By Weirdnessmagnet
January 23, 2007

Summary: The best-laid plans of mice and Robins...
Universe/Continuity: Teen Titans v.3, post-Infinite Crisis, pre-9/2011 Reboot.
Rating: PG
Author's notes: For 3jane's birthday. I promised a drabble, she got 423 words of Tim and Kon. Plus several more chapters.

**
"I'd say, 'What the hell were you thinking,'" Vic begins, "but that doesn't seem like it'd quite cut it."

Robin sits on the couch in the Tower’s living room, surrounded by his teammates. Their words are focused on him, but their gazes are firmly on the baby on his lap. Little Kon doesn’t seem to mind the attention; he stares right back at all of them with his huge blue eyes. Robin thinks he sees a glimpse of his Kon’s familiar look in those eyes, and also knows that’s wishful thinking.

"It wasn't planned," Robin says.

"You cloned Superboy," Vic says. "That’s sort of a dead giveaway of you having a plan."

Robin shifts Little Kon to his other arm. "He was supposed to be older." Despite the slightly defensive tone in his voice, he can't bring himself to look at any of them. He conceals it by watching Little Kon chew on a corner of his cape.

Robin can see Ravager's smirk out of the corner of his eye. "Unless," she says cattily, "you're just covering for Cassie."

"Ravager," Cassie says. The lasso on her hip glows brighter.

Rose's grin grows more dangerous. "Everyone knows you had a thing with Superboy. The kid’s what, four or five months old? A year later would make that little bundle about the right age -- "

"I swear to god, Ravager -- "

"Where've you been the last year, Wonder Girl? Themyscira's Home for Knocked-Up Teenage Sluts?"

Robin doesn't bother to look up when Cassie lets out a roar. He just lifts up the other edge of his cape to shield the baby from debris when Cassie punches Rose through the wall.

Marvin lets out a groan. "Aw man, we just fixed the kitchen."

The sun is going down by the time things are quiet again on the island. The statue of Superboy glows brilliant red and gold in the sunset's light. Robin squints behind the eye shields as he looks up at it. Little Kon doesn't look at the statue. He's focused on trying to pull the "R" off Robin's uniform.

"His name was Kon-El," Robin says to Little Kon. "He was my best friend. He died saving the Universe."

The baby gurgles. Instead of trying to pull the "R" off, he puts his face against the armor and tries to chew the emblem.

Robin gently pulls Kon’s face off his chest and wipes a bit of drool off the baby’s chin. "You're named after him."

Little Kon's face scrunches up right before he lets out a fussy wail.

"I know it’s a lot to live up to." He smiles very slightly. "Legacies always are."

"He's probably just hungry." Cassie lands lightly behind them. Robin curses mentally; he hadn't heard the air move as she flew up behind him.

Hadn't been paying attention.

Cassie hands him a full baby bottle. "Here. He hasn't eaten since he was, uh...activated? Hatched? Born?"

"Born." For simplicity's sake, he tells himself, and not because his Kon had to endure a lifetime of "the clone" from people.

Well. Not just because.

Cassie watches the baby gulp the formula greedily. She runs a finger down Kon's leg. "Not quite how you pictured having Conner back."

Robin makes himself look at her. "No." And his name wasn’t Conner, he doesn't say.

"Before, what I said in the cave. I meant it." She folds her arms against a chilly wind. "You said you could make him ‘close enough’ but...you can’t. And that’s not your fault, just. No one will ever be our Kon."

"I know." Robin looks down at the baby. "It really wasn't supposed to be like this." He's let her down. He's let all of them down, because he couldn't find a decent way to stabilize the process, and now...

He's so tired of letting people down.

They stand silently in the statue’s shadow while the baby finishes eating. Robin shifts him and gently pats his back.

"So what are you going to do?" she finally asks.

"I'm going to take him home. To Gotham."

Cassie blinks. "You're not serious."

Robin looks at her.

"Okay, you are serious. Tim, you can't raise him. You're Robin."

"Arsenal does it."

"Have you met Arsenal?" Cassie runs a hand through her hair. "And pat his back harder if you want him to burp."

Robin thumps Little Kon's back harder and decides not to ask how she knows about babies.

"Seriously, you're Robin. You can't do the superhero thing and the full-time father thing. It won't work."

Little Kon lets out a belch and spits formula on Robin's cape. Tim carefully doesn't wince. "It might not be for long."

"What?"

"The Brain's cloned body wasn't stable. There's no guarantee that the process I used will last, either." Robin pulls a wet wipe out of his belt and washes Kon's face.

Cassie sighs. "You're really going to do this."

"He's my responsibility."

"Batman’s going to kill you."

"Probably."

"Then let me help." Her eyes are especially blue in the twilight. "I'll come with you."

"Cassie..."

"I'm good with kids. I’ve babysat before, lots. I can help until you get this all figured out."

Little Kon squawks a bit when Robin's grip tightens. "No metahumans in Gotham."

"I won't use my powers. Batman won't even know I'm there."

"No." He tries not to make it an order. "I need you to keep an eye on the Titans."

"Robin..."

"You're right: I’m going to need time to figure out how to handle this. And I trust you," he says, meeting her eyes, "to take care of things here while I'm gone."

He watches her eyes harden. "You've left before," she says. It’s not quite an accusation.

"I came back."

"I didn't know you were coming back when you left. You were just gone."

Robin puts a hand on her shoulder. "I'm coming back. I promise."

If he didn't know her so well, he wouldn't see her eyes soften slightly. Little Kon grabs a lock of her blonde hair.

Cassie smiles slightly at the baby, but not at Robin. "Okay," she says finally and untangles her hair from Kon's fist.

"You know how to contact me. Let me know if anything comes up I should know about." He wraps Kon tighter in the blanket against the chilly evening air and turns to go inside.

"You're taking him in the Batwing?"

"Of course."

"I don't suppose a baby seat is standard equipment on that thing."

Robin gives her a look. "It has restraining harnesses."

"But not a proper baby seat."

Robin gives her a look.

Cassie gives him a flash of grin. "Stay here until I get back."

Little Kon's eyes follow her flight into the evening sky. Robin watches him watching her. "That's Wonder Girl, your Aunt Cassie. She’s going to love you more than she thinks she should. Use that to your advantage. If you have to."

Little Kon gurgles and snuggles closer. Robin holds him tighter against the night and heads inside.


~on to part 3