Chapter 42

-[Dante]-

The initial panic was over and luckily, no one got hurt. Unfortunately, nobody was able to figure out how it happened, except Dante but there was no way he would admit to destroying a national monument.

Fortunately or unfortunately , another leaguer was called in to investigate so Dinah didn't need to leave.

The three blonds were currently seated in the living room area. Dinah sighed as Dante and Oliver stared at each other in silence.

"First off, I want to say I'm sorry…to both of you." She said.

"You don't have anything to apologize for." Dante countered but the woman shook her head.

"Yes I do. When you came along, I was so happy about finally being able to have a family that I started pushing a lot of things away to hold onto that dream. You aren't to blame." She added the last part as he was about to talk.

"I don't regret taking you in but I don't want to have to choose between the two men in my life. I can't do that. It's not fair to either of you."

Dante and Oliver shared a glance before turning back to Dinah who looked down, not meeting their eyes.

Dante sighed, he felt responsible for all of this. If he had left rather than staying with the sidekicks when the league came, Dinah and Oliver's relationship wouldn't have soured.

Though he thought that, he didn't regret all of it. He was happy to have a mother who actually cared about him. If he didn't stay, he wouldn't have met her and he certainly wouldn't have met Zatanna.

"It's more my fault than yours. If I hadn't intruded into your lives, this wouldn't be happening. I'm sorry." He may be stubborn sometimes but even he knew when to apologize.

Dinah put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle smile.

Oliver rubbed his neck as he began speaking. "I'm sorry too. I guess I overreacted a bit. He didn't ask to be created and you wanted a child so badly. I should have tried to see it from your perspective."

"I was just mad that we weren't spending much time together anymore but I still want us to be together. We can have the family you always wanted."

As he said that, Dante saw Dinah's eyes tear up as Oliver got up to sit beside her as opposed to where he was sitting opposite them.

Dinah composed herself, not allowing the tears to fall but that didn't stop her from accepting the hug that Oliver offered.

"Sheesh, get a room." Dante complained as he saw them about to kiss.

"Hey!" Oliver complained, a laugh coming from Dinah.

"You're one to talk. I'm sure there's a lot Zatara would want to know." Dinah said with a knowing smile.

Dante paused, his eyes narrowing. "How did you-"

"Please, I'm a woman and a therapist. Zatanna is practically glowing with happiness." She answered.

The kiss between Dante and Zatanna wasn't mentioned to any of the leaguers in their report and for good reason.

Oliver had a shocked look as he brought up a hand to cover his mouth. "You and Zatara's daughter? You're so dead when he finds out." The man laughed at his expense.

Dante huffed. "Whatever. And I am not calling you papa." He said with a frown, causing the man to laugh even harder.

•••

Another thing he missed while he was absent was that Superboy had gotten a name; Conner Kent. Seeing as how M'gann picked it, it wasn't any different.

The only difference was that Superboy now probably knew that Superman's last name was Kent. Probably.

"So what are we doing here?" Conner asked as he and Dante stood in the mission room.

The others were off doing their own thing in their respective cities or homes and M'gann was in the kitchen.

"Well first off…" Dante trailed off, pulling out a pair of glasses and throwing them to Conner. "Glasses, just like I promised."

Conner gave him a dry look, remembering Dante's comment during their last mission. "Hilarious." He said sarcastically before frowning. "These are shades!"

Dante ignored that as he continued. "The second matter is more important. We're going to be doing mental exercises."

"Mental exercises? Wouldn't it be something that would benefit the whole team?" Conner said, in confusion at why he was the only one here.

"Normally that would be the case but this is a bit different. This is more tailored to you than anyone on the team." Dante explained.

"It still doesn't explain why I'm the only one doing this." Conner said stubbornly only for the serious look in Dante's eyes to catch him off guard.

"This may be a key factor in you gaining your full powers." The seriousness he said it and the content of his words stunned Conner into silence.

Though the clone hid it well, he was more than miffed about how much weaker he was compared to Superman. Hearing that there was a chance for him to gain the powers he hadn't developed was more than shocking.

"You're serious?" He asked cautiously.

"I don't want to get your hopes up but I have an idea that could make it possible. At best, you'll gain your full powers and at worst, you'll gain the ability to fly." Dante didn't rush as he spoke, allowing Conner to digest what he was saying.

"Conner, do you trust me?" He asked, the single question carrying more weight than anything he'd said so far.

It didn't take long for Conner to give an answer, nodding in affirmation. "I trust you."

"Then let's get started."

-[Later]-

-[Cadmus]-

Some distance outside the building, a blue portal opened up as a camouflaged Dante flew out of it. As the portal closed, he shifted his density, sinking into the ground and moving towards the building.

Even while underground, his visual perception still spread above ground, allowing him to navigate his moment.

He wasn't joking when he said he had a way to grant Superboy his full powers. Luthor did it by giving him patches that temporarily suppressed his human DNA, granting him the full Kryptonian set of powers.

If there was anyone who would be skillful at genetic engineering, it would be the very people who created Conner and himself.

He navigated his way to a lab where a bespectacled African-American woman with brown hair was working.

Amanda Spence, one of the scientists who had a hand in his creation. Still underground, he reached deep into her mind with his telepathy. He was confident that he wouldn't shatter her mind but he still had to be careful.

He had spent the last hour, traveling around a few cities and visiting their top geneticists to download their knowledge before coming here. He carefully filtered that knowledge into her mind, watching as the woman froze.

Luckily, nobody noticed her reaction as he neatly organized the batch of info to avoid clustering and overlapping.

After that was done, he reached deeper into the part of her mind that governed her subconscious actions, adding an objective for her to fulfil.

What he was doing was morally wrong but it was for the greater good. Cadmus was the one place that he knew had the equipment to quickly put together a more permanent solution to suppress Conner's human DNA.

He put that goal in her mind as well as a subconscious order to hide it from everyone until she was finished.

The side effects of the patches that Luthor was originally supposed to give him were a spike in rage and irrationality. That was why he had Conner doing mental exercises so that he would be able to control his rage when Spence would finally find a way.

If Spence couldn't do it, he could attempt to connect Conner to the nexus, possibly granting him telekinesis that he'd be able to use to fly and augment his strength.

When he was done with his addition and modifications, Spence continued her work like nothing happened.

Dangerous times were coming and he needed strong allies he could count on among the team, even if he had to make them.

With his objective fulfilled, he exited the same way he arrived, leaving no evidence of his presence.