Capturing a Dream
Chapter 4 – Recovery
Chapter 1 Chapter 3
Conner’s fists were clenched so tightly they were past white, verging on translucent. Everything about this day was terrible and it seemed to get worse with every passing hour. They had been invaded. Their home had sustained significant damage and was no longer safe. Red Tornado had betrayed them and the Justice League was cutting them out of the capture efforts. Chimera had been hurt, she had almost died and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it.
It had been hours since they had received an update on Chimera and she was alone in the Watchtower. She was protected by the Justice League, but as they had just violently discovered, that didn’t mean she was safe. Although one saving grace was that by being here, she had been saved experiencing the attack by Red Tornado. From the description Aqualad had given on her status, he wasn’t sure she would have been able to survive it.
The Team needed to pull together right now. They were the only ones they could trust and Chimera had been isolated from them. The rest of the Team had been busy freeing themselves, checking each other for injury, working with the Justice League to assess the damage to the Cave, figuring out how the Reds got into the Cave in the first place, figuring out where their security had let them down, and recovering from Red Tornado’s attack. All of that meant that none of the Team had been able to be with her until now. Kid Flash, Robin, and he had finally been able to come and check on Chimera and bring her back to the Cave with the rest of them, while Artemis and Aqualad stayed in the Cave and tried to figure out what needed to be done next.
Batman met the Team at the doors to the infirmary. “I should warn you, I’ve given her quite a bit of pain medicine and I just woke her up for you so she could transform, so she’s a little out of it right now and honest… extremely honest. Beware.” Batman warned them wryly.
“Was she honest with you?” Robin asked with a smile. He would pay to have heard what an unfiltered Chimera would say.
“Yes.” Batman answered, not looking at him.
“Care to share?” Kid Flash asked with a grin.
“No.” Batman responded turning to peek through the door to assure she was fully transformed before letting them in.
They made it through the door just in time to see Chimera fall as she tried to stand. Kid Flash was there to catch her before she hit the ground. She looked at him slightly dazed, her movements sluggish. “I know you, right?” She concentrated harder on his face. “Right? We know each other.”
The Team gasped in fear and looked over to Batman for an explanation. Batman took a deep breath. “She needs rest. She doesn’t have a concussion, but her body has been through a lot. Combined with the pain killers, like I said before, she’s a little out of it. She should be fine after a rest.”
“No, it’s okay… it’s not… I just… I’m okay. I just need to sleep… or to wake up… I’m not sure which. This is… I’ve done this before… I think.” She slurred her words slightly as she tried to assure them. She looked at Kid Flash with a guilty expression. “I sometimes go too long without sleeping.”
Superboy moved over to her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms, holding her close enough to speak quietly to comfort her. “Hey Chi, it’s okay. We’ve got you. You know us. You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. You can sleep.”
She leaned her head back to study his face. She smiled sleepily at him and ran her finger along his jaw. “I definitely know you.” Conner blushed deeply, but then balked at her next comment. “You’re the flirty one.”
Robin came over to double check for signs of the concussion that Batman must have missed. “Maybe she doesn’t recognize him after all.”
Chimera tried to turn over to him but stopped when she saw Kid Flash again. “No, wait… You’re the flirty one.” She tried to point in his direction.
“She may not recognize Superboy, but she definitely remembers Kid Flash.” Robin smirked.
Chimera looked back and forth between the two boys a little too quickly and groaned in pain. “You both are the flirty one.” She pushed her head against Conner’s chest trying to alleviate the pain in her head and stop the spinning.
Batman nodded to someone behind them and stepped forward. “Since you guys are here I’ll let you know now. Green Arrow and Black Canary have already discussed this with Aqualad and Artemis while you have been here. With Red Tornado… missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift.”
Superboy turned around to see a man larger than Batman walking toward them next to Superman. “I’m really looking forward to hanging with you guys.” Captain Marvel said with a smile.
Superboy scowled at them and adjusted Chimera slightly. She turned to face the newcomers. She quirked her head at Captain Marvel and concentrated on him for a few moments. “Who’s the kid?” Captain Marvel’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh no. Do I know you too? I’m sorry. It’s been a… day. Night? Day… I think.” She scrunched her face trying to figure out what general part of the day they were in.
“I’m not a kid!” Captain Marvel exclaimed a little too loudly.
Chimera snorted at him. “Whatever you say, kid.” She settled her head back on Superboy’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “It’s really bright in here.”
“We’re going home now, I promise.” Superboy said quietly. She hummed in response and curled into him a bit more.
“It’s going to be a short visit. I have a new mission for you.” Batman unceremoniously informed them.
“Chimera can’t go on a mission right now.” Superboy said lowly. “And I’m not leaving her alone in the Cave.”
“Someone will be there to watch over her.” Batman assured him.
Kid Flash scoffed and shared a dubious look with Robin and Superboy. “Another Justice League member? No, thanks.” Superboy argued.
“It’s normal to be paranoid after an experience like this. There’s a lot of new things you don’t know how to process yet. Perhaps if you let her stay here in the Watchtower, you can feel more secure.” Superman offered awkwardly.
“It isn’t the Cave I don’t trust.” Conner narrowed his eyes at Superman.
“I understand wanting to keep her close. Your team means a lot to you and you guys weren’t able to keep her safe. It’s natural to overcorrect to overprotective and suspicious. But I can assure you she would be safe here.” Superman tried instead.
“Excuse me?” Kid Flash demanded angrily. Robin and Superboy scowled in anger next to him.
“You all assured us we would be safe in the Cave as well, and that Red Tornado was trustworthy. Your assurance doesn’t mean anything to us.” Superboy hissed at him.
“Black Canary will stay with her at the Cave while you guys are on the mission.” Batman assured him. “She trusted Black Canary with her identity. You should trust her too.”
“Did she trust her or did you tell Black Canary and Chimera had to accept it?” Robin asked skeptically.
“Regardless, she accepts it and trusts her. Her identity is more important to her than almost anything else. If she trusts Black Canary that much, you should too.” Batman answered coldly.
Superboy stared at him unsettled. His whole body tensing. They were trying to distract them from what was going on, from what they let happen. It had ripped the Team’s lives apart and the Justice League wasn’t going to let them react, was blaming them for allowing it to happen.
Chimera furrowed her brow sensing a shift in his body and temperament. She looked up at Superboy and followed his eye line. She blinked a few times at Superman before speaking. “Oh hey, it’s the Boy Scout.” She turned back to look at Superboy. “Look Conner, it’s the cold bastard.” She leaned her head back on Superboy’s shoulder before realizing what she said. She popped her head back up once she realized. “Oh my God! I remembered your name!” She smiled at him, proud of her accomplishment. “I usually can’t remember names until after I sleep.”
Kid Flash and Robin started laughing hysterically. She frowned at Kid Flash and tried vaguely to figure out where the rest of the laughter was coming from or was it just her ears playing tricks on her and figure out why he, or they, were laughing. They only stopped laughing when Batman walked next to Superman and glared at them. But the glare only reduced the laughter instead of eliminating it.
After a few moments Chimera’s eyes widened in mortification as she realized what she had said just after Conner’s name. “Boy Scout!” she exclaimed loudly looking at Superman apologetically, or trying to, and trying to sit up straighter in Superboy’s arms. “I meant to say the Boy Scout.” She cringed and tried to hide her face in Superboy’s neck, but still mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, “I mean, not that I was wrong. I just didn’t mean to say it out loud.”
She looked up again when she heard raucous laughter coming from all around her. She looked slowly from Superboy to Kid Flash to Batman to Superman to Robin. “Why are all the people I work with either incorrigible flirts or cold bastards?” she asked nobody in particular. “At some point that says something about me, doesn’t it? Is there something wrong with me?” She looked up to Superboy as she said the last part.
Superboy smirked at Superman and held Chimera tighter against his chest as he turned and made his way with the Team to the zeta tubes. She burrowed deeper into his arms and started to fall asleep to the rhythm of his walk. Just before she fell asleep he leaned down to whisper into her ear. “There is nothing wrong with you. Other than working yourself so hard that you forgot our names, you are absolutely perfect. You’re doing everything right. I’m proud of you.” She smiled peacefully as she fell asleep.
<><><><><>
“So this is where you are.” Chimera called out to Conner after she finally found him sitting on the rocks outside the Cave. He was staring out at the last bits of light reflecting off the ocean with an angry concentration. “I don’t think I would have found you without this little chiot’s help.” She smiled at the wolf and ran her hands through his fur. “I guess ‘little’ isn’t really accurate, is it? He’s bigger than me. How was the mission?” He grunted but kept looking out at the water. She gave him a concerned look and moved closer to him. “Conner?” She asked carefully.
“You shouldn’t have gone in to wherever it is you go. You’re still recovering. It was stupid, Chimera.” He growled at her, refusing to look at her. “Stupid and dangerous.”
She looked at him in surprise at his tone. “Ah.” She started delicately, looking around awkwardly trying to figure out if she should approach him or let him continue to brood alone. Brooding is best done alone, after all.
She hadn’t gotten a report on the mission they had just returned from yet, so she wasn’t sure how bad it had been. She had rushed to find him as soon as she got back to the Cave after the showing and clean up. She had stayed for enough of the celebrations to satisfy her supervisors then rushed home. But it appeared that whatever did happen on the mission, it had taken a severe toll on Conner. He was in a significantly angrier mood than usual. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to sit alone, sit quietly with someone, or talk through the anger.
“What do you think, mon petit chiot?” she whispered barely loudly enough to be heard over the tide washing in. “Stay or leave? What should I do?” Wolf whined and bumped gently into her. She smiled gently at him and patted him reassuringly. She turned back to Conner and approached him slowly like he might explode at any moment. She decided to see if he wanted to talk. If he didn’t, she could always back off. She started by trying to lighten the suffocating, dark mood. “Is it okay if I sit and glare at the sunset too?”
He sent her a devastating glare that caught her completely off guard. She stumbled back a half step in surprise, backing into Wolf. Conner stood up and stalked toward her as he roared in anger at her. “Why did you bother coming back to the Cave to recover with people you trust, people who can keep you safe while you recover, if you were just going to leave immediately? What is the point of helping you recover if you’re just going to go out immediately and make yourself worse? Run yourself into the ground… again? And what happens if we get attacked again? What happens if Red Tornado comes back and tries to finish the job his siblings started and you’re too tired to fight? Then you die, or we die trying to save you.”
She reeled back like he struck her, staring in shock at the seething mass of teenage boy in front of her. Wolf moved closer to her and angled himself so he was slightly in front of her, keeping his eyes on Conner.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Conner wanted to take them back. The look of betrayal and hurt in her eyes was heartbreaking. She hadn’t even looked that betrayed when she found out Red Tornado actually did betray them. But now, at his words, she looked absolutely devastated.
Wolf nudged her lightly and whined quietly. The nudge was enough to wake Chimera out of her stupor. “Don’t. Do. That.” She scolded Conner suddenly, slapping his arms and chest punctuating each word. “You. Are. Large. And. Intimidating. And. You. Scared. Me. You. Big. Broody. Jerk.” She huffed at him with one final slap.
He made a show of protecting himself from the hits that were barely hard enough to even gain his attention regularly. He stared at her in shock, eyeing her cautiously, waiting for her to start up again. When he decided she was done, he frowned guiltily and looked over to Wolf, scratching behind his ears to reassure him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” he said quietly, darting his eyes over to her. The dejected frown she had didn’t suit her at all. He needed to figure out a way to put a smile back on her face. He watched her quietly for a few moments while they both pet Wolf. A smirk suddenly appeared on his face. “I just forget how small you are sometimes.”
She glared at him, “That is not how you apologize!”
He chuckled at the pout she sent him. “Sorry.” He repeated more seriously this time.
She pet Wolf as well for a few moments. “What is his name? We haven’t been properly introduced yet.” Her tone was still guarded, but soft.
“Wolf. It’s okay that I brought him home, isn’t it?” he suddenly realized he hadn’t asked her before bringing a new and massive creature into the home they shared. “I should have asked before… but I thought you were sleeping.” There was a sharper edge to his last comment.
She looked at him with a touch of guilt. “Yeah, it’s okay. I’ve always wanted a pet but I was never allowed to have one before.” She answered quietly. She looked down and pet Wolf quietly for a few moments, giving her anxiety something to focus on. After a few moments she spoke up again, “I had to go today. This is…”
“Yeah, yeah, an important time of year. You said that already.” He grumbled, glaring at Wolf’s fur as he pet it. He didn’t want to look in her eyes and see the betrayed look again, but he also couldn’t stop from reprimanding her. “You’re hurt. You could have died in that attack. You can skip a few days while you heal from almost dying, Chi.” He finally looked up to shoot a glare at Chimera who seemed to wilt under his glare. “You didn’t even come home at all last night. We got here this morning to check on you, to make sure you were okay, and you were gone.” Wolf whimpered quietly at him and nudged against him. Conner looked over to Wolf for a moment and frowned in annoyance at his interruption. He looked over to Chimera and sighed at the conflicted, guilt-stricken look on her face.
“… the reason I can be here. I couldn’t skip today. Today was the culmination of months of work, not just mine. I skip, I not only lose out on seeing everything come together, I let down that team, and I get fired. I get fired, I go home. I go home, I’m not only no longer part of the Team, I’ve lost my career. The only reason I haven’t been fired already for missing two days ago is because Batman somehow talked Bruce Wayne into calling my boss and vouching for me personally and promising to appear at… and promising to give them some Wayne Enterprises support. Apparently, it took promising to get Oliver Queen to agree to… to promise Queen Industries support as well in order to get them not to fire me.” She said defiantly but tears she refused to shed were still lining her eyes. She subconsciously leaned into Wolf for support.
Conner huffed and looked down at his feet. “It’s not worth your life.” He grumbled. He wasn’t trying to make her feel worse but she needed to stop, to pull back, to heal. She had pushed herself too hard because of them, for them. And she was still pushing herself. She was going to push herself into a grave because of him. He couldn’t save her during the attack and clearly, he couldn’t save her from this either.
She followed his lead and looked down for a few moments as well trying to fight the tears that were threatening to fall. She absentmindedly pet Wolf as she processed what was happening. He wasn’t mad at her, not really. She knew that. He wasn’t mad, he was scared. But it still hurt and that was worse. Things were spiraling out of his control and he needed something he could rely on. She was only making things worse by having to leave. She was hurting the Team by not being able to devote her full attention. She was hurting him by splitting her focus. She had stayed in the Cave so she could help him, give him someone who was there for him, but she wasn’t and she was hurting him instead.
“I’m sorry I scared you. I wasn’t risking my life. It’s chaotic, yes, but it’s a chaos I understand. It’s a chaos that soothes me. I know my place in that chaos. But it’s over now. I have the rest of the week off and I can stay in bed and relax. Not even school.” She gave him a strained smile. “I’m sorry it was making things worse for you. I’m sorry I’m making things worse for you.” Damn it, she berated herself. That wasn’t what she wanted to say. This wasn’t about her. It was about him.
Conner’s heart dropped. Damn it, he berated himself. He made her think she was hurting him. That wasn’t what he wanted to do. He was making it about himself, but it wasn’t about him. It was about her. He reached out to comfort her but hesitated. He didn’t know how welcome it would be. After yelling at her just a minute ago, she might not feel comfortable with him hugging her. He winced internally thinking about how he treated her as soon as he saw her tonight. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I didn’t have the right to… I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was angry with you. Like you were doing something wrong. You’re not. I mean, I do think you push yourself too hard, but you’re not making things worse. You make them better. You’re amazing.” He blushed when he realized what he said and grasped for something to change the topic. “I mean the way you talked to Superman was amazing.”
Chimera barked out a laugh and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment. “I can’t believe I called Superman and Batman cold bastards. Well, Superman more than Batman. I’m sure Batman has heard it lots of times before… and I’m pretty sure I said more devastating things before I fell asleep in the infirmary. But, it was probably new information for Superman.”
Conner hummed in agreement. He sat down and leaned back against the cliff, looking out to the ocean, not wanting to discuss Superman anymore, despite him being the one to bring it up in the first place. Chimera sat on the ground next to him, stretching out her legs and watching the tide wet the sand in front of her. She burst out laughing when Wolf laid on her legs. “Conner! Help me!” she managed to squeak out between laughter. “I can’t move.” Conner laughed and gave Wolf a gentle shove to get him to move. Wolf made a dissatisfied grunt but moved off of her and next to Conner.
They looked out to the ocean in a contented silence, watching the last bits of light glitter on the distant waves. After a while Chimera spoke up, still keeping her eyes on the water. “Did you know Kaldur and I had to stop Superman from making the entire situation worse? He wanted to rush into the Cave with no idea what to do then. Like his very presence would be enough to end it. All brawn and no plan. Idiot.” She scoffed. “Luckily, Batman backed us up or he would have rushed in and gotten you killed.”
Conner scowled and growled. “He blamed us for what happened, like we didn’t react the way we should have, like I let it happen, and the whole time he would have made it worse.” He balled his hands into fists, his hands shaking in anger. He turned to punch the cliff side then did it again and again.
“Conner!” Chimera gently touched his arm, careful to stay out of the punch arc. He turned to her with wild, angry eyes that softened as soon as he saw her. “Please stop. You’re going to hurt your hand or cause a rockslide.”
He hung his head with a huff and sat back down. “You’re lecturing me about doing things that hurt myself now?”
She shrugged taking his hand to examine it for injury. “I guess there’s a reason we get along so well. We can keep each other’s self-destructive tendencies in check.”
Chimera sat close enough that their bodies were touching, still holding his hand, running her thumb over his knuckles to soothe them. After a few minutes she bumped her shoulder into his. “You know, if you ever want to talk, I’m here. I have a few other good friends with terrible… authority figures in their lives. Authorities that barely acknowledge them let alone give them the respect and love they deserve.”
He considered her words for a while, keeping his eyes on the horizon. “Must be nice for you… having authority figures that support you and don’t critique every move you make as a hero.” He said bitterly.
She scoffed. “I’d hardly call Batman supportive. Plus, I’m pretty sure I told him I thought turning out like him was a fate worse than death. So he’s probably even less likely to be supportive now.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Interesting. But I meant your parents.”
“Oh.” Her smile faltered and she let go of his hand as she looked away and hummed in agreement.
“Chimera?” He prompted her. He squeezed his now free hand. It felt strange on its own.
“Yes?” She asked innocently.
“If you want me to talk, you have to too.” He gave her a pointed look.
She scowled playfully at him and looked back out to the ocean. “I don’t like your rules.” He chuckled at her and stayed quiet, allowing her to get her thoughts in order. “My parents are extremely supportive of me. Extremely.” She started tentatively.
“But…” He urged her.
“But they don’t know… about this.” She sighed. “They don’t know I’m a hero. They don’t know I fight villains. Nobody can know, remember? That includes parents.”
“Your parents don’t know?” He furrowed his brow at the thought of her parents somehow not noticing her missing during crises and not having anyone to support her. “Where do they think you go?” He looked at her incredulously.
“They don’t. They think I’m in my room, or hiding during attacks. Right now they think I’m at an internship in America, which I am, that’s why I can’t always be here, that and school, but...” She turned away with a guilty look. “God, I hate lying to them.”
He furrowed his brow and frowned at her. “So who supports you?”
She smiled up at him with a coy glint in her eyes, like he had fallen into a trap. “My team did, as much as they could without knowing my identity. That’s what teams are for, supporting each other, helping each other. You’re on my team, so I’m here to support you, if you want.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and looked away. “I see what you did there.” He looked out over the water again, watching the tide ebbing and flowing. “I was right there with you… all, the Team, and let you get captured. I couldn’t save you or the team. I wasn’t good enough to. I’m not good enough. What am I even doing here?”
“Hey,” she chided him gently, “Wally didn’t save me either. Do you think he’s not good enough? That he doesn’t belong here? Kaldur didn’t save me. He helped me but he didn’t stop it either. Is he not good enough to be here? Do only Artemis and Robin deserve to be here?”
“No,” he grumbled.
“You need to give yourself a break. You are amazing. You can do amazing things. But we’re a team. We rely on each other sometimes.” She gave him a soft smile. “Sometimes you have to just let us save you and not take that as a fault.”
He turned away, blushing slightly. After a few moments in silence he punched the ground in front of him. “What does it matter? He’s never going to accept me or treat me as an equal anyway.”
She paused while she thought about it. “I think he will. He’s scared and unsure right now but he will eventually get over himself. But however long it takes, it’s on him. It is a sign of his inability to process his emotions in a healthy way. It has absolutely nothing to do with your worth or skills. It says nothing about your value.”
“That’s not how it seems.” He grumbled into the sand.
“Yeah. I get that.” She nodded in agreement. “The downside of being the offspring of an idiot.”
He laughed at that and leaned in conspiratorially. “I believe the official term is ‘cold bastard’.”
She groaned and hid her face in his shoulder. She turned her head to rest it on his shoulder and look out at the crests of the waves in the moonlight. “What people say about us can affect us. It can hurt, especially family because we’re supposed to have a stronger connection to them than anyone else. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t know you better than we do. He doesn’t have better insights. He isn’t your family. We are. And we say you are more than enough. You are amazing.” She hugged his arm.
“You’re my family?” Look at her hesitantly.
“Found Family, baby. One of the best tropes.” She grinned widely at him.
“Tropes?” He looked at her questioningly.
“Found family, friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, and they were roommates. All good.” She nodded with a smile. “I highly recommend them… well maybe not to you. But to other members of our family.”
Conner slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her into a side hug. “I like this family.” He gave a small smile as he leaned his head on hers. He frowned suddenly when a thought occurred to him. “But, found family rules aren’t the same as regular family are they? Because I don’t think… Wally wouldn’t appreciate that.”
Chimera giggled at the thought. “No, no he wouldn’t. How long do you think before he and Artemis start dating?”
“You think they’ll date?” He pulled back and looked at her like she was crazy. “They hate each other.”
“Oh God, yes they will. That tension has nowhere to go but on a date. I give it a month.” She laughed. Her laughter quieted after a few moments and she moved further into Conner’s embrace. “Found family is about loving and supporting each other no matter what. Understanding we all have problems and helping each other deal with them and loving each other in spite of them. You can definitely date within a group that offers you that.” She confirmed, circling back to his original question. “Most people do.” She added quietly.
He looked at her softly and laid his head back on hers watching the stars twinkle on the ocean surface like a distant, enticing dream. “Good to know.”
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