(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

[not_the_s]

Kon blinked and stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice. He knew that voice, but didn't. It sounded older and right now, older was bad. Older was very bad. His heart jumped into his throat. Another one of his best friends. First Tim being Batman and now Bart was, what? The Flash? "Stay away from me, Bart. I'm going to find Robin and you can't stop me."

He backed up a few steps.

If Bart knew, then the rest of them knew.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart hesitated, surprised by the venom in the words. It hurt, especially coming from that face, from his best friend. "What? Why would I stop you?" he blurted, taking a step closer, still disbelieving.

"You're here. You're really here..."

[not_the_s]

Kon kept moving until his back hit the wall. His hands curled into fists and he looked to either side, looking for a way out. He was stronger than Bart, sure. But Bart was faster. If the others didn't know already, they would within seconds if Bart ran off.

"Because I know too much. I'm warning you. Stay away."

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart raked a hand through hair he probably should cut but hadn't bothered yet, caught between relief that his best friend was here, alive, and the fear that was very clear on Kon's face. He held his hands up, palms out, trying to look as non-threatening as he could.

"I...I think we had better talk, Kon. Because I'm really not sure what you're talking about. Things aren't what they seem," he said, slowly, evenly. "I know I'm different than you remember me, but I'm not your enemy. I swear I'm not."

[not_the_s]

"Different than I remember." Kon snorted. "Remember five minutes ago? Or did I forget that I saw you with the rest of the crowd earlier?" He was making the universal sign of surrender, but he wasn't moving back either. Kon had to do something now, before it was too late.

He bit back the 'I warned you' and instead just threw the punch, smacking Bart in the jaw. He was running before the fact that his fist hurt sunk in.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart was caught completely off-guard by the punch, slamming solidly into one side of his face. He felt his teeth cut into his cheek, tasted blood, and was too shocked to react. Kon had hit him. Kon had hit him. Kon had hit him.

But he couldn't leave his friend like this. "Conner, wait!" he said, shaking his head a little to clear it before starting after him. He'd get hurt, or hurt someone if Kon continued like that.

[not_the_s]

The sting of his hand should have been the first clue. The fact that Bart hadn't already caught up to him should have been his second. But Kon wasn't thinking so much as acting on instinct and that instinct demanded that he find Robin and figure out how to get out of here.

Of course, in a maze full of corridors that seemed to be bringing him around in circles and that didn't look like anything he remember from the Tower, that was easier said then done. Of course, it didn't help that it wasn't so much corridors as rooms and rooms that seemed to be full of machinery and junk.

He got to the end of the room and threw the door open. Caves. Since when did the Tower have caves? He hesitated less than a moment before running off into them.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

It didn't take all that long to catch up with Kon, but he needed to end this before they both got hurt. Which meant using the training he'd spent every day for over a year working on. He had to get Kon to listen to him, and he really only had one chance for that.

Moving like slow lightning, Bart struck, taking Kon down, careful not to let him slam into the the stone floor, pinning him there with a knee in the small of his back, holding his hands by the wrist. Kon would only have had to use his strength to get free back home, but here, it would be just enough.

"Dammit, Kon. I don't want to hurt you. But running won't get either of us anywhere, and I'm not going to explain to Robin or Wonder Girl that you got lost in the caves. There's people living here," Bart gritted out, wanting this to play out any other way but this. "I'm not whatever it is you think. Grife, I'm not even a speedster anymore."

[not_the_s]

"How nice for you. You sure were wearing the uniform." Kon tried to push them both off the ground. Once he was in the air, he'd have the advantage, even if he wasn't sure how Bart had managed to pin him. Except...nothing. He didn't push Bart off and he couldn't even break the grasp that Bart had on his wrists.

"Get off me, Bart!"

His panic had blossomed to full on terror. They'd taken his powers away somehow.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"I'll take you to Robin, but...this isn't right," Bart said, closing his eyes and then getting back up, backing against the wall. "I don't know where you were before this, but you aren't there now. There's no reason for us to be fighting. I'd never turn on my best friend."

He waited, watching, prepared to defend himself.

[not_the_s]

"Of course not. I'm sure you follow Superman and Batman loyally." He got to his feet quickly and backed up a few paces, staring at Bart. "What did you do? What did you do to me?"

Caves, caves. The caves at the Tower led back to...there were no caves at the Tower.

"And what have you done with Robin?" If they had Robin or anyone else, there was little that Kon wouldn't do to get them back. It was an urge that, any other time, would have scared him silly.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

"Batman would never ask me for anything. He's always thought of me as a nuisance, and you know that. That's why he named me Impulse," Bart said, shaking his head, then started back down the passage. "He should be in the clinic, working. Robin, I mean. Tim. We'll have to go upstairs. Birdbrain's better at explaining this than I could be."

[not_the_s]

"Walk in front." He didn't understand what was going on, but if Bart was going to lead him to Robin, that was all that mattered. He didn't understand. He didn't know what had happened to the Tower or why Bart wasn't running or why his powers weren't working, but he knew that he didn't trust any of it.

Except Robin.

Slowly, carefully, he followed Bart.

[goldeneyedflash.livejournal.com]

Bart nodded, knowing he didn't really have any other options. "Before I saw you, what was happening?" he asked, trying to figure this out as he led them back into the compound and towards the staircase. He had no intention of trapping them both in an elevator.

"It's been over two years for me. Since I last saw you. Besides taking away everyone's powers, this place messes with the time line."

[not_the_s]

"Oh, give up the act. You know that I saw Deathstroke." Unless Bart was just here because he was wandering where he shouldn't have been. He had let him go. Maybe he didn't know. Damn. His hands curled into fists again and he stared at Bart's back. What would Robin do? It was a question he asked himself a lot and, in this case, he was pretty sure Robin would tell him to shut up.

Two years. How long had they been...god, even the idea of him cutting off someone's arm made him sick. How long had they been torturing people? How long had he?

[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.