naruto swallows.

“Okay,” she mutters under her breath. “Okay. It’s fine.”

She moves forward, and it doesn’t take long to find him. He’s not hiding. Just… there. Sitting on the edge of a wooden walkway outside one of the larger houses, back straight, hands resting on his knees like he doesn’t know what else to do with them. Sasuke Uchiha looks smaller than he ever did at the academy.

Naruto stops a few steps away. He doesn’t look up. For a second, she just… stands there. She didn’t have a plan. Everything up until now had momentum. Movement. A direction. Now she’s here, and she has to actually say something. Her fingers curl against her sides. He’s alone. The thought settles, solid and undeniable. Not just right now. Well and truly on his own.

She steps forward, stop when she’s close enough that he should definitely notice her. He does. Slowly, Sasuke lifts his head. His eyes are sharp but flat, empty. They land on her like a blade. Naruto doesn’t flinch. She’s had worse looks. This one… isn’t even aimed at her, really. It just hits everything in front of him. She shifts her weight, suddenly aware of how this must look. Just her, coming here out of nowhere, but she came here for a reason.

Naruto lifts her chin a little, trying to look more certain than she feels.“I—” she starts, then stops, tries again.

“I heard,” she says, because there’s no point pretending she didn’t.

His expression sharpens a bit. Naruto presses on.

“They used to—” She gestures vaguely, back toward the village. “The police I mean…In the market.”

Nothing. No reaction. Her hand drops. The silence stretches. Naruto can feel it, thick and uncomfortable, but she doesn’t look away. She takes a breath.

Then, because overthinking this will only make it worse, she says, “I can show you how to do laundry.”

It sounds stupid the second it leaves her mouth. Too small. Too normal. Sasuke just stares at her. Naruto feels heat creep up the back of her neck.

“Or—” she adds quickly, words picking up speed now that they’ve started. “Or other stuff. Like—cleaning. And food. And—uh—”

She makes a vague motion with her hands, as if that explains anything at all. She exhales, “It’s hard at first. Figuring it out. By yourself.”

Her voice steadies.“I know how,” she says.

She doesn’t say you don’t. She doesn’t say you’ll need it. Just, I know how. Another pause, longer this time. Sasuke’s gaze flickers so slightly Naruto almost misses it. Then it’s gone again, shuttered behind that same flat, sharp look.

“no,” he says.

Agitated enough that Dick gave up on packing and went to track down his boyfriend. He leaned against the door frame to the bathroom and caught Wally’s eyes in the mirror.

“Danny isn’t feeling well,” Wally explained as he turned. “He says we shouldn’t head up because he’s not going to be any fun to hang out for the next few days.”

“Well we’re not doing that,” Dick said.

“That’s what I told him!”

“Finishing packing,” Dick said as he held out a hand for the phone, which Wally passed to him before grabbing his razor and heading back to the bedroom. “Danny? What’s wrong, honey? Do you have a fever? Are you throwing up?”

“No,” Danny croaked. He really did sound horrible. It made Dick’s heart ache. “Well, probably not throwing up because I’m not risking eating.”

“Sore throat? Aches?”

“It’s not a bug,” Danny said. “Just, got some chronic stuff. Usually not a big issue, but guess I’m having a flair up? I wanted to call before you two left to come up here and wasted your weekend.”

“You expect us to just stay here when you’re sick?”

“Yeah?” Danny asked. He sounded confusedly certain of that.

“Yeah, no,” Dick said. “We come up that way so that we can take care of you. It’s no fun being sick alone.”

“Dick—”

“Send Wally a list of what you sort of food you can usually stomach and we’ll hit up the grocery too.”

“Dick—”

“Do you have heating pads? Oh, or what about an electric blanket?”

“Dick!” Danny interrupted before descending into a coughing fit.

Dick chewed on his lip as he kept quiet.

Finally Danny started again. “Dick, you two really don’t need to waste your weekend on this.”

“Danny, be honest with me, would it make it easier to have Wally and me there to help with food and things? Or would it even just make you feel better to have us there to snuggle?”

Danny was quiet for a really long time before he managed a quiet “yeah.”

“Okay, then we’re coming your way.”

“I won’t be up sex or anything,” Danny warned, like that made a difference.

“Pretty sure we’ll survive without sex for a weekend,” Dick said, trying not to be too sarcastic. Danny was sick, it wasn’t the time to make him feel bad for needing clarity. “Would you still want to go to the cabin? Or would you feel better staying home?”

“Not sure I’m up to packing, but the cabin would be nice…”

“We’ll pack stuff from here, sweats, shirts, stupidly fluffy socks,” Dick said and headed back towards the bedroom. “We’ll just need to get underwear and medication from there. Hell, send me your size and we’ll grab underwear on the shopping run, never can have too much underwear.”

“He’s not wrong!” Wally called, loud enough to be heard by Danny.

“You’re ridiculous,” Danny said, but there was finally a little bit of an uplift to his tone.

No one was coming for him.

It was a fact he had resigned himself to the moment he was taken away in cuffs. His family had fought, of course, and regardless of his status, his parents would stop at nothing to get him back.

It was not a comfort or hope he was able to carry with him past the threshold of Fenton Works front door. The bag over his head did nothing to drown the three gun shots that echoed from guns that carried bullets instead of Ectoplasm.

They were three blocks away when the explosion of the portal being forcibly shut down rocked Amity Park.

So no one would be coming for him.

The first year, he fought back. He kept track of days by scratching them in the wall, like in all the cartoons and tv shows. Attempted to escape, refused to cooperate with tests and experiments, sassed back against questions.

He no longer had the energy. It was always bright, except for the times they sealed him in small dark containers for transport. His many escape attempts had only helped them strengthen their containment measures, he should have waited, but there was nothing he could do now.

His living self had deteriorated to the point it was no longer capable of sustaining itself and his ghost, leaving him to remain in his spectral form to the researchers delight. His Core ached from the strain of holding himself together, unable to spare energy to heal more than wounds that might end him.

If he didn't think of something soon, he'd either shatter or reveal the best kept secret of the Infinite Realms. So Danny closed his eyes during a lull in the latest torture and prayed to whoever could hear him, this worked.

He felt fuzzy at the edges and sank into the feeling, letting it take him away. The almost forgotten sensation of floating soothed him just a little before his Core constricted tightly. Condensing down, down, down. Shedding excess ectoplasm to become smaller and smaller, until he was sure it could fit on the top of a pinhead. Danny wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, he just wanted to stop being so aware of everything.

He didn’t fight it though, letting the sensation of fuzzing take over him. It was like holding his hands up in front of those old clunky tv sets, palms barely touching as the static brushed against the skin like fur. Suddenly,as though he were a puppet with their strings cut, he was floating in a nothingness.

,”,”,”,”,

A bolt of electricity shocked through his body, alarms around him blaring but muffled. There was no pain once the shocks subsided, and Danny felt himself floating in a way that reminded him of the Far Frozen Medical Center.

It made sense his mind would create a world around that first. He needed so much medical care. When Danny opened his eyes, however, it wasn't Frostbite who created him, but people in another lab.

No, a different lab. One missing the blinding white of the GIW facilities. There were no lines of green running along the wall to indicate anti-ghost measures.

This was a Lab he could escape from. For the first time in years, Danny grinned, eyes flashing a bright green as the thick glass around him shattered, and he dropped to his feet.

------

Project R-13 Status: Terminated Escaped Vitals: Unknown Brain Activity: Unknown R-13 was terminated at 08:04 July 19, 20XX. Confirmed vitals ceased functioning and what little Brain Activity there was ceased. At 08:08 an electrical malfunction caused sparks to electrify Containment Pod 413 for approximately two minutes. Subject R-13's vital signs spiked and machines registered full Neurological activity. R-13's eyes opened for the first time at 08:11. The subject proceeded to shatter the Super Grade glass of the Containment Pod 413 before engaging scientists in combat. At some point, Subject became aware of nude state and stole Head Researcher Torrance's lab coat, trousers and my own badge when I attempted to intervene. Suspicions that the Robins possess meta abilities confirmed despite donor subjects not carrying the Meta Gene. R-13 removed clothing by simply pulling them off and through Dr Torrance, putting them on while continuing the escape attempt. Then ran through the sealed door of the Observation Room in a manner not unlike a ghost Phase Shifting. Security pursued R-13 through the facility before Subject turned a corner and vanished, despite being a dead end with no rooms or visible ventilation. Subject may have inherited abilities from several of the Genetic Templates used for Project R, which DNA samples were used remains classified to Researchers pending capture and study of him Subject R-13. Tracker located in R-13's tag is malfunctioning, possibly due to use of previously displayed Abilities. Signal becomes lost before appearing miles away from previous location. Points seem sporadic with no specific direction over another, several movement patterns suggest Play Behavior confusion when in one place as the signal loops on itself or circles before moving elsewhere with no warning. Several task forces have been mobilized to locate and contain R-13 before undesired parties can discover Subject. God Speed kid.

--------

Meanwhile, the GIW are livid that their own test subject fucking “melted”. Scientists blaming the Agents for not properly sustaining the ghost, with the Agents arguing that letting the monster heal too much was too risky.

Danny's Core straight up just shrunk down and Yote itself into the nearest Husk. Which luckily for Danny was the Just Terminated R-13 Project 'Clone' bc he was being transported between facilities and was passing nearby enough. The Shrinking allowed his Soul to pass through the Ecto defenses by being under the threshold that registers enough to activate them.

Literally a last ditch effort because if there HADN'T been a viable vessel for him to settle into... well...

Danny flew away as far as he could. He went West. Then South. Then North. Then East. Then North again. He just kept moving, uncaring about the direction even looping back again. He didn’t care as long as it was anywhere but there. But he wasn’t there anymore. 

Instead soon he found himself landing where there were no tall buildings nearby or people. Farmland. Quiet. No walls anywhere near him. Just crops and dirt. He stared at the tall stalks of what seemed to be corn and was reminded of a childhood memory from a family trip a long time ago to a farm. They had a field like this, but smaller. 

Danny let himself stand there for a while just looking.

It was a nice dream. Finally being able to escape. To get away from those dammed white walls and go outside again. It was so easy to slip away from scientists that had actual names on badges and not just letters. No glowing green of ecto-weaponry that would burn. He smiled as he slipped the badge he stole into a pocket and looked up. 

The sky was right there. There were clouds with the sun peeking out from behind. It was the afternoon by its position. Danny could feel the wind, so different from the stagnant air in the room where they cut into him again and again. So different from the sensation of those agents’ breaths mingling right above him as they discussed his organs and the tests they still needed to conduct. Even the lab coat and pants he stole felt nice despite being too big on him.

He was more than happy to focus on the sensations his mind had come up with. 

It wasn’t very long until Danny noticed someone else had arrived. Their arrival had been silent. There were no footsteps or sound of tires on the ground. Instead, it seemed that suddenly there was someone there, standing not far from him. Danny didn’t recognize them. Dreams were typically like that though. 

It was a boy. Black hair. Blue Eyes. It was amusing seeing the similarities he had with him.

But what interested Danny more was the clothes the boy was wearing. Underneath a leather jacket was something skintight and colorful. Blue and red with a giant S on their chest. 

It seemed that Danny’s mind conjured up a hero. 

That was nice. He had always wanted to meet one. To not be alone. Being in Amity Park there was only him and then Red Huntress, but it wasn’t the same seeing as she hunted him down before becoming an ally. He had always imagined what it would be like to meet someone like him. Someone with powers. Someone who he could have fought alongside, and gotten help from. 

But people like that didn’t exist. Every search for one left him empty-handed. As far as Danny knew he was alone. Except now… there was someone there. 

“Hi,” Danny said. He could see them looking at him closely and they almost looked frozen, as if shocked that he was even there. The “Hey” he eventually got in response was a little stilted, though Danny wasn't one to judge. He’d been awkward more times than he could count. 

Danny dug his feet deeper into the dirt. Watching how his pale skin went underneath the brown. It felt better than the metal table. He could be free of it at any point he wished. It was better than being strapped down as they cut deeper and touched what they shouldn't. Better than being treated like he wasn’t alive, the agents uncari-

“What are you doing?” the hero’s voice was curious and warm. A stark difference compared to the clinical terms and demanding voices Danny had gotten used to.

He focused on that warmth and the warmth he felt on his skin. He focused on the dirt going in between his toes. He focused on the wind ruffling through his hair. Danny really liked this instead. He looked at the hero who looked so bright and alive. A wish of what Danny had wanted so long ago. 

“Hiding.”

Kon had memorized his friends’ heartbeat. He hadn’t even realized he'd done that until Clark mentioned it one day. It was something he had done too. 

It was comforting to know the rhythm and be able to pinpoint it out of a sea of noises. It was helpful on missions too. 

So when Kon noticed when he suddenly one heartbeat oddly similar to Tim’s appear. An odd copy that was slightly different. Except Tim was on a mission somewhere else.  It wasn’t a hard decision to follow where the sound led him once it stopped moving. 

It led Kon to farmland and one figure stood out, white amongst the green and brown.

The heartbeat didn’t speed up or show signs of being startled when Kon landed near them. Kon couldn't say the same about his own heartbeat. There in front of him was someone in a white lab coat and pants too big. He could see the pants being cuffed and Kon could see a badge in a pocket. The Cadmus name was clear with his sight. Then he finally looked at the person. 

Kon was hit with a sense of odd familiarity. They looked like Tim and Jason. Some sort of odd combination of the Robins. Kon could imagine the old photos Tim had shown him that he had taken of Jason when they were younger. The red tag on their ear was a deciding factor. 

A clone.

Cadmus had made another clone. 

For a moment Kon couldn’t breathe. He thought they had taken care of Cadmus, and had prevented any chance of something like this happening. But there was a clone standing right in front of him. Someone like him. Someone who managed to escape.

“Hi,” the boy said to him and Kon felt like he had just stepped out of the pod again. Unsteady on his feet and words not coming so easily to him.  His “Hey” was as awkward as the first time he talked to anyone. 

But the clone just looked back down at their feet in the dirt. There was no sign of aggression. Kon could hear their steady heartbeat. He could hear their feet digging into the dirt. It was so different from what Kon had experienced when he had first gotten out. That explosive anger and no short supply of people to fight.

But there was nothing here. Just farmland. Just two clones. 

“What are you doing?” the question slipped out of Kon. He couldn't help but be curious about what was going through their head. If it was anything like what he had going through his head. 

Again the clone was calm, he didn’t seem bothered. It was completely different from the expressions on Tim or Jason’s faces, two people who were almost always expressive. Whether it be anger, exhaustion, or just being an ass. Then here was someone who was a mixture of both, who had a combination of their hair, nose, jaw, and eye color that looked at him with no recognition but no apprehension. 

“Hiding,” they said. 

Kon couldn't help how his eyes drifted to the tag on their ear. Probably tracking where they were. Anxiety made his hands twitch. “Can I take that off? The ear tag I mean?”

Those blue eyes just stared before nodding. When Kon came closer they still stared. No wariness just curiosity. 

Kon made quick work of the ear tag, already knowing how to take off without it hurting, but the boy didn’t flinch. Damn did Kon wish he knew what their name was. The tag simply said R-13. 

He moved away and called for Bart through his comm. He was sure to get the idea of what Kon was trying to do and tell the others what was going on. Kon didn’t think he’d be able to get away and explain to anyone else. Bart showed up in no time and with Kon barely getting a few words out nodded like he understood. It was clear that he was curious about the clone but Bart didn’t hesitate to grab the tag and run off. 

It made Kon grateful to know him. 

When he turned back Kon saw the boy crouching on the ground. Their hands were in the dirt this time. Kon could hear how they stretched and flexed their hands open before slowly closing it. Holding fistfuls of dirt before slowly loosening their grip and letting the dirt slip through their fingers. 

There was a certain look in their eye. Something dissociative, they were so intently focused on the dirt on their hands. Kon didn’t like it. Someone was already giving directions into his ear through the comm about taking the clone to a secure location maybe even the Watchtower. 

That could work, but Kon thought of those cold walls and floors. He thought about that taste of freedom; how the clone in front of him seemed so intent on being outside after escaping. 

“Do you want to come with me?” Kon asked and they looked up at him, hands still buried in the dirt. Parts of the white fabric of the pants and lab coat were already stained brown “I can help you hide” Kon added because he would. Something deep inside of him was screaming for him to help the boy in front of him. To not let them slip away. To keep them away from people with labcoats and pods and machinery. To be the person he had wished someone had been for him since the very beginning. 

The clone stood up, uncaring about dirt, not even bothering to wipe their hands. “Okay.”

The relief that filled Kon for some reason made him want to cry. 

***

Danny had seen what he assumed was another hero stop by, the two shared some words before the other left. It was someone who ran fast in a blur of red and yellow. It was interesting but Danny found he was more interested in the dirt again. It was ridiculous how much he liked it. 

Then the hero offered for him to go somewhere. To help him hide. Danny saw no reason he should have refused and he was glad he didn’t because he felt almost giddy in the hero’s arms. They were flying. He could feel gravity pulling on them and warm arms secure around him, as if scared he’d fall and get hurt. But Danny couldn't care; he never got to be carried by anyone living like this.

It had always been him carrying someone or flying. Or being thrown through the air roughly. Never carried by someone with a beating heart. 

When the hero landed in was in front of a house still surrounded by farmland. It was an old one with wood paneling. A wooden porch with a screen door. It reminded him of houses from old movies. The stereotypical type that usually belonged to an older couple or family. 

Danny was only proved right when the front door opened and two people emerged. A man and woman that showed their age with grey hair . 

“Kon!” the woman said with a smile and her voice was gentle, loving. She was looking at the hero and so did the man. 

Danny watched the hero or ‘Kon’ greet them as ‘Ma’ and ‘Pa’. There was no hesitance in their affection even with a stranger in their midst, but maybe that was because Danny didn’t want that. 

“Ma, Pa this is…someone like me,” Kon said and Danny thought that was an amusing way to introduce him. There had never been anyone like him. Or there was Vlad and Dani except Vlad had rarely been kind and Dani was no-

“Well, it's very nice to meet you. Would you like to come inside? I just made some pie.” the woman called Ma said and Danny found three pairs of eyes looking at him. Yet it didn’t feel like those inspecting him, wanting to know how he ticked. Wanting to see what was inside. 

“Yes please, Ma’am,” Danny said and he got a dismissive wave from the woman and a chuckle from the man. 

“Oh honey, just call me Martha and this here is my husband Jonathan.”

“I bet you’ll be insisting he calls you Ma before he can get a second silence of pie,” Jonathan said. Only laughing when Martha playfully hit his arm and they walked inside. The door was left open. 

Danny watched them go; it was quiet. He could hear their muffled voices coming from inside sounding light. He looked back at Kon. 

Kon was already looking at him. They stared at each other. 

Kon gestured his head to the door. 

Danny went ahead and walked inside. The wood floor creaked underneath his feet; he liked the sound. 

Kon stepped inside behind him before heading off towards the table where four plate settings were being placed. Jonathan easily set plates and cups and utensils. There were signs of them being well-used and well-loved. Then Martha came in with a fresh pie, steam coming off of it. She stepped gracefully around her husband to set it on the table. Then there was Kon taking a seat Martha ushered him in before turning to get a glass pitcher and handing it over to Jonathan who filled each cup. 

It was a well-oiled routine. No spills or glasses crashing to the floor. Danny couldn’t see any ectoplasm staining the plate or pie coming to life. 

“Well take a seat son,” Jonathan said and it sounded nothing like an order but a gentle offer.

Danny took a seat and watched as slices were cut and placed on each plate. Once a slice was placed in front of him the smell hit him. 

Apple. Cinnamon. His eyes closed and he couldn’t place when he last had apple pie. 

He didn’t think he ever did. 

“Sweetheart, do you want to wash your hands?”

Danny opened his eyes; the others were eating but Martha was looking at him. She glanced at his hands. 

They still had dirt. His fingerprints and the lines in his palms stood out amongst the brown; Danny could feel the dirt underneath his nails. 

“No thank you,” he said because he liked the dirt. Danny liked how his hands were no longer clean. No longer being wiped away just so that the agents could have a clear view. Just so the needles were easier to enter. 

“Alright, but if you want to wash up later there is a sink in the kitchen and I’m sure Kon could show you the bathroom later on,” Martha said before she finally took a bite of her own pie. She didn’t seem at all annoyed by his refusal. 

When they had gotten news there was a new clone the league admittedly were worried. They didn’t have the best history with clones. People had never had any good intentions when it came to creating copies of heroes, even moreso Cadmus who they already had a painful history with. One they thought was over. 

But when Bart came by, a tag with the number R-13 and news that Kon found someone, they knew they were wrong. 

Hal was on the one Bart had come to, the others on various missions or busy in their own cities. He didn’t hesitate to contact Kon and tell him to take the clone to a secure location. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that Clark and Bruce would want to do a threat assessment. Also Cadmus was most likely looking for their newly escaped clone. 

Yet while Kon technically listened, the Kent farm wasn’t exactlt what Hal had in mind when he said secure location. 

“Wait, he’s where?” Clark asked when he finally arrived and Hal tried to ignore Bruce’c cowl covered stare practically burning into his skull. 

“At your parents’ farm,” Hal repeated again and he had a feeling that the reason wasn’t because Supes couldn’t hear him. 

“For how long?” Bruce asked. Hal could see that he subtelty placed a hand on Clark’s back reassuringly. Though Hal himself didn’t feel so reassured. He wished he had taken another shift to be on duty. 

“A few hours.” A few hours the clone had been on the farm and Hal only found out atfer he finally managed to track Kon down after he had shut off the comm and went radio silent. Unfortunately it wasn’t a rare occurrence and Hal felt he had a certain Robin to blame for that habit among the younger heroes. 

Though Red Robin would deny it with a smile. 

Clark tilted his head, listening for his parents’ heartbeats along for Kon’s. All three were fine and on the Kent farm, but he noticed the fourth one close by. “I’m going,” he said and when Bruce moved his hand to his shoulder, he knew he would be coming along for the ride. 

Then they were off. 

***

Kon could hear the moment Clark arrived with Bruce. He rushed out there leaving Ma inside before Clark could even finish landing. 

“I know what you’re gonna say about protocol and rules but I just couldn’t take them somewhere else,” Kon rushed out to say trying not to worry too much about the looks on the two adults’ faces. “It had to be here. Ma and Pa don’t mind either and we had pie! Pie; it was apple. It went fine. Things are okay, promise!”

Kon didn’t want them to be mad. He wanted to make it clear that it was okay. This clone wasn’t at all aggressive, no sign of it at all. Kon would have never put Pa or Ma in danger like that. Clark had to know that. He did. He had to know that he would ne-

Clark’s hands cupped Kon’s face. “Kon, are you okay?”

Kon was about to say he was but the words wouldn’t come out and he finally noticed that he was breathing fast. His eyes felt a bit wet and even Clark’s face was a bit blurry. “I-”

Clark didn’t at all look mad. Just concerned. 

“I don’t know,” he said because Kon didn’t know. He had been feel off kilter ever since he landed and first saw the clone standing barefoot in the dirt. He’d been ignoring how fast his heart was going, how there was a twisting sensation in his gut in favor of focusing on the steady heartbeat that sounded too much like his friend’s. “He’s like me but different and he said he was hiding so I just-I couldn’t- it wa-”

He was pulled into a hug and Kon could hear just how fast Clark’s heart was going too. A man that supposedly was invincible was just as scared as he was. 

“It’s going to be okay Kon. We’re okay.” Clark said and Kon didn’t hear any sign that it was a lie.

***

Bruce remained silent as they finally went inside the house. Clark handing off Kon to Martha who just smiled warmly and comforted Kon. Not fazed at all by them still in their costumes. She was always someone who kept calm. It reminded him of Alfred. 

Bruce already had Hal getting ready to get into contact with Tim, Jason, Dick, and Damian. The tag had said R-13 and from the what Bart had reported, itseemed it be a clone of one od his sons. Though he wasn’t sure which one. 

Only Martha had been inside but through the back screen door he could see Jonathan Kent in a chair of the back porch looking at a newspaper. Bruce stood beside Clark who had paused from opening the door. 

“Down. Four letter word. Celestial bear. Theres a major and minor. Group of stars,” Jonathan said without looking at them. A cross word puzzle.  

“Ursa,” a young voice said and Bruce could imagine it had been said with a smile. There was no hesitance in their answer. An undertone of confidence that reminded him of Tim giving him the answers to a cold case that had Bruce stumped though he didn’t admit it. 

The floor creaked under Clark’s feet and Jonathan finally looked at them. He smiled before setting down the newspaper and getting out of his seat. 

Clark didn’t move as Jonathan came inside and pulled him into a hug. Despite his large stature, Clark looked small in his father’s arms. He always did even with Martha. Bruce could hear a muffled “Hey Pa”, from Clark.

“They don’t look like you, son,” Jonathan said without an preamble or letting go of Clark. “But they remind me of you. Like when you went out to go play and came back all dirty and so on. He’s wearing some white clothes like a scientist but doesnt look uncomfortable.” Jonathan pulled away but let his hands linger on Clark’s shoulders. “A polite young man if I do say so myself.”

“You’re okay?” Clark asked, his voice full of concern. 

Jonathan sighed with a wiry smile. “I’m just fine, you know we can take care of ourselves. Raised you after all.”

Finally Clark smiled and Pa stepped to the side. Giving Clark one more pat and a nod to Brue. 

When they stepped out onto the back porch the clone wasn’t in any of the woodeen chairs. Instead he were on the steps of the porch sitting. The bright white stood out against the wooden steps along with the splotches of brown on the fabric. The clone hadn’t reacted to their presence. He sat with his head leaning against the wooden post, eyes closed face exposed to the air and light from the sun that had just begun to set.  

He looked like he was asleep. Completely at ease. There was even dirt still coating his hands and feet.

But what drew Bruce in was how he looked like a cultimation of his children. An odd mixture. He was reminded of Jason when he was younger, not influenced by the pits and of Tim. He seemed lanky like Tim did out of his uniform and had pale skin. His hair was messy reminiscent of Jason. He could see Jason’s nose. 

“He looks like them,” Clark said softly.

 Bruce nodded and wondered what color eyes they would have. 

***

Danny sat with Pa on the back porch after they finished eating, and he had been right. Ma insisted on being called Ma. Pa looked rightfully amused with himself. 

The man settled into his seat like it was an old friend and grabbed a paper while Danny took a seat on the steps. Danny could see the blades of grass touching the last step. The wood was warm beneath him from the sunlight hitting it and he let himself lean into the wooden post that was warm too. 

Soon Pa’s voice joined the wind. He was reading cross word puzzles out loud. It was pleasant just to hear that voice work through the options and Danny couldn’t help how a guess slipped out at one of them. Pa had thanked him and afterward would pause after reading each one just to let Danny answer one if he knew it. 

He of course knew all the space related ones. 

They stayed there for a while. Danny listened to Pa’s voice, the wind, and how the paper would crinkle in Pa’s grip whenever he readjusted his hold. He heard the wood creak under another pair of feet and how Pa got up. Though Danny stayed where he was even when two new arrivals stepped out onto the porch. 

He let what little of their voices he heard mix and mingle into all the other sounds. A gentle symphony. 

A voice came closer, maybe even trying to speak to him but Danny didn’t pay attention. He only let out a hum to join the sound of the bugs that had started to make their presence known among the fields. The voice retreated and Danny stayed there enjoying the last bit of warmth as the sun continue to go down. 

It was much later after he couldn’t see light that a voice came to him again. This time much clearer before. When he opened his eyes Ma standing near him. She had her hands stretched out, holding out a blanket close enough to touch. 

It looked homemade; some parts faded and a few crooked stitches. 

His hands still had dirt. Danny didn’t want dirt touch the stitches. That would have been rude.

“Can I wash them?” he asked and held out his hands. 

Ma just smiled. “Of course sweetheart, let me show you the bathroom. Kon is talking to the others.”

Danny followed her, stepping into the spots where her feet had just stepped. Her gait was smaller than Pa’s, but the wood didn’t creak as much where she stepped. 

The bathroom was small, but Ma didn’t make him feel trapped when she stood inside of it showing him the soap and just the right way to turn to the knob so it didn’t splash him. After he had washed his hands he looked down at his feet. They still had dirt on them too. 

“Do you want to get that cleaned up too?” she asked. 

He nodded and then watched as Ma set up the tub. Her hands twisted the knobs and water came out. She checked to see if it was warm before letting him use it, then went off to get him a towel. 

Danny sat on the edge of the tub and watched as the water hit his feet and the water turned brown before going down the drain. The temperature was perfect. 

When Ma came back she had a towel, a pair of sturdy looking boots, and thick blue socks. 

“Thought you’d might want some shoes. It can get cold and I know I hate cold feet. Knitted these socks myself so I promise they’ll keep you warm.” She said as she handed over the towel. 

“Thank you,” he said and she smiled before walking away. 

When his feet were dry and the socks slipped on. He wiggled his toes. They were warm.

There was a sound of a slight thud of the boot against the floor when he walked out of the bathroom. He could feel the grooves of the blanket against his skin as he held it to his chest. Danny made sure to fold up the white sleeves so the brown part didn’t touch it. 

He ran into Pa first who when he saw the boots crouched down with a smile. Uncaring about any strain he put on his joints. “Gotta tie these up. Don’t want you tripping,” he said before grabbing the loose laces of the boots that Danny had left untied. 

Danny hadn’t realized he’d forgotten such a simple thing. 

There was a pat to the boot before Pa got back up and the two of them went back outside. 

He wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed when Kon suddenly  showed up in front of him. The sky was dark and Kon looked tired. 

“We’re gonna leave,” Kon said and Danny looked to see that there was some sort of jet waiting for them. A man in black and man in blue and red stood on the top of the ramp. 

More heroes. 

“Okay,” he said and Kon looked relieved before looking back at the two other heroes while Danny got up. 

He eyed the jet, it looked like something that should have been in Tucker’s dream. But he saw the metal and was grateful for what Ma gave him. Those floors would be cold.  

Ma and Pa stood behind him, standing close to each other. A couple that reminded him of something he only got to see on television. So open and warm. He looked at them and wondered just how his mind could have come up with them. He didn’t think it should have been able to. 

Then Ma smiled and pulled him into a hug. He let her.

Hands cupped his head; fingers were running through his hair. He could hear Ma’s heart beat. It was a reassuring sound. There was another hand that joined her’s and another that was on his shoulder. Danny could feel the callouses on the fingers that brushed against his neck. They were hands that belonged to a hardworking man. 

“You’re welcome here any time sweetheart, you hear,” Ma said and she sounded so sincere that Danny couldn’t help but respond with “Yes Ma’am.” He liked the sound of Jonathan’s laughter that followed.