The Prince & Me

Crossed Paths

Megan had to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't a dream. "Conner? Is that really you?", she asked in disbelief. Conner shook his head to snap him out of his trance. "I didn't know you worked here!" She put her cup down. "I'm doing this to help support me and Gar. Since Mount Justice is gone, I need to earn a living for both of us." She looked up at him. "What about you? Where have you been all these years?"

Without thinking, Conner blurted out, "Padaladia." Megan quirked an eyebrow. "Padaladia? I've never heard of that. Where is it?" "Its a small country off the coast of France and Great Britain.", he explained. "Its not shown on most maps. Its small, but very, very beautiful." Megan smiled. "That's nice. What were you doing over there?" "Getting ready to take my adoptive father's place." "His place as what?"

Conner felt sweat form on his brow as he thought over what to say. "His place as...the carpenter!" He nodded. "Yeah! My dad works as a carpenter! He...builds stuff out of wood. He's been training me to take over the family business for him one day." "Family business, huh?", Megan giggled. "So your dad's pretty important in the community?" He nodded, pressing his lips together. "More than you know."

She began wiping the counter. "So! What brings you back to Happy Harbor after all these years?" "Believe it or not, taking over the family carpentry business is a stressful thing.", he told her. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately. So, I figured I'd take a vacation here and return to my roots at the same time." Megan nodded. "I see." She planted both hands in front of her and stared in amazement. "I can't believe it. After two whole years..." He returned her smile. "I know. Its amazing. I thought I'd never see you again."

Just then, there was a disruption from the crowd behind them. "Excuse me, please. I'm sorry. My deepest apologies." Helen emerged from the crowd and walked over to Conner. "We have a problem. Ben and Aurora are at it in the park." He put her hands on her shoulders. "Its okay, we'll break them up." Megan couldn't tear her gaze away from the girl talking to Conner. She was so beautiful. She had long hair as dark as a raven's wing, smooth pale skin, and eyes as deep green as the ocean. Megan hung her head, feeling her heart sink. Of course he'd have a new girlfriend...

Conner looked back at her. "Oh, how rude of me!" He looked at the other girl. "Helen, this is my old friend, Megan." He looked back at her. "Megan, this is my adoptive sister, Helen." Megan snapped her head back up. "Your sister?", she said, feeling her spirits rise back up. Both black-haired teens nodded in response. Megan felt a wave of relief wash over her. I may still have a chance!

Conner sighed as he ran a hand through his thick black locks. "I just wish we knew where to stay. We just got here, and we have no idea where to go now." He shrugged his shoulders. "Guess we'll just have to stay in a hotel. I just wish we didn't have limited resources." A lightbulb went off in M'gann's mind. "Why don't you guys stay with us?" Helen cocked her head. "Us?" "Me and the other heroes!", M'gann suggested. "The guys from the Team stay in rooms in the Watchtower. I'm sure the Justice League will be more than happy to give you residence there."

Helen looked at Conner with a furrowed brow. "Justice League? You know the Justice League?" Conner rubbed the side of his neck. "I'll explain to you later." He turned back to M'gann. "That's nice and all, but Helen and I have five more siblings waiting for us back at the park." M'gann's eyes widened. "You mean your parents have seven kids?" "Eight if you count our baby sister back home." She shook her head. "Wow, eight kids on a carpenter's salary? Your dad must be worked to the bone to make enough to feed all of you."

Helen looked at Conner, her eyes wide yet her face tense. "A carpenter?" Conner looked away. "Yeah, Helen's a little embarrassed by the whole 'daughter of a carpenter' thing. Just...don't mention it around her." Megan nodded. "Mum's the word.", she assured him. "And don't worry, the Watchtower has like, fifty bedrooms to choose from. You can each even have your own one!" She looked at her watch. "My shift's over! Perfect timing!" She removed her apron. "I'll just punch out and meet you guys outside. Get your brothers and sisters and I'll take you to the Tower." She hurried into the back room.

Helen placed one hand on the counter and leaned on it, glaring at Conner with a raised eyebrow. "A carpenter? You told her our father was a carpenter?" Conner stood on his feet. "Helen, please! If I tell M'gann that I'm really a prince, there's no telling how she'll react!" He folded his hands together and wrung them in front of him. "Please, please, please don't tell her the truth!", he begged. "The whole reason I wanted to come here was to be treated like a normal guy, not a prince, even if its just for a while."

Helen folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "So you lied to her? Conner, its not right to hide who one really is to somebody. Its dishonest and untrustworthy. You need to tell her the truth." "I promise, the day before we go home, I'll explain everything to her. Until then, can we please just pretend we're regular people instead of royalty?" Helen glared at her brother, deep in thought as she pondered his pleads. Finally, she sighed. "I still don't think this is a good idea."

"But...alright." Conner let out a sigh of relief as she nodded. "I'll go to the park and tell the others that until further notice, we are the Carmines, an ordinary, average, everyday family from Padaladia that is here in the United States for vacation.", she said. "Our father is a carpenter, our mother is a homemaker, and we live in a little white brick house on the outskirts of a town called Tinsville."

Conner smiled at her thankfully. "I'll go with you." He walked out of the bar by her side. "And I swear, I will tell her everything before we leave. But until then...we're going to have the time of our lives."
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When Conner arrived in the Watchtower, there was a great burst of excitement. Everyone flocked to him to give him bone-crushing hugs and shouts of "Welcome Back!". And when they saw Jason, alive and well, they were all terribly confused. He explained the whole situation to them, and apologized to them a thousand times for faking his death. Of course, they forgave him when he explained that he had missed his family and his home in Padaladia. There was only one person in the Watchtower who wasn't happy—La'gaan.

"Look at them!", he snapped to no one in particular, watching Conner and M'gann flirt with each other. "Why is she laughing? He didn't say anything funny! What's wrong with her?!" He didn't see Helen walk over to stand beside him. Of course, being a princess, she had been trained to take footsteps so light and graceful, they couldn't be heard by the naked ear. "Nothing's wrong.", she said, making him jump in surprise. She smiled knowingly. "They like each other. Back home, all Conner could ever talk about was M'gann this, M'gann that—M'gann, M'gann, M'gann!" She let out a little giggle. Then she saw La'gaan wasn't laughing with her.

He stepped closer to her, his face only inches from hers. "You're Conner's sister, right?" Helen felt a wave of terror wash over her, but she didn't dare show it. After all, her parents had always told her to be brave in the face of adversity. "Yes.", she said, in the calmest voice she could project. "Yes, I am." "Good.", he said. "You can deliver a little message from me to him."

She poked a webbed finger right in between her breasts. "Tell your brother, that if he doesn't want any trouble on his lil' vacay, he'll stay away from M'gann. She is mine." And with that, he stormed away, leaving Helen standing alone. From the first impression that he'd just given her, La'gaan seemed like a total jerk. But for as long as she could remember, Helen's mother had constantly reminded her that things weren't always what they seemed. "Appearances can be deceiving.", she would tell her daughter. "You need to get to know a person to see what's really beneath the surface."

Maybe that whole "jerk" thing is just an act he uses to cover something up., she thought. She decided right then and there that she would spend as much time with this...La'gaan as possible. Then she would decide whether or not his jerk act was real.