Emotional problems

It was a silent, chilly night in Smallville. It was the middle of July; crime has been low throughout the world lately, which had given the new JLA a lot more time to relax as civilians. Conner had returned from a mission with the Legion of Superheroes a couple months ago; Cassie had told him about her pregnancy as soon as he returned. She was now four months into her pregnancy, and was definitely feeling the joys and pains that come with it. Conner would rub her stomach every chance he could, as well as reminding her that she is carrying a Kryptonian-demigod in her womb; calling their child the "greatest superhero that will ever live".

Though Conner's kind words always made her feel better emotionally and mentally, they had no effect on the physical pain she has to deal with. The hunger pains; feeling as if she was carrying a boulder inside herself, and the sleepless nights. Conner felt awful that he couldn't do anything for her pain, but he always tried. She wasn't capable of sleeping on her side anymore, thanks to the growth-rate of their child, even if it was only four-months old. Doctor Sarah Charles had told Cassie that her stomach should expand a little bit more, since it was already the size it would be if she was seven-months pregnant.

Conner would continue to sleep on his side some nights, wrapping his arms around her, or he would sleep on his back so Cassie could press her side to his and let his arms lock her in his embrace. Though Conner was her favorite pillow and blanket, she just couldn't get to sleep most nights, and it wasn't because she wasn't comfortable.

Cassie kept herself awake with worries, and over-thinking things about their child. The times that she was able to sleep, she would wake up from her nightmares, which was one of the things she never thought of experiencing often. Normally, Conner was the one with the nightmares. Cassie didn't like to talk about her nightmares; she felt her dreams would upset Conner for her to even think of things like that. When she would wake up, she would lay awake in bed, while the dream played again and again in her mind. It didn't help either that during her pregnancy, she found that she was more emotional than she's ever been. She would cry when she was a little upset, and she would end up breaking things when she was a little annoyed. It was one of the reasons why she was okay with not going to the Watchtower anymore; the last thing the other heroes needed was to see her crying over every incident.

******

After failing to save the lives of several civilians in a de-railed train, Conner needed to clear his head. He had called Cassie; since she was forced to stay at home, she watched the accident on the news. "Conner... sweetheart, come home. You can talk to me about this, just as you always do. I'll make us some roasted chicken tonight." She spoke calmly as she paced the kitchen, her fingers running through her hair as she closed her eyes. "Please Conner... come home. Clark had accidents like this happen to him too."

"It was a whole train, Cassie." Conner flew through the quiet Smallville sky; his eyes closed as he felt the wind fly past him, helping to calm him. "I couldn't even save one person. Do you know how many people were on that train?"

"Conner..." She begged as she leaned against the counter. "Please just-"

"Two-hundred and fifty-seven! That's how many lives are lost because I can't do what Clark did!"

"Kon! Listen to me, please!" Cassie yelled before her emotions began to act up again. "Clark wasn't always at everything that went wrong, was he? No. Sometimes, Clark couldn't be there, just like you can't always be everywhere. Now, you've experienced things like this before, right? Remember the club in Brazil? Or the factory in Texas?"

Conner slowed until he was floating in mid-air, his face buried in his hands. "Why are you making me remember this? Of course I remember. I remember them like they happened a minute ago. I remember it every time I close my eyes."