Conner Has Two Daddies (and a Robot Nanny) [15/??]
Conner Has Two Daddies (and a Robot Nanny)
Main Characters: Superboy/Conner, Booster Gold / Michael Jon Carter, Blue Beetle II / Ted Kord
Pairings: Booster/Ted
Rating: K+
Warnings: shameless WAFF and Boostle slash
Summary: Superman won't become a parent for Superboy, so when other heroes step up to take the responsibility, there aren't many objections. Well, other than the fact that the parents-to-be are Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.
Notes: For the YJ anon meme prompt: Superboy get somehow adopted/mentored by someone who is not Superman. Who then turns out to be TOTALLY AWESOME at being a parent/mentor. Happy fun adopted family times a must.
Original post here.
Chapter notes: There's now promotional art of the story!
Previous Chapters
Still having some unanswered questions concerning Superboy’s adoption, Clark decided to wait for Bruce to arrive on the Watchtower. It would be a lot easier to get answers out of his friend than it would be from Booster.
When Bruce did finally arrive through the teleporter, it seemed that the other man instantly knew what Clark wanted out of him, as he signalled for the Kryptonian to follow him to his own personal lab, where they both knew they could have their talk without feeding the rumour mill on the Tower.
“You got here earlier than expected,” was the first thing Bruce said to Clark once the two men were settled in the lab. Clark responded with a bemused look at his friend.
“Is that your way of apologising for not giving me a heads up?” the Kryptonian queried with a quirked eyebrow. Bruce actually did look somewhat apologetic and Clark sighed. “How did it happen anyway?”
“Booster and Beetle approached me with the idea some months ago,” Bruce confessed. “I agreed to a trial period.” It was hard to tell with the cowl, but Clark knew his friend well enough to recognize the miniscule slumping of shoulders that signalled Bruce’s version of apologetic body language. “It was surprising when they came to me wanting to draft up the adoption papers.”
In other words, Bruce had miscalculated how far the situation would advance and how quickly. It was unexpected of someone like Bruce, who was always on top of things, but it was also harder to keep track of personal affairs, especially other people’s feelings.
“So what? They just suddenly decided to become a family?” Clark asked the question half-jokingly, but the put-upon frown that appeared on Bruce’s face told him just how close home he had hit.
“I couldn’t exactly tell them that they’d have to wait until I told you about all this,” Bruce pointed out and Clark chuckled at the thought.
“I can’t imagine they would have reacted well to that,” the Kryptonian conceded. He rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward gesture, wishing to ask Bruce for a favour while embarrassed over having to ask such a thing in the first place.
Bruce caught on to the body language easily and spoke out: “Was there still something?”
“Yeah.” Clark nodded. “This situation…can you…keep me updated?” He cringed when he saw the blank stare Bruce gave him and released a heavy sigh. “Don’t ask. Just, can you do this for me?” He looked at his friend imploringly. “I feel like I should know.”
A frown settled on Bruce’s face, easily noticed by Clark’s heightened senses, and the man hummed in that manner he usually did whenever thinking something over. Finally, Bruce straightened his shoulders, having reached a decision he wouldn’t willingly budge from, and spoke: “To a certain degree.”
It was incredibly vague, an answer which’s meaning and content Bruce could alter whenever he so wished. But, it still wasn’t a ‘no’. Clark nodded.
“Thanks.”
“Is that all?” The displeased edge to Bruce’s voice signalled to the Kryptonian that he was about to overstay his welcome. He flashed the other male a quick smile.
“That’s all.” Clark turned to leave the room, only to pause when another thought crossed his mind. He turned back to Bruce, who had actually crossed his arms in the kind of signal of impatience he would only allow among close friends.
“One more thing,” Clark said and grinned sheepishly when the corners of Bruce’s mouth tightened. Then he smoothened the expression to show that the next part was important. “You didn’t tell Booster my secret identity, did you?”
The Leaguers knowing each other’s secret identities was a fairly recent development, one that Clark hadn’t yet joined in on, and neither had Bruce as far as he knew. But, there were only a handful of members who knew either of their civilian names and not many of those would interact with Booster in a way that might bring them up.
However, the look on Bruce's face was all the answer he needed and he glanced away from the disapproving glare. "Sorry," he mumbled, deciding that he should let the matter rest for now. He could ask Booster about it later, once they weren't so awkward around each other anymore.
---
"All in all it went really well," Booster finished. He and Ted were sitting on their living room couch while Ted turned his hand this way and that between his hands, checking for any breaks or sprains, so Booster had taken the chance to recount the day's events. The brunet's eyes lifted from the bluish skin to meet Booster's own as Ted gave Booster a deadpan look.
"So you're saying getting into a fist fight is 'going well'?" Ted asked disapprovingly. Booster merely grinned back at him.
"I consider it a bonus."
“Booster,” Ted groaned, rubbing his right hand against his face, the left one still grasping Booster's own. “I can’t believe you just…” The hand fell away and the brunet shot a glare at the taller male. “That’s something I’d expect from Guy, not you.”
“Actually, Guy was pretty disappointed that he didn’t get to see it,” Booster said cheerily, but quickly quieted down at the look on Ted’s face. "It's okay, Ted, I swear. We really did talk and reach an agreement." The blond reached out to pat his partner's knee and leaned his head forward to bump his forehead against Ted's. "You know, like adults."
The last statement had the desired effect when Ted released a few helpless chuckles and Booster smiled gently at the other when their eyes met again. The mood had calmed, and Booster felt he could breach a new topic of conversation.
"You know, Tora asked me if we'd given any thought to picking out any possible godparents," the blond prompted and Ted's expression immediately turned into an awkward cringe.
"I hope you didn't promise her anything," Ted immediately said. "Because, well, as much I know she'd love it, we'd automatically get Guy as surplus and I'm really not on board with that."
"I didn't say anything, stop worrying." Booster patted Ted's knee again. "I kind of had a thought on it that I wanted to share with you first."
The look on Ted's face was both stern and suspicious. "I'm not sure how I should feel about you having something figured out already."
"This is a good idea, I promise." Booster flashed Ted a quick smile. "I was considering Karen."
Ted's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but not disagreeably. In fact, the brunet seemed to be almost intrigued by the suggestion and Booster smiled winningly.
"We are raising a Kryptonian here," the blond said with a shrug. "And she's already been a big help with planning Conner's lessons." There was also the fact that the woman was another Kryptonian surprisingly distant with Superman, but Booster didn't know how to mention it without it sounding absolutely terrible.
"It is a good idea," Ted conceded. "She's the best candidate, considering our connections." The brunet rubbed his chin, clearly impressed with how well it all fit together. With the shared interest in developing technology Kord Omniversal and Starrware Industries had become rather closely tied business partners in the last year.
"Great." Booster nodded eagerly, until he remembered another thing he was supposed to say to Ted. The brunet immediately noticed his sudden mellowing out and frowned forebodingly.
"What is it?" the inventor queried in a tone that made it clear that he was already expecting bad news.
Booster tried to grin, which probably came across more like a grimace with the way Ted flinched, and said: "Bea’s going to drag Guy and Tora over to meet Conner next weekend.”
Ted’s face was already scrunching up with denial and Booster pressed on: “She’s got it into her head that Conner’s their honorary nephew or something. I don’t think we can stop her. Remember that housewarming party last year?”
“Yes, I remember,” Ted spat out from between grit teeth. “That’s why I’m against it.”
“Come on,” Booster wiggled his eyebrows playfully, trying to get his partner to loosen up. “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
Ted turned away from Booster, covering his eyes with his hand. “Guy could do pretty much anything.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” Booster reassured the other. “Tora is always going on about how good Guy is with kids. She wouldn’t outright lie, so I think Guy really does treat kids better than adults.” The blond waited until Ted met his gaze again and gave the other a grin, this one much more successful than the last.
Finally, the brunet chuckled and raised a brow at Booster. “I’m starting to think you want them over.”
“What can I say? I want Conner to like our friends.” Booster shrugged. “After all, we’re all family.”
“Yeah,” Ted agreed reluctantly. “One, big, happy, dysfunctional family.”
---
Author’s Notes: I noticed that in the show, the heroes act incredibly skittish even around each other (with the whole Batman forbidding Robin from telling anyone his real name and so on), so I developed this head canon that the “newer” heroes are a lot more into the whole community thing and trust each other with their identities more easily.
Also, sorry about this chapter. It's really late since I refused to post it until it flowed the way I wanted it to. I also have some future ideas I’d like everyone’s opinion on. I'm thinking of actually converting the show’s storyline into this verse, see what would go differently. Would people be interested in reading that?
Main Characters: Superboy/Conner, Booster Gold / Michael Jon Carter, Blue Beetle II / Ted Kord
Pairings: Booster/Ted
Rating: K+
Warnings: shameless WAFF and Boostle slash
Summary: Superman won't become a parent for Superboy, so when other heroes step up to take the responsibility, there aren't many objections. Well, other than the fact that the parents-to-be are Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.
Notes: For the YJ anon meme prompt: Superboy get somehow adopted/mentored by someone who is not Superman. Who then turns out to be TOTALLY AWESOME at being a parent/mentor. Happy fun adopted family times a must.
Original post here.
Chapter notes: There's now promotional art of the story!
Previous Chapters
Still having some unanswered questions concerning Superboy’s adoption, Clark decided to wait for Bruce to arrive on the Watchtower. It would be a lot easier to get answers out of his friend than it would be from Booster.
When Bruce did finally arrive through the teleporter, it seemed that the other man instantly knew what Clark wanted out of him, as he signalled for the Kryptonian to follow him to his own personal lab, where they both knew they could have their talk without feeding the rumour mill on the Tower.
“You got here earlier than expected,” was the first thing Bruce said to Clark once the two men were settled in the lab. Clark responded with a bemused look at his friend.
“Is that your way of apologising for not giving me a heads up?” the Kryptonian queried with a quirked eyebrow. Bruce actually did look somewhat apologetic and Clark sighed. “How did it happen anyway?”
“Booster and Beetle approached me with the idea some months ago,” Bruce confessed. “I agreed to a trial period.” It was hard to tell with the cowl, but Clark knew his friend well enough to recognize the miniscule slumping of shoulders that signalled Bruce’s version of apologetic body language. “It was surprising when they came to me wanting to draft up the adoption papers.”
In other words, Bruce had miscalculated how far the situation would advance and how quickly. It was unexpected of someone like Bruce, who was always on top of things, but it was also harder to keep track of personal affairs, especially other people’s feelings.
“So what? They just suddenly decided to become a family?” Clark asked the question half-jokingly, but the put-upon frown that appeared on Bruce’s face told him just how close home he had hit.
“I couldn’t exactly tell them that they’d have to wait until I told you about all this,” Bruce pointed out and Clark chuckled at the thought.
“I can’t imagine they would have reacted well to that,” the Kryptonian conceded. He rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward gesture, wishing to ask Bruce for a favour while embarrassed over having to ask such a thing in the first place.
Bruce caught on to the body language easily and spoke out: “Was there still something?”
“Yeah.” Clark nodded. “This situation…can you…keep me updated?” He cringed when he saw the blank stare Bruce gave him and released a heavy sigh. “Don’t ask. Just, can you do this for me?” He looked at his friend imploringly. “I feel like I should know.”
A frown settled on Bruce’s face, easily noticed by Clark’s heightened senses, and the man hummed in that manner he usually did whenever thinking something over. Finally, Bruce straightened his shoulders, having reached a decision he wouldn’t willingly budge from, and spoke: “To a certain degree.”
It was incredibly vague, an answer which’s meaning and content Bruce could alter whenever he so wished. But, it still wasn’t a ‘no’. Clark nodded.
“Thanks.”
“Is that all?” The displeased edge to Bruce’s voice signalled to the Kryptonian that he was about to overstay his welcome. He flashed the other male a quick smile.
“That’s all.” Clark turned to leave the room, only to pause when another thought crossed his mind. He turned back to Bruce, who had actually crossed his arms in the kind of signal of impatience he would only allow among close friends.
“One more thing,” Clark said and grinned sheepishly when the corners of Bruce’s mouth tightened. Then he smoothened the expression to show that the next part was important. “You didn’t tell Booster my secret identity, did you?”
The Leaguers knowing each other’s secret identities was a fairly recent development, one that Clark hadn’t yet joined in on, and neither had Bruce as far as he knew. But, there were only a handful of members who knew either of their civilian names and not many of those would interact with Booster in a way that might bring them up.
However, the look on Bruce's face was all the answer he needed and he glanced away from the disapproving glare. "Sorry," he mumbled, deciding that he should let the matter rest for now. He could ask Booster about it later, once they weren't so awkward around each other anymore.
---
"All in all it went really well," Booster finished. He and Ted were sitting on their living room couch while Ted turned his hand this way and that between his hands, checking for any breaks or sprains, so Booster had taken the chance to recount the day's events. The brunet's eyes lifted from the bluish skin to meet Booster's own as Ted gave Booster a deadpan look.
"So you're saying getting into a fist fight is 'going well'?" Ted asked disapprovingly. Booster merely grinned back at him.
"I consider it a bonus."
“Booster,” Ted groaned, rubbing his right hand against his face, the left one still grasping Booster's own. “I can’t believe you just…” The hand fell away and the brunet shot a glare at the taller male. “That’s something I’d expect from Guy, not you.”
“Actually, Guy was pretty disappointed that he didn’t get to see it,” Booster said cheerily, but quickly quieted down at the look on Ted’s face. "It's okay, Ted, I swear. We really did talk and reach an agreement." The blond reached out to pat his partner's knee and leaned his head forward to bump his forehead against Ted's. "You know, like adults."
The last statement had the desired effect when Ted released a few helpless chuckles and Booster smiled gently at the other when their eyes met again. The mood had calmed, and Booster felt he could breach a new topic of conversation.
"You know, Tora asked me if we'd given any thought to picking out any possible godparents," the blond prompted and Ted's expression immediately turned into an awkward cringe.
"I hope you didn't promise her anything," Ted immediately said. "Because, well, as much I know she'd love it, we'd automatically get Guy as surplus and I'm really not on board with that."
"I didn't say anything, stop worrying." Booster patted Ted's knee again. "I kind of had a thought on it that I wanted to share with you first."
The look on Ted's face was both stern and suspicious. "I'm not sure how I should feel about you having something figured out already."
"This is a good idea, I promise." Booster flashed Ted a quick smile. "I was considering Karen."
Ted's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but not disagreeably. In fact, the brunet seemed to be almost intrigued by the suggestion and Booster smiled winningly.
"We are raising a Kryptonian here," the blond said with a shrug. "And she's already been a big help with planning Conner's lessons." There was also the fact that the woman was another Kryptonian surprisingly distant with Superman, but Booster didn't know how to mention it without it sounding absolutely terrible.
"It is a good idea," Ted conceded. "She's the best candidate, considering our connections." The brunet rubbed his chin, clearly impressed with how well it all fit together. With the shared interest in developing technology Kord Omniversal and Starrware Industries had become rather closely tied business partners in the last year.
"Great." Booster nodded eagerly, until he remembered another thing he was supposed to say to Ted. The brunet immediately noticed his sudden mellowing out and frowned forebodingly.
"What is it?" the inventor queried in a tone that made it clear that he was already expecting bad news.
Booster tried to grin, which probably came across more like a grimace with the way Ted flinched, and said: "Bea’s going to drag Guy and Tora over to meet Conner next weekend.”
Ted’s face was already scrunching up with denial and Booster pressed on: “She’s got it into her head that Conner’s their honorary nephew or something. I don’t think we can stop her. Remember that housewarming party last year?”
“Yes, I remember,” Ted spat out from between grit teeth. “That’s why I’m against it.”
“Come on,” Booster wiggled his eyebrows playfully, trying to get his partner to loosen up. “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
Ted turned away from Booster, covering his eyes with his hand. “Guy could do pretty much anything.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” Booster reassured the other. “Tora is always going on about how good Guy is with kids. She wouldn’t outright lie, so I think Guy really does treat kids better than adults.” The blond waited until Ted met his gaze again and gave the other a grin, this one much more successful than the last.
Finally, the brunet chuckled and raised a brow at Booster. “I’m starting to think you want them over.”
“What can I say? I want Conner to like our friends.” Booster shrugged. “After all, we’re all family.”
“Yeah,” Ted agreed reluctantly. “One, big, happy, dysfunctional family.”
---
Author’s Notes: I noticed that in the show, the heroes act incredibly skittish even around each other (with the whole Batman forbidding Robin from telling anyone his real name and so on), so I developed this head canon that the “newer” heroes are a lot more into the whole community thing and trust each other with their identities more easily.
Also, sorry about this chapter. It's really late since I refused to post it until it flowed the way I wanted it to. I also have some future ideas I’d like everyone’s opinion on. I'm thinking of actually converting the show’s storyline into this verse, see what would go differently. Would people be interested in reading that?