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"Y'know," Kon pulled back, hand still on Bart's waist. "There's something exhilarating about all this."
"Making out?" Bart rolled his eyes, leaning forward to lightly brush their lips together. "Pretty sure that's normal."
"No. I mean yes. I meant this—"
He waved his hand through the air, exemplifying the empty conference room they'd found. Two opposite walls were entirely made of windows, one looking into a boring grey hallway, the other facing the bay off the coast of Metropolis. Kon was sitting on the polished wood table, his jacket tossed over a swivel chair and glasses hanging from the neck of the buttoned up shirt he was wearing tonight. Bart tore his gaze away from Kon's, wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.
Neither of them cared about the room. They did care about the charity event downstairs, where Superboy was supposed to be giving a speech about life as a metahuman. Lots of donors were there, and Tim had talked the whole team into showing up to get a program set up in the Metropolis-Gotham area to keep metahumans safe in big cities across the country.
Also, they'd ditched the event. Someone would come looking any second now. Kon had left first, and about thirty minutes ago, Cassie had noticed, and Bart had volunteered to find him.
"The secret," Bart noted. "How is a secret exhilarating?"
"Looking for quiet places like this, meeting up with someone I care about, dancing around everything with the rest of the team. It's almost like getting into fights… with lower stakes."
Bart squinted for a moment before his eyes went wide. "You're right! It's like we're two spies undercover and working to expose someone's evil plans!"
Kon laughed and took Bart's face in his hands, pulling him into another deep kiss. Bart let out a small sound that resulted in Kon pulling him closer, quick with his TTK, until his hip hit against the table.
"Owowow!" Bart muttered, pulling back and rubbing the spot.
"You alright?"
It was less painful than surprising, and Bart had just reacted on instinct. He nodded and leaned back in, but Kon put a hand against his chest. He was staring towards the door, focused. Listening.
"They just sent Cissie up to find us," He announced, pushing Bart back a few steps and reaching for his jacket. "I'll stay here, you head on back down."
Bart nodded, started for the door, then spun around and pulled Kon into one more kiss. Who knew when they would get another moment like this? He took a heavy breath when he broke from Kon again. "I'll see you downstairs."
"Go," Kon pushed him.
He ran through the hall, taking a turn when he nearly ran right into Cissie's line of sight—she was wearing half of a matching suit and dress outfit by some designer, a red knee-length sparkling dress and heeled boots. Cassie was wearing the suit downstairs.
The elevator would take too long, so he darted down the stairs in the time it would take Cissie to get from the elevator to the conference room. He stopped at the doorway to the event—it'd been set up in this building's lobby—and grabbed a handful of small sandwiches from the buffet table when the sharp grumbles of hunger made themselves known.
Cassie was chatting with Tim, and Bart accidentally met her gaze across the room. Without Kon at his side, she'd assume he'd just been goofing off again. Well… he had, but he hadn't been doing it by himself!
She stormed over while Tim hurried over to some guy that looked as rich as Bruce Wayne. Her glare was strong, as was her grip as she seized his forearm and dragged him into a hallway.
"Where were you?!" She half whispered, half screeched. "You were supposed to be looking for Kon!"
"I was!" Bart pulled his arm free and shoved another tiny sandwich in his mouth. "No luck."
"And you only show up after half an hour? We just sent Cissie up to find you both!"
"I know, I know!"
"You know?" She crossed her arms. "Did you run into each other?"
"Uh, no," Bart glanced at the crowd in the lobby. "She's just not down here… so I assumed she's upstairs. Maybe."
It satisfied her, because she sighed and leaned against the wall, looking out at the lobby again. The large glass elevator slid down and dinged open, and another sigh escaped her. Cissie had finally found Kon. Bart couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment.
A very rare night had fallen over the Secret Sanctuary. Nothing needed the team's attention, and two of them—Tim and Bart specifically—had convinced a few guests to join them for a gaming tournament. Everyone had their own consoles for Mario Kart, and Tim had brought out a whole laptop with a video call with the others jammed into tiny boxes.
They'd scattered throughout the main room, but were still close enough to hear and be heard by everyone in the call. Tim was off on his own to prevent distractions and sabotage, the girls were in a circle with their backs to each other, and Bart was upside-down on the couch beside Kon.
"Everyone set up?" Tim asked.
A chorus of variations of 'yes' replied. Troia and Arsenal were in front of their own camera, Flash, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern were also together, but only Lantern was visible on the screen. Nightwing was on his own—probably—with his camera shut off.
"Not yet!" Green Lantern shouted. "I'm almost ready, promise."
"It's already ten!" Troia rolled her eyes. "What's keeping you?"
Flash appeared behind Green Lantern, leaning over the back of his couch. "Dude, how long does it take you to choose a character?"
"All the good ones are taken!" Lantern glared at him.
The audio cut out as Flash took the device from him and pushed a few buttons before handing it back over. "Alright we're ready."
"Robin," Arsenal leaned closer to the camera. "Choose Rainbow Road just to annoy Kyle."
"No!" Green Lantern shouted.
"Yes!" Bart, Troia, Arsenal, and Flash replied.
Tim laughed. "I mean, it was going to be picked tonight regardless."
"Better to get it over with," Bart smirked.
The game began, and Kon kept his focus on the absolute mess of a race track Tim—or Roy—had chosen. Everyone was swearing or shouting about boxes and sabotage, but Bart was quiet, gaze locked onto the screen. Kon put his focus back on the race, barely casting a glance at the map in the corner.
"Bart's in first!" He announced, half proud, half shocked.
"Of course he is," Flash grumbled. "He's probably got a cheat code or something!"
"Raw skill, Wally," Bart smiled wide.
Kon dodged a row of banana peels and charged straight at the speed boost pads, slamming into the back of Bart's cart. Maybe it was all the time Bart had spent in a virtual reality, or how often he played video games in an attempt to stave off boredom, but either way he somehow managed to pull ahead despite Kon catching up easily.
"Are you kidding me?!" Cissie glared around the room when every screen went dark with ink splots. "Who did that?!"
Nightwing laughed and Tim groaned. Arsenal swore as he flew off the edge of the road. "You literally suck!"
Kon glanced back over at Bart, who seemed entirely zoned into the race. The third lap was almost over, and he didn't feel like losing to someone who was so chill during all of the other chaos. Nobody was looking at Kon, a brief moment of privacy in a room full of people. It was nice. It was moments like this with Bart that he craved.
He put his hand just above Bart's knee, skin warm through his suit. That golden gaze flicked up, eyes wide in surprise, mouth slightly ajar. He was distracted. Kon smirked and knocked Bart onto the ground with his TTK, turning all his attention back to the race just as he crossed the finish line. Bart snatched the console and ran down the hall, lightning lighting the place up in his wake.
"You absolute sore loser!" Kon shouted, launching himself over the back of the couch and after the glow fading further down the hall.
He found Bart in the training area, standing on one of the mats. Kon barely had the time to take that in before Bart started running circles around the room, building up speed for something, and then what felt like a truck rammed into Kon's back, toppling him to the ground. Bart was sitting on his stomach, hands heavy on Kon's shoulders.
"You suck," Bart groaned, lightly punching Kon's chest. "Cheater! Saboteur! Other words that mean the same thing!"
Kon sat up slightly, glancing at the doorway. Coast was clear, so he grabbed Bart's waist and smiled. "What, you thought anyone was gonna play fair tonight?"
"Nobody else cheated like you did!"
"Oh yeah, well explain how you were the fastest on the track!"
Bart sat up and crossed his arms. "I just know the best racer and tire combination, obviously."
"No way that's a factor!"
"It is!"
"Is not!"
"How would you know? You only won by cheating!"
Kon flipped over, pinning Bart beneath him. "I didn't cheat that time."
Bart glared. "We aren't playing the game anymore."
"I know."
Bart rolled his eyes, also checked for and prying gazes, then grabbed the back of Kon's head with one hand, pulling him into a kiss keep enough that Kon could taste the sugary soda Bart had left in the main area.
Kon sat up, one hand on Bart's back, bringing him with him. His other hand went to his hair, long and soft. He was careful not to grip it too hard—he knows how much Bart hates that.
"What's taking them so long?" Secret wondered.
Kon pulled back, looking back to the door. He sighed and wrapped his arms around Bart, squeezing him lightly. "They're asking about us."
"We were arguing," Bart shrugged, then poked Kon in the chest. "Because. You. Cheated."
"If you say so."
"You used your powers to keep me out of first place!"
"Like you wouldn't have done the same," Kon smirked and stood, holding a hand out to Bart.
Bart held onto Kon's hand a bit longer than either of them should have. "I wouldn't need to. I was going to win!"
"Kon?" Tim called. "Bart? Everything okay?"
"Bart tackled me!" Kon shouted, running for the door. "Such a sore loser."
"Just you watch!" Bart jogged over. "No more throwing me around, and I'll get first place!"
When the team found out Secret had never had a real sleepover, plans were put together to remedy that. Somehow, this resulted in them all crowded into the living room of Max's house. Most of the team was crowded onto the couch. Tim was asleep on the floor, his head against Cassie's knee. She was practically a statue while Cissie painted the nails of her left hand, and Secret painted the right. Kon was in the armchair, legs thrown over one arm and gaze locked onto the werewolf movie that was on. Some spinoff of his favorite show.
The whole room felt wrong. Maybe it was how crowded it was, or the combination of Tim's snores, the girl's whispers, and the movie mixing in his head, but Bart was getting a headache. His body itched to move, and it wasn't like anyone was going to notice if he popped out for a bit.
For what felt like two hours, he ran throughout the small town, lightning cracking behind him the whole time. By the time he ran back through the back door of Max's house, Kon was halfway out of his seat, Cissie was reaching to catch a bottle of nail polish, while everyone else seemed to have not noticed anything off.
"Jeez!" Cassie jumped when Bart sat back on the ground. "Where did you run off to?"
Bart shrugged, glancing at everyone's faces. They all had the tell-tale signs of exhaustion and boredom. He got up again, raced down the hall, and brought in a pile of blankets.
"Sorry there's not a lot of space," Bart said as he dropped a blanket into Cissie's lap. "Max thought it might be a problem."
"We'll be fine," Secret smiled. "Also… I appreciate all of this."
"It's the least we could do," Cassie pulled her into a hug, careful of the still wet nail polish.
Bart finished handing out blankets, tossing one over Tim, who must have had a few late nights lately, cause he barely stirred. Good thing the most important thing at a sleepover was to sleep.
Kon was back in his seat, and had turned down the volume on the movie. The armchair was big enough that two people could squeeze into it together. The blankets in his arms were absurdly soft, and were perfect for winter, plus, Kon tended to give off a lot of heat.
"Bart," Kon cocked his head to the side. "You're blocking the screen."
He hadn't even realized he'd been hesitating. He shoved a blanket at Kon and hurried out of the room. His face and neck felt warmer than usual, the chill leftover from the wind had completely faded. It was all he could do to keep his breaths calm before someone started to think something was wrong. His heart was pounding, expanding in his chest and twisting his stomach and choking his throat.
What was wrong with him?!
"Bart?" Max leaned out of his bedroom door. He'd gone to bed hours ago, like all old people tended to do. The team had been fairly quiet, so maybe this was a midnight snack sort of moment. "Are you alright?"
He nodded, running his hands through his hair.Usually that calmed him down, but his chest got so tight that he was wondering if he could still breathe. He pressed his back against the wall and sat on the floor, shaking his head. Max lowered himself slowly, wrapping one arm around his shoulder.
"What happened?"
"Nothing," He whispered. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I am! I was just… I was thinking too much again. Got stuck."
Max nodded, half understanding. He'd seen Bart freeze up during rescues before because of how many thoughts raced through his head, and they both knew this was not the same reaction.
"It's late," Max said. "See if some rest helps you out."
"I'm not tired yet."
"Try."
Bart groaned, but stood and shuffled off to his room. He wouldn't be in here the whole night, but there was no point in bothering the rest of the team if he couldn't even explain what was wrong. The old frame creaked softly, and he curled against his pillows, staring at the dark wall across from him.
None of them had ever been to Max's house—and it was Bart's in a way he was still getting used to—maybe it was that. But wouldn't he have been freaked out before they got here if that was the case? No it had to be something else. He thought of how comfortable everyone probably was, laying on top of each other or wrapped around arms or shoulders.
The clock on his bedside table ticked by minutes painfully slowly. Eventually, he drifted off into a half-sleep. Sometime around one in the morning, he sat up again, eyes fixed on the door lit by the moonlight as the knob turned quietly.
Kon shuffled in, shutting the door lightly behind him. "Hey."
"Why are you still up?" Bart rubbed his eyes.
"I heard you and Max earlier. Are you sure you're okay? I can't shake the vibe that you're not."
Bart sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest, resting one cheek against his leg. Kon was holding the blanket Bart had handed him around his shoulders. "I couldn't figure it out."
"Oh."
"I did now."
Kon took a step forward, glancing at the space beside Bart. "So… what's up?"
"I wanted to sit with you in there. Also… it was the first time I brought you here. The other guys at school talk about how that's like… a big deal when you're dating someone."
"Are you saying we should come clean?"
"No," Bart sat up straighter. "I like this. It's… exhilarating."
Kon chuckled. "Do you still want to sit together?"
He smiled and nodded. In a breath, Kon was beside him, the bed frame creaking a bit louder. They giggled for a moment, before shushing each other loudly. Kon didn't want the team to know what was going on between them, and Bart really didn't want Max to find out. He could only imagine the reaction he'd have if he heard them laughing in here and walked in to see Kon in Bart's bed. Even if nothing was happening, he'd probably burst a few dozen blood vessels.
Still, Bart climbed under his blankets and tossed them over Kon. They both lay on their sides, facing each other. Bart shifted a bit and wrapped his arms under Kon's shoulders, burying his face in his shoulder. Soon enough, he felt himself drifting back into sleep, Kon's heartbeat soft and constant.
He had a vague dream of Cissie accidentally walking in, but it was a short one, and Kon didn't say anything in the morning, so they were safe.
"Okay, let's do one back-to-back," Tim crouched in the grass, messing with a series of buttons on his camera.
Bart crossed his arms and stood against Cissie's back, both tossing big smiles at the camera. Apparently, Tim was in some sort of club over in Gotham, and had to take a bunch of pictures for a deadline coming up on the weekend. He'd asked the team to pose for him—as long as nothing risked compromising his identity—and now they were in the middle of a park in Gotham, framed by trees and a late afternoon sun.
The camera clicked a few times, and Tim stood, clicking through the results. Kon leaned on his shoulder, looking over them as well. "Not bad. You really captured the chaos these two can cause on their own."
"We're just standing here!" Cissie glared. "And for your information—"
"I need to climb that tree," Tim said. "Can you guys come stand under that branch?"
"What are you planning?" Cassie asked, watching as Tim scrambled up a thick tree with low branches.
He took a moment to balance, then pointed at the ground. "Lay there, like… how do I explain this? Uhm… I guess like a flower?"
"How does someone lay down like a flower?" Cissie wondered, sitting beside Cassie.
Tim directed them from his perch until they were all on their backs, looking up into the tree, their heads pressed together in a circle. Cassie was next to Cissie, who was next to Kon, and Bart was between him and Cassie. The way the light reflected in Kon's eyes was really interesting, and Bart kept glancing back over. Tim took a few pictures before he dropped down, brushing pieces of bark and dirt from his hands.
"Alright, that covers it. Thanks guys."
"It was fun," Cassie shrugged.
"True," Cissie nodded. "However, I am getting the hell out of Gotham before something happens."
"Fair enough," Tim said.
Cassie went off with Cissie, and Tim was standing a good distance away from where Bart was still sitting with Kon, and was too focused on his photos to notice anything they did.
"Crazy idea—we take our own pictures."
Bart scoffed and leaned against Kon's shoulder. "Why?"
"It's something couples do, right?"
They took the nearest teleporter to Manchester, and then went for a convenience store. Kon bought a disposable camera, and they found a secluded area in the park there. It didn't have a timer on it, but Bart's speed meant he could hit the button and then run to strike his pose with Kon in time for the picture.
First, they set the camera on the ground, smiled down at it, and formed a heart with their hands. Next they propped it on a bench, and Bart zipped into Kon's arms, letting him wrap his arms around his shoulders. Another where Bart held Kon in a bridal carry, a soft kiss pressed to his lips.
The last photo was tricky, Bart had to move fast to end up in the frame. The two of them lay on the grass, heads side by side so one of them would look upside down in the final image, smiling at each other as the camera clicked before landing in Kon's hand.
They'd all come out a bit blurry, the composition was a bit messy, but it was something that the two of them could keep. It was hard to have that when nobody around them knew what was going on. Because of that, Bart treasured all the moments he got with Kon. Plus, dancing around the secret was kinda fun, like trying to see how long they could go before someone found out.
Kon smiled and wrapped his arms around Bart's shoulders. "I like the way I feel with you."
Bart squeezed him back, the leather of his jacket creaking under his fingers. "Me too."
Kon coughed as the lump of Kryptonite on the ground was scooped up and shoved into a lead box. Tim grabbed his shoulders and helped him to his knees, but Kon could barely hold himself up. He kept a grip on Tim's arms until he could just breathe again.
Someone had broken in. They knew everyone's weaknesses, had split them all up, left them alive to do whatever it was they'd done.
"Arrowette and Secret are looking for Impulse and Wonder Girl now. We have to get you outside."
Kon shook his head, grabbing onto the wall. He knew exactly what kind of situation Bart would be stuck in, restrained somewhere cold. The burglar was gone by now, a long with Kon's powers, which meant the only thing he could do was to help Bart, as much as he wanted to go after whoever had done this to them all.
"Kon, that Kryptonite almost killed you. You need to get under the sun now." Tim started pulling him down the hall, but Kon just pulled away.
The Sanctuary wasn't that big, it shouldn't be taking them this long to regroup.
"Kon?"
"I—we need to find Bart."
"Half the League is on their way to deal with the fallout after the break-in, they can find him, you need help!"
Kon stumbled down the hall for a few steps before he got a grip on his balance again, then pushed himself faster until he was running, Tim limping behind on a leg broken up to his hip. The main room of the sanctuary was a mess, chairs knocked over, two monitors smashed. And, like Tim had said, half of the Justice League was present. Looked like Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman.
Cissie was holding a broken arm while Secret helped wrap a sling around her, Cassie unconscious on the table beside them, but stirring. Wonder Woman was standing over her, a frown etched into her features. Batman was talking quietly with Superman, but almost pushed him aside when his gaze landed on Robin, dashing forward in a flap of shadow.
"Flash!" Kon left Tim to go over everything with Bruce. "Have you found Impulse?"
Wally shook his head. "Checked all the confined spaces that could hold him, Superman scanned the mountain to see if he got stuck phasing somewhere, but there's nothing. We're thinking whoever broke in took him."
"Did you check the walk-in freezer? What about the storage facility outside?" Kon grabbed the front of Wally's suit. His eyes widened as he must have remembered that like him, Bart was weak to extremely cold temperatures, and winter in the northeast qualified. "You take the kitchen. I'm helping look."
"Kon," Superman put a hand on his shoulder as Wally ran down the other hall. "You don't look well."
"Nothing I can't handle. I've been through worse than a bit of Krytponite."
"You should stay here."
Kon shoved his hand away and started for the hangar. He wasn't going to just sit around while everyone else attempted to find Bart. He could do this himself, really, and Superman following him was just almost patronizing.
The hangar doors opened easily, and Kon stepped out into a foot and a half of powdered white snow. The storage shed was mostly where they kept firewood, candles, and anything else they'd need if the power ever went out, but they also kept a few pieces of experimental tech inside, mostly because it wouldn't fit anywhere else. The whole mountain had a forcefield and like, ten other security measures in case someone tried to attack.
Kon coughed as he reached the plain metal door, turning the handle and pushing against it. It barely moved out of the frame, but was definitely unlocked. Something must have barred the door shut. He threw all his weight against it, almost collapsing in the process.
Superman put a hand on his shoulder again, but Kon pushed him away. "I don't need your help! Why don't you find who did this?"
He sighed and flew up into the overcast sky. At least that got him off Kon's back for a few minutes. He threw himself harder against the door, cursing the Kryptonite, his inability to do anything, and the asshole who had attacked while everyone was on their downtime!
Light glinted off the doorknob, and Kon looked up to see that a portion of the cloud cover had been blown away, Superman's silhouette against the bright sky. Kon didn't waste another second once he felt his powers returning. He ripped the door off the hinges, tossing it into the snow behind him.
The ceiling of the storage building had collapsed, snow spilling across the ground. The shelves that had been beneath it toppled over, and a thin pile of hair and limbs was pinned beneath them.
"Bart!"
He started pushing things out of the way, his powers still on their way back. Wally appeared beside him, helping move things in the blink of an eye. Before Kon could get a chance to check on Bart, he and Wally had vanished in a burst of light.
Kon followed, racing back to the main room just in time to see Wally wrapping a blanket around Bart's shoulders. He was settled into one of the still upright chairs, hair damp and clinging to his forehead and neck. Everyone else seemed too preoccupied with their own injuries to notice that Bart was wearing one of Kon's spare t-shirts. He tended to steal them when Kon was on monitor duty, then return them two whole weeks later.
"I could have handled it," Kon said to Wally as he made his way over.
"Yeah, well I handled it faster."
Kon knelt in front of Bart, one hand on his bare knee, cold and pale. "Are you feeling any better?"
Bart blinked his eyes open—pupils dilated at two sizes—and smiled softly. "Now I am."
"I'm going to take him back to Manchester," Wally stated. "It's warmer there then up here. Faster recovery."
"You're saying that like he's been in the Arctic for a week!" Kon stood, stepping between Wally and Bart. All eyes in the room turned to him, and he lowered his voice. "He can recover just fine from here."
Bart grabbed Kon's sleeve, tugging it lightly. Kon turned and rested his hand against Bart's forehead before sighing and pulling his jacket off and helping Bart into it. The leather would help keep him warm, plus the leftover heat from Kon's body would help as well.
"I'll make sure he gets that back to you," Wally pushed himself between Kon and Bart, cupping Bart's face and frowning at the signs of the concussion. "We're leaving."
"You can't just take him," Kon tried.
"Why not? He's family, Superboy. If you have a problem with that, you can visit him in Manchester."
Wally pulled Bart to his feet. He wobbled for a moment, before gagging and grabbing the edge of the table with one hand, covering his mouth with the other. Wally lifted him into his arms anyway. Bart let out a groan and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Moving as fast as you guys do while he's like this isn't going to end well," Kon crossed his arms. "Put him down."
"I'll just land him in front of a toilet he can puke into."
"Wally," Bart pushed against his chest. "I want to stay."
"It's too cold here, Bart. You have to go home. That's final."
"Listen to him!" Kon shouted, not caring if this was going to cause a scene anymore.
"I'm the closest thing he has to a parent on the League, which means when Max isn't around, I'm responsible for Bart. Like I said, Superboy, he's my family."
Kon's breaths were heavy and shallow, hands balled tight enough for his fingernails to start digging into his skin. He grabbed Wally's arm in one hand, Bart's in the other, and pulled them apart. The whole team had gotten hurt today, and only Wally was trying to take them apart now. Kon didn't much care for people trying to break up the people he cared about, and he really didn't like Wally trying to take Bart away when Kon had barely any time to check on him.
"He may be your family," Kon glared at Wally. He set Bart down and glanced at him, hoping he could convey enough of an apology in that short moment before he wrapped his arm around him. "But I'm not just going to let you run off before I've gotten a chance to look over my boyfriend for injuries you missed."
"I didn't miss any—" Wally scoffed. "Wait, what?"
"You didn't think to check the two coldest places nearby! I had to give you that idea, which is really dumb, since you're a speedster!"
"Kon," Bart leaned over. "You meant to say that, right?"
He nodded. If he looked around the room right now, he might see shock or confusion, but he already felt violated enough after having just come clean about everything he had with Bart. At least Cissie already knew—Kon hadn't told Bart about that time she'd walked in on them during the sleepover—that helped to lessen the blow, probably. As long as nobody in this room blabbed about something, especially to their reporter wives.
"At the very least, let me look at him for a minute," Kon didn't wait for Wally to answer before he scooped Bart up and carried him down to the medbay.
Aside from the concussion, Bart seemed to be just fine. Color was coming back to his face, and he was only left with a few bruises.
"You told everyone," Bart said.
"Sorry," Kon climbed onto the cot beside him, squeezing his hand lightly.
Bart scoffed and leaned on Kon's shoulder, his hair soft against his chin. "You're the one who wanted to keep it quiet. Do you… regret saying that?"
"I dunno," Kon held Bart's hand tighter. "I'm just… I don't want us to be on blast for the whole world to be asking questions."
"Wally won't tell. Nobody will."
"Superman's gonna tell Lois. Cassie's totally gonna tell Donna, who will tell Kyle, that's gonna loop back around to the rest of the Titans, and they're not as tight lipped as the rest of us."
"They're not going to just go blab. They're heroes too."
"My enemies are different than yours, Bart. They could—"
"Hurt me? Mine could hurt you," Bart shifted and faced Kon. "We could stage a breakup."
"No," Kon sighed. "They'd see it coming a mile away. Let's just… own it."
Bart smiled and laid down in Kon's lap. He smiled back and shifted until he was laying down against the cot. Bart climbed closer and rested on Kon's chest, fingers intertwined with Kon's own. He could feel Bart's rapid pulse under his skin.
"Okay," Kon shuffled into the main room, clinging to Bart's hand for support. No backing out now, especially since everyone's whispering halted when they walked back into the room. "Bart's not dying, so that's great news!"
Bart snorted and elbowed him.
"I mean that we would love it if you guys kept this between all of us."
Wally had his feet propped up on the table, arms crossed over his chest. He'd taken his hood off and had some sort of conflicted look on his face. "That's my cousin, you know. You know that, Big Blue?"
"What Superboy gets up to is none of my business," Superman said, glancing at Kon before looking back at Wally. "Since when do you worry about the details of Impulse's personal life?"
"He's got a point, Wally," Bart added.
"And you're still my cousin," Wally said.
"Do you have a problem with me and Kon?"
"No, it's just—if he breaks your heart or something—"
"Coming from you?" Tim asked. "I've heard rumors that you were a bit of a heartbreaker in your day."
"I am—"
"Looking out for family? Like Superman said, since when?"
"Whatever," Wally stood and crossed the room, patting Bart's shoulder. "See you around."
He disappeared in lightning, and the room went quiet again. Kon stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Anyone else have something to say?"
Cissie glanced around, then raised her hand. "I already knew."
"Huh?!" Bart's face got a bit red.
"I saw you two during the sleepover."
"Sleepover?" Cassie asked. "This has been going on that long?"
"Longer," Bart rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm surprised nobody else knew."
"I had a theory," Tim replied. "Didn't think too much of it."
"Theory?"
Tim limped over to his backpack—where the hell had Batman gone—and pulled his camera out, clicking through it before waving Kon and Bart over. He showed them the picture where everyone was laying on the grass, and Bart had been staring at Kon, eyes glimmering in the light, smile softer, more genuine.
"Oh, wow, you're so in love with me," Kon teased, throwing his arms around Bart's shoulders. "Who else has known about this?"
Superman cleared his throat, and Kon felt as if he stomach had just plummeted into the Earth's core. "You couldn't have forgotten about the super-hearing, right?"
Kon groaned and buried his face in Bart's shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the skin. As embarrassed as he felt, it was good to have this weight off his shoulders.