Daughter of Superman

Alpha Male

It was safe to say the whole thing with the Tornado Family was an almost complete disaster. With a special emphasis on the dis. Not asterous at all, as Robin would probably say.

After Tornado took out all the air from the space and made them unconscious, the next thing Conner was aware of was waking up with the distinct sound of a female voice panicking. And it was calling his name.

"Kon, please wake up!"

He was also very aware that her voice couldn't be here, on the Cave, with everyone else there, too.

He shot his eyes open, to face his twin sister with a desperate look in her eyes, looking like she was about to slap him at any time now.

Well, at least he woke up before that. Madine's slaps were painful.

"Oh, thank God. Dad! He's awake!"

"Great. You okay, Kon?" Superman was suddenly in front of him, too, concern written all over his face. He noticed a few other League heroes gathering beside his unconscious friends around.

"I think so..." he said. "Just stuck in this thing."

"We're gonna get you out of there." His dad assured him. Looking at Madine, he said sternly. "Now, you go home. Soon I won't be able to explain you."

"But..."

"Please, Madine..."

A few groans and whispers was all it took to convince her. The Team were waking up, sitting up slowly and sensing they were no longer in danger, and it was obvious Madine wanted to stay more, she wanted to help, but Superman's secret went deeper now than ever. She couldn't stay unless she wanted to risk a lot of questions and a lot of unwanted attention - for her, and her father.

She sighed and gave Conner a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I'll make us something nice for dinner, okay?"

"Thanks."

With a sad smile, she ran through the bay, and Conner noticed Robin and Batman's eyes following her lazily, and Aqualad gave her a second glance, probably questioning himself whether he was seeing right. She went through the probably recently reactivated zeta-tubes, leaving nothing to identify her for.

Recognized: Special Guest. A- Zero- One.

Superman sighed and looked at him.

"So, while I go through this thing, can you tell me what happened? From the beginning?"

He sighed too, and while his dad began to use a low kind of heat vision on the aqua-frozen-thing on him and Kid Flash - who Conner noticed that was awake, too, talking to Flash - he started talking quietly, all the while wanting to his sister to be there too. Her sad look was haunting him, and by the frown still present in his father's features, he would bet it was haunting him too.

~.~

Madine didn't go home. Not at first. She punched the code for the Artic, beaming herself to the Fortress, where she ran into her bedroom. Her dad had given her a room there since she was eight, ever since he took her there the first time.

She did many changes over the years, like she did with her room in their Metropolis' apartment, but one thing had stayed the same: the picture on her headboard, an old one from when she was taken out of the hospital by her dad.

She was wrapped in a baby blue cloth, the only thing visible about her in the picture were her tiny hands, out in the air wanting to grab something. Clark was looking happy. So happy like she have never seen him. He looked at her with pure adoration and love in his eyes, the unearthly blue of his orbs leaking through his thick glasses' frame. One of his hands was caressing her cheek, and baby Madine was probably trying to grab that hand at the time. Babies were grabby.

His dad said that he was nervous when he found out he had a daughter. He was young, he barely even knew about himself or what he was going to do with his life, and he had a baby to raise? He was terrified, he had said to her. But he also said that the moment he laid eyes on her, he couldn't look away. Couldn't step away. She remembered the words he said to her, almost ten years back now, directly from his thoughts when he met her the first time:

"The only thing on my mind when I met you, Madine, was the love I already had for you. I was there, taking you in my arms for the first time and thinking: 'I can't step away from this. She's mine, and I'm going to protect her with everything that I have. With everything that I am'."

Madine closed her eyes. A small and lonely tear ran down her left cheek. She breathed deeply, like she is used to do when these kinds of thoughts ran through her mind.

She knows her father loves her. She knows that keeping her a secret is not a decision he made because he regrets having her so soon in his life or whatever. She knows he does that to protect her.

But sometimes, it's hard. Sometimes, she wishes he could change his mind and let her roam free as Superman's daughter, and be everything that she is.

She knows it's not fair to make that demand, so she keeps quiet every time she wants to scream at him that she's big enough now to take care of herself. She almost broke her own rule and did that when Conner came and joined the Team, but she knows their father has his reasons. His enemies know about Conner. They don't know about Madine.

She spends a little more time in her room, roaming through old stuff to remind her why she keeps her mouth shut and why she respects her father's wishes to stay put when all she wants is to put on a cape and go out there doing what she knows she was born to do. But, as Grandma says all the time: someday, her father will see that.

She just has to be patient.

She leaves the Fortress as silently as she got there, beaming herself to the alley nearest to their apartment in Metropolis. She enters the place and goes straight to the kitchen. She promised her brother a nice dinner, and to distract herself, she'll do just that.

~.~

A Wolf.

Conner brought home a freaking giant Venom enhanced wolf.

He knew his son had a thing for strays. That much was obvious now. First the Sphere. He had to say no to taking it to Metropolis, so it stayed at the Cave. Then it was a couple of birds, who gladly took off to the skies after he took care of them - with the help of Madine.

Now it was a Wolf.

Clark sighed while the Team reported the mission with the Brain and Malala in Africa and watched as the big white wolf sat obediently beside his son, who had cuts and bruises, and a lot of marks that looked like made by claws. He had to ask about that.

After Batman dismissed the Team, Conner approached him sheepishly. The wolf came along.

"Hey dad."

Clark couldn't help but chuckle.

"Let me guess. You want to keep him?"

Like a child, Conner bit his lower lip and looked at the animal, who wagged his tail cautiously while looking at him, and then looked back at his father.

"Yeah... Can I? I mean, I know he can't stay at the apartment, but I figured he can stay here, too, like Sphere. And I'll take good care of him."

He could only smile.

"Of course, son." He said, and the smile Conner gave him could have lighten all Happy Harbor. "What's his name?"

Conner shrugged, now embarrassed. "Wolf."

Clark laughed out loud. "Of course it is."