A Future Sooner than Tomorrow

A Past Wound Reopened

The Justice League gets up from their seats, defensive at the perceived threat towards one of their own. Hawkgirl's mace rests against her thigh, Wonder Woman's hand twitches toward her lasso and Batman's fingers rest on his trusty utility belt. Flash, Martian Manhunter and Lantern simply stiffen, widening their stances.

Superman doesn't move his hand from where it hovers restlessly above Kon's hands. He looks at the gleaming blood dripping through the boy's fingers and longs to help but... Kon couldn't have been clearer about his refusal and who was Superman to deny this child (not his child, not his blood, not even his to care for) his bodily autonomy?

"Justice League, stand down," Superman says. Even if the threat was unnecessary, he wouldn't begrudge the child setting boundaries. Kon makes a small, curious sound.

"Stand down..? What do you mean?" Kon's hands relax some. Hawkgirl ignores him, ruffling her feathers.

"Kal, the kid just threatened you! Not even subtly at that. You seriously don't see something wrong?"

Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood step forward protectively. They stand between Kon and the Justice League with the eldest two at the forefront.

"Threatened?" Kon asks. There's a pause in which Hawkgirl makes a disgruntled huff. "Oh...Oh! No, no, no, that was not a threat, it was a fact. I don't... It's not purposeful, it just happens occasionally." Kon finally removes his hands from over his eyes with a wet squelch. Superman's eyes follow the blood that spills onto the floor - it smells of strongly of iron. Superman tears his gaze from the bloody floor and looks back up at Kon.

The top half of Kon's face is covered with blood like a morbid recreation of Robin's domino mask. Superman lets out a choked whimper. "It's over now anyway."

Superman reaches for Kon's face and then stops, licks his lips and says,"can I touch your face, please? Just to clean it up." Kon blinks at him warily but nods slowly.

Superman speeds to the kitchen, wets a towel and is back in the blink of an eye. He kneels before where Kon sits, looking out of place on the Hall of Justice's shining floors. He gently dabs at Kon's face, taking in the boy's familiar swollen eyelids. To the average person it may look like the result of crying or hay-fever but Kal would know that irritated pink skin anywhere. After all, it's how he looks after battles involving Luthor; involving krytonite. If he tries using his heat vision too soon after being in the presence of kryptonite, his still delicate skin will go red with residual heat. To see the look on another krytonian, though, is horrific.

"Why didn't you stop?" Kal begins ruining the towel over Kon's hands. Poor, small hands stained with blood and marred with burnt skin. Kal had never wondered why only his eyes were completely immune to his lasers but now he curses his biology. Seeing such small hands so damaged makes him think of the more severe house fires, of those times where he doesn't sussceed in saving everyone. Those times are few and far between but seeing even one person rolled out of a smoking building on a gurney is too many.

Kon jerks back and venom coats his words as he says,"Don't you think I would if I could? Do you think I enjoy fearing how badly I could hurt someone if I weren't careful? There's a reason I was covering my eyes, moron."

"You can't control it?" Kal whispers. He had always had some form of control over his heat vision, some form of unconscious action like breathing or blinking. To think Kon didn't have that is... Curious. Dangerous.

"Did I not just say that?" More metallic red drops hit the floor. Kal reaches for the boy's hands again but refrains when Kon shouts, "Quit it! I've had enough of you for one day. Go play house with somebody else." Kon is out of the room before anyone reacts. Kal sits there, dumbfounded, with a wet bloodied towel in one hand.