Disclaimer: I do not own either Young Justice or its related characters. Such are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Intrepid Reporter

Chapter One:

He had asked to spend the weekend with Lois and Clark in Metropolis because he didn't want to go back to the Cave just yet. It was better if they both had some space –to adjust. It wouldn't have been fair to make M'gann make dinner for the guy who had just ripped her heart out, torn it to pieces, stomped on it at bit and then thrown every piece into a fire. Hm, that was rather melodramatic -not like him.

But the moment he had arrived at the Lane-Kent window, the Superboy paused. He sat on Sphere, hovering just outside while he watched Lois sitting on the couch, her laptop in her lap (working on a story, of course –she was always working), Clark stood behind the couch and, casually, bent down to press a kiss to the top of Lois' ear, then her neck, then her lips. The laptop was transferred from her lap to the coffee table and she turned around, sitting on her knees to wrapper her arms around her Husband of Steel. She leaned in close to his ear and the Superboy heard her whisper, "You know what I really want right now…?"

That was enough for the Kid.

Lois and Clark had been married for seven years, long before he ever showed up. Their displays of affection had never seemed to bother him before. But tonight… so soon after his own romance had ended (by his own hand, true, but an ending all the same)… it was a bit much for the young homo-kryptonian. He asked Sphere to deposit him on the roof instead of in their living room. He wouldn't disturb them. If he had bothered to keep listening (like the voyeur he was not) instead of giving them their share of privacy, he would have heard Lois finish by muttering, "…I want you… to finish making up the guestroom for the Kid."

The Superboy sat on the concrete railing that ran the perimeter of the building's roof, his legs dangling off the side, looking out over the city. It was this way that Clark found him a few minuets later.

"Hey, little brother, I thought I heard Sphere outside a bit ago." Clark hovered in the air in front of him wearing a pair of old sweatpants and a faded old Smallville Crows T-shirt. "I could have sworn we left the window unlocked. Why didn't you tap?"

"I just… I though, you and Lois…" He stammered sheepishly.

Clark gave a gentle half-smile of understanding. He hovered over to sit beside the Kid, also looking out over the city. There was a prolonged pause before Clark finally said, "I broke-up with my red-haired girl-next-door, too."

That one sentence conveyed so much more than any long pep-talk or optimistic speech ever could. M'gann M'orzz had been to the Superboy what Lana Lang had been to Clark Kent. His first love. His redheaded girl-next-door. The first relationship he'd ever had. The first relationship he'd ever ended. The first heart he ever broke. They sat in silence for long moments, neither saying anything, neither needing to say anything. Their quiet camaraderie only broken when the sounds of an SCU car-chase drifted to their ears and they both rushed off to attend to it –Clark changing from his 'lazy clothes' into his Superman uniform in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until they returned, climbing in through the apartment window that the Kid spoke again. "I broke-up with her."

"I know."

The Superboy pulled off his commando boots and crossed the room in his socks to place the boots on the shoe rack by the front door. He arranged them neatly, then rearranged them, then arranged all the shoes there for no other reason than to have something to do with his hands. "I was the one who did the ending –me, I did it. So… why do I feel… this way?"

Clark heaved a sigh.

"Sit." He commanded, indicating the couch. The Kid did as he was told, flopping down on one of the center cushions, the one next to Clark's 'spot' (the end-cushion with his butt-imprint on it). Clark, meanwhile, ventured into the kitchen, pulled a bucket of ice cream out of the freezer, pulled two spoons out of the silverware drawer before taking up his seat. He passed a spoon to his 'little brother' before plunking the whole bucket down in the Kid's lap.

The Superboy looked at the giant ice cream pale. "Really?"

"Only way to get over a break-up." Clark supplied.

"I was the one who did the ending."

Clark made a dismissive motion with his hand. "Right now, that doesn't matter. The thing is, you've been with M'gann for four years. That's pretty much your whole life. It doesn't matter who did the ending, the point is you've lost something –something you have, quite literally, always had. You've lost something and you're mourning that loss. It's perfectly natural to feel the way you're feeling and you have every right to."

The Kid thought he should say something grateful like 'Thanks, Clark.' But the words wouldn't form in his throat. The man's statement had the bitter-sweet ring of truth and it was both a comfort and a depressant to hear. He had been with M'gann all his life. He was mourning the end of their relationship. He had every right to feel the way he was feeling. And yet… he had been the one to do the ending. Because of that, he felt a heavy weight of guilt settle over his shoulders, slither into his rib cage and coil itself tightly around his chest.

He dug into the ice cream with his spoon. The sweet, thick cream did sooth his feelings a bit. The Kid took another bite. Then another. After his fifth spoonful, the Superboy asked, "Was I right?"

Clark paused, considering his answer. Finally, he deflected. "Do you think you were right?"

"Don't do that." The Superboy glared reproachfully at him. "Don't turn the question back on me. I asked you for a reason." He took another bite of ice cream, let it melt on his tongue, then swallowed. "Please, Clark, you're the moral ruler I measure myself by."

For the first time since pulling it out of the freezer, Clark dug his own spoon into the ice cream and took one large scoop. "That's the problem, though. It's not a question of morality, at least, not directly. People are always hurt when they break-up, there's no avoiding that. The question then becomes, do they hurt less than they would have hurt in the long run if the relationship had continued." He licked the ice cream from his spoon before it could begin to melt. "Would you have continued to be happy had you stayed with her?"

Superboy thought about M'gann, about M'gann recently –about the woman she had become. How she was beginning to misuse her powers, how she appeared to be developing a schism between her 'on mission' personality and her 'at home' personality, how he looked at her sometimes and found himself wondering if he knew who she really was anymore and if he didn't, then who was this new woman he woke-up with some mornings?

There had been one fleeting moment, after he'd spoken the words to end their relationship, that he had wondered –that he had feared- she might lash out with her power. That she might rip into his mind, tear his inner webs to shreds and render him catatonic –as she had done to Psimon, as she had done to dozens of other enemies over the years. She had become darker… less forgiving… more ruthless… (Ever since Gar's mother had passed away.) She was not the same woman he'd fallen in love with and he did not like the woman she had turned into.

"…No." He finally answered. "I wouldn't have been happy if we had stayed together."

"And if one of you wasn't happy, neither of you would have been." Clark nodded. "You both would have been trapped in a loveless relationship. Kon-El, you did do the right thing."

The Kid gave a weak, half-hearted smile. "Thanks, Clark."

They lapsed into another introspective silence. Setting the ice cream bucket between them and trying not to clink their spoons together, lest the sound –loud to their ears- wake Lois whom had gone to bed while they had been out with the Metro SCU. It was when they had widdled the bucket down to half empty (or half full) that the Superboy spoke again.

"Maybe I should switch teams."

"You always have an open-invitation to join the League." Clark reminded him, eyeing the Kid quizzically. "But I wouldn't recommend leaving the Team just because of this. Sure, things will be a bit tense between you and M'gann for a while, but from what I understand it was a fairly civil break-up. You'll have a few months of awkwardness, but after a while you'll be friends again."

"No, I… I didn't mean leave the Team." The Kid back-peddled. "I'm happy there. It was slang. I guess I should know better than to try and use slang. Even after four years, I'm no good at it. I meant maybe I should quit dating girls and try for guys instead."

Clark raised an eyebrow, regarded him for a moment. Then said, "I'd say you were joking, but I don't think you know how."

"You're right. It was stupid. Forget I said anything."

Clark impaled the ice cream with his spoon and left it there. Placing a strong, comforting hand on the Kid's shoulder he said, "Listen, Kon-El, you're hurting right now and that makes you confused. You just made a huge change in your life and you're trying to adjust to that change. The truth is, you don't know what you want. You don't even know if you want anything at all. Instead of worrying about 'the next one' try figuring out who you are without a romantic partner. You've been with M'gann your whole life, why don't you give being by yourself a try for a change? Figure out who you are as an individual as opposed to half of a pair. Do you understand?"

He was a long time in answering. Then, "I think so…"

"Good. Then get to bed and in the morning, you can come on patrol with me before I head in to work."

"Okay!" He stood and crossed to the guestroom. Pausing in the doorframe, The Kid turned and asked, "Clark, we've both had 'red-haired girls-next-door'. But… what other women have you dated? You didn't go strait from Lana to Lois, did you?"

Clark sighed. "Little brother, that is a long conversation you're asking for."

"I just…" A pause for thought. "I just want to know how many you went through before you found 'the one'."

"You're asking for a number?"

A nod. "I guess. Since the actual conversation would be so 'long'."

"Don't worry about 'the one'." Clark shook his head. "If Lois were awake right now, she'd smack you and say there's no such thing as 'the one', there's just 'the one you're with' or 'the one for right now'. Don't agonize about finding someone to love you, learn to love yourself instead."

The Kid raised an eyebrow. "Did you just advise me to develop a narcissist complex?"

"No." Clark said flatly. "But as Ayn Rand once said, 'to say I love you, one must first know how to say I'."

He raised the other eyebrow. "You hate like Ayn Rand."

The older man shrugged. "I don't agree with her politics, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her pearls of wisdom."

"Ya know, Lex really likes Ayn Rand."

"He's had his pearls of wisdom, too."

…

His morning patrol with Clark was rather uneventful by Metropolisian standards. There were no out-of-control robots, no genetically altered gorillas, no imps from the fifth detention popping up to wreak havoc (although, that was due to happen some time next month), no marauding alien bounty-hunters, no alien queens looking to kidnap a mate, no time traveling hero legion stopping by to say 'hey', etc. The most that happened was that he rescued a woman from getting run over.

She was just walking out of the Daily Planet building, of all places. Dark skinned and dark haired -and pissed-off to all high holy hell. Grumbling and snarling to herself about how she was not 'still in school' and how Perry White didn't know just what talent he had turned away. Yeah. Sure.

So distracted was she, that the woman failed to notice the light had changed and ended-up walking strait out into traffic.

Enter Superboy.

Grabbing a flagpole that jutted out from the side of the building, he changed direction mid-jump and instead of pass by, landed right in the middle of the crosswalk, gathered her in his arms, and jumped to the opposite sidewalk to the accompaniment of honking horns and screeching tires. He heard no crash, though, and when the Superboy looked back the worst he saw were a few drivers shooting him the finger while shouting profanities and derogatory terms for metas.

"You saved me!" The woman beamed at him with appreciation.

He let go of her and gave a shrug. "I do that."

"I'm Tana." She extended her hand. "Tana Moon."

"Superboy." He did not shake.

"I figured it'd be something like that." A coy smile. "The shirt's kinda a give away."

He didn't know what to say to that, if it were Dick or Wally they'd probably have some witty comeback about the shirt being the Tell and not his powers or whatever. But wit was not one of Superboy's strong suits, so he said, "Well, Ms. Moon, try to be more careful when crossing the street from now on."

And then he was gone.

Clark had already changed from his Superman uniform into his 'mild-mannered reporter' guise when the Kid landed on the Planet's roof.

"Not bad." He adjusted his fedora hat.

"I'm surprised you didn't get that one, practically happening on the Planet's door-step and all."

"You were perfectly capable of handling it by yourself." He opened the roof-access door. "Besides, Superman can't be hanging out at the Daily Planet all the time."

He gave the Kid a wink and then disappeared into the building. The Superboy heaved a sigh and opened up a maintenance hatch on the underside of the large globe that crowned the Planet building. He crawled inside the hollow sphere and said, "Superboy : B-04."

"Recognized." The computerized voice answered back.

…

The subject of their break-up became a source of many awkward silences within the Team for some time. Even after M'gann had apparently moved on and began dating La'gaan, the Lagoon Boy. Superboy tried his best to ignore them and not think about it. He was trying Clark's suggestion of figuring out who he was by himself and not half of a couple.

He asked to be called 'Kon-El' or just 'Kon' rather than 'Conner'. He was aware M'gann probably saw this as a snub, but she had given him the name in her early attempts to emulate the main character from 'Hello, Megan!'. In light of their break-up and his personal project of 'self-discovery', he had started to feel like another cheap imitation every time someone called him 'Conner'.

Now the only people who still called him that were Gar, whom had gotten so used to the name he couldn't imagine him as 'Kon', and M'gann herself. Fine. She had given it to him in the first place. He viewed that small detail in the same way he viewed himself continuing to call Sphere 'Sphere' even after Wally had renamed her the 'Super-Cycle'.

Before he knew it, a year had already past.

…

When Clark left with the other Leaguers for planet Rimbor, Kon threw himself into his work. Trying to figure out the origin of the alien bomb. Discern their connection to the Light and/or Intergang. Learn their motives… the usual.

But he also made sure to keep tabs on Metropolis. With its Superman gone the city did need a bit of a baby-sitter. The Special Crimes Unit of the Metro PD was great and all, he had a high respect for Captain Sawyer and Detective Turpin who headed the SCU, but they were both ordinary humans leading squads of yet more ordinary humans. Highly trained and well equipped humans, yes. But they were just as breakable or squishable as the average Joe on the street. So, Kon made a point of dropping into Metropolis at least once a week to see how things were going.

He'd have lunch with Lois. Swing by the SCU main office and say 'Hi' to Dan and Maggie. Then spend anywhere from a few hours to an entire weekend just wandering around the city. It was during one of these weekend-long trips that it happened.

It was early morning and he was watching the sunrise from atop one of the support pillars of the Hobsneck Bridge –Lois having kicked him out of the apartment for being a '…morning person!' Lois was the only person Kon knew who could make 'morning person' sound like 'obnoxious bastard'. (But then again, Batman was the only person he knew that could make 'Superman' sound like 'dumbass'. What great family and friends Clark had –Kon could just feel the love!)

So, he had left out the window (not because he was being forcibly pushed by an irate woman in a night-shirt and Clark's boxers), and gone searching for a place to grab an apple fritter and watch the sun come up. He'd gotten his fritter at Bebbo's, then hopped on over to the bridge to watch the sunrise over the water. As the bottom of Sol's golden corona was clearing the horizon that his serine morning was shattered by the sound of revved engines, police sirens and the foreboding screech of tires –then, the high tump tump tump of a news copter.

Kon didn't have to look down to know what was going on, but sure enough, when he turned his attention to the bridge below he saw a car-chase that might have been high-speed, but the driver of the perpetrating car had made an idiot mistake by turning onto the bridge as the traffic bottlenecked, becoming slower and denser. The driver had slammed on his breaks (hence the ominous screech) and was now coasting with no control over his vehicle –leaving bold black looping tire-tracks as he did.

The news copter, a Galaxy Communications copter to be more precise, ducked in low to get a better shot of the inevitable crash and possible disaster –all the better for ratings, no doubt.

Then, a highly improbably thing occurred. The speeding car was flipped over the shoulder, went tumbling through the air and struck the tail of the news copter.

The Superboy didn't take the time to reflect that such a feat could only be physically possible in comic books, he just acted. One car, one helicopter. Driver, pilot, cameraman, and maybe a news anchor. Three to four possible victims, two vehicles, both airborne (at the moment) but falling fast. And, remember, you can't fly.

He jumped for the car first. The door came off the side like cotton-candy off its paper stick and he pulled the hysterical man from his seat, tearing the seatbelt in his rush. From the car he air-jumped to the chopper, managing to hook one hand on its foot. Again, he did not pause to reflect on the improbability of such a feat. With his other arm he lifted the driver in to its open side, shouting to the cameraman and anchor inside to 'Hold him!' Superboy managed to get a grip of the copter's other foot just as they all hit the water.

He kicked madly with his feet, trying to keep the helicopter (or at least most of it) above the surface while he swam to the nearest riverbank.

Everyone was water-logged by the time they got there, but they were alive. The camera and whatever video real it had taken was ruined, but that wasn't Kon's problem. The driver was cuffed, read his Miranda rights and carted off. Then, the news anchor had the cheek to ask him for a statement.

"Superboy! Tana Moon, GBS."

"I know. I have an edict memory." He said, taking in her soaking wet skirt and blazer, ripped stockings, one missing shoe, tossed and tangled dark hair, but bright and shining keen eyes. She somehow managed to look both a disheveled mess and yet utterly radiant all at once. The contradicting impressions gave him an odd feeling.

"Great! Do you have a statement?"

He did not answer. At least, he didn't answer her. Kon instead walked up to the helicopter pilot and said, "It's generally considered a good idea that, when you see the heroes going one way, you're supposed to go in the opposite direction. Not directly into the danger!"

The pilot just stared at him.

Tana said, "But we didn't even see you!"

Superboy looked back to her. "I was referring to the police."

…

When he returned to the Cave later that afternoon, it was to find Tim grinning like an idiot and Mal with a smirk that said, 'We know your secret.' Only, he had no secrets (at least, none that weren't already common knowledge to the Team). So, it was with confusion that he crossed his arms over his chest, lifted his eyebrows and asked, "What?"

Tim only shrugged and, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose said, "Nothing."

"Nice work at the bridge today." Mal said in that tone people use when they say one thing but are really talking about something completely different.

"Thank you?" Had he missed something?

There was a pregnant pause as if they expected him to say something more, but he had no idea what they were actually talking about or what they wanted from him. After the pause stretched into a silence in which they did nothing more than stare at him expectantly he decided it was time walk away.

"Okay, fine." The little Robin said behind him. "Don't tell us about how you got yourself an Intrepid Reporter of your very own. I see how it is."

He turned around. "What?"

With a sigh, Mal pulled up a holoscreen. It displayed a clip from the GBS morning news. Tana Moon stood on the bank of the West Metropolis River, right where he'd left her –still wet, but having somehow settled her hair (at least somewhat). She was giving a summary of the event as the actual footage had been ruined by the river and finished by saying that he, Superboy, was quoted in saying that the real heroes were the city's police.

Mal ended the clip. He grinned. "Kon, you getting a taste for chocolate?"

"What?" He still had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. They were clearly insinuating that there was some sort of 'romance' between himself and the young reporter from GBS, but he had absolutely no idea where they would get that idea. There certainly hadn't been anything in the clip they played for him to suggest as much.

"Tell us about her." Tim insisted. "You trying to get your own Lois Lane?"

"Ew! No!" Then, in a slightly more moderated tone, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

They stared at him skeptically for a few moments before remembering that it was him. The Superboy had never been very keen on subtext or subtlety. Robin replayed the last part of the clip, where she quoted him in saying that the police had been the heroes. That wasn't exactly what he had said. He was trying to reprimand the pilot for his idiocy, not praise the Metro PD for doing their jobs. None of that was even alluded to however. No, she presented his statement as if he were modestly trying to shrug off credit for his heroism and pass the recognition onto others. So, she was playing with the facts a little. That just meant her journalistic integrity was a little shifty.

When he still didn't see what Mal and Tim apparently saw they replayed the clip. They ended up making him watch it a grand total of six times before they finally gave up.

"That's it." Mal groaned. "This guy's to dense for anything to be going on."

…

Not long after that, Dick called him to personally reprimand him for being named on the news. Informed him that this was just gonna raise all sorts of questions about him, and (in semi-classical Batman paranoia) could risk exposing the whole Team. He had ended, however, by saying that if Kon was going to seek attention, doing it while both Superman and Batman were off planet and couldn't punish him was the best possible time.

…

Then Wally and Artemis called to congratulate him on getting over his break-up with M'gann. They made a point of commenting on how amusing it was that his new woman was also a reporter.

He had to tell them, through teeth gritted with irritation, that there was nothing going on between himself and the young GBS anchor, that they had only met twice and that a year had elapsed between each meeting. He also made a point of reminding them that he was trying that whole 'discover yourself as an individual' thing and that entering into a new relationship would be counter-productive to this goal.

They had both snickered into the phone at that, as if they knew some great cosmic irony that he did not. Kon hung up on them, his patience spent. He leaned against the wall in his closet-like room and called-up a holoscreen. He replayed the news clip again, examining it critically for whatever it was that everyone else seemed to be seeing that he was –apparently- blind to.

He watched her give a narrative of events. Saw the corners of her mouth turn upwards in a suppressed smile when she mentioned 'Superboy'. Noted a slight coloring in her cheeks that could have easily been from the cold water or the wind rather than any sort of emotionally triggered flush. Heard a slight undertone of pride when she misquoted his comment about the heroes being the police. He saw it, yet didn't understand what was so significant. He had saved her life after all. Smiling and blushing and speaking proudly about her rescuer were all perfectly normal and understandable. Everyone else was just being silly. Seeing something that wasn't there.

Kon closed the screen and leaned against his wall, intent on claiming his regular four hours of sleep before resuming work on the connection between the Light and the alien bomb, or hunting down any remaining Kroloteans that might be around.

But sleep did not come…

Instead, Kon kept thinking about the clip. It was beginning to bother him now. Not just because everyone else seemed intent to tease him about it, but because he still felt like there was something there he should have seen but didn't. It seemed so clear and obvious to everyone else, he was frustrated that he couldn't see it too. Dick had said it best a couple years ago, while he was still with M'gann, 'Ya know, Supey, for a guy with two different kind of vision, you're really blind.'

He replayed the clip again. Then again… and again… and again, trying to take in and absorb every possible detail from the current of the river behind her to the single strand of wet midnight hair that seemed plastered to the java skin of her cheek. Finally, he had to conclude that it wasn't anything visual. Kon closed his eyes and replayed the clip yet again, this time only listening to the sound of her voice. Still, he could not see what was so significant. He had no idea why everyone was grinning and jeering as if they'd caught him making out with her in the Cave's broom closet.

…

It didn't hit him until the following morning.

It wasn't her suppressed smile or her subtle blush, or the sparkle of her dark eyes –although, all those things did contribute. It was her portrayal of him as a whole. She had made him seem selfless and modest, compassionate and sensitive to the other responders to the incident. In short, she made him sound better than he actually was –in general- she painted a picture of him as a better person. It was something he'd noticed in Lois' early writings about Clark one time when he'd been leafing through a scrapbook of her articles. Clark had said that was how he (any everyone else not living under rocks with their hands over their eyes) knew that Lois Lane of the Daily Planet had a thing for Superman from Krypton. What was the exact word Clark had used…? 'Smitten'?

Tana Moon of Galaxy Communications was smitten with Superboy.

…