-Technically a part one, I just thought the title was accurate-

"FUUUCK ME." Artemis groaned. Her allergy meds ran out last night. Her nose was running hard and her eyes watered so much she couldn't see straight. Must be that good clean country air Mrs. Kent kept bringing up.

"You need anything, or can I kick you while you're down?" Wally asked, leaning over in his shirt and boxers, toothbrush in hand. "Cause you look like a dripping faucet." 

She flipped him off, rolling over on the carpet. Why was she on the carpet? She'd won the duel for the bed last night, so why was she next to Wally's sleeping bag?"

"Why'my here?" She whined.

"I ask myself that everyday in the mirror." The speedster replied. "You woke me up at seven, asshole. Not only were you sleep-whimpering ALL NIGHT, but you rolled off the bed and crashed on me."

"ew."

"Yeah, you got snot on my pillowcase." The redhead got back to brushing his teeth and gave her a kick. "C'mon, everyone's already at breakfast!"

Artemis refused, she felt too tired and gross to get up.

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"Did you sleep well?" Ma turned her attention to Superboy the instant he entered the room. He was just a little Clark. 
Actually, she didn't want to compare Superboy to Superman, because she wasn't very happy with Clark right now. 

She'd never seen him behave worse than he was now and she'd rather lavish her affections of Conner until Clark was ready to call her back and apologize for not replying.

"Okay." Conner muttered, sitting down at the table. He turned to the other three; M'gann, Kaldur and Robin.  "Pass the water."

M'gann did without question. They'd been living together for months, and she knew that SSRIs* made his mouth dry.

Conner reached out to grab the pitcher, but noticed it tugged out of his reach again. He looked up to see Ma Kent with the pitcher. "please?"

"Water Please." He grumbled.

"Please may I have some water?"

The teen moodily repeated her, planning how he would live now that his day was ruined. Mrs. Kent gave him water, but he didn't want it anymore, it didn't matter if he was dying of dehydration. 

Wally slid in. "Mornin'. what's up with you?" He asked the scowling Superboy, who tossed him a threatening glare. "Morning Rob. How'd y'all sleep?"

"Good. Ms. M gave us a heart attack, though." Robin enjoyed her Corn Flakes. 

"Sorry." She muttered, blushing a little.

"It's fine, I just keep forgetting you like to sleep in the air." The smallest teammate laughed.

Wally sat by his closest teammate. "Yo Supes, pass the water."

Conner didn't, but Ma Kent jumped in to pour the redhead some water. That frustrated the clone even; more why didn't Wally have to say please? There is no fairness anywhere.

 "Where is Artemis this morning?" Kaldur asked, wiping under his eyes. He'd been breathing tapwater to help with his sensitive respiratory system, but treated fresh water wasn't very good for him.

"She ran out of allergy meds and doesn't want to move." Wally began shoveling cereal in his mouth. He jumped as the kitchen cabinet slammed, shoving his spoon too far back.

"You good?" Dick asked. Wally stopped gagging and nodded, trying to breath slower so his hear would explode. 

"I'm sorry, Wally did I startle you?" Ma put her hands on his shoulders, trying to clm him, but it had the opposite affect.

"M'fine." He said quickly. They don't talk about family stuff on the team. The team is their family here. "So what're we doing today?"

"Me and Kaldur are going back to the bioship to pick up some saltwater packs." M'gann said. The bioship was parked, camouflaged in a field about two miles out of SmallVille.

"It will only take us a couple hours, I want you to stay here until I'm back." Kaldur told them in a scratchy voice. 

Wally wasn't psyched about having to stay behind with only a grumpy Conner and a bed-bound Artemis. At least Dick would be there. "But you'll be back by lunch right? and then we can go into town this afternoon."

"I think we'll back in time." Kaldur replied. "Robin is in charge while we're gone, and I'll be contacting you every half-hour to tell you where we are."

Dick smiled a little, Kaldur really didn't trust them not to torture Mrs. Kent. He still didn't like being 'in charge' of the team, but Ma Kent was there, so she'd probably keep it easy for him. Besides, Artemis was in bed, so who else could Wally fight?

"I'm going to check on your friend." Ma told them. "Let me know when you're heading out."

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"Hi sweetie." Artemis didn't reply, she felt ugly and sick and didn't want to move. "Your friend told me you feel sick."

"Allergies." She croaked, turning away. "Tell the others to go without me."

She felt the old lady sit on the bed by her, and checked her temperature, apparently not believing that it was just a city kid with allergies. "Do you have medicine?"

"I ran out." She sniffed, not wanting to wipe her nose on her wrist in front of the near-stranger. "I'm fine. Green Arrow is gonna send some more." She explained. "He'd better..."

Ma Kent brushed her hair back. "You're friends need you go back to their rocket ship. Can y=they get it for you?"

"Probably, but It'll take them like two more hours to get to-and-from." 

"Stay here," Ma Kent ordered firmly. Artemis, with both headaches and menstrual cramps, couldn't disagree. "I'll tell them and make you some chamomile tea ."

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Wally got permission to run laps around the farm to burn off some steam, and Conner had locked himself in the upstairs bathroom to sulk. This left Dick with Kaldur and M'gann as they got ready to head out.

"Robin, you have good taste. One, or two?" M'gann tried out jeans and a tank top, and then a overall-shorts and a soft yellow button up.

"Uh, two. Definitely." He said, watching her decide on some shoes. 

"Should I braid my hair, or is that too city kid trying to look country?" M'gann shook their head. "I think the freckles and overalls are enough. I'm just gonna do a ponytail."

Dick smiled at her. "M'gann, how are you such an androgynous person?"

She blushed at the compliment. Her friends needed to stop being so affirming. She refilled her water bottle and joined Kaldur.

"Are you going out now?" Ma asked, coming downstairs.

"Yes, we'll be back shortly, though."

"Your friend wanted to know if you could pick up some more medicine for her while you're out."

The two looked at each other. "Do they sell that in town?"

"I think she's asking her hero send some over to her."

"Okay, a trip back to Star city... will take about forty minutes, and forty minutes back..." Kaldur thought aloud. 

"We should check on wolf." M'gann said. "Once we're in range, I'll call Red Tornado to make sure he's okay."

They agreed. "It will take a couple more hours, but we'll do it."

"Then let me make some lunch to take in your bag." Ma told them, denial was not an option. She put on a kettle in the background, and started making slicing some bread. 

"Let me help." Dick said.

"Me two-" 

"No, it's alright, sweetie, we've got it." It was clear their host remembered what a mess she made last time. She and Dick got to work. "You're very helpful to have around." She remarked.

"My grandfather had to teach me stuff because my dad's too busy to make me food." Dick replied. Smothering bread slices in butter.

She looked at him from the side, almost concerned. "What does your father do?"

"Consider him a manager." Dick said. "Keeps a large corporation running." He still abided by the we-don't-discuss-parents rule.

They wrapped up a couple sandwiches and handed them off to the duo, who headed out into the dusty, sunny morning.

They sat there, waiting for the kettle to boil. "Your friends are all very close." 

"Yeah." He agreed. "I mean I've known KF since we were eight and ten, and then Kaldur joined about three years later, and... well the other three only joined this year, but we're close."

Mrs. Kent took the kettle off the heat and started brewing a small pot of tea, smearing a little honey into a mug. "Do you work under the adults?"

"Sometimes- I mean we used to only work with our mentors. Me, Wally and Artemis go on Patrol and do one-on-ones with our mentors all the time, and Kaldur works with Aquaman sometimes. M'gann only works with the league when they need another mind-reader or something."

Ma picked up on the fact that he was not mentioning a specific teammate. She wanted to ask, dreading the idea that Clark had been acting in ways she wasn't supposed to know, but if Superboy had Superman's powers, he could probably hear them.

She poured some tea for the blonde girl and started upstairs. "Tell your friend to drink his water with all that running."

"Will do, I was put in charge of him." Dick smirked, kicking back and pulling out his phone.

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"Hey, baby..." She cooed, giving Artemis her tea. "I put in some honey for your throat."

"Thanks." Artemis was a little uncomfortable, she was weirded out by Ma Kent's affection to all of them. She seemed to think they were her grandkids and had to parent and care for them. For someone who rarely got any love from her parents, it was jarring. 

"We have an old secret; Garlic helps with hay fever. So I'll be putting some in our dinner tonight."

"Okay." She muttered. But Ma Kent was still sitting in there next to her, staring at her. Artemis had trouble reading her expression. "So, uh. This is your son's old room, isn't it."

Ma Kent nodded a little. "Yes. The room down the hall was his nursery, and then this was his room until he moved out."

"Where's he live now?" She asked, trying to pass conversation. 

"He moved to Metropolis." She said. "He's turning thirty-three this year."

"Mm." Artemis sipped her tea, it was way too hot, but she didn't know what to say. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand without thinking. "He works-" She  noticed the look the woman gave her, and realized in embarrassment what she'd done.

"I'll go get you some tissues, Darling." 

All these pet names... Artemis was 85% sure Ma Kent had forgotten her name. Who can blame her with all six of them. Artemis wiped her upper-lip with the tissues she'd brought.

"So, Conner likes you, huh?" Artemis asked. "I've never seen anyone calm him from an outburst that quick before."

"I think the boy just needs some attention." She replies

"Well usually, he yells and breaks things and runs off to go on a drive." Artemis said. "He and Robin are in a constant battle for Drama Queen or the year."

"He drives?"

"He has a Bike." She said. "Well, it'll a huge robotic sphere, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms. Either way, He has a dog and a robot sphere and a half-girlfriend. So he's fine."

"Parents?"

"We don't talk about parents on the team." Artemis said. She sipped her scorching tea again and wiped her nose. 

Ma looked very worried. "Why?"

"We have issues." Artemis said. "Like I said, we don't talk about it."

The woman took her mug, since Artemis was hiding behind it. "I want to hear about it."

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Wally thought he was the only one out on the farm, but he wasn't. Conner had accidently run into their host in the hall, and she'd told him to go outside and get some sun. Conner sat on the grass, absorbing the sun. The SSRIs were helping a little, but he was still trying to hold his grudge from that morning.

Robin was making tea. He could hear the kettle, it wasn't boiling yet, but he could hear the steam beginning to whistle. He tried to ignore it, even though it felt like someone was a foot away, whistling.

He started pacing, getting impatient. The whistling kept getting louder!

His face contorted in pain. Someone was blowing a tin whistle in his ear. He stopped where he was pacing and jammed his palms over his ears.

The sun was so bright, he swore that if he opened his eyes it would be just white. he could see the burning light on the other side of his crushed eyelids.

Just when it couldn't get worse, there was  a loud shout, and something hit his side, sending him stumbling away. 

"DUDE! WHY'RE YOU IN THE PATH?"

Conner refused to open his eyes, still covering his ears. why was everything so loud? Even his breathing was deafening. 

Everything was the same noise level; eardrum crushing. He could feel his limbs touching him, he could feel his clothing, fibre for fibre, on his skin. He could feel the oxygen touching him.

He wanted to keel over, but he'd feel the ground touching him.

"DUDE?" He wanted to shout as he felt two hands touch him. Worse, they weren't his hands. He tried to pull away, but the hands were still on him, and now a little tighter. He could easily pull away, but he didn't want the hands to grip harder.
"CONNER, YOU GOOD?"

He sunk down a little, hoping the hands would let go. They didn't. Not he couldn't stand up, because he'd have to push up into the hands. He sunk all the way to the grass, hoping the someone would let do.

Wally swapped to a hand on Conner's back, uncomfortably. He didn't know what was wrong, but he'd felt bad for running into him. 

Conner kept trying to pull away, but Wally didn't know what was up, so he kept trying to give physical reassurance. 

"DUDE, DO YOUR EARS HURT?" He asked, a little softer, hoping that would help.

Superboy shook a little and Wally, in the interests of not being beaten senseless, let go of him, shuffling about a foot away on the grass. He didn't want to get up and leave, but he wasn't really sure how to help. He could go ask Rob for help, but that would cause a bunch or Drama because... super hearing.

He just sat there, knowing he was going to be sunburnt, staring straight ahead so Conner wouldn't feel him staring. Getting a speedster to sit still for over five minutes was impressive, especially since he'd just been running laps.

But no, Wally had been sitting there almost ten minutes, occasionally throwing a worried glance at the clone, who was still leaning forwards between his knees, hands over his ears.

"EVERYTHING OKAY? YOU STOPPED RUN-" Dick was cut off as Wally whipped around, looked vicious. He jerked a thumb at Conner and pointed at his own ear, trying to signal. Dick nodded, creeping over to them as quietly as possible and sitting down next to them.

The two smaller boys routinely glanced down at their much bigger (but technically younger) teammate. They had an odd relationship with him: he was like their angry big brother, but also their bitchy little brother, who was a grade above them and also their baby who they freed and were proud to see developing.

So yes, they're relationship was weird, but they cared for their teammate. They always looked out for their friends, even if their dynamics were complicated.

They sat there, waiting until Conner wasn't actively freezing up. It took almost twenty minutes for him to raise his head again. His eyes were squinted against the sun. They turned to look at him, he was still covering his ears, but his wrists were looser. There were also tears on his waterline, which was concerning because he just didn't cry. 

Wally thought he could control his lacrimal glands, because even though Conner had near-daily meltdowns, he didn't really do tears.

"wanna go into the shade?" Dick whispered so quiet he couldn't really hear himself. The clone nodded, and all three headed out of the sun. 

Wally shot M'gann a text and prayed she'd reply, she was (allegedly) the only one on the team who'd helped him through a sensory overload, because it happened at school. Meanwhile, Wally snuck off to get them some water and snacks. That always helped him when he was freaking out.

When he returned, Conner had opened his eyes a little more, and even though he was covering his ears, he was listening to Dick,who was whispering to him.

"water?" Wally whispered, setting down a cup for each of them. Dick drank from his. "wanna talk?"

Conner winced. This wasn't an emotional thing, it was just physical. His brain was just hurting from everything.

"I should check on artemis in a few minutes." Dick told his friends. 

Wally got up two. "i gotta see is ms. m texted me back..." He got up two, guessing that they should let the third one cool off. "drink some water, dude. i'll be back in a few."

Dick pulled him away, smiling at his friend. He was proud of how Wally handled everything, especially since he and their teammate had a famously rocky dynamic. No, Dick wasn't the real team leader, but he did feel a strong pride and protectiveness of his friends. Sometimes he just needed Kaldur to put him up-to-bat to show it all.

*SSRI = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. They're antidepressants used mostly for  mood issues