I said it before and I’ll say it again; we NEED Superboy Conner and Lois Lane found family content
HEAR ME OUT!!!
We all know that usually, Lois and Superboy would meet in a period of Clark’s "death". He’s one of several supermen who are trying to fill the gap Clark left and is a clone of his, lab-grown and about 14-15 years old at the time he and the famous journalist meet. Now let me explain my vision.
Lois, usually sassy and blunt in her approach, becomes even more cold and short-tempered after her lover dies. Conner has been briefed on her close friendship with Superman however, so he tries to get into her good graces as she was always Supe’s #1 supporter and gave him good media-coverage.
At first, the woman is obviously done with him. Conner is being his teenage, edgy self and she is grieving over Clark and can’t take much of his bullshit, so after brutally shutting down his half-hearted flirting and correcting him to not call himself "superman", she promptly leaves whatever event she’s even invited to.
However, as Lois is having her little investigation arc, getting to know other supermen and observing how they deal with villains and emergencies, Conner appears on her radar more and more and through forced proximity, she begins guiding him, although roughly.
“Being a hero is not about fame. If that’s what you’re looking for — give up. This is volunteer work, and you’re doing it for the sake of keeping the innocent people safe. You wanna be a hero? Drop the bravado.”
Conner dislikes it at first, but Lois’s tough love quickly grows on him. He likes her honesty and the legit advice she gives him in spite of the dark place she’s clearly in. At the same time, the boy comes to resent Luther more and more every day, with how dead-set he is on treating Superboy like a product, and investing zero of his time into actually raising the kid who very much needs a parent at this age.
So Con just kinda…starts showing up at the same spots Lois is, even outside the hero work. At the cafe, at her job, at the park. Wherever she goes, the kid will most likely appear, and after listening to him talk about Lex, she minds him less and less.
“I’m, like, an investment y’know. I need to keep Mr. Luther happy or..”
“Or…?…”
“…Nothing. Forget it.”
“…”
“…”
“…here.”
“What’s this?”
“My number. If something’s up, if you need someone to talk to, if you need…help, call me.”
Lois doesn’t miss the way Conner’s cheeks redden and eyes sparkle. Do grown-ups never offer him support? She wouldn’t be surprised.
Anyway, now Conner texts and calls her daily. Sends her memes, funny Tik toks, and Lois dryly responds to them, yet never ghosts him. In other words — they’re constantly in contact now.
At the same time, Conner, through Lois’s advice, really starts getting into the whole superhero thing, doing it for the civilians instead of media attention. He gets good publicity but rarely shows up at LexCorp anymore. Luther feels his leash slipping and knows why. He wouldn’t let the kid have a phone without putting trackers to track his investment, and he knows that Conner holds Lois close to his heart; that he really wants her approval.
“I think it’ll be best if you stay away from Lane, boy.”
“What?! Why!?! You were the one who said I needed to get good media coverage!”
“Getting too buddy-buddy with journalists and not knowing when to keep your mouth shut will bring your downfall.”
“Mine? Or yours? Who’s really gonna be in trouble if I "don’t keep my mouth shut"?”
Lois gets anxious when Conner stops texting and answering calls. Something’s wrong, and Lex must be the reason. Her heart lurches.
Conner is just a kid. She can’t let him get hurt. Can’t loose someone again.
So she goes to LexCorp and interrogates Luther right off the porch.
“Where is he? What did you do to him!?”
“Conner? Nothing that is of your business, miss Lane.”
“I swear to god if you touch a hair on his head—“
“He’s my legal property, Lane. I created him, and I know better than anyone how to take care of him and keep him in line.”
Luther’s words send a shudder down her spine. He really didn’t see Conner as his own person? Then what was he capable of doing with him? How far would he go to keep the boy in line?
Long story short: she comes back with her special reinforcement (take a pick of whichever superman, or Batman).
They find Conner kept in a cell, surrounded by strange red lights and there are dried tear-tracks on his face. The door is broken/hacked open, and the three run away. The kid hugs Lois and sobs into her shoulder, and she holds him just as tightly.
“Oh Con, kid, did they hurt you?”
“*sob* I-that asshole said I’d stay there until I learned how to behave…”
“Well you’re definitely not coming back to that shithole. Ever.”
“Where…where do I go then?”
That evening, Conner ends up sitting in front of a TV in Lois’s apartment, eating noodles with her and watching action movies. For the first time since first waking up, he feels like he has a safe space, somewhere to call home. The legal battle with Luthor is going to be tough, but Con can rest assured knowing that Lois won’t let him go. She can get real scary when she wants to.
For now though, those worries are far away as he falls asleep on her shoulder, wearing an oversized sweater that used to belong to someone Lois loved, and she smiles, feeling, for the first time in months, that things will be okay…
Because they’ll have each other.
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