without them, the world grows dark around you. // koncassie
WHO: Conner Kent & Cassie Sandsmark, with Superboy Prime.
LOCATION: Near Titans Tower.
WORDS: 1969 words.
GENERAL NOTES: A flashback to Kon’s fight with Superboy Prime that lead to him dying right beneath Cassie’s fingers.
WARNINGS: Death, blood, injuries, violence. A whole lot of sadness.
KON:
It had come out of nowhere. Nothing and then suddenly a blinding flash of light and a sharp pain in his side that propelled him through a solid brick wall and into a small office building where he skidded to an unforgiving stop. His hand pressed against his ribs and he winced as his hand came away bloody, the skin around the burn tender. He furrowed his brows as he brought his fingers up to his eye line, his thumb rubbing the sticky red liquid between his fingers.
He had never seen himself bleed before. Not outside of one of Cadmus’ labs.
Kon pushed himself to his knees and took a deep breath that was cut short by a blur of red and blue that pounded into him, grabbing him by the lapels of his jacket and tossing him easily into the air, through the multiple levels and into the sky.
Kon caught himself in the air, just in time to see the building below him collapse with a powerful crash as he hovered above it, his eyes wide in horror. For a second it looked like it had been Kal grabbing him, but that couldn’t be true. His eyes darted around the scene below him, trying to locate the team but once again he was grabbed and brought face to face with his attacker.
“Kal?” He asked, his head tilting in confusion.
CASSIE:
Cassie had a feeling, an extremely bad one. It sat in her chest and stirred up an immense anxiety despite the fight and chaos going on. She was tired, so tired, but she couldn't be. She had to keep moving, keep going. It was the right thing to do, to put the exhaustion and the aching pain to the side, to be a hero. Though nothing would have prepared her for this, for the heart shaking moment she saw Kon thrown through the air and a flash of red and blue, crashing through a building. "No!" She yelled, shooting up into the air and darting through the debris that came down to the ground in a violent eruption of chaos.
The man's hands grabbed at Kon's jacket, yanking him entirely too close. "You're not the real Superboy, Conner Kent. Your world, you are finished. I will be the real Superboy once again. Me, not you." A lasso was thrown around him, tugged tight and immediate sparks shot out, causing this other version of Kal to scream out in pain, eyes flaring. Letting go of Kon, he whipped around, hand wrapping around the electrified lasso and tugging hard. Cassie yelped and jerked forward, his forehead banging against hers in a hard headbutt, sending her flying back through the air.
Turning back around once yanking the lasso off him and throwing it back down towards the earth, he snarled at Kon and fist flying out against Kon's face. "This is over." Hands gripping the lapels of Kon's jacket he collided with the other Superboy and sent them flying straight into another building in an instant.
KON:
Kon shook his head, a distinct pounding emanating from the base of his skull and his thoughts fuzzy even as the man, one claiming to be superboy, spat the harsh words in his face. He could briefly see the glow of Cassie’s lasso and his first thought, his only thought, was getting her away from this man who had made him bleed. Neither of them were invulnerable but Bart had joked once that Kon was their tank. That he could take punch after punch and keep on going but as the man’s fist connected with his jaw and then with his nose with a sickening crunch each he could only let out a strangled laugh.
There was blood falling into his eyes, one of which was already swelling shut, and it was becoming harder and harder to breath with each passing moment but seeing this man, this superboy imposter slam his forehead against Cassie’s caused Kon’s carefully maintained rage to boil over and as the man grabbed at his jacket Kon took the opportunity to spit a mix of blood and saliva into the man’s face before he was once again slammed into a building.
This time, however, he fought. He grabbed at the man’s armor, trading blows with him as the building threatened to collapse around them.
“You come to my Earth,” he growled, his eyes glowing before they erupted in steady beams, “You threaten my friends,” he slammed forward, pinning the man under him as he continued to hammed down on him, “You call yourself by my name, and you hurt my girl.”
They flew apart and then back together, grappling for a bit before one would overpower the other only for the other to come back twice as strong, the building’s central pillars being pulverized one by one in the chaos. Kon couldn’t think about that now, not when this man was threatening his home. He had to protect the team, had to protect Cassie, and the only way to do that was for him to finish this. Now.
The man was getting tired, he could see it in the way his breathing had before labored as they fought, in the blood that streamed steadily out of the cut on his lip and his bicep but kon was tired too. More tired than he had ever felt before but he grabbed the other superboy and flew through the tower and into the stratosphere.
The air was so peaceful here, thin and cold, and peaceful. He came up here when he needed to think. When he needed to be alone with his thoughts.
He closed his eyes and thought of Cassie. Of her kindness. Her smile.
Then pulled the man into a hug, his arms locking around him before they plummeted back to earth.
The resulting boom was almost deafening, and the impact left them both in a deep crater, the burning remnants of the building falling around them as they lay side by side, both bloody and bruised, their only difference being the shallow rise and fall of Kon’s chest as he looked up at the clear blue sky and the blinding sun beyond it.
CASSIE:
Cassie went crashing back down to the Earth, spitting out blood and wheezing in pain from the hard collision to the ground. Her head spun and she absently could see her lasso hitting the ground not too far away as well. Everything ached, but she had to keep going, would keep going. Taking a deep breath, she rolled carefully onto her knees and let out a slight yelp as her body screamed in protest. Gritting her teeth and wiping at her face, smearing the blood across her skin, she stood. Cassie moved forward, grabbing her lasso back off the ground, surveying the immense amount of damage. The bad feeling that clawed at her chest and every bone in her body only increased tenfold the moment she heard a crash.
Cassie's eyes went to the sky, heart dropping right down to her feet to see Kon and this Kal lookalike collide once more, flying straight into another building, fists flying and hitting against one another. She flinched, unable to do anything but stare in utter dread at the fight that was occurring. Blood fell into her eyes from the gash across her forehead, hastily wiping it away as the pair flew up up up into the sky only to come plummeting back down like a fallen meteor from space.
There was...screaming? Who was screaming?
Oh. It was her. Cassie was the one who was screaming, heart frozen in utter fear. The deafening boom of the hit to the ground was enough to throw the girl back once more. The dust stung her eyes, all air knocked from her body. It was quiet. So very quiet. Cassie hated it.
Cassie has never gotten to feet as fast as she did in that moment, scrambling despite every protest in her body for her to stay down. Digging through debris to get to Conner, to make sure he was okay. She was on her knees beside the broken boy she loved, her heart in shambles, broken with each labored, weak breath he took. "Kon! Conner, you're okay. You're okay, hi. I'm here."
She whispered weakly, hand cradling his cheek as she felt the tears streaking down her face, through the dirt and blood that caked her cheeks. Cassie felt like she could barely breathe. It was too much. The sob ripped its way from her throat without a second thought. "Just hang in there, you're going to be okay! You did great, Kon. You saved everyone. You saved the world, yeah?" Cassie choked out, leaning her forehead against his and other hand grasping gingerly at his bicep.
KON:
His vision was getting hazy and the world seemed to be spinning around him as he fought to keep his eyes open. His eyelids felt so heavy and he felt so cold that he had begun to shiver almost violently.
Vaguely he knew it was because he was losing too much blood far too quickly but all he could focus in on was the sound of Cassie’s weak whisper and the feeling of her palm against his cheek.
He guessed that if he was going to die this was a pretty good way to go.
“Oh. Hi Cass.” he whispered, his voice cracking around the syllables before he gave a faint smile. “Yeah. Pretty cool huh?”
He wheezed, too weak to do more than lull his head the side to look at her. He wanted to reach up and wipe away her tears, to comfort her, assure her that everything would be okay but he knew somewhere deep inside of him that it wouldn’t be. But she was alive and that was all that mattered to him.
“Hey, Cass. Can I tell you something?” He tried to swallow around the lump in his throat but only found himself tasting the metallic tang of his own blood as it dripped past his lips. “I love you, you know. I always have.”
He took another deep breath, his eyes wandering up once again toward the sky where the light seemed to be expanding outward, filling the blue sky with an unimaginably bright light before he resigned himself to oblivion.
CASSIE:
“Yeah, really cool." Cassie reassured Kon with a weak smile, unable to stop the tears that were steadily dripping down her cheeks. Her chest ached, a scream lodged in her throat that wanted out. "Of course, Kon. You can tell me anything." She whispered, bottom lip trembling and her throat incredibly tight, making practically impossible to speak in anything more than a whisper. I love you. A sob wracked her entire body, Cassie shutting her eyes tightly. "Me too. For as long as I can remember, it's been you. I love you more than anything, Kon-El." Cassie whispered, sucking in a sharp breath.
Then silence.
The grief swallowed Cassie like a dark cloud violently and deeply, it overwhelming her in the worst way possible. Her sobs sounded entirely too much like devastated screaming. "Kon? Conner! Wake up, please. No, no, no!" She sobbed loudly, something in her snapping. "No." Hands resting on the Superboy's chest and head falling to the tattered uniform covered skin, curling her fingers up into the ripped fabric. "Please don't leave me, Kon." Cassie sobbed brokenly against him, the man she loved with. She never even got to tell him properly. Tell him how he was the reason her heart raced. Tell him that he made her want to be a better person, how he could smile and her entire day would be brighter. How she only ever wanted Conner.
She'd never get the chance now. It was gone forever.
