(no subject)

[not_the_s]

Five minutes. That’s what he’d told Robin. He’d be five minutes there and back. He just needed to talk to this other Kon-el. Superman. Needed to talk to him about Lex Luthor and the part of Kon’s DNA that didn’t belong to Clark. Robin didn’t really understand, but it was something Kon had to do. Maybe he could come to terms with it if he had a talk with his other self. While he was stuck there. Hopefully not for much longer.

He wanted to go home. He’d been stuck in the future for months and, okay, maybe he’d actually gotten to like it there, but he’d chosen between the Titans and the Legion. It wasn’t really a choice, in the end. He belonged with the Titans. Id, Ego, and Superego. Bart, himself, and Tim. And Cassie, of course. Couldn’t forget Cassie. And Gar and Vic. And even Kory when she wasn’t trying to kill him because of Krypto eating her garden.

But he’d made the choice and now to be stuck ten years ahead of where he was supposed to be with people who said they were…them. Even Robin seemed to believe it, and it was pretty hard to pull anything past him.

He floated down the stairs, lost in thought, but stopped when he saw a picture on the wall. “Speedy?” There was an unfamiliar face and uniform. “That’s not Cissie. Who—?”

He went dead quiet at the sound of a voice. His voice, but not. Superman. The Kon-el from this time. It was coming from down the hall, but they weren’t making much of an effort to be quiet. And besides. Superhearing, anyone?

“We shouldn’t let them stay here.” He didn’t – Superman didn’t – want them there? Kon kept quiet and floated down the hall, keeping his ears open.

“Where else would we put them, Conner? The Phantom Zone? You know what happened when we imprisoned Brother Blood and Brainiac.” And that was Cassie. Kon didn’t like the sound of that. Why hadn’t they been turned over to the police? And what had happened to them that had put that note of concern in Cassie’s voice?

“I’m just saying, Cassie, I know what I was like. Each one of us knows what we were like.”

Yeah, so what were we like? Kon wanted to say. He continued moving closer, the voices getting a little softer as he got close enough to hear them without the superhearing.

“We were kids, Conner.”

And there was the door. Kon got as close as he dared and peered around the corner. There was Batman and Wonder Woman and Superman. The adult Gar and that fish-lady were there, too.

“Today we’re better,” Batman said. And didn’t that just sound creepy. Not older, not more experienced, but better. “We’ll handle this my way. It won’t hurt them, but it will get the job done.” Okay, it was official. He didn’t like this guy, even if it was Tim. Tim might have had his Batman’s protégé moments, but he never sounded quite so doom and gloom.

“I still can’t believe this is happening,” the fish-girl said.

“Believe it, Lorena,” Batman returned. Lorena. Pretty name.

“Rrff…and what about him?” Obviously they were talking about someone. Maybe someone in the room, and Kon just had to see who it was. He sidled even closer, not even daring to breath in case Superman decided to pay attention to something outside the room.

“He’ll talk, Gar.” Even the original Batman never quite had that cold sound to his voice. Disinterested, maybe, but never cold. “He’ll tell us what Victor and the others are up to…or Superman will burn his other arm off.”

Finally, he could see who it was. Deathstroke. They were holding Deathstroke prisoner and he only had one arm. Carefully, still not breathing, he moved away from the door, flying so he wouldn’t be heard. And then, going down one particular corner, he dropped to the ground. He wasn’t sure whether it was the nerves or something more sinister, but he didn’t question it. Instead, he took off, running through the hallways, struggling to remember where they’d been. It was only when he was down one hallway that he realized that he’d been heading to his old quarters and these…these…bad guys had set them up in another section of the tower. Turning back, he retraced his steps, frowning to himself as he got lost.

Granted, it had been a while since he’d been to the Tower, but his memory couldn’t be that fuzzy, could it?

“Robin?” he called softly, flinching at the sound of his voice in the quiet hall. They could hear him, he knew they could. “Robin!” Nothing. “Tim! C’mon!” What did he care about secret identities in a place that was full of people who’d known him for years? Just as long as it got him his best friend, he’d be happy with that.

Comments

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"Deathstroke?" Bart asked, panic flashing through his eyes as he turned to look at him. "What about Deathstroke?"

Bart didn't know what to do anymore. Part of him wanted to protect Kon, but this Kon wouldn't let him. He couldn't help. But Robin could. So he needed to get them both to the clinic. And get an ice pack, his jaw was throbbing.

[not_the_s]

"Keep moving," Kon said, nodding at the way ahead of them. He was torn between panic and fury and if he didn't see Robin soon, fury was going to win out. Tim would be able to explain what was going on. He always seemed to have the answers. So long as they hadn't done anything to him, the two of them could walk away and Kon could get his answers.

And if not, well, hell hath no fury like a superhero scorned.

Especially appropriate since the last time it was Supergirl and her fiery wings of justice.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart sighed, rubbing his jaw absently. It wasn't as bad as when his wrist had gotten broken, but fresh pain was always harder to ignore. Tim would help with this, and he could pop a couple of aspirin and pray that his head stopped pounding.

Entering the clinic, he stopped, holding the door. Thank god there were always people around, minding their own business for the most part. He spotted Tim, and looked relieved. This might just work. Maybe. If Kon didn't decide he was the mastermind behind this place for reasons beyond him.

[not_the_s]

People. There were people around and that was just baffling enough. And then he saw the one person he wanted to see. "Rob--" The name caught in his throat when he realized that Tim was out of uniform. Out of uniform, in the middle of a room with people who didn't look the worse for wear and Tim wasn't looking at all like he was being coerced.

"Tim?" he asked hesitantly, sidling a little away from Bart.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

Tim looked up, glasses low on his nose, "Yeah, Cl..." He stopped. Timbre of the voice was wrong, too much bass. Color of the eyes, too light a blue. Height was several inches short. Shoulders weren't as broad. Hair was short, not just a little too long like everyone here. And he was too young.

"Kon!" Tim vaulted the counter in a heartbeat, abandoning his inventory and hurled himself across the intervening distance. He spared a glance for Bart, but didn't pause at all, catching Kon in a hard hug.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart couldn't help a smile at Tim's reaction, wishing he'd been able to do the same. It'd been two years for both of them. But Kon was looking at him like he expected Bart to pull out a death ray or something. So he leaned against the wall, absently rubbing the side of his face.

"Do me a favor and tell him I'm not evil or something, Tim?"

[not_the_s]

There wasn't much that Kon could do but hug back. But Tim? Hug him? He'd hugged Cissie. Once upon a time. But that was a long way from Tim hugging him. "What is this, Invasion of the Body Swappers or something?" he asked with a nervous laugh. "Come on. Ten minutes ago I was in the future."

Kon pointed with one arm to Bart. "He was evil." Softly, he added, "And so were we." It felt like the Wizard of Oz. And you were there and you. Except in this version, there were tortured Deathstrokes.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

That narrowed it down significantly. Tim stepped back from Kon, raising his eyebrow in an extremely Robinish expression. He pitched his voice low, so it wouldn't carry beyond his two best friends, "Bart isn't evil. We encountered our future selves after helping the Legion. Managed to escape and get back to our own time. For me, that was about two and a half years ago. We need to debrief and we can't do it here."

He raised his voice and called over his shoulder, "New arrival, I'm going to take a break and get him registered."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart sighed, rubbing his jaw again. "I need some ice. That was a hell of a punch there," he said. "Do you need me?"

He wanted to stay, couldn't take his eyes off Kon, because he was here. He wanted to be here, because they were together again. He just didn't know if he really belonged. "Or is it better if I go?"

[not_the_s]

Kon didn't say go, but he didn't say stay, either. "He's old Tim," Kon hissed. "Just like they...like we were." Gone back to their own time? That had never happened. Two and a half years ago? Was Tim talking crazy or what? Two and a half years ago was around the time he'd been created.

He barely glanced at Bart, still trying to figure out what was going on and not much closer he was when he first ran across Bart.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

"Kon, do you trust me?" It was a rhetorical question. Tim never doubted that the answer would be an unequivocal yes. That was the Kon he remembered. The Kon that was the closest thing to the one standing in front of him.

"Bart, you're coming with us, but try to act...not evil." It was almost a joke, which for Tim was practically a whole comedy routine.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart almost snapped to attention at that, the effort nearly palpable. For Dick, he might have, but joking with Tim was completely different. As for moving, he stayed where Kon could see him, even though it was uncomfortable to purposefully place himself in such a vulnerable position.

"I shaved off my goatee this morning, so I think we're good."

[not_the_s]

"Hardy har har," Kon muttered, though the corners of his mouth twitched a little, holding back the smile that wanted to appear every time he heard Tim make a joke. Louder, he added, "Of course I trust you. But I hold the right to believe that this is still Invasion of the Body Swappers in reserve. After all, you turning into a comedian?"

He might not have actually looked at Bart, but he kept him in view out of the corner of his eye.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

"It's even stranger than that." Tim led them out of the clinic and down to a storeroom. Not the best place to debrief but close and convenient and secure enough for this.

He found a shadow immediately, his arms crossing at he faced Kon and studied him closely, looking for all those little details that said Kon and not Clark or Match. "This is a parallel pocket dimension that appears to sit at the crossroads of multiple realities. It runs out of sequence with normal time-space and often interacts oddly with what we might term reality."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart pretended to yawn at the science lecture, but didn't actually interrupt. You didn't interrupt Robin during a briefing, and this was probably the most important one he gave, here on the island. Instead, he took a spot that put Kon between him and the door, and mentally ran back through that terrible trip to the future.

He wouldn't interrupt, really. No matter how much he wanted to.

[not_the_s]

Tim was eyeing him critically, so Kon didn't feel at all bad about eyeing him back. "You're as tall as I am," he accused, folding his arms across his chest. "And if the hair were any longer, I'd be surprised if you could see through it." When it doubt, wisecrack, and there was so very much doubt right now.

Parallel pocket dimension. Sounded like a barrel of laughs.

"You know I got about one word in every ten out of that. This, a, sit." After the briefest hesitation, and before Tim could reply, he added, "What do you mean 'interacts oddly'?"

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

"I'll simplify. We're not in our universe, we're in a different one. And in this universe, some things that were true in ours aren't true anymore. Mostly the relationship to the timeline. I came here two years ago from approximately two months after encountering our future selves. Bart came here a year and a half ago from another year and change after that. Nightwing is from another later than that. Cassie...still thinks we're Young Justice. There's no rhyme or reason to it."

Tim leaned back against the wall, "And by oddly, I mean that there are a great many people on this island that are very much fictional. And who think the same about us."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"Not to mention the whole 'no powers' deal," Bart muttered. "Place is stranger than anything Bedlam ever dreamed up, I'll give it that."

He wasn't sure he'd have chosen to start with the fictional bit, but it worked. "Robin's conspiracy detector's probably been working overtime since the moment he got here. Still doesn't make any sense. I personally would have started with the possessed objects, especially since you'll need a parka if you want to stick your nose outside without losing it."

[not_the_s]

"Two years," Kon said, finally managing to look at Bart. "You're older than two years." Fine, two and a half, but who was going to call him on it? And fine, so maybe he was still a little - or a lot - suspicious. And then it sunk in and he whirled back around to Tim.

"Fictional?!"

He held out his arm and pinched it, hoping it was all a dream and that he was back in the twenty--no, he hoped he'd wake up back the morning of his date with Cassie. That's where it had all started to go wrong.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying to deal with one issue at a time, Bart," Tim replied warningly.

He refocused on Kon. "Fictional. Power Rangers. Disney princesses. Witches from Oz. Apparently, in some other universe, or many other universes, they all live out perfectly normal lives that get filtered through to us as fiction. This isn't a dream, Kon, much as I wish it was."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"Four extra years in an alternate timestream. Two weeks as far as the rest of the universe experienced it," Bart said, finally taking his eyes off Kon because the reminder of who he'd sacrificed those years for was too much right now.

[not_the_s]

"Fictional." They'd dealt with weirder things, right? Maybe? Still. "Disney princesses?" That was stretching the imagination, even if Tim was to be believed. And of course he was. He was Robin.

He ran a hand over his face.

"Right. Okay. I think my head may explode before you're done, but okay. Now what's this about powers?" The important part. The part that could have explained why he'd dropped to the ground mid-flight and couldn't shove Bart off him. Also why Bart hadn't been able to run after him. At least not run run.

[needsarobin.livejournal.com]

"Everyone is baseline human. No meta abilities, no aliens, no transcendent beings. Your TTK won't work. Bart can't touch the Speed Force. Technology still works but magic won't."

Tim paused and glanced over at Bart, "I guess I should revise that. Magic that didn't originate here won't work. Whatever force built this island can still use some sort of power to effect...extreme changes."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"Since we don't have a better term to describe things like our current winter habitat, magic is fine with me," Bart said with a shrug. "I don't think most of the effects we've observed would be possible with thirtieth century tech. Some of the things that happen are relatively benign, if annoying, but others aren't.

"The island is normally a lot like Hawaii. Right now, though, it's more like Siberia. Except for the yeti."

[not_the_s]

"Extreme changes." Somehow, Kon had an idea that it was more than just the weather. After all, that was possible with thirtieth century tech. "You know, if you're going to keep throwing breadcrumbs at me, I'm gonna starve. Temperature change, fine. I've had worse from Freeze." Who he'd never actually faced, but that was beside the point.

"What are you leaving out?"