Not the Best Idea
Summary:  Kon thinks he understands his feelings towards Robin, but the Kid of Steel doesn’t have a clue.
Notes:  First part set's during Young Justic sometime before OWaW. The second is set during the current run of The Titans. Thanks go to Charles for the beta, and the title, and to Random, a fellow victim of Bat-muses, and to Te for the kick up the pants. ;)

**********

Kon was somewhere between two and three thousand feet above the surface of the earth before it kicked in that this might not have been the best idea.  But, realizations be damned, it was another few hundred feet before he actually stopped the journey upward.  If he had been a bit more calm, a bit more mature, he would have begun to make his case, asking for understanding and compromise in these emotionally draining and difficult times.

Of course, if Superboy was a bit more calm, a bit more mature, he probably wouldn’t have grabbed Robin by the front of his costume and dragged his skinny, snobby, Gothemy, Bat-shaped, I’m-holier-than-thou ass into the stratosphere in the first place.

And, he definitely wouldn’t have said,

“You are such a *prick*!”

“Kon, take us back down.  Now.”  There was steel in Robin’s voice, and Superboy hated it.  Truly detested the fact that even here, in a situation so totally beyond his control his voice was still strong, and solid, and *hard*.

“No.”  Kon’s grip on Robin’s collar tightened almost imperceptibly as his own voice rang through his ears.  He sounded petulant, and whiny, and... small.  “We’re not going anywhere until you listen to what I have to say.”

“Fine.”  Robin sighed.  “Just, get on with it.  What’s your problem now?”

“My problem *now*,”  Superboy narrowed his eyes,  “Is the same problem I’ve had since we started this stupid team.  My problem is you.”

“Really?  I never would have guessed that.”

“See!  That’s what I’m talking about.  That attitude of yours.  So you were trained by The Batman.  Big freakin’ whoop.  That doesn’t automatically mean you’re God’s gift to Young Justice.  ”

“First of all, Batman has nothing to do with this, or us, or the team.  And, secondly, how could I fill the position of God’s Gift when it was already taken by you?”

“I may have a healthy ego but at least I can back it up.  I’ve got skills.”

“Skills.  Right.”  Robin snorted.  “You mean like the amazing prowess it took to run around the world backwards with a pair of pink, women’s panties on your head?”

“Hey, that was sooo Lil’ Lobo’s fault.  Besides, what was I supposed to do, huh, ignore a dare?”

“Yes!  I swear, If you could put one iota of the energy you spend on posturing towards controlling your impulses then-”

“I can control my impulses, thank you very much!”

“Right.  And, that’s why we’re floating how many miles above the earth?  Face it, you couldn’t control your impulses if your life depended on it.”

“Well, right now, my life doesn’t.  Yours, however...”  Kon let the statement fade away, already wishing like hell he could take it back, start over, rewind and just stay in bed that morning.  It had just appeared on Robin’s face for an instant, there and gone quicker than it took Bart to make a donut run, but it had been there.  For a heartbeat, Robin had looked afraid.  And, even if the look was gone, the contention was still there, evident in the all new tense to Robin’s muscles, the way green gloved fingers dug into Superboy’s arm.

Robin was afraid of him.  Kon waited for the rush, the just feelings of supremacy he had been aching to experience with the latest incarnation of the Boy Wonder.  Instead he felt sick.  Disgusted and disturbed by how the words had simply rolled out of his mouth, and how easily Robin had accepted those words.

And it hit him with a *Whack* *Smack* *Wallop* just how easily Robin could be killed.

Kon had known all along that Robin was human, and subject to the genetical faults and failings of that race, but he had never allowed himself to realize what being human really meant.  He had gotten stuck on the indignity of it all, (a wearer of the ‘S’ playing second fiddle to a regular guy!) that he had completely missed the point.  For Robin there were no super powers to fall back on.  No extra strength, or speed, or mental powers.  Hell, he didn’t even have a special ring that let him put on a light show.  And, he wasn’t the Bat.  The invincible, indomitable Bat... at least, not yet.

No, he was Robin.  And Kon could kill him with a flick of his wrist.

Kon opened his mouth, wanting to impart words of... something.   Regret?  Excuse?  Comfort?  For the first time in a while, the Kid of Steel was having trouble coming up with something to say.

Deciding to let actions speak for the moment, he raised his unoccupied hand and firmly grasped Robin’s upper arm.  After that contact had been established he let go of the material around the other boy’s throat, and repeated the action on the other side.  He never lost contact with Robin’s body, not even for an instant.

Robin was frowning, aware of the shift in mood, but not quite understanding where it came from, or where it was taking them.  For some reason Kon suddenly looked very young, and very lost.  “SB?  Kon?  Are you okay?”

That did it.  Without a second thought, or possibly even a first one, Kon pulled Robin close, and kissed him.  Kissed.  *Kissed*.

It was difficult to determine which moment was more shocking - when Superboy kissed Robin... or when Robin kissed Superboy back.  And, it was, as both young men would later admit to themselves, admist much confusion, a rather nice kiss.  Not too hard, not too soft, with just enough tongue to get a nice, slow tingle started in their bellies.

All too soon their reverie was shattered by something neither boy was prepared to hear - the voice of an extremely irate Wonder Girl.

“Robin?!  Kid?!  Where in Hera’s name are you guys?!”

Kon quietly yelped, then adopted his ‘Itwasn’tmeIdidn’tdoanythingwrongandevenifIdidyoucouldn’tproveitanyway’ stance.  Fortunately, he remembered to not try and put his already occupied hands in his pockets.

Robin’s face was as unreadable as ever, but when Wonder Girl called out again he was a bit shaky as he answered.  “We’re over here, Cass.”  Then, he lowered his voice so only the Meta in front of him could hear what followed.  “What was that about being able to control your impulses?”

Before Kon could formulate a response, Cassie was beside them.

“Oh, thank the Gods.”  She let out a deep exhale of breath.  “Robin, are you all right?  And, you!”  She turned to Kon.  “What the hell were you thinking?!”

“It’s okay, Cass.”  Robin said, quickly.  “We were just... getting some things out into the open.”

She blinked a few times.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”  Robin managed to give her a tight smile.  “Well... I guess...”  She looked back at Kon.  “But, geez, don’t *do* stuff like that again, okay?”

Kon nodded solemnly... or as solemnly as Kon could nod.  “I promise.”

“Well... okay.  Good.  Let’s get back to the hotel.”

“You go ahead.”  Robin said calmly.  “We’ll be down in a minute.”

Cassie simply raised an eyebrow, then, realizing she wasn't going to get anymore out of either of them, she shrugged.  “Okay.  But, if I don’t see both of you on the ground in five minutes I’m coming back up here, and trust me when I say you do *not* want that to happen.”

Kon waited until Cassie’s form had almost dissapered before he dared to open his mouth again.  “Dude...”

“The way I see it, we can go one of two ways with this.”

“Continue.”

“We can either ignore what happened and live in denial, or we can closely examine it from every possible angle and try to discern the real reasons behind our actions.”

“Oh.  Denial?”

“Denial.”

“Thank God.”

“So, that’s the end of that.”  Robin said with finailty.

“I guess so.  Yeah.”

As the boys slowly began their descent, Kon desperately tried to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of his brain, but it wouldn’t be silenced.  He needed to say something, even if it would most likely end up being the wrong thing.

"So..."  I'm sorry.  "Robbie..."  You know I'd never really drop you.  "Um..."  Never really hurt you.  "Uh..."  You know that, right?  "It was good though?"

"Huh?"  The green domino mask did little to hide Robin's confused look.

"The, you know, thing.  The... kiss.  It was good?"

"Kon, I know your vocabulary is somewhat limited, but when you decide to deny something happened that means that-"

"I know what it means!  But, uh, I have a reputation, you know, regardless of whether the recipients of one of my many physical talents are bikini clad beach babes, or a batarang up his butt birdboy like you.  The repression will kick in when we hit the ground, but before we do, I want to know."

Robin sighed.  "Oh, fine.  It was... pleasant."

"Pleasant?"

"I've had worse."

"And, what you're saying is you haven't had any better?"  Kon know he was dangerously within crowing
territory.

Robin’s mouth broke into a tiny smirk.  "Well, I haven't had *that* much experience.  Why don't you try Nightwing?  He could probably give you a full critique, and pointers on how to fix that excessive drool thing you have going on."

"Ha, ha, very funny, I don't have drool problem.  Right?  Robin?  Robin?!  Don’t even think about pulling that silent, cryptic routine.  *Robin*?!"

*****

For the third time in as many days, Kon found himself flying over that dark, dank expanse of concrete and steel known as Gotham City.  He still wasn’t quite sure why he was making these expeditions.  He didn’t even like Robin.  How could he *like* him, like him?

He couldn’t.  He didn’t.  End of rather short story.

Except...

Except, if that were true, then why was the Kid of Steel currently freezing his well shaped buttocks off on the *ugh* East coast?  And, what exactly had that kiss been about?

That kiss.

Kon sighed and touched down on one of the taller buildings in the city.  The Wayne something or other.  He needed to do some serious thinking, and with his luck if he had stayed in the air, he’d probably run into a police helicopter, or a flock of geese, or something.

That kiss.

He had honestly tried to forget what had happened.  Ignore the beyond confusing feelings that popped up whenever he thought of, let alone saw...  But he couldn’t ignore those feelings.  Or deny them.  Or forget.  Or squash them into a tiny ball and store it neatly in a compartment in his bat-belt.

Not that anything could come out of his newfound, mind numbing feelings towards Robin, especially since he couldn’t seem to find the damn guy!

Superboy waited another few minutes, mentally weighing the pros and cons of continuing in this obviously fruitless quest.

"Screw it."  He sighed, turned around, and suddenly found his way blocked by the one thing he had not wanted to see in Gotham City.  It couldn't have been the Joker, could it?  Or Poison Ivy again?  Or
Metallo, or Knockout, or Darksied, or a whole horde of rabid Doomsdays?

Oh, no.

It had to be The Bat.

"Crap."  Kon found himself stepping back from the tall, dark, unbelievably imposing figure.  "Uh, I mean,"  he crossed his arms in front of his chest.  He was Superbo... well, okay, boy.  But, still Super.

"Why.  Are.  You.  Here?"

"I, uh..."  Kon felt a steady wave of terror begin to grow inside of him.  In his plans, the only Batman meeting contingency involved running, or in his
case flying, far, far away.  But, he couldn't move.  Kon found himself inexplicably rooted to the spot.  He had never been five years old, but he could easily imagine this was along the lines of getting your hand
caught in the cookie jar... only on a much more horrifying and potentially pants wetting level.

"Why.  Are.  You.  Here?  The Truth."

The truth?!  Well, of course it would have to be The Truth.  You can't lie to The Bat without him being able to sense it, or smell it, or something.  The
Truth.  "Uh.  I'm here..."  to seduce your partner, you know, Robin.  You haven't seen him around lately, have you, 'cause, that boy is a bitch to find.

Oh, no.  No, no.  That wouldn't work.  Kon was starting to sweat, and The Bat was starting to look even more pissed off than before, which couldn't have been humanly possible, but then, THE BAT wasn't human, was it?!  It was some kind of shadow demon monster THING.  And not even the rest of the Justice League could save him now, ‘cause he had dug his grave, and now he was going to have to lie in it, but not before his heart exploded in his chest, and it was going to explode, it had to, because there was no way it could be beating that fast and not explode, or maybe it would it just stop, yeah, that was it, his heart would just konk out, and ohGodohGodohGodohGodohGodohGod-

"He's with me."

The quite voice shocked both Superboy and Batman, both of whom had been so entrenched in the intimidation exercise, that neither had heard the quiet arrival of the leader of Young Justice.

Go Robin.

Batman took a step away from Kon, distancing himself from the young superhero, and gazed steadily at his partner.  Robin, for his part, gazed just as solidly at his mentor.  There was not a shred of emotion on boy’s face, yet it was almost as if a challenge hung in the air.

Batman was still for a few moments, before he simply said,  "I see."  Then he paused, seemingly wanting to say something else.  But his restraint held, and in the time it took Kon to flash Robin a grateful look, The Bat was gone.

Superboy blinked at the empty space where Batman had stood just a second before.  He let out a long, exhale of breath, then grinned at his teammate.  "Thanks, man, that was-"

"Why.  Are.  You.  Here?"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding?!  Not you too!"  Kon rolled his eyes.

Robin was not impressed.  "Kon, for some ungodly reason, I just took responsibility for you being here in this city.  Now, you're either going to tell me why you're here, or you're going to leave."

Kon opened his mouth, then closed it.  Then, he opened it again, and once more snapped it shut before any of the smartass remarks he had automatically formulated could be let loose on an unsuspecting public.

"Well?"

"Okay, okay, fine!”  Kon scowled.  “I'll tell you, but, not here.  Someplace... private."

Behind the mask, Robin's eyes rolled heavenward.  "Whatever."  And then an almost devilish grin appeared on his face.  "Try and keep up."  With a flick of his wrist, and a death defying step into the smoggy Gotham
air, the younger teen was gone.

Now it was Kon's turn to roll his eyes as he took flight.  "Try to keep up."  He muttered.  "Yeah, rig... Hey!  Robin?!  Where the hell did you go?!"

*****

"That wasn't funny!"

"Oh, I don’t know.  Watching you fly up and down the alleys going ‘Robin, where are you?  Robin!’ was pretty damn funny from where I was hanging."

The trip from the rooftop to this old bell tower the boys currently found themselves in should have only taken five minutes.  But, Robin, in one of his all too few playful moods had found utter delight in playing hide and seek with an unwilling Superboy.

"And, which one of us is supposed to be the responsible one?"  Kon fumed.

A strange shadow passed over Robin's face.  "Sometimes I get tired of being the responsible one."

"Is that so?  Well, I never would have guessed.  Robin, the bird boy wonder might actually be human."

"So, you flew all the way here to rag on me.  Big surprise."

"That's not why I came here, that's just icing."  Kon grinned.

Robin’s semi good mood seemed to dissipate before the Meta’s eyes.  "The clock is ticking, Superboy.  Spill it, or leave."

"Oh, right.  Okay."  Kon's grin faltered.  "Um... Well, actually, this might fit in really well with that whole you not wanting to be that responsible
anymore thing."

"Oh, God."

"See, I've been thinking..."

"Never a good sign."

“About the kiss...”

Instantly, Robin's entire demeanor changed.  "I thought we agreed-"

"We did."  Kon shrugged.  "But I changed my mind."

For a moment the boy wonder simply stared at him.  Then Robin snorted and folded his arms across his chest.  "Oh, *very* funny.  What, are Cassie, Cissie, and 'Nita listening over your communicator?  That's
okay, everybody.   I hope you had a nice, hearty laugh at my expense."

"Rob,"  Superboy responded seriously,  "You know darn well I never learned how to operate my communicator."

Robin's face changed again.  "Oh, God."

"You said that already."

"Well, I think it bears repeating in this instance, don't you?"

"I don't see what the big deal is!"  Kon announced, throwing his hands into the air.

"You don't?"

"No.  I like you, Robin."

"No, you don't!"

"Okay, no, I don't, but...”  Kon began to slowly move closer to the younger teen.  “I like being close to you.  I like touching you.”  To illustrate his point, he reached out and gently stroked a finger down Robin’s cheek.  “And, I think you like me touching you, too.”  He leaned in, lips already parted in anticipation.

Robin twisted away.  “This can’t happen.”

“Why not?!”  Kon could feel a pout coming on.  “I want it.  And, I so know you want it.  So, why can’t we have it?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Is it because I’m a guy?  Is this some weird, human, same-sex-stuff is wrong thing?”

“No.  Well... No.”  Robin frowned.  “I mean, it’s different.  Not what I’m used to, but...”

“Then what’s your problem?  Or...”  Superboy blinked a few times.  “Oh.  It’s not *your* problem, is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on.  It’s no secret how Batman feels about Metas.  And, I’m not even just a Meta, am I?  I’m the *copy* of a Meta.”

“Look, I told you before, Batman has no place in this.”  Heat had begun to slip into Robin’s voice.

“Oh.  So, then, you’re prejudiced too!  Okay, I see how things are around-”

“Oh, God in heaven, will you shut up!  It’ s not that you’re a Meta!  Geez, I’d give one of my kidneys for a night with...”  Robin blushed.  “And, you’re right, I do like it when you touch me, but...”

Kon chewed on his bottom lip for a few moments.  “I don’t understand what goes on in your head.  And, I also don’t get this twisted little family you guys have set up around here.  But, I do get that you need a break from that.”

“I do get breaks.”

“YJ doesn’t count, Rob.  You’re still ‘on’ all the time, even when you’re supposed to be relaxing.  I’m talking about no costumes, no crimefighting.  Just you and me.”

Robin knew what was coming, yet he couldn’t seem to keep himself from asking,  “What exactly are you proposing?”

Kon’s grin was back, full force.  “Robin, will you go out with me?”

**********

Several years later...