Chapter Text
"And you'll just ignore their warning?" Debbie huffed, crossing her arms at your stubbornness.
"What's he gonna do, mom? Shoot me?" While the concept was funny to you, the frown on Debbie's face was enough to know your humor wasn't shared. "It'll be fine. How many times have I gone back to Gotham without them knowing?"
"They weren't watching before-"
"They aren't watching now. You heard Slade, they're chasing fairytales, and he theorizes it's about me because he hangs out too much with the paranoid king Alexander Luthor." Calling Lex the paranoid one, like you haven't been James Doakes-level paranoid about Nolan before.
The older woman returned the hug when your arms wrapped around her.
"I'll be fine. Don't you trust me, ma?"
"I trust you, sweety. I don't trust them. You can't look me in the eyes and tell me they've been the most mentally sane, emotionally stable people as of late." She pulled away to look at you, taking in the woman you've become, aching for the times when you and Mark were still little kids. "I'm your mother. I worry, it's my job, I signed up for it willingly. At least make fewer trips to Gotham- Jason and the buildings won't collapse."
When have they ever been stable? You don't remember any moment where the house wasn't full of tension or arguments, and the little night of trying to bond always seemed to end with them screaming at each other. But then again, they never bothered including you, so maybe those are just the ones you caught.
"Mom-" You didn't want to think about them. "I'll try. I can't promise, but I'll try to lower the number of trips to Gotham."
"Can we go now?" Both women side-eyed the man, and Thragg just stared right back. "The dish is getting cold."
The viltrumite had insisted on carrying everything, from the bags to the gifts and the bucket-sized tableware of slow-cooked pork made just for good ol' grandpa Morgan.
"The ice cream is melting too."
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Country life is peaceful.
Peaceful but busy, and that was what Conquest had needed. The peace of finally existing without the need to prove himself, without the need to fight until he passed out and bled everywhere, without having everyone tense around him- it was something he couldn't name, but he knew from the smiles on your face, on his therapist's face, that it was something good.
But he was still a soldier at heart. It's what he's always been.
He wouldn't quite call it "taking orders" when it came to the Kents, it was mutual. A symbiotic relationship, if you will. They asked, he did because he can. He asked, and they did out of the goodness of their hearts. They call him "friend", and his heart aches, his intestines warm up, and he has to bite the inside of his cheeks to fight the smile that each day seems to slip between his restraints.
Conquest was Morgan now. The family friend, the helpful neighbor, the grandfather, and the mentor.
He was Morgan because he finally could. Because you allowed him such commodities, and he had to repay you. You, whom he could roughhouse with, your exterior as tough as he was. Stronger than he could ever be. But your heart was soft. Like the fluffy pillow Dog had taken ownership of, like the warm flannel you'd gifted him, and like the thick duvet Martha had insisted on him having.
Morgan was still a viltrumite, deep in his bones, in his DNA.
And he knew none of his kin could take care of your naive, hopeful heart. Not like it should be, not like you deserve after giving him a chance out of everyone in the universe. You'd opened your arms to him, stood tall while advocating for him, and he'd do everything to keep you still standing tall and proud, with a smile on your face.
Thragg can't change, won't change, there's no mercy or care in that wannabe king, and Morgan will die on that hill. There's no changing those who don't want to be changed.
You needed a loyal dog to fight for your dreams, not a master to dim your light, and Kon-El was eager to be just that.
Morgan doesn't care how aware the boy is of his opinions of him, but Kon knows that Morgan only wants what's best for you. And that's a common goal. You. Your happiness, but mostly just you. Kon also knows there's something wrong with him when it comes to you, and he knows Morgan sees it above everyone else.
But it's just love.
Kon-El loves you, and his family may think it's just a harmless crush, but Morgan has seen it for what it was. And he so kindly offered to help him hone some things Clark didn't even know about himself. He's gotten faster, stronger, smarter- Lex would be fuming with jealousy that he couldn't make him into the weapon he was willingly becoming just for one person.
He couldn't ask Clark, the man believes he's unc' Clarky now, but he was still shady in your eyes. Going to Lex wasn't an option either, he'd rather eat kryptonite than give that man an inch- that and Kon was quite sure he'd go running to you the second his bald ass could. Morgan's offer came to both him and Jon. A friendly, fatherly thing to hide the lie beneath, worry about their terrible form while helping farm the land, and their struggle after just a few hours.
Young Jon remained unaware and came on and off to these training sessions. Kon was clinging to them as if they were the only thing that kept him alive.
It was a privilege in Kon's eyes. After all, he was hanging out with one of the few you considered family, someone who also knew what he was talking about, someone who had met Kryptonians before Superman was even born, who had fought them and survived. But he grasped his words the easiest. Slips, Kon called them. About you, about Morgan's worries, about what type of person the old alien would be proud to see by your side.
Morgan would say he's been manipulating him.
A soft sigh there, a little information about you, a well-placed frown, and a better feign of distrust of the young man as he spoke about Bruce Wayne and his horde. Soon enough, Kon came to him, angry about his friends, crying because they couldn't understand, because Timothy couldn't stop crossing boundaries with you, meaning it would only be a matter of time before the old robin crosses him again as well.
Kon would say the older man finally pulled the veil he's been tied into.
His supposed friend saw his love as something he should be concerned about, that it's obsessive and overprotective- but to him, it was just how Clark felt about Lois. Kon wasn't blind to his devotion to you, someone he barely talked to, and he sure had moments of lucidity where he sat awake in the middle of his bed staring into the darkness and wondering what he was doing planning a future with someone who distrusts him. But those were just moments.
You and he were meant to be.
Morgan thought so, his mom too, and Clark won't have any complaints, he'd even happily walk you down the aisle if needed, Kon was sure- that is, if you wanted that type of wedding- maybe just signing the papers at the courthouse would be more your style? That would give you both more time for the honeymoon… He should be noting all this down-
"You're sweating." Kon stopped patting himself down to find his phone when Morgan spoke up.
"I'm not." The young man pouted, and Morgan just grunted, completely unfazed as he kept rocking on the swing chair placed on the porch.
Dog, sitting guard on the man's foot with its tongue out, gave a delayed bark as the flash of green ended, and you and Thragg walked up the few steps. His tiny body shook as he wagged his tail, whining when you moved from cooing over him to greeting his dad.
"Glad to see you haven't forgotten about me." Morgan huffed, tightening the hug just a bit before letting go.
"You say this every day." You groan.
"It's what every grandparent says in those shows. I think it's fun." He brushed you off with a cackle, his eyes drifting to Kon, who straightened his back and stood taller. "You know-" he turned you to face the younger alien. "He and the Kents have been of great help while you were off and about." His hand squeezed your shoulder when he caught your gaze hardening, lip curling at the sight of the young man. "Great friends." Your head snapped to Morgan, and he immediately followed up with the names of the elderly Kents.
"I meant it when I said I'll take care of him." Kon smiled, moving past Thragg like he wasn't even there, bumping his shoulder for good measure- and Morgan's fingers twitched, and breath hitched.
While you became preoccupied with the smiling, hope-core punk, Conquest carefully kept his eyes on the Regent. Every bone in his body always rattled just at the thought of him- a primal fear that shouldn't exist, not to their kind.
They were the predators, the Apex of every species.
The propaganda they've been fed for millennia, the tales he knew weren't true. He's known the Kryptonians were stronger- the ones before the fall, anyway. But he believed it with every fiber of his body when it came to his leader.
Morgan straightened his back when Thragg moved closer, and his eyes lowered.
However, the prince barely acknowledged him. Merely gave him the gift you and your mother had insisted on bringing the soldier before moving past him to where his eyes were drilling holes.
"You must be Super-boy." Thragg ignored the small flinch you gave at his unexpected touch on your back.
"It's Super-Man-"
"Cecil's information must be outdated then. A shame. He's set on us knowing the heroes and protectors of Earth." He looked at you, deliberately turning his back to the glowing eyes of the Kryptonian. "I'm not impressed with your colleagues."
"I'm not impressed with the Viltrum mustache, yet, here we are." You roll your eyes, and Kon snickers.
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"Wait… I can't believe you lost track of two of your children- is it the biological thing?" Jason cackled over the coms, and Bruce just rubbed at his eyes. "Do you just know they're yours biologically, and something in you wakes that says you have to be a deadbeat?"
"Don't try to pivot! You sent my exes after me!" Dick almost crawled on the desk to yell at the pixilated image of him.
"And father didn't lose me." Damian's voice made everyone look in his direction. "I deliberately went out of my way to evade his knowledge of my whereabouts." Jason just snorted.
"I sent them to check on my sister, because I can't leave without someone breathing down my neck and throwing a tantrum, you himbo- I can't even call you that, you don't respect women!" The crime lord took in a deep breath, not responding to Richard's following angry hiss. "And where were you anyway, you little demon? Trespassing again?"
"I was invited to talk with Stedman. He'll pay for my school and housing." Everyone ignored Bruce's offended look.
"In exchange for your soul, I assume?" Jason asked drily.
"In exchange for updates on everyone's whereabouts, which I'm more than willing to give."
Tim rolled his eyes. "Great way to stab us in the back."
Damian slowly turned to look at the young man, staring him down with his glowing green eyes. "Says you. How's that little score board of yours going, Drake?"
"…Long gone." Timothy sank into his chair even deeper than he already was. "No point in it now. We're digging a hole we won't be able to crawl out of. We're done for."
"You don't know for sure." Bruce and Dick synced in thought.
Cassandra remained quiet, like always, while Jason's hum rang through the room. He'd stopped trying to reason with them a while ago, and she could see why. But they were out of options. What else could they do? Talk it out? It'll be a cold day in hell before Bruce decides to let his feelings out in the open, and Ragnarok would start before you willingly listen to them.
"You do this- whatever it is- and you can kiss goodbye to whatever drop of amity everyone still holds for you." Nobody gets to respond to Jason. He ended the call before they could even try to come up with an excuse.
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Talia had been silently watching you and the viltrumite interact for the better part of an hour out of the 16-hour flight, leisurely leaning against the expensive leather seats of the private jet she'd insisted on taking, and delighting herself in the goodies the crew prepared.
She wouldn't say that you two are bickering, but the man clearly didn't know when to stop asking more and more questions about the strangest things. Or he didn't want to stop.
It was entertaining.
"I don't know. I don't know everything, Thragg, but I'm sure that if you ask April, she'll know or will look into it for you." Your exasperation was clear as you immediately shushed the man, your hand moving to cover his mouth. "Aren't you tired? It'll be a long flight. We should take a nap." Thragg just raised an eyebrow.
"We could have been there in a matter of seconds."
"Yes, but it's rude to come unannounced." Talia smiled at the man's glare. "Besides, you're not coming as enemies. There's no reason for unnecessary surprises." Her eyes moved back to you. "I'm glad you accepted. My father will be so pleased to finally meet you. After all, meeting another who is immortal is still such a rare treat."