3rd August 07:36 GMT -5

So, yeah, I get where she was coming from. She tells Wonder Woman that she's not going to be able to work with her for a year, then a couple of weeks later I turn up."

Kon and I are on an early morning walk through Metropolis. Not completely sure what he wants from the trip. He seems to know his way around; Metropolis doesn't quite have the rigid grid of Manhattan but he's leading the way just fine. Since this is Superman's home town perhaps Cadmus included route maps in his programming? He certainly hasn't been here before in person. Maybe he's trying to reconcile what he knows with what he's seen?

No sign of Superman himself. I could do a scan for him, but this is Kon's thing. I don't want to risk harming the relationship he clearly wants to build with his… Okay, not father exactly, but I don't have a better word to describe the male source of half of someone's genes.

"It wasn't like you were waiting for her to leave."

"Not the point. She was feeling bad about the decision, and then I appeared and she had something to focus her bad feelings at."

We're walking near what the ring informs me is the Metro-Narrows Bridge. Bit of an odd name, but then I used to live in a place called Hampden Park.

Used to live. I've pretty much accepted at this point that I'm not going home anytime soon. I haven't definitely decided that I don't want to as yet, but I'm leaning towards concluding-my-life-there and holiday visits only, rather than moving back full time. I have no way to know whether the ring would work back home, and I am completely sure that I wouldn't move back without it.

"Can you… Hear that?" Kon's stopped walking. He's looking at the ground and squinting, turning his head from side to side.

"No, but if you can describe it to me I can probably scan for it."

"I don't know…" He stops trying to listen, and peers at the bridge. From what I've been able to tell Kryptonian eyes do some sort of gravity lensing thing to enable long distance vision. When active, Kon's focus becomes extremely narrow. He's basically blind apart from the thing he's looking at, and he gets a headache if you stick something in the way close to his eyes.

"Ring, scan the bridge. Report structural anomalies or explosives."

"Structural weakness detected in suspension cables around south western pylon. No significant explosives detected."

"When you say 'weakness', what-."

Oh no.

Kon's already moving as in the distance I watch two suspension cables part company with the suspender cable and slam into the road. Only pure luck prevents them from smashing into one of the vehicles and I'm not a bystander, god damn it!

Kon gets a momentary surprise as I grab him mid leap and then we're both at the site of the accident. A yellow school bus and a couple of cars have swerved to a halt near where the cables are lying. I'm momentarily puzzled as to why the cables' own weight hasn't dragged them over the edge, but then I'm no structural engineer. The front end of the bus is slightly up on the rim of the bridge, but pulling it back shouldn't be much trouble. Then a LexCorp lorry that couldn't brake in time shunts it, pushing the bus further over the rim and going out of control itself. The lorry and another white car that had managed to avoid the bus veer across the road and slam into the crash barrier.

Time to make Kon look good for Superman.

"I'll get the bus, you deal with the accident."

He nods, and I drop the construct platform we're standing on. We're only about four metres from the surface, and Kon lands easily. I fly to the front of the bus and stick a platform under the front wheels. As I work I remember not to narrow my awareness -thank you Batman's post Santa Prisca performance review- just in time to shove aside a red car that was heading for the back of the bus, and cushion its deceleration. Negative acceleration, whatever.

Fucking front engine models. I have to take a moment to look at the faces of the panicking children on board before I want it enough to lift it off the crash barrier and fully on to the road. This bridge is going to be out of commission for a few days at least but the fastest way for these people to get off is to drive off. I should be able to hold-.

There's a flash of red in the corner of my eye, and the section of bridge I'm over seems to lift slightly. OrangeVision reveals Superman underneath supporting the bridge with his strength while heat visioning the snapped girders. Is that really a good idea? Doesn't steel lose a lot of its strength above a certain temperature? I could probably have fused it myself, but I suppose this is only going to be a quick fix until the civil engineers can get in to do a survey anyway.

Oh, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Something like this is probably a weekly event around here. I drop down to just above the surface of the road. Superboy's already lifted a car that had been hanging over the other side of the bridge back onto the road. Not sure an overhead lift was really the best approach, but it's working. He's also checking on the other cars that have hit things or been hit. One took a side impact and he had to rip the door off to get the passengers out. Other damaged cars are leaking petrol and he's shepherding the people back behind the crash barrier away from the potential fire.

Right, what should I be doing next? I could try to reattach the cables, or move cars out of-.

"Nice work you're doing."

That's Superman. Superman's next to me. External underwear with pointless yellow belt, weird hair curl, truly huge muscles, -I don't care how loose his shirt and jacket are, the Planet staff must be blind not to notice that one of their reporters looks like a professional bodybuilder- pointless red cape… It's Superman.

"Thank you sir. How would you like us to proceed?"

He frowns slightly, then his gaze sweeps the bridge and alights on Kon, who appears to have the moving damaged cars out of the way thing under control. He puts a blue one down near us, freeing up several intact but trapped cars to drive away, and walks over.

Oh, am I about to be a third wheel at the most awkward father-son conference ever? Of course I am.

"Superboy."

Kon looks Superman in the eye, then drops his gaze off to the side. "I… I have a name."

Should I do something about the cables? Or maybe contact the emergency services? Someone will have already done that, right? Oh god I can't move.

"Oh? Batman didn't say anything about that. What did you choose?"

Ah shit, I didn't think about how he'd respond.

"It's…" Kon looks at him again. "It's Kon-El."

I'm not looking at Superman's face, but I feel him twitch and jerk back in the air as Kon says it.

Kon goes back to not looking at him. He turns, and takes in the bridge. In the distance I can hear the sounds of sirens as the ambulances arrive. I didn't see anyone who needed them, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to make sure.

"Did..? Did I, did we do a good job?"

I feel displaced air as Superman floats backwards. "The situation here seems to be under control."

"Well, yeah, but…"

There's a chime, and Superman raises his left hand to his earpiece.

"Superman. Wait, Arrow, slow down. What's attacking..?"

Superman turns away from Kon and myself, focusing on his conversation. Kon doesn't slump. I've noticed that about him. He gets angry first, fists clenching, muscles tensing, jaw setting. He only gets depressed after he's had time to calm down.

Superman flicks an eye back at Kon. "No, I'm definitely available. Coordinates?"

Kon can hear what Superman's saying even better than I can. He can probably hear Mister Queen's end of the conversation too. And I know he wants nothing more than for Superman to ask him to come along.

"Acknowledged."

But he isn't going to.

"On my way."

Superman turns back to us. I've drifted to just behind Kon's left shoulder. United front.

"Sorry… Superboy. Duty calls." He nods at me. "Orange Lantern."

He lifts up from the bridge and accelerates, heading south. At the near end of the bridge I can see a barricade being erected to prevent traffic. Kon's staring at the ground again.

"Aaarrrhhh!"

He crouches, then leaps up onto the nearest bridge tower, then away to the next one.

!Kon needs me!

Professionally, I know I should stay here and talk to the investigators. Personally, I'd like to go after Kon, but I doubt he wants to talk at the moment, and getting into an argument now won't help him. The ring glows brightly as my need builds with no productive channel.

Action plan, action plan. Paralysis helps no one. I need to talk to someone. Alright, New York's not far from here. Once I know this situation is under control, I can go and see if Diana's at the embassy. She's known Superman for years. She can probably suggest something.

The Themysciran embassy doesn't seem to do a lot of actual embassy work. No visas are granted -aside from very special occasions, and Diana handles those personally- and there isn't really any trade to organise. She told me that they handle some post, mostly from historians and, well, fetishists, but most of the work that goes on there is work for the women's charities that Wonder Woman founded or supports.

I bypass the outer gate by landing inside the walls, and use the ring to open the security door. The orange glow hasn't really died down on my flight over here, frustration at the delay in getting someone to take an official statement from me giving me no outlet for my drive. You'd have thought that the Metropolis police department would be more geared towards handling people like me, but apparently not.

There's a chubby blonde woman in a suit behind the desk in the small lobby. I stride towards her.

"And whawt c'n ah do fer you, sugar?"

I stop just before the desk, pausing to regain my focus and calm. "Good morning. I am Orange Lantern two eight one four. Is Her Highness likely to be available anytime soon?"

She gives me a look. What am I doing wrong? Oh! I walk right up to the desk and offer her my left hand.

"Sorry about that. Rude of me."

She looks at my hand, and frowns. "Y'know, in mah lahn o'work, y'get a mite cautious abowt touching glowin' rings."

"Oh. Right, sorry." I withdraw my left hand and offer my right instead. She looks at me for a moment before taking it.

"A'hm Etta Candy, Princess Diana's PA. Y'know, you're a good deal politer than most people who come burstin' in through those doors."

"Bursting in? Oh, whoops. Should have used the intercom, sorry, sorry."

"Not t'worry, sugar. I'll cancel the call t'the police." I cringe. She smiles. "Just mah little joke. We'll geht you a pass card so you don't feul enclah'n'd t'do that egain."

"Actually, if you could just set me up on the system? I'd be entering my code with the ring anyway."

She nods. "Diana saw y' comin' in, an' called down. Y'c'n go right urp."

"Thank you."

I smile, and take to the stairs. Ring, where's..? Right.

Two landings up and I'm outside her door. I usually hate opaque doors in places I've never been before, as it used to mean that I would have no idea whether or not I'm in the right place until after I'd opened it. Now, I can use OrangeVision and see her sitting at her desk. Useful. I step up to the door and knock twice.

"Paul, you can just come in."

I open the door.

The room is carpeted in lilac, with walls papered in a paler shade of the same colour. There are shelves and racks with what are either trophies or mementos of home. Some of it looks historical, but I suspect that the spear is still razor sharp and that the breastplate could take a hit or two. Diana herself is wearing a white chiton with some sort of lacework along the edges, and she smiles as I enter.

A thought and I shift from my medium armour to my actual formal wear: white shirt, dark grey trousers and jacket with orange pinstripes. Gotta love the Vietnamese. I'm still surprised they even had this cloth.

"Thank you for seeing me at short notice."

"That's quite alright." She pushes some papers aside and gestures for me to take the chair opposite her. "What can I do for you?"

"Kon and I… There was an accident on a bridge in Metropolis. A couple of the suspension cables snapped off. We… I mean, Superman and we, handled it. No one seriously hurt."

"That's good to know."

I didn't really think this through. What do I say to her?

"Kon tried talking to Superman, afterwards. Superman wasn't exactly rude, but he made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with him. Kon idolises Superman. He wants, more than anything else, to have some sort of relationship with him."

"Superman hasn't spoken to me about him. I know that he was gravely concerned about the work that was being done at the Cadmus labs."

"Right, and if he'd heat visionned the whole place to ash, then I'd've understood. But it seems like he's taking it out on the only guy at Cadmus whose fault it wasn't. I get that he finds it weird, but he's more prepared to spend time with complete strangers than with the only other Kryptonian on the planet."

Diana brings her hands together in front of her. "Okay, and what would you like me to do about it?"

"Could you… Please, could you try talking to Superman? Find out what his problem is? He can't just pretend that Kon doesn't exist."

Her eyes drop for a moment. "I will admit, his behavior has been a little.. uncharacteristic, where Superboy is concerned." She nods, and looks back at me. "I'll try and talk to him about it. I can't promise how he'll respond."

"I know. Thank you anyway."

"Now, would you like to explain to me why your ring is still glowing?"

Oh. That. I flap my left hand a little. "It's my need to help Kon. It's like when I wrecked his ears and didn't know how to fix them right away. I need to help Kon with Superman, but I don't know what to do."

"That seems surprisingly altruistic for the power of avarice."

I wave my right hand. "Like I said when we dealt with the Harpies, I'm not a psychopath. Kon-El is my team mate and my friend. This hurts him, so it hurts me. His wellbeing is part of my wellbeing."

"You don't feel tempted to try something more direct?"

!Superboy Mine!

"Oh, you have no idea. Before I found out about Donna I did consider asking you to take him on instead. Or if a family connection is what he's looking for, I could…"

Not sure I should talk about that.

Diana leans forward. "You could what, Paul?"

That may have been an order.

"I'm, I'm having a very hard time justifying to myself why I don't just fly him down to Kansas and introduce him to his grandparents."

Diana stiffens almost imperceptibly for a moment. Really, all that shows is a stilling of her hands and a slight tension around her eyes. Then, she forms an expression of benevolent puzzlement.

"What makes you think Superboy has grandparents living in Kansas?"

"Tracking Kryptonian spacecraft isn't that hard. Tracking materials not native to Earth is even easier. Then, match up timelines and birth records."

"So, you know..?"

"Yes."

She thinks about that for a moment, then in a stern voice asks one of the questions I was concerned about.

"Who else do you know?"

"Pretty much everyone else." My eyes drop to the desk. "Yeah, I know I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry, and if I'd known when I got to this parallel what I know now, I wouldn't have done it. But at the time, finding out, it seemed like a sensible precaution."

For a moment she says nothing.

"Be that as it may…" Her face hardens. "Orange Lantern, this is a direct order. You are not to reveal the secret identity of any League member or affiliate without an order from myself or Batman, unless you have their express permission."

I nod. "Sir."

Like I said when we dealt with the Harpies, I'm not a psychopath. Kon-El is part of my ingroup. His wellbeing is part of my wellbeing."

"You don't feel tempted to try something more direct?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

She looks at me curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Kon wants familial ties. If Superman is unwilling, there's always his Human parent."

"Doctor Desmond won't be leaving-."

I hold up a large grey hand. "Wait. You think Doctor Desmond was the source of his Human DNA?"

She frowns. "If it wasn't Desmond, then who was it?"

"Alexander Luthor."

Colour drains from her face. "What?"

"That was news? You hadn't checked? Next you'll be telling me you haven't checked him for telepathically implanted commands!"

Her face stills. Oh, for goodness sake…

"Really? You did know that he was educated entirely by telepaths, right?"

"Well, yes…"

"And you have considered the legal issues concerned with keeping knowledge of his existence from his natural parent? Particularly given his age?"

"Lex Luthor is a scheming criminal-."

"Lex Luthor is a legitimate businessman until you can prove otherwise in court. Why are you trying to give him ammunition to use against you?"

I'm not sure if Kaldur really thought it through. Clearly he knows that Wallace can move at incredible speed, but it doesn't look like he appreciated how fast his reflexes are. They've set up some sort of tactile air hockey hologram to pass the time waiting for our hand to hand combat training session with Black Canary to start. Or for Kon to get back.

We haven't heard from him. M'gann was a bit worried when I came back without him, explained what had happened and that I didn't know where he was. I could have scanned for him, but I thought it best to give him some privacy.

Everyone else is in their regular uniform, but I'm in my light armour instead. The point of this is to learn how to strike and avoid being struck, and I already know that a baseline human can hit my medium armour more or less indefinitely without doing anything but bruising themselves. The light armour is a little easier to move in and weighs less. I don't intend to wear the ring during this session; if I'm having to fight hand to hand then I've either lost the ring or run out of power. I'm more than a little nervous about getting into an arena with these people without it, but I suppose I can heal any injury after each bout.

I had thought that the fact my oath is punishment based and not literally unbreakable would be an advantage. Ultimately, it doesn't remove agency. If the need is great enough I can break it and accept the consequences. But in a case like this, not knowing if I'm about to violate an order is a bit tricky.

Everyone here knows the real names of everyone on the team bar Robin. And my surname, but that doesn't really matter. I know who Robin is, and I assume that Wallace does as well, but to be honest I pretty much think of him as Robin at this point. Kon, I think of as Kon first and Superboy a distant second. Is that a secret? He introduces himself as that, but he has a very limited social circle. If he does end up using 'Conner' as his 'Earth name', which one counts? The fact that Superman's name is Kal-El is in the public domain but most people don't know it. Would that count?

I haven't told the others that I know what I know. I suppose the fewer people who know, the better. I probably shouldn't have told Diana, but I got caught up in things and having her feel that she needed to order me to reveal information would probably have produced worse results.

Wallace is now winning twenty two to nothing. To show off to M'gann he's doing it while making a show of not really paying attention. And eating a banana. Kaldur's taking it pretty well, considering.

"Recognised, Superboy, B zero four."

Thank goodness. Practice was supposed to start at one o'clock, but the League had something big on earlier -presumably whatever Superman left to deal with- and Black Canary is a little late.

Superboy materialises in Zeta Tube A. He doesn't look any happier.

M'gann smiles at him. "Hi, Superboy. Are you ready for our training session?"

He stalks through the hockey table, causing the hologram to lose cohesion.

Black Canary and Martian Manhunter emerge from the gloom. Must have come in through the ground entrance. She clears her throat to attract our attention.

"Ready for training everyone?"

"Black Canary! Uncle J'onn!"

Not the shapeshifting telepath not the shapeshifting telepath…

Ah, thought that too loud. M'gann gives me a puzzled look before scurrying forwards to give her uncle a hug. He responds by just standing there, though I may have seen a slight smile. Maybe he doesn't convey emotions in the same way humans do?

"M'gann. I was.. in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd see how you are adjusting."

"A few bumps, but I'm learning."

I'm not sure I could take him in a confined space even with the ring. More importantly, I don't think I'd learn anything from the experience of getting my arse kicked by him without it.

"That's all I can ask."

Where'd Kon go? I turn and see him walking away from the training area. Fiddlesticks. He'll probably enjoy this if he stays. More than I will, that's for certain. With the ring I rate myself pretty highly, effectiveness wise. Without it, I'd struggle against a guard dog. I'm certainly the weakest pugilist here. M'gann isn't much better skill wise, but she can increase her strength and toughness before a fight and get an advantage that way.

Black Canary's noticed him trying to walk off too. "Stick around. Class is in session."

Kon turns back, arms folded across his chest. Truculence mode. Maybe I shouldn't have left him earlier.

Black Canary walks into the centre of the room, and the base's computer creates a circle of light covering most of the floor. The sparring area is a little larger than I was expecting. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you, everything I've learned from my own mentors,-" She doffs her jacket. There's a bandage on the middle of the upper part of her left arm. Should I offer to heal that? No, given how nervous I am about this there's no way I could want it enough to heal a potential opponent. "-and my own bruises."

Analysis of what else she's wearing? The choker looks like a bad idea, as does the long loose hair. It doesn't seem to be moving, though. Lots of hair spray or gel? Might be flammable. Her bustier doesn't look armoured. The boots look sensible. The forearm gloves and tights don't. What do these people have against sensible clothing?

M'gann voices concern about her injury. "What happened?"

I think about replying. Something along the lines of 'Her job. Ours too.' but I decide that smart mouthed is not the correct approach.

"The job."

Ah. Maybe I should have, then. Not having to carry injuries is an area where I have a definite advantage.

"Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting."

Not sure I agree with that. I'm more concerned about overextending. Letting them come to me gives me more preparation time. But, here to learn.

"I'll need a sparring partner."

By dint of tensing the muscles in my legs I manage to avoid taking a step backwards.

"Right here! Yeh!"

Wallace actually waves. He's still holding the banana. For goodness sake, man.

He walks to where she's standing in the centre of the arena. Standing in front of Black Canary, he finishes his banana. "After this:" He throws the banana peel to the bin at the side of the room. Hmm, wonder if he can pass momentum on to thrown objects, or remove it from them? I know he could in the comics… "Swish! I'll show you my moves."

Ring, tone down my embarrassment. Oh, that's better, thank you. I'm not going to complain about the age difference, but she's our teacher and he and I both know that she's in a relationship with Green Arrow. That is not on.

The 'challenge accepted' expression on Black Canary's face should tell Wallace to get his head in the game, but I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that that isn't going to happen now, and possibly not ever.

She lunges forward with right fist, he turns it aside with his left. She drops, spins, and sweeps his legs out from under him. He hits the floor hard, and a circle of light appears around him as the computer registers his loss. I'm not sure what the various components of the circle mean, but the 'Kid Flash Status: Fail' is pretty obvious. And true.

"Hurts so good."

I nearly find it in myself to admire his perseverance, but that's only because I'm not having to deal with my embarrassment any more.

"Good block."

Yes, between his ears. Wallace pushes himself into a sitting position, and Black Canary pulls him to his feet.

"But did anyone see what he did wrong?"

I tentatively raise my right hand, with the answer 'he got into close combat with a close combat specialist' on my lips. Robin is more enthusiastic.

"Ooh! He hit on teacher and got served?"

"Dude!"

"Orange Lantern?"

"Sir?"

"What do you think he did wrong?"