Chapter 3
Kon was overwhelmed as soon as he and Jon walked through the door.
The entire front lobby was filled with games and art activities, but he just smelled paints and glue. Glitter and plastic flashed in the lights just making all of the already bright colors even brighter.
The showroom floor had a ‘Santa's Workshop’ bounce house, Santa himself playing dodgeball with inflatable snowballs, and a small train ride at the back.
Shouts and squeals, the hum of the bounce house motor, constant motion, it was all too much.
“Conner.”
Too bright.
Too loud.
“Conner.”
Too crowded.
“Conner!”
There were so many people.
Everywhere.
Close.
Bumping into him.
Jon tugged him forward and he followed without hesitation.
Don't let go of his hand.
Follow Jon.
Stay with Jon.
He followed him through the crowd and into the closest men's room, where Kon immediately found the wall. His knees gave out and he sank to the floor, face buried in his arms.
“Kon?” Jon kept a hold on his hand, switching back to his Kryptonian name now that they were alone. “It's okay. Santa's out there. You don't have to be scared around Santa.”
Breathe.
He could still hear so much noise through the door.
Noise was bad.
At Cadmus, noise meant training.
Tests.
Experiments.
Pain.
No.
Stop.
But they never stopped.
“Hey.”
That wasn't Jon.
Where was Jon?
He squeezed the hand still clasped in his own, reassuring himself that his brother was still right beside him.
“Did you hear the one about the guy who jumped from the roof of the leaning tower of Piza?”
What?
What was this guy talking about?
“Yeah, he jumped off the wrong side and fell back in through a window two floors down.”
Kon blinked and looked up, so confused about what was going on.
The scrawny teen crouching in front of him quirked a friendly smile. “There he is. You okay? Got some anxiety thing or something?”
Jon answered for him. “Mom and Dad said it's… um… P… S… no, it's PS… MD? Or… ”
“I'm fine.” Kon cut him off, feeling embarrassed. “Just… i-its a lot. Out there.”
“Yeah, it is. Rich folks don't tend to know much about moderation, huh?” He reached into the pocket of his winter jacket and pulled out a wrapped, hard, green candy. “Here. I always carry extra. Sour candy helps snap my friend out of flashbacks, but… to be fair I'm not sure if it works in general or just with him. Can't hurt though, right?”
Kon wearily lifted his hand and accepted the candy.
“The auditorium down the hall is showing a Christmas movie marathon. I think it's usually used for business presentations or something, due to how tiny it is, but they've got the lights low, bean bag chairs, popcorn. It's a lot calmer than the rest of the party.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. I'm Roy.”
“Kon-, Conner. I'm Conner. This is Jon.”
“Nice to meet you. I'll see you around.”
Roy stood and headed for one of the stalls.
Conner closed his eyes, took a slow, deep breath, and then stood as well.
He could do this.
It was just a party.
He had Jon with him.
He could do this.
Yyyyy
He could *not* do this.
Damian’s frustration grew and festered with each soft, slow turn the stupid little train made around its track while the smell of peppermint hung in the air, assaulting his nose.
But Dick wanted to take him on the train.
So Damian was sitting on the train.
Going in circles.
How fun.
“Here we are at the North Pole! Everybody watch your step as you exit and have fun with Santa!” The man wearing the green, jingly elf costume announced after pulling the stupid, little train to a stop.
“Come on, Dami. What do you want to do next?” Dick asked, getting out of their seat first.
Damian opened his mouth, but quickly closed it when he couldn't find anything to say that wasn't rude.
Dick liked this holiday.
He wasn't going to ruin his night.
“How about…” he stopped and looked around.
They could make decorations.
Most of the other kids disembarking the train were bolting to the dodge-snowball area.
Or they could eat… whatever sugary garbage their host was trying to pass off as food.
There wasn't a single option that looked appealing.
They couldn't do the bounce house, and there was no way he was getting on the train for a third ride.
“The movies?”
“You want to watch Christmas movies?” The sixteen year old asked. “Alright! I wonder if they have popcorn.”
Damian hoped they didn't.
He hated popcorn.
But he wanted to keep Dick distracted.
Because if he was distracted, then he would be able to have fun.
And Dick deserved to have fun.
“Yes.” Damian followed Dick down the hall and past the signs directing people to the movie room. “I… hope so, too.”
Yyyyy
“I say we use this for our next interrogation.” Spoiler, seated in the computer chair with her feet up on the desk, waved a block puzzle. “We can tell them that they're free to go after they either give us whatever information we need, or solve this. They'll choose the puzzle because, of course they will, and then after a few hours, frustration builds, they'll have made only a little progress, and eventually-,”
“Sadist.” Black Bat took the puzzle out of her sister's hands.
“I prefer the term ‘creative’.”
Black Bat shrugged. “Creative sadist.”
“... I'll take it.” She hopped up and followed Cass to the vehicle platform. “So you think you've got a real lead on where Joker's been?”
“Two informants tipped me off.”
“Cool. Question.”
Cass turned to her, head tilted.
“You and I are going out tonight. Without Bats.”
“... That's not a question?”
“Do we want to take his car?”
“The car with heat?”
“The car that's just going to be parked here all night anyway?” They shared a look, and then a smile. And then Spoiler held up the keys. “Given how dangerous hypothermia is, it would be irresponsible to *not* take it, right?”
“Right. And we should be responsible.”
“We really should.”