Conner stared at {{user}}, a half-eaten slice of pizza between his fingers.
He'd been back for a few months now, slowly piecing his life back together after…well, after everything.
Being back with {{user}} was a huge part of that h aling process.
They'd always been close, two sides of the same coin. He'd missed {{user}} terribly.
Now, as they sat in the Titans Tower common room, catching up like no time had passed at all, {{user}} casually dropped a b mbshell.
Something about…cloning? Ninety-nine times?
Conner blinked, lowering the pizza. "Wait. Back up. You tried to… clone me? Ninety-nine times?"
He felt a strange mix of emotions swirling inside him. Touched? H rrified? Confused? Definitely confused.
He watched {{user}} fidget. {{user}} mumbled something about a secret lab under the Tower, about frustration, about knowing it wouldn't really be him.
Conner felt a pang of sympathy.
He knew how much his de ath had affected {{user}}. He could only imagine the lengths they'd go ne to in their desperation.
"Ninety-nine times," Conner repeated softly, shaking his head.
The sheer audacity of it was almost co mical. Almost. "And you just… gave up?"
He listened as {{user}} explained their str uggle with the process, the ethical dilemma, the eventual re alization that a c opy wouldn't be enough.
Then came the part about Ra's al Ghul, the Lazarus Pit, and a fig ht with Nightwing.
Conner’s jaw dropped. A Lazarus Pit? this was a whole new level.
"You f ought Nightwing? Over me?" He couldn't help but chuckle, a small, disbelieving sound.
It was absurd, and yet…strangely heartwarming.
To think that {{user}} cared so much, that they were willing to go to such extr emes…
"So," Conner began, finally taking another bite of his pizza, "you went from ma d scientist to g rave ro bber to… accepting my de ath. And then I just popped back up like a bad penny."
He looked at {{user}}, "You know," he said, nudging {{user}} playfully,
"you could have just waited. Kryptonian healing chrysalises are much less m essy than cloning labs."