|
#21
OCT 11 |
 |
“Recovery”
Connor Kent lay back in the hospital bed, once again being lulled to sleep by the hum of the red sun generator the Justice League had installed in his room. Bandages still covered his shoulder from the emergency surgery to remove Deadshot’s bullet.
Jonathan Kent laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder before whispering in her ear. Martha nodded, knowing that Jonathan had to get back to the farm. She sighed. Even through all this, life still went on. She sat back in her uncomfortable chair as she kept an eye on the boy she considered her second son.
She hadn’t even realized that her eyes were closing when she felt another hand on her shoulder. “Back already, Jonathan?” she asked. She realized her mistake when she heard the gentle chuckle.
“It’s me, Ma,” Clark said. Martha stood and embraced her son. “How is he?” Clark asked as he looked at Connor.
“I don’t know,” Martha replied. “He’s sleeping a lot. He seems better when he’s awake, though.”
Clark nodded and glanced at the ceiling. “How’s the projector?” he asked.
“It seems to be working without any problems,” Martha said. “I haven’t seen any evidence that his powers are working.”
“Good,” Clark said. “We can’t have him flying down the hallway. That would be hard to explain away.”
Martha smiled. “Tell your friends in the Justice League thank you for me. I don’t think we could have gotten Connor the help he needed if not for them.”
“I will,” Clark said. His attention was drawn away as he noticed movement from the bed.
“Hey, Clark,” Connor said weakly.
Clark walked over to stand by the bed. Martha followed and sat down in a chair on the other side. “How are you feeling?” Clark asked.
“Better,” Connor said. “I might just need a few days if Doomsday’s on the loose or anything.”
Clark clasped Connor’s hand. “Don’t worry. We’ve got the League working overtime to make sure that everything’s taken care of.”
Connor chuckled. “How long till I get out of here?”
Clark sat down in a chair beside the bed. “Probably another few days. I’ve had the best doctors I know keeping an eye on your charts and they all agree that you should be able to go home soon. Just no powers.”
Connor nodded. “No problem,” he said. “I still feel like the Planet’s globe landed on me, though.”
“Good,” Clark said. He glanced at the clock. “I’ve got to get going. Staff meeting in five minutes. Take care of yourself.”
“You too,” Connor said as his eyes drifted closed again. Clark kissed Martha and quickly left the hospital through a rear entrance. Once he was outside and away from prying eyes he pulled his shirt open revealing the blue shirt with the red S underneath. An instant later he was gone.
The day drifted in a haze for Martha Kent. Doctor’s visits, Connor’s brief period of waking, daytime TV, and Jonathan’s visits began drifting into a blur. She snapped back to reality when she heard a soft knock at the door. She found herself smiling again. Only one person would knock like that.
“Come in, Kenny,” she said. Kenny Klutter walked in with a backpack.
“I’ve got Connor’s homework,” he said. “I thought he might want to try it if he feels like it. I’ve got some notes from school for him, too.”
“Thank you,” Martha said as she accepted the backpack and placed it on a table. “I’m sure that Connor appreciates your help with this.”
Kenny looked up toward the reddish glow coming from the ceiling. “They haven’t fixed his lights yet?”
Martha saw what he was looking at and thought fast. “It’s actually a new device they’re testing to keep any infection down.”
Kenny nodded. “I see,” he said. He turned as he saw someone else walking in.
A young man with black hair and a gorgeous young woman with blond hair stood in the doorway. Kenny’s heart started racing as he studied the woman’s perfect body.
“Mrs. Kent?” the man asked as he stepped inside. “I’m Tim Drake. We talked on the phone.”
“Of course,” Martha said. “How are you, Cassie?”
Cassie Sandsmark stayed silent as she stared at Connor.
Martha put a hand on Kenny’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go get a bite to eat in the cafeteria?” Martha asked. “I’d like some company.”
“Sure,” Kenny said. His mind raced as they left. If Connor was Superboy, then who were these two? His jaw dropped as it clicked. This Cassie had to be Wonder Girl. But which Titan was that Tim guy? Kenny kept trying to figure that out as Martha led him into the cafeteria.
Tim closed the door as Cassie stood by the bed. Tears were running down her face. “We were so stupid,” she said.
Tim nodded as he stepped up beside her. “We never should have done what we did,” he said. “It cost me my best friend and you your boyfriend. And it took him nearly dying for us to come back to him.”
Cassie nodded. Through her tears, she remembered what had happened so long ago…
“Tim, stop it,” she said as she pushed Tim away. She sat up on the bed and started crying. “This is wrong,” she said. “We can’t do this.” In the darkness, a video camera silently stopped recording as one of Dabney Donovan’s creatures shut it off.
Tim sat up beside her. “You’re right,” he said. He grabbed his shirt and quickly pulled it on. “We can’t do this again,” he said. Cassie nodded. “And we can’t tell Connor. It would hurt him too badly.”
“Where are you!” Connor screamed as he tore into Teen Titans headquarters. “Tim!”
Robin walked out of the library to find a furious Superboy standing in the middle of the meeting room. Plaster dust still floated in the air from the wall he’d smashed through. “Connor?” Tim asked. “What’s wrong?”
Superboy screamed as he launched himself across the room. His hands found Robin’s throat and started to squeeze. “How could you do it?” he demanded as Robin’s hands fought to try to free himself.
“Connor?” Cassie asked from behind him. “Stop it!” she screamed. She tugged at Connor’s hands and finally punched him. Connor’s hands opened and Robin fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Connor turned to her. “How could you do this?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Cassie asked. Suddenly it clicked in her mind. “Oh, no,” she said. “Connor, it was an accident.” Tears began running down her cheeks. “It just happened.”
“So did this,” Connor said. He looked at her and Robin, who’d gotten back to his knees, and felt disgust. He turned and smashed the Titans’ meeting table with one punch. “You two deserve each other. I never want to see either one of you again. You’re nothing but a slut and he’s nothing but a backstabbing piece of crap.” Connor launched into flight and started flying back toward Cadmus. Behind him, Wonder Girl tried to help Robin up only to be waved off. Connor didn’t even look back as his eyes grew damp and he started crying from his broken heart.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Cassie said. “I don’t know how he’ll react.”
Tim shook his head. “If he jumps out of that bed and kills me, it happens. I’ve got to be here. I think we’ve all run from this for too long. I want to be able to sleep again without having dreams about how badly I’ve hurt someone I care about with a minute of stupidity.”
“I just made it worse,” she admitted. “When I ran away to Paradise Island after that.”
“And he blames me for not letting him onto the team when we reformed the Titans the last time,” Tim said. “Everything just went so bad. First Bart left after what happened to Grover Adams, then this…” His voice trailed away.
Connor’s eyes fluttered as a teardrop fell and splashed on his cheek. “What’s wrong, Ma?” he slurred before his eyes opened and he realized who was standing there.
“Cassie,” he said in an emotionless voice.
“We’re both here, Connor,” Tim said. “Cassie and I really wanted to see you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Cassie gasped through her tears. She was crying hard. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
Connor sat up, wincing as he did so. “We all did our share of hurting each other,” he admitted. “Maybe we need to stop looking back and start looking forward.” Connor reached out and put an arm around Cassie, who cried into his shoulder. Connor held out his other arm to Tim, who hesitated a moment and joined in the embrace. Tim surprised himself by crying himself.
The three friends stayed like that and talked for a long time.
Later, Martha returned to the room after Kenny had gone home. “Thank you, Mrs. Kent,” Tim said as he clasped her hand. Martha noticed his eyes were red.
“It’s no problem,” Martha said. “Is everything all right?”
“It is now,” Tim said with a smile. “Cassie’s just saying goodbye now. We don’t want to overtire him.”
Martha nodded. “Tim,” she said in a low voice. “Connor told me what had happened. I’m glad that you were able to work things out.”
Tim nodded and, not trusting himself to speak, headed out into the hallway.
Andrea and Shauna were walking the other way. Shauna whistled softly as she saw Tim leaving the hospital room. “Who’s the hottie?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Andrea said. “Maybe he’s a friend from Connor’s old school.” She studied his clothes a moment. “Looks like he’s loaded, whoever he is.”
They reached the door and Andrea grabbed Shauna’s arm. Cassie was bending over Connor’s bed giving him a kiss on his forehead. “Get well soon,” Cassie whispered. “I’ll be by to see you again.”
“Looking forward to it,” Connor said.
Andrea backed up a step as Cassie turned and she saw Cassie’s face for the first time. Andrea swallowed hard as she compared herself to the living Greek goddess who stood before her and finally ran, leaving a confused Shauna behind. She ignored Shauna who started chasing her, asking what was wrong.
She ran hard into a muscular chest. “Is everything okay?” Tim Drake asked. Andrea pulled free from him and ran.
Miles away, he sat in his room, staring at a television set that was partially melted. “Wonder what’s keeping Guardian,” he said. “Thought we had power training today.”
He stood and looked around his room. He ignored the water trickling down the walls and the charred remnants of posters. “Guess I’ll go grab something to eat,” he said. “Maybe the commissary’s open. If it’s not, maybe I’ll fly down to the islands and see what’s going on out there.”
The being known as Match walked down out of the room. The memories of his torturous existence at the Slab were gone. There was only one thing he knew.
He was Superboy. Now if only he could get these headaches to stop…
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next: In Superboy #22: Connor goes back home, but what happens when he finds out about Match’s freedom? Does he stand a chance against the deranged clone when he’s not at full power?
Previous Issue | Next Issue