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He Ain't Heavy

Summary:

Part I -After watching the new fortress being created, Clark ignores his son Jonathan's concerns. The only way to survive emotionally is to get away from the father who he thinks sees him as a second-class member of the El family. However, Jordan can't accept that. Furthermore, Jordan wants Jon to have powers for a specific reason. He wants his brother next to him when he flies.

Part II - Jon does not feel the same way about his powers that his brother does, and he still has some challenges he has to overcome. Being strong in spirit will be just as important as being physically strong. Are we ever going to see the old happy/good guy Jonathan again?

Part III - Jon's relationship with his father has to be resolved long-term and Jon has to choose happiness for himself if he is ever going to get himself back. But people like Jon are never alone as he is finding out. He will also find that he has been right about people underestimating his brother Jordan.

Part IV - Jon finally finds a long-term resolution to his relationship with his father. It's not ideal, but it will be better than what they have had.

Chapter 1: He's My Brother

Chapter Text

Clark had promised his son Jonathan that his grandmother, more specifically his AI Kryptonian grandmother, was eager to meet him. Even better, he promised that she had some Kryptonian technology he might be interested in. The problem was the fortress where the Lara AI was held is in the middle of the ocean. Maybe it was the sting of what Jon and Jordan now referred to as “The Barn Scene” that left Jon so open to being hurt. Jordan had seen the pain his father had caused for Jonathan by totally forgetting that he left him to do chores with family members who ran off to play. Returning from an exhilarating day where he first started to really master flying, Jordan was abruptly brought back down to earth when he realized what had happened and it was hardly the first time Clark had done something like that. Jonathan used to joke that the empty box he received as a gift from his father, when Jordan had received the bracelet, had been a not-so-subtle message to Jon about empty words and empty promises from his father. Clark had earnestly promised Jon he would teach him how to drive the truck but Jon was still waiting for that to happen. Actually, he wasn’t still waiting. He had given up.

Clark’s hand-wave of Jonathan’s concern that the new fortress was really only for the Kents that could fly had caused Jon to withdraw from his relationship with his father. Clark, as had become usual lately, never answered Jon’s concern about the new fortress except to repeat that “it was for the entire family”. Jon played along but Jordan knew his twin brother. That was Clark’s last chance and he had blown it. Jon was done trying. The only unanswered questions were when was Jon leaving and where was he heading? Jon probably wasn’t sure yet exactly when he was leaving but Jordan could guess where he was going. The General was just the person he would turn to for help. The problem, for Jordan, was that Jon would be moving to Metropolis. Jordan had worried that his powers might cause a rift between him and his brother, but that had not materialized. Both boys tried hard not to let that happen and, aside from a bump in the road here and there, their relationship was as strong as ever. Now Jordan’s father was causing the boys to be separated. Jordan would have to either go to Metropolis with his brother and abandon his training with his father, or he would have to find some way to give Jon the emotional lift he so badly needed so that staying in Smallville was a viable option for him.

To Jordan the only problem with Jon not having powers was that he wanted Jon alongside him while he explored his new abilities. Mostly, he wanted Jonathan flying next to him. Jon had been his wingman for Jordan’s entire life. Every time his anxiety overcame him all he had to do was turn around and his twin was there to help him calm down. Every time some bully had tried to hurt him, Jon was there to stop it. Most importantly, Jon understood him and believed in him. Jordan’s powers had mostly reduced his social anxiety and his panic attacks to an easily manageable level, but without the base of emotional support Jon had always given him, the powers would not have helped him. When Jon suffered, he now felt his pain.

The adult to whom Jon would turn was most likely the General. A great choice for an ally. But Jordan had another option with their other grandparent. He could get to Grandma Lara at the fortress easily and he already had multiple encounters with her. As soon as he could unobtrusively disappear for a while, he took off for the new fortress. It was not a long flight at hypersonic speed, and he longed to have his brother flying beside him. At the fortress he took the AI crystal and put into its place in the podium. Lara came to life.

Lara listened to her grandson beg her to figure out why his brother had not manifested powers. He explained why Jon needed powers and why he needed Jon to get them. Lara was pleased with her grandson. Family was important to her and the young grandson standing before her clearly had a strong bond with his brother. When Jordan was done speaking, she had one question for him. “Why has your father not yet brought your brother to see me?

Jordan did not want to make any more problems in the family than there already were and replied evasively. Lara was not unaware that Jordan had not directly answered her question, but she understood Jordan’s position and was impressed with his loyalty to his father. Nonetheless, she wanted to meet her other grandson and it was apparent her other grandson needed her.

What Lara told him made his anxiety rise. “YOU will have to bring your brother here to meet me.”

Jordan did not want to contradict his grandmother, but this did not seem like a good idea to him. “Grandmother, my father does not allow me to do that, and I don’t know that I am ready to do it either. I can’t take any chances with Jonathan.”

Lara was regally unconcerned about Clark. Clearly, she was already not happy with him for not bringing Jonathan to her sooner. Jordan could understand. Jonathan was her grandson and over the long period of time that Lara was available to Clark, he had not had her meet his brother.

“I understand your concerns and they are valid. However, I will instruct you in how to safely fly your brother to this fortress. I am fully aware of what precautions need to be taken. I will tell you exactly how to safely do it.”

When Jordan left the fortress, his anxiety was bubbling up inside him. Lara had given him detailed instructions, provided him with a sort of plastic carrier for his brother and told Jordan where to get the rest of the equipment he needed. His grandmother saw Clark’s edicts from a different point of view than Jordan did. To Jordan they came from his father and his father had far more experience carrying non-powered people than Jordan had. To Lara it was just some foolishness from her wayward son. Jordan arranged with his grandfather to get the rest of the equipment he needed and headed home to store it in the barn, away from prying eyes.

Jordan had decided that he had to leave it up to Jonathan whether or not he would fly with his brother. This had to come completely from Jon. As soon as the boys were alone Jordan related his story to his brother. The flight was appealing to him, and it was the kind of adventure Jon liked. It was an adventure with his brother, and he would get to meet his grandmother without any help from his father. Jon hated that Jordan had to carry him, but he had missed Martha Kent since she had died. If he was going to meet his other grandmother on his own terms, this was his only way to do it. Even more, both boys wanted to know whether there was any chance Jon could develop superpowers like his brother. Lara had been the foremost biologist and geneticist on the planet Krypton. She was the person most likely to know the answer and she was right there in the new fortress.

Chapter 2: To Grandmother's House

Summary:

Jordan convinces Jonathan to go on a little adventure with him to the fortress to meet their grandmother. After all, their father did say that the fortress is for the entire family.

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Jon could live with his brother picking him up and carrying him into the sky, even though that was a bit of a hit to his self-esteem. What bothered Jonathan about the flight was that he would slow down his brother. Jordan would be severely limited in his flight with Jonathan along. Not only would he have to reduce his speed, but he could not accelerate anywhere near as quickly as he usually did. Jon’s non-superpowered body could not tolerate the g-forces generated by that kind of acceleration. He also could not fly as high as he normally did. Jon would basically be ballast for his brother’s flight. He was not enthusiastic about having his brother carry him but Jordan seemed eager to do it.

Jordan understood his reluctance but, Jon needed, one way or another, to have an answer about his powers. If their father had not seen that, then their father was not the person who should take Jonathan to the fortress. Jon looked uncomfortable that Jordan would have to throttle back his flying to accommodate him but, Jordan insisted that it was worth it. “Let me do this with you” he had insisted to his brother.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Jon. Jordan had his answer ready. “I will monitor you the entire way. If you have any problem, you can just signal me and we can stop. WE can do this.” Jonathan thought carefully for a moment. Unlike Jordan, if Jonathan fell out of the sky he would be severly injured. However, Jordan’s flying had been without incident for months and Jordan seemed sure of himself. Finally, he turned to his brother. “When do we go?” Jordan smiled. He had hoped that Jon would be up for this. “We go now. Right now.” Jonathan’s sense of adventure was kicking in. “Let’s do this” he told his brother.

Jordan got the equipment he had gathered and put his brother in the carrier his grandmother had provided. The carrier would protect his brother from the force of the wind while he was in flight. This allowed a higher cruising speed. He picked up the carrier and launched himself carefully into the air. Through the clear carrier he could see his brother and the gauges his grandfather had provided. The trip would take a while and after a short time, the intrepid Jonathan Kent got bored and fell asleep. Jordan could never have done that.

Jordan’s landing at the fortress was gradual and gentle. Jon climbed out of the carrier completely unruffled. He had landed with Jon right in the chamber where the AI was located. When Jordan put the crystal back into the podium Lara re-appeared. She greeted Jordan and then turned to her other grandson. “Jonathan. I am your grandmother Lara. I have been eager to meet you and I know you have questions for me.”

Jonathan was completely relaxed. No social anxiety for him. Jordan thought it might be worth it to trade a power or two to be more like Jon and have so much less anxiety. Jon could effortlessly come up with just the right words in any situation. He was not nervous or intimidated. “I have been looking forward to meeting you also” Jon told his grandmother. Lara asked if Jonathan would allow her to scan his body to get the information she needed to answer his questions. Jonathan nodded his assent and his body was quickly scanned. Lara took only a minute to analyze the information and give an answer to the boys’ biggest question. “Your ability to store solar energy from the yellow sun is in no way impaired by your hybrid status. Your cells are already fully charged, and their capacity would be considered superior” Lara told them.

“I don’t understand. If I am “fully charged” then why no powers?” Jon asked. “Your problem is an inability to access the energy stored in your cells. You are missing an enzyme that acts as a catalyst to enable Kryptonians to do this. This catalyst is occasionally inhibited in some Kryptonians. This is not caused by your hybrid status.”

“This happened to people on Krypton also?” Jon asked. “Yes”, she answered. “The catalyst, once created in your body, is self-replicating. There is a window of opportunity for the catalyst to appear in your body. Once that window closes, your body is no longer able to initiate the process on its own.”

Jonathan felt his disappointment rising. “So, my window of opportunity has passed?”

“Again correct” his grandmother responded. “However, if it does not appear on its own, then it can be introduced artificially to start the replication process. The problem is that there are many versions of the catalyst. You need the proper catalyst, or the consequences would be similar to a human receiving a transfusion of an incompatible blood type.”

Jordan had picked up on what their grandmother seemed to be implying and asked, “Can you make the needed catalyst?”

Lara responded, “The catalyst is normally taken from a close relative. I have already checked both you and your father. Your father is not a hybrid so he is not an appropriate donor. Your catalyst is unique because of the hybrid status that you share with your brother, however, unfortunately it is not compatible with your brother’s body. If there were other related hybrid Kryptonians we would test them for compatibility and duplicate the needed catalyst. However, as far as I know, there are no other Human/Kryptonian hybrids except for you two.

Jordan could feel despair closing in on him. He had desperately wanted this to work. Jonathan, however, was not as easily brought down. “What about Jon-El?” he asked. Jordan argued, “Jon-El would be completely wrong. His source of power and his weaknesses are the opposite of yours.” But Jon was thinking a bit differently than Jordan was. Jordan, his brother knew, was sometimes too quick to give up.

When Lara spoke, her words gave them some hope. “You are correct Jordan. However, your brother’s suggestion has merit. You are Jonathan’s twin brother, but you are not an identical twin. Genetically it is the same as any other brothers. Jon-El is an inverse identical twin of Jonathan. If I knew the structure of Jon-El’s catalyst, that might contain the clues to what Jonathan’s own catalyst should be. This has never been tried but it is theoretically possible.”

Jordan watched his brother’s reaction. This was clearly what Jonathan had been thinking when he suggested Jon-El as a donor. Both his grandmother and his brother were fascinated with the possibility. “Would a sample of Jon-El’s blood give you the information you need?” asked Jordan. Jordan’s enthusiasm was starting to match that of his grandmother and brother. “Yes”, Lara replied. His blood would contain the catalyst that works for him.”

Jonathan came thudding back down from his optimism. “He won’t do it” he said. Jordan looked at his brother incredulously. “What do you mean he won’t do it? We strap him down and take it.” Jonathan was adamant. “No, I don’t want to do that to him. He has been betrayed enough. We are supposed to be helping him. We need to wait until he is willing to do it.” No way, Jordan thought to himself. He wanted to do this for his brother. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but he needed to have Jonathan flying beside him. Jonathan was right. Jordan normally did become discouraged more easily than his brother, but this time he refused to give up when he could see the solution so close by.

Jordan thought he could budge his brother just a bit. With a cautious smile he asked “So I can’t physically force him, but I could maybe… bluff?”

“Lie, you mean? As in further betrayal?” Jonathan asked. Jordan's unspoken opinion was that Jonathan was such a freaking boy scout. It was fine that he always thought about others, but he did not think about himself enough.

Jordan’s frustration boiled over. “Jon, he tried to merge with you. I almost lost you. I promise not to touch him, but you have to let me get the blood sample from him in my own way.” Jonathan budged just a bit for his brother, but he wanted his position to be clear. “Nothing physical, right? Just a bluff?” Jordan had been very careful about using his powers when his brother was around. This time his enthusiasm got the better of him. A moment after Jonathan heard his brother answer “Absolutely”, Jordan was out of sight.

Chapter 3: Blood Brothers

Summary:

Tough day for Jon Kent fans so I dropped another chapter for you.
Jordan travels to the DoD to get the blood sample from Jon-El.

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Jordan arrived at the DoD holding facility a few minutes after leaving the fortress. He had to admit to himself that it was nice to be free to accelerate and fly at full speed. Jordan had called his grandfather and asked him to clear the way for him to be allowed to visit Jon-El. It was only a few minutes later that a guard came out to take him to the area where Jon-El was being held. When the guard left to stand outside the glass enclosure, the two boys were left alone. Jordan was holding a steel rebar reinforcement rod he had picked up from the site of some government construction going on elsewhere on the DoD site. When Jon-El turned to see who was in the enclosure with him Jordan tossed it to him.

Jon-El had his trademark smirk on his face until he realized it was Jordan who was in the enclosure with him. Jon-El eyed the steel rod warily and spoke to Jordan. “I was hoping the weaker twin would come visit me sometime. I didn’t really expect you to come.” Jordan did not directly answer Jon-El-s question. Instead, he got directly to what he wanted. “I need a blood sample from you. It’s for my brother.” Jon-El’s smirk instantly returned. “What is the rebar for?” he asked. “Bend it” Jordan’s replied. Not too long ago that would have been easy for Jon-El to do. Now his reply was “You know I can’t”. Jordan insisted, “Try it”. Jon-El tried unsuccessfully to bend the steel rod.

 

Jon-El’s unhappiness at no longer being able to bend the bar showed. “Satisfied? What’s your point?”
Jordan motioned for Jon-El to toss the rod to him. Jordan caught it in one hand and then in one quick and effortless movement bent the rod completely so that the two ends were touching.

Then Jordan got to the point. “There are three ways I can get the blood sample I need. The first is that an extremely charming young lady can come in here with a small gauge needle and skillfully take the sample from you.”

“The second is that four of the big goons who guard you and who you insult daily will come in here, strap you down on a table and one of them can keep poking you with the needle until they hit a vein.”

“The third is that I can come in there and kick the crap out of you until you bleed out enough blood for the sample I need. You can keep the steel rod if it you want it.”

A though suddenly occurred to Jon-El. “Where is your illustrious father? Why isn’t he doing this?”

“You might like this” Jordan replied. “My brother does not want my father involved. They are not on great terms right now. What we are attempting is being done without his knowledge or input.”

Jon-El contemplated what Jordan had just related to him. It had a certain appeal. His own brother, Jordan-El, would never attempt anything like this. It was boring being imprisoned without powers. This was at least something interesting. He had never learned anything about Jonathan except that he did not have powers and would be helpless to stop the merging. He had never really spoken to him to see what his life had been like. “Do I get to speak to your brother?” he asked Jordan.

“Maybe after we are done” Jordan replied. “My guess is that if you volunteer the sample, he will come see you. He does that kind of thing. Meanwhile, if you don’t make a decision now, I will make it for you.”

Jordan straightened the steel rod back to its original straight form. When Jon-El did not make his choice right away, Jordan tossed the steel rod back to him and floated up onto the yellow sun platform where Jon-El was held. Jordan looked up at the yellow sun lights and said “Feels good, doesn’t it?” The intense artificial yellow sunlight felt great to Jordan, but not to Jon-El.

Jon-El looked at the steel rod in his hands an knew it would have no effect on the boy he was facing. It was apparent that Jordan was choosing the third option for Jon-El. Jon-El guessed that Jordan was looking forward to getting the sample his way. “Send in the girl” he answered to Jordan.

Jordan flew back to the fortress with the blood sample his grandmother had requested. Jordan would not have allowed the goons to manhandle Jon-El but would have had no problem strapping him down on the table himself. Jon, because that’s how Jon is, didn’t want it forced. Jordan had a good story to tell his brother. Jonathan would not be completely happy, but he would see the humor in it. Jordan flew back to the fortress at full cruising speed.

Chapter 4: Alchemy

Summary:

Lara examines Jon-El's blood sample and delivers a verdict. She also gives some grandmotherly advice to Jonathan.

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When he returned to the fortress he saw that his grandmother and brother were deep in conversation. They both stopped when he entered the chamber and, with a smile on his face, showed the blood sample to Lara. “He’s okay, right Jordan?” asked Jon. “Never touched him” was Jordan’s truthful answer. Jon, with a bit of a smile on his own face asked, “Did you threaten him or did he give it voluntarily?” Jordan thought for a second before replying “Both”.

A slot on the podium opened and Jordan put the sample on it. After it closed, Lara only took a few minutes to analyze the sample until she informed the boys that the sample contained the clues she needed to for the structure of the catalyst that she hoped would trigger Jon’s ability to access the solar power in his cells. “It won’t take too long to do what I need to do, but I need a sample of your cells Jonathan so I can test the serum to be completely sure it is safe for you to take”. “How do we do that?” asked Jordan warily. Lara smiled; her two grandsons were extremely protective of each other. “You scrape some skin cells off your brothers arm onto a slide and insert them into the console on the podium” answered Lara, much to Jordan’s relief.

Jordan and Jonathan had the run of the fortress and spent the time exploring it while Lara worked. They spent most of their time in a room set up with what looked like normal earth tablets that could access all sorts of Kryptonian books in English or Kryptonian. The boys speculated that access to those materials by anyone other than their immediate family would not be possible. The boys skimmed through assorted books that interested them, but their minds were really on the work that their grandmother was doing. Eventually, they were summoned back to the chamber where Lara’s AI appeared.

When they returned to their grandmother, they saw that there was in imprint in the podium in the shape of a hand that was now glowing faintly. “When you put your hand on the podium”, Lara said to Jonathan, “it will inject a fluid into your body. It will take only a few seconds and you might feel some tingling. Keep your hand on the imprint until it stops glowing.”

“What will happened after I get it into my body?” Jonathan asked. Lara smiled at him. “You will probably sleep a lot while your body starts to manufacture the catalyst you need. As the catalyst accumulates in your cells you might start to feel a bit different. In a day or two your body should start releasing the energy stored in your cells. In less than a week you will have the normal amount of the catalyst in your body to fully access your powers.” Jonathan stood at the podium with his hand hovering over the glowing imprint and hesitated. “What?” asked Jordan. Lara answered for Jonathan. “Once your brother starts the process there is no going back. He will have the same powers you and your father have. He can choose not to use some of the powers, but the more passive powers like invulnerability cannot be turned off.”

Jordan paused to formulate his thoughts. “Jon, I think you need to do this. Even if you choose not to use your powers, you need to be able to protect yourself. You will be happier knowing you do not have to depend on anyone for that. But this is your choice. I am with you whatever to choose to do.” Eventually Jonathan would let his brother know that it was the thought of flying with him that was the deciding factor. Flying alone meant nothing to him. But like Jordan, flying with his twin had meaning for him. He let his hand drop onto the imprint on the platform. Both Jon and his brother held their breath.

After the imprint stopped glowing and the procedure was done the boys got ready for the trip back to the farm. Their Grandmother had a “gift” for each of her grandsons. “Jordan, I know you may have incurred your father’s wrath by flying your bother here at my request. If you are questioned too closely when you return home, tell your father I could not wait any longer to see my grandson and, that I wish to see him in the fortress immediately.” She then turned to the other twin. “Jonathan, I can sense the anger in you and I can understand it. It is not without cause. However, when you judge your father, and you will judge your father, keep in mind that while he has made mistakes as a father that have hurt you, he is a good man. Do not hold on to your anger for too long.”

Martha Kent had been Jon’s source of wisdom like this, but his troubles had begun the day of her funeral and he did not have the benefit of her guidance throughout the past year. Maybe, he thought, he could have a second chance at that kind of guidance. If his Grandmother Lara was right, he would be able to come back to talk to her whenever he needed her.

Lara had seemed certain her plan would work but Jon was determined not to think about it until he felt something change in him.

Jordan very carefully flew his brother home.

Chapter 5: Prelude

Summary:

The twins wait for something to change within Jonathan. One night Jordan sees something that makes him sure it it happening.

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They ate dinner with their parents as if nothing unusual had happened. Jordan noticed his brother starting to look tired toward the end of the meal. When they were both excused from the table they went up to their room. Jon went right to sleep while Jordan stayed up playing video games all night and keeping a close watch on his brother. Jon’s sleep was a little restless but everything else seemed normal.

When Jon awoke the next morning Jordan had his feet propped up next to him on the bed still playing video games. Jordan noticed as soon as Jon moved and immediately asked “How do you feel?”. Jonathan paused to take stock of his own body. “A little weird but otherwise fine” he replied. Jordan spent the day with his twin who was monitoring his heart rate and respiration and in general hovering over his brother, but nothing happened. Jon napped for an hour or so in the afternoon and then, as he had the night before, went to bed early. Over 24 hours had passed since he had lowered his hand onto the imprint in the podium. His only recognizable change was that he was tired and felt what he could only describe as “weird”. They passed the night the same way. Jon sleeping and Jordan playing video games and watching his brother. His parents seemed a bit suspicious when they looked into the boys’ room to say goodnight, but they didn’t see anything amiss except Jonathan asleep much earlier than usual. Jordan could tell his father x-rayed his sleeping brother and listened to his heart rate and respiration. He studiously ignored his father and feigned disinterest until his parent went to bed.

That night, as Jordan monitored his brother, he noticed that his heartrate was steady. It might have been wishful thinking on his own part, but Jonathan’s heartbeat sounded a bit stronger than it usual did. That night Jordan switched to reading from one of the two tablets their grandmother had allowed her grandsons to take from the fortress. Normally he would have grabbed an hour of sleep, but he remained studiously on guard. He had started this process for his brother, and he could sleep once it was safely concluded. Although, he thought with a smile, he would sleep after he started Jon on his first flying lesson. Jordan tried to get himself focused enough on his reading to ignore the time passing but he couldn’t forget that when his brother woke up the next morning there was a chance he would start to feel a difference that amounted to more than just “a little weird”. Time, for Jordan that night, passed at a slow pace. He gave up on his reading, turned out the light and just stared at his brother. He knew his twin had willingly sacrificed so much for him. If he could be successful getting Jon’s powers working, it would make things so much easier for his brother. He would still have problems to deal with in Smallville, he might still want to move back to Metropolis, and Jordan was aware that his brother might not embrace superpowers the same way he had, but Jon would have more choices and options if he had powers and it would be an experience they could share.

Late into the night Jordan dozed a bit. When he woke up the first thing he did was look at the clock. It was 5am and everything was still dark. It was the kind of dark you don’t see in the city. The house was isolated on acres of farmland far from any other building except their own barn. As Jordan gazed at his brother to make sure he was still okay he could detect a slight golden glow emanating from his skin. Jordan felt his brother’s forehead. It was a bit warm, but Jon was sleeping soundly. Jordan wanted to get the thermometer from the bathroom medicine cabinet, but he knew his father would hear him and he would need an explanation. He didn’t have any idea of what Jon’s temperature should be so there was no point in alerting his father if Jon was sleeping normally. When he looked up again at his brother, the glow was gone and his forehead was cool. Jordan was glad he had been awake. He thought that he might have just witnessed the first time Jon’s cells had released energy for him to use.

An hour later Jon was awake and sitting up. He looked fine but had a puzzled look on his face. “I don’t feel weird, but I feel somehow different” he said in answer to his brother’s inquiring look. It was almost 2 days since the process had been started. Jordan wanted to start testing his brother immediately, but Jonathan wanted to wait until the next day. Even though this was Jonathan’s body that was hopefully undergoing a change, he knew that this affected Jordan also. Jordan had been part of the process from the beginning, and this had become a shared Kent twins experience. They compromised on 3 pm that afternoon to begin testing. Their grandmother had said it would take a day or two to see any results. Late in the afternoon would be a bit more than 2 days. Jon was trying to temper his expectations, but Jordan had seen the glow from his skin in the early hours of the morning and was more optimistic.

Since The General had provided the boys with the instrumentation they needed for a safe “Jordan powered” flight, he was naturally aware of the reason for Jon to go to the fortress. The General had not been pleased with Clark’s behavior as a father but had not been much of a father himself. After careful questioning and some last-minute advice, had agreed to help his grandsons with two conditions. First, they had to keep him updated on their progress each step of the way. Second, if they were successful, they would have to tell their parents. The boys sent a text to their grandfather letting him know that Jon was fine and with a promise of an update late in the afternoon. They hung around the house playing video games, went for a walk and washed the trucks. Finally, at 2 pm Jon’s own patience wore out. He was no longer as tired as he had been for the last two days so either the process had stopped, or he was running on solar power. He looked over the roof of the truck he was drying and said to his brother “Let’s do it. I can’t stand waiting anymore.” It was clear Jon was not exhibiting the need for extra sleep anymore. What Jordan, with some experience with superpowers had noticed, was that Jon had not been hungry all day and that washing and drying the trucks in the hot Kansas summer sun had not affected his brother. He didn’t even seem to notice the bright midafternoon sun or the hot humid air. For Jordan, the test was already over, and the fun was about to begin for both twins.

Chapter 6: Ignition

Summary:

This could be a big moment in Jon's life. Lara said he would start to see changes after two days. The boys wait for two days to pass and then try some preliminary testing away from prying eyes.

Chapter Text

The twins went down to a far corner of the farm and faced each other. Jon looked a bit stressed. This was a big moment for him. A potential turning point in his life. Jordan handed him a stone that fit easily into his hand. “Squeeze” was all he needed to say. Jon took a deep breath and squeezed. Nothing happened. He tried again, this time giving it every bit of strength he could muster. The rock crushed in his hand and small fragments came flying out of his clenched fist. After a moment of surprise Jon breathed out a sigh of relief. There was no way he could have done that two days ago. Something was definitely happening inside his body. He held out his hand with the pulverized rock fragments and looked up at his brother with a big smile. Jordan had not seen much of that smile in the last few months, and he felt great seeing it again. He took the fragments from his brother and put them in his pocket. “A memento for you” he said to his brother.

Jon’s life had just become more complicated but maintaining their closeness just became much easier. The boys understood that even if Jon had never manifested powers, they still would have found a way to remain close. This was just going to make that so much easier.

Jordan had Jon try to activate his heat vision. At first he could only get his eyes to glow red but after a few tries Jon was able to set fire to a bale of hay. Jon was satisfied with his progress and wanted to wait a few more days to test the rest of his powers. Jordan talked him into one more test. Jon was a runner. In his football days Jon had run daily. Jordan wanted Jon to run with him a few times around the field where they were standing. Jon followed Jordan’s pace around the field. Each lap Jordan increased his speed until they were running at what could only be described as world record speeds. Jordan could hear that his brother was not even breathing hard, so he added more speed to his pace. Until that moment Jon had not even realized that he was running far faster than he had ever run before. He had to push a bit to keep up with his brother, but the speed was absurdly fast. He felt like he would get dizzy from running in a fast circle before he got tired. Jordan finally came to a halt. Jon’s heartrate was only slightly elevated and he was barely breathing harder than normal. Jordan took out his phone and texted his grandfather. The ever security conscious General did not allow the boys to text him anything about powers that others could understand. He showed the text to his brother. The general would get the message. “We are up and running.” “Keep me posted” replied the General. Jon took the phone from his brother and texted “Will update in a few days” and hit send. “A few days, Jon???? Really???” Jon was adamant this time. That would be over 5 days into the process. Their grandmother had said less than a week for the process to complete. At day 5 he could determine to what level he could expect his powers to develop. Until then, he knew they were developing and would wait the 3 days. As they jogged back to the house, Jordan complained all the way about the 3 day wait but his brother would not budge.

The boys didn’t want to do anymore testing on the farm where Clark might spot them. Especially flying. The General managed to get a restricted proving ground available to them with the cover of X-K testing. Jordan wanted to try flying Jonathan there with less limits on his speed since Jonathan could most likely withstand the g-forces and speed now. On the third day after their preliminary testing, when Clark was busy with a rescue, Jordan picked up his brother and launched himself up into the sky. The agreement was that Jon would give his brother thumbs up until it started to be a bit too much for him. Then, thumbs down. But there was no thumbs down. Jordan pushed himself faster until he reached cruising speed. Jon, with his thumb firmly aimed in the up position but looking uncomfortable, looked at his brother and mouthed the words “I hate this.” Jordan just smiled. He could enjoy making his brother a bit uncomfortable while being carried, knowing it would the last time he would have to do it. That, among other things, was what brothers were for.

Jordan landed at the proving grounds. Jon looked around and had the same sensation he had on X-K, which had particularly enhanced his visual perception. He could see the General, alone at a window in a building which he realized was probably a half mile away. While he was staring off into the distance Jordan had zipped over to a nearby tree and effortlessly broke off a large branch. He brought it back to a low brick pillar that was part of the border fence. Jordan stood back as Jonathan took his place a few yards from the piece of branch Jordan had put there for him. Jon closed his eyes and let the heat ramp up. Jordan saw his brother’s eyes glowing red through his eye lids and waited. Jon opened his eyes and felt heat, way beyond what he had expected, blast out of his eyes. The branch was instantly incinerated. Caught by surprise he just stared wide eyed at the ashes. The bricks glowed a dull red for a moment and then the entire pillar exploded. Both Jordan and Jon were hit by flying bits of red-hot bricks. Jordan patted out the fire the hot debris had started on his shirt. “Sloppy work bro. Real sloppy.” Jordan watched fire start to consume his brother’s shirt while his brother, still shocked by the power he had just unleashed, was blissfully unaware that his shirt was ablaze. When Jordan’s heat vision started, he had experienced a slow ramp up of the intensity. Jon had been fully charged but unable to tap his powers. Once he could do that, he experienced his powers more like someone throwing a switch. No one could really be prepared for that. Jordan calmly grabbed his brother by the shoulders and froze out the fire. Jon looked slightly ridiculous; shocked, half bare-chested and with ice formed across his entire torso. Once Jonathan got over his shock, he shrugged off the ice and turned to his brother and thanked him for patting out the fire while he ruefully fingered the remains of his own shirt.

“Let’s skip right to the good stuff” Jordan proposed to his brother. In reply to Jonathan’s puzzled look, Jordan looked at his brother and then looked up in the sky. A look of comprehension spread over Jon’ face. This was a big moment for both of them. Jon really did not care that much about his powers. It was great to be invulnerable so that the X-K dealers and the Jon-Els of the world could not hurt him, but what he had really wanted was to be able to accompany his brother in the sky. If it had been only his father who had powers, he would not have cared that he didn’t. Both boys had feared a void opening between the superpowered Jordan and his non-superpowered brother Jon. Now that possibility was about to be dispelled. Jordan gave his twin some last-minute flying instructions and floated gently up into the air and hovered. If, as their grandmother had stated, he was fully charged, then Jon did not have to wait for his powers to grow any stronger to be able to fly.

Chapter 7: Liftoff (Brothers Under the Sun)

Summary:

The big moment has arrived. Will Jon get off the ground and, if he does, how will he tell his parents?

Chapter Text

Jon did exactly what Jordan had described. He let gravity dissolve around him and gently floated up to face his twin. Jordan rotated himself so that he was parallel to the ground and then started to fly slowly around the field. Jonathan imitated his brother and urged himself forward. The two of them circled the field a few times until Jordan landed. Jon did not exactly nail the landing. He came down a bit too fast and stumbled when he hit the ground but regained his balance and remained on his feet. Jordan was impressed. Flying, like driving, seemed to come naturally to Jonathan. They practiced a few more landings until Jon got a feel for it. “What’s next?” Jon asked. His brother floated up a few yards above the ground and waited for Jon to join him. When Jon was level with him Jordan turned and took off into the sky. As Jordan had turned, Jon had seen the big smile of anticipation on his twin’s face. This was the big moment. The one they had both been striving and waiting for. Jon took off to follow his twin. Jordan accelerated and set a fast pace. Jon flew directly next to his brother. When his flight became erratic Jordan was there to steady him. Jon had to concentrate hard to keep up with his brother. In Jordan’s mind this was going to be a quick test flight, but his brother was doing so well he decided to try to fly home to the farm. After they had been in the air for a while, Jordan pointed down at the Kent farm and headed down toward that far corner where they had tested Jon’s developing powers a few days before. They landed next to each other in the field. Jon’s landing shook the ground a little and he left two imprints of his shoes an inch deep in the soil. “You came in too fast again but still pretty good” was Jordan’s only comment. Jon took out his phone and sent a text message to his grandfather to let him know the good news. Both boys laughed when they saw the message that came back from their grandfather. It was sort of coded but so unlike the general, a thumbs up and a smiley emoji. The General’s happiness for his grandson was peeking through. The General had a feeling he might see his grandsons later in the day. Clark would be furious about the trip to the fortress, and he would know that both grandparents had a hand in it. In a physical fight he could not intimidate Clark. But father-in-law to son-in-law was a different story. He would stand by in case either of his grandsons needed him.

Jordan had offered to make the needed disclosure to their parents, but Jon felt he had to do it himself. It was, however, Jordan who sent out the text message requesting a family meeting that night after dinner. Lois and Clark realized that even though Jordan had called the meeting, the subject of the meeting was most likely Jonathan. Specifically, they thought, Jonathan and Clark’s sorely tested relationship. Both boys had been missing for most of the day and they had assumed they were together.

After dinner the four Kents went out onto the front porch to talk. Jonathan was fidgeting in his chair. To power his laser vision, he had to consciously dip into the power stored in his cells. However, as he was discovering, a certain amount of energy was constantly being released from his cells to power his “always on” powers. Invulnerability, which had been tested when his shirt caught fire, was a good example. He was not used to that kind of constant high energy flowing through him. If felt vaguely like he had consumed way too much caffeine of the very high octane variety. Jordan had assured him that he would get used to it quickly. What Jon really wanted to focus on was getting back out with Jordan and expending some of his new restless energy. However, both of his grandparents as well as his brother had insisted on immediate disclosure to his parent. The moment to complete that commitment had come.

Before Jon could start his father asked him where both boys had been all day. Jon answered truthfully “At the fortress.” Clark ignored Jon turned to his other son and asked him “You flew your brother to the fortress after I specifically told you not to fly your brother until I trained you for that.” “No Dad” Jordan replied. You specifically told me not to fly with my brother until I was properly trained for that. Your mother was my trainer. She told me about the limits for speed, acceleration and altitude. According to her I was ready to do it.”

Clark was not at all appeased by Jordan. “You are not experienced enough to be able to judge any of those factors.” Jordan was starting to wilt under his father’s glare and Jon was tired of being ignored, so he stepped in to rescue his brother. “Maybe next time you go to the fortress you should discuss that with your mother.” That broke Clark’s momentum. He was not going to tell his own rather formidable mother that she was not qualified to teach her own grandson.

“Dad”, Jordan started again with more confidence, “we had gauges to judge all of those factors and you’re your mom gave us a protective carrier for Jon.”

Lois had been sitting silently on the porch but now had questions of her own. “You had instruments for all of that? You had that equipment in a small enough package to fly it along with your brother? Where did they come from?”

“My guess would be a US jet fighter aircraft” Jordan answered.

It was almost as though she already knew the answer before she asked the question, however it took a moment for Clark to catch up. “You mean your grandfather was part of this also?” Clark turned to Lois. “You have to talk to your father about interfering with the boys.”

Lois was indignant. “Why my father? He was not the only grandparent involved.” Lois did not voice her admiration for Lara’s strategy. Both sides of the family had been involved. If they wanted to come down hard on the twins, they would have to fight both grandparents; and both were very formidable people who were clearly partial to their twin grandsons.

However, Clark was furious. “Jonathan, get up to your room. I want to speak to your brother alone.” Jordan flinched. This had been a team effort, but Clark was treating him differently than his brother yet again. Jonathan’s patience was getting stretched. “Dad, you said the fortress was for the entire family, so we went.”

This time Clark’s response echoed all over the farm. “Jonathan, I am not going to tell you again. Go to your room.” And then there was a moment of horrible dead silence.

Jon tried to be careful to honor his grandmother’s advice. He finally said to his father “I can’t stay here any longer. It hurts too much and you don’t even notice.” Jon walked off the porch toward the driver’s door of his truck and turned to sadly look back at his family. “I will be in Metropolis at grandpa’s house.” He was fine with leaving. Maybe he was better off in Metropolis with his grandfather but he had truly wanted to leave on good terms.

Clark went to stop his son, but Lois put a hand on Clark’s shoulder and he halted. “Jonathan, no. That’s not what your father wants,” Lois said. But as soon as she said it, she wondered if she was correct. Clark’s behavior had been a bit erratic lately when it came to Jonathan. She desperately did not want Jonathan to leave but at the same time she understood why he needed to get away. Unfortunately, it got worse for Lois.

“I am going with Jon” Jordan stated. Clark looked stunned. He had come to Smallville to bring his family together and suddenly that family was breaking apart. “Jordan, you can’t go anywhere. We have training to do.” But Jordan was already heading toward the passenger side of the truck.

Jordan spoke to his parents but looked directly at his brother. “Before we go, Jon has something he needs to tell both of you.” The boys’ parents looked at Jonathan expectantly.

The unaccustomed energy flowing through Jon was making him edgy. He wanted to tell his parents, but, unusual for Jonathan, the words were not coming to him. He needed an outlet for the distracting buzz of the energy. Reluctantly, he bent down, grabbed the bottom of the truck, and while looking directly at his father effortlessly lifted the side of the 5,000 pound truck. He waited for the shocked expression on his father’s face before he gently lowered the truck back to the ground. “Got it?” Jon asked. Clark had been prepared for a difficult family meeting but not for a fully powered Jonathan. He simply did not know how to respond.

Jonathan allowed some nervous energy escape to his eyes. They glowed red. “This is what my brother and my grandmother did with me at the fortress. Son of Superman and brother of Superboy, why the big shock?” The news had caught Clark off guard and he was too surprised to answer. When there was no response from their father, both boys got into the truck. Jon opened his window and addressed his father before heading off to Metropolis. “Your mother wanted me to tell you that she would like to see you at the fortress.” He threw the truck into gear and headed away from his parents.

Lois had tears in her eyes. She had wanted Clark and Jon to work out their problems themselves, but the situation had quickly spun out of control and now both her two boys were heading away from her for an unknown period of time. She stormed up the steps to the house but turned to Clark before she went inside. “Clark. You caused this, now fix it.” But Clark was not really sure how to fix it

Jon and Jordan rode toward Metropolis for a while in silence. Finally, Jordan asked “You okay bro?” “I’m fine” Jon responded flatly. “Well, if I were you I would loosen your grip on that steering wheel before you crush it. I can hear it groaning under the pressure from your hands.” Jon let go of the steering wheel for a moment and then grasped it again with a gentler grip. “And save the ‘I’m fine’ for someone who doesn’t know you” Jordan continued. “You are clearly not fine.”

“Am I really a disgrace to the Kent family name?” Jon asked his brother.

Jordan laughed. “Jon, you allowed your hand to be broken to save me from punching someone. I would be in jail for manslaughter and would have to live with killing someone because I overreacted. Dad’s secret would be out and that would put Mom in danger. The only person who didn’t benefit was you and you were the one with the broken hand."

Jon kept his eyes on the road ahead of him but smiled just a bit. “I was mad at you at first, but I never regretted doing it.

“Jon, it’s not that you do too much for others, it’s that you don’t do enough for yourself. Don’t let him get away with that. You deserve better for yourself.” Jon remained silent. Jordan continued. “He’ll come around. He doesn’t really have a choice.” He can hardly spank either of us, and we have both grandparents on our side.”

Jon felt better just because Jordan, without thinking about it, called it “our side”. He was not as alone as he had felt.

Chapter 8: The Road Not Taken

Summary:

While Jordan goes back to the farm, Jonathan finally goes to visit his "inverse twin" Jon-El. It seemed to Jonathan that there is more to Jon-El than red pants and a sneer.

Chapter Text

During the first few days in Metropolis Jon did not use any powers except flight. He had to deal with his father’s rejection when he was on the ground, but when he was up in the air with Jordan everything felt better. They flew side by side to visit their grandmother again at the fortress to thank her for helping them. She was delighted to see them and she counseled Jon not to worry. Clark would show up at the fortress to talk to her eventually.

After a week in Metropolis Jon asked his brother to fly back to Smallville for a few days to get some more clothing for both of them and to calm their distraught mother. He found himself alone and with time on his hands. Sitting in the General’s backyard, his mind turned to Jon-El.

The last time Jon saw him, Jon-El had superpowers and Jon had been helpless. Even though the situation was reversed now, Jon was still reluctant to see him. However, it was Jon-El who had given Jordan the blood sample they had needed and then Jordan had to leave him sitting in a holding cell all alone. Jon-El, he thought, had always been alone. The more he thought about Jon-El the more curious he was about him. Lara had called him an “inverse identical twin”. Jon had seen something behind the perpetual sneer on his doppelganger’s face. He had a sadness, a deep and unhealed wound that he was covering up, but Jon somehow could see it. He texted his grandfather to arrange permission for him to see Jon-El.

As he walked through the DoD holding facility people did double takes. The guards let him into the area where Jon-El was held. When he entered, Jon-El slowly turned around. The trademark sneer vanished from his face as soon as he saw who it was who came to see him.

"I have a pretty good idea of what you and your brother were up to. Did it work?"

Jon let his eyes glow red for a moment. Jon-El smiled. "Congratulations. Did it help you with your father?"

Jon hesitated but he knew Jon-El could read him as well as he could read Jon-El. “You knew it wouldn’t. I moved in with my grandfather in Metropolis."

"I never wanted anyone to know about my powers. I had to reveal them when my father was too busy preening with a fan to notice someone falling to their death. I did the right thing, but he only started to see me as a pile of superpowers, not as his son. It was bad before that, but my life got worse after the big reveal. I can see it so clearly now, but I couldn’t see it then. Hindsight……." Jon-El shrugged.

Jonathan had to point it out. "At the very end, your father came to save you."

Jon-El shook his head. "It was way too late for us. Even when I was young I never saw him as a hero like the other kids saw their fathers."

Jonathan nodded. "My father wasn’t really there for the first 14 years of my life. He was out saving the world but when I needed saving, he didn’t even see me. He had time for everyone but me."

"Ironic", Jon-El responded. "Your father had time for me. He tried to talk to me. I wish I had listened to him."

Jon laughed. "He is a good guy. Just not to me."

Jon-El thought about that for a minute before responding. "From my own experience I would guess that you are the only person who intimidates him. You make him feel insecure. I could see it in my father’s eyes. I never let myself be intimidated by him and he just wasn’t used to that. Everyone else saw him as a god!"

Jonathan objected. "I am not an intimidating person. People feel comfortable around me."

Jon-El shook his head. "You don’t realize how formidable you are. Your brother is so different than my brother. I can see that both Jordans started out the same, but something made your brother into more of a bad ass than my brother. I hate to admit it, but that difference was you. I failed my brother. You saw the best in your brother, and you brought out the best in him. I didn’t see anything in my brother. I look at your brother and I can't help seeing how I failed my brother."

Jonathan absorbed Jon-El’s words. Then Jon-El surprised him. He took off his leather jacket and held it out to him.

"I know you can’t carry off the red pants, but the jacket is cool even here. One of the goons that guard me tried to take it but it was too small on him, but it will fit you. The only condition is that if I ever get out of here you have to give it back to me."

“Deal” Jon answered. He put on the leather jacket and, of course, it fit him perfectly. "Why give me the jacket?"

This time Jon-El smiled a genuine smile. "It will scare the hell out of your father when he sees you wearing it. It’s a good reminder of why he better start seeing you for who you are."

Jonathan looked at his reflection in the glass wall of the enclosure. He did look just a bit more dangerous with Jon-El’s jacket on him. “I meant why help me?” Jon asked.

I don’t have a life now. I just sort of exist and regret. I spend my day wishing I had made better choices. Come back and let me know how your choices turn out.

As Jon turned to leave, he took another glance at his reflection and smiled back at Jon-el. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he came here after all.

Chapter 9: Chasm

Summary:

Clark knows he has failed Jonathan but he doesn't know how to fix it. He wishes he could talk to his son's namesake, his own father, to get his help. He is surprised by who steps in to guide him.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Clark was looking forward to some time doing farm chores. He needed to think about the current state of his family and how he could fix it. Having some time alone was a key part of the process. As soon as he walked into the house, he knew someone else was there. A quick glance though a wall or two made him tense up. Sitting in the kitchen, looking none to happy, was Sam Lane.

Clark entered the kitchen and faced his sons’ grandfather. Sam, as usual, was blunt and right to the point. “Clark, what the hell is going on with you?”

“I don’t know Sam. I am really not sure” Clark replied.

“Jon told me what your mother thinks. Is it true that you see your own son as a threat to you?” Sam demanded.

“Not a threat, a challenge. She thinks there is some weird Kryptonian instinct at play here, but even she is losing patience with me. I should be able to override it once I am aware of it but every time I see Jonathan we still fight.”

“And you somehow think you are the first father and son to go at each other every time you are together.”

“No, the problem is I go after Jonathan. He only comes after me in self-defense. And I don’t do it with Jordan.”

“Part of my job is to judge people” Sam replied. “Their character, their motivations, their flaws. You are a good man Clark. I know that, and your son knows that. But you have never been a father to him. You were absent for the first fourteen years of his life and for the last two years he has had a father who sees only faults with him.”

“Sam, I don’t know how to fix things with him. Honestly, he intimidates me now. I know him, if I try to talk to him now, he is going to cut me to shreds.”

Sam laughed. “Now you know what it was like raising Lois. In a verbal duel she always could back me right into a corner. There is a lot of Lois in Jonathan.”

“Jon used to be the easy one and I made him into the difficult one. It’s so much easier with Jordan now.”

“I think you are afraid to get too close to Jonathan because he might see you’re not the perfect man, the Superman that everyone else sees. You don’t think you will get his respect.”

“Jonathan does not see himself as a hero, but he is a hero to everyone who knows him well and, he sees right through me. I can’t fake it with him.”

“Clark, you don’t have to fake it with him. He just wants his father to love him for who he is. Not because of his powers and not because he could follow in your footsteps if he chose to.”

Clark was silent. The weight of what Sam was telling him was uncomfortable.

“Clark, Jonathan is going to go ahead with his life with you or without you but, there will always be a hurt inside him if you reject him. He is doing fine in Metropolis, but I can see that hurt in his eyes. You’re the only one who can fix it. You have this extraordinary son. For God’s sake, pull yourself together. Go to him and make this right with him.”

Clark was almost pleading. “Sam, I don’t know what to say to him and superpowers don’t help me. I can’t punch my way out of this. I desperately don’t want to lose him or, even worse, hurt him. I just don’t know what to say to him now. I’m afraid it may be too late.”

Sam shook his head. “Not true. Right now Jonathan still loves you, but for his own self-esteem he is going to have to break his bond with you. I can see him already starting to do that. You think he is judging everything you do, but it isn’t like that. You don’t need to be perfect. All you need to do is show him that you love him, but you have to do it soon. Every day you let this continue the breach between the two of our grows wider.”

Clark shook his head uncertainly.

“You are going to regret it if you don’t try.” Sam’s tone became less strident, even gentle. “If I were your father, I would tell you not to think about it so much. Just go to him. Tell him you know you failed him, but don’t make any promises. Tell him you will prove yourself to him starting right now if he will give you the chance.”

Clark nodded to his father-in-law and disappeared leaving Sam to wonder why he had not known how to be a good father to his girls. With age, he thought, comes wisdom. But, unfortunately, sometimes too late.

Notes:

I love to write for the twins, but I also love to write for Sam. What Sam and Jon have in common is that they can, as needed, be both tough as well as caring.

Chapter 10: Prodigal

Summary:

Clark is finally ready to go speak to his estranged son about a reconciliation. Jon waits patiently while his father struggles to express himself. Maybe if they both want it enough, they can work it out.

Chapter Text

After a week in Metropolis Jordan flew back to Smallville for a few days to get some more clothing for both of them and to calm their distraught mother. It was strange not having his twin with him, but he was enjoying some one-on-one time with his grandfather.

One afternoon, before Jon went out with friends, he found his grandfather in the back yard crouched over a hole in the backyard. When Jon approached, he saw that the General had dug out the dirt all around a small tree that had died and then cut the roots so he could remove it. His grandfather looked up at him and said, “I don’t see why it’s not coming out.” Jon glanced down into the hole and without thinking activated his x-ray vision.

“You missed one big root all the way at the bottom.” Jon informed him.

“You can see that?” his grandfather asked. Jon nodded in reply.

“Jonathan, any chance you would consider giving this plant a little tug for me?”

Jon crouched down, grabbed the plant with one hand and gave it I small yank. The root broke instantly. Jon looked up and smiled at his grandfather. “Try it now.” The General reaching into the hole and pulled out the plant. We’ll go shopping for something new to put here tomorrow. They both stood up and the General put his arm around his grandson’s shoulders. “I know you want to hear from your father, and I think you will, but even if you don’t you will be fine. You know you can stay here with me.” It was odd, Jon thought. In Smallville it seemed like everything he did was wrong but here in Metropolis, it was enough just to be Jonathan.

 

Later that day Jon was getting ready to go out with his friends. He had put on Jon-El’s jacket and had even thought about how his friends would react to some of Jon-El’s eyeliner. He found himself in the backyard staring off into the distance thinking about his meeting with his “inverse twin” when he detected a heartbeat behind him. Before turning around, he asked “Trying to sneak up on me Dad?” When Jon did turn around Clark was surprised to see someone who looked to be halfway between Jonathan and Jon-El. “Jonathan?” he asked.

Jon couldn’t resist. “You can’t tell the difference?”

Clark paused for a second and looked into his son’s eyes. “Jonathan” he said, this time more a statement than a question, but Jon could tell he wasn’t 100% sure which Jon he was talking to.

Jon asked his father “Would you feel more comfortable if I proved I am Jonathan?” Clark hated to acknowledge that he wasn’t sure but nodded. Jon took a breath and blew frigid air at his father encasing him in ice from his neck to his knees. Jon-El had fire breath, not freeze breath. Clark shook himself and the ice flew off him. “Okay, Jonathan for sure now” he said and then there was that awkward silence. Jon felt like he was doing all the heavy lifting in this conversation, but he forged ahead. “Did you get to visit your mother at the fortress?” Jon asked.

“Yes, I did see her. I have now, in one stroke, made both of my sons, my father-in-law, my wife and my own mother furious with me. It’s almost like a new superpower.” Clark said. Jon had to smile. “I really like your mother. I’ve been back to see her a few times.” Jonathan replied. Clark nodded. “She seemed particularly taken with you.” Father and son again stood facing each other awkwardly. It was good that Clark could be sure that it was not Jon-El standing in front of him, but for some reason Jon wearing Jon-El’s jacket was making him uncomfortable. “Why do you have Jon-El’s jacket?” he asked his son.

“He loaned it to me when I met him.” Jon replied.

Clark didn’t want to go further into it right now, so he changed the subject. “Your mother says you are not coming back to Smallville. Jordan is staying in Metropolis also.”

“Grandpa arranged for us to go back to school in Metropolis. He gave Jordan the registration papers before he left for the farm. He’s going to ask Mom to sign them.”

“I think I need to talk to your grandfather about interfering with his grandsons.”

“Not such a good idea Dad. He has access to kryptonite.”

Clark smiled grimly in acknowledgement. “I hear you have an internship at the Planet. You want to be a reporter?” he asked.

I don’t know Dad. I just wanted to learn about it. I think they are using me as bait to lure Mom back.

Any chance I can lure you back to Smallville?

I’d come back to visit if you want me to. I know Smallville represents your idealized lost youth to you but to me it’s some kind of Mid-West Gothic hellhole.

There was more awkward silence. To Jonathan it seemed that his father was somehow stuck and unable to proceed. “You okay Dad?” Jon asked.

Clark did just what Jonathan always did. He automatically nodded yes even though the real answer was clearly no.

Jonathan decided he had to let his father know that he was open to a reconciliation. “Dad, it won’t change what I do, but it would still mean a lot to me if you would give me your blessing to stay in Metropolis for school this year.”

“I understand why you want to be in Metropolis. If I had helped you more, really been there for you when you asked for my help, it might have been different.”

This was awkward and Jon was running out of ways to ease the way for whatever his father wanted to say to him. Finally, he decided to be more direct. “Dad, just say whatever you need to say. It’s okay. It’s just the two of us.”

Finally, Clark began to talk. “You are a very popular young man. Between your mother and my mother, I have been ground down to a fine powder. When I realized that everyone was mad at me, I had to re-evaluate my own behavior. I have not been a good father to you. It wasn’t until today that I realized that you are the son of Superman and yet I have never taken you flying. I never carried you up into the air for a father-son flight. Never. That sums up how I went wrong.”

Now that his father was finally beginning to talk, Jon remained silent. He could hear the regret in Clark’s voice. I was real this time. Not just words to be recited.

Clark paused to gather his thoughts while Jonathan waited patiently. Clark finally got to the point. “No empty promises between us anymore. If you can judge me by my actions, starting right now, I will prove myself to you. I will make it all up to you.”

Jonathan believed him this time but there had to be one caveat. “I can put it all behind us dad, but you have to realize that I fought hard to get my life back. I can’t give control of it back to you.”

“You have plenty of people close to you who can guide you better than I have. Keep listening to them.”

Jonathan held out his hand and his father grabbed it but then Clark pulled his son into a hug that after a moment of hesitation his son returned.

Your brother is staying for dinner tonight. You mother said if things went well, I should ask you to come back to the farm tonight for dinner.

Jon pulled out of his father’s hug. “You haven’t seen me fly yet” Jon said with a smile.

Clark was surprised. Except for lifting up his truck, Jon had not used any powers in front of his father. “You’ll fly back to the farm with me now?” he asked.

Jon floated up off the ground just a few inches. “Right now.”

“You have to launch fast so no one can see you” Clark instructed.

“Dad, I know how to fly.”

“Just follow me” Clark responded and took off straight up into the sky. Jon followed him but Clark’s pace was much slower that what Jon was used to.

“Come on Dad, pick it up a bit. You’re taking all the joy out of flying” Jon called out to his father.

“Form before speed” his father answered. Jon felt control of his life already starting to slip out of his hands, but he didn’t want to ruin this father-son moment. From behind and a bit above his father, Jon accelerated and zoomed down to grab his father around the chest and then accelerated sharply.

Clark got the message. “Okay, let go. We can go faster.” But Jon didn’t let go. Instead, he did a few spinning rolls. When he couldn’t feel his father resisting his flight path, Jon changed to a few barrel rolls and then pulled out and headed straight and level toward the farm before he released of his father.

As soon as he let go of his father, he saw him start to plummet toward the ground. Clark called out “The fancy moved are good but let’s see if you can rescue me.” Jon accelerated as hard as he could until he was below his father. He held out his arms and let his father fall gently into them. He was holding his father in his arms like he was a child. He looked down into his father face. Clark was smiling. “You win, you really are good at this.”

Clark launched out of his son’s arms and took off toward the farm at high speed. In a few seconds Jon caught up with his father and they flew silently, side by side high above the clouds until Jon slowed to a stop and hovered high above the farm. His father pulled up next to him. He watched Jon floating effortlessly and thought about how much trouble Jordan had with hovering in place. Jonathan’s natural athleticism seemed to be particularly valuable when it came to flying.

“Dad, I think we are doomed to fight with each other. Maybe it’s just that way with some fathers and sons. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. Let’s just not let ourselves get angry with each other about it.”

Clark nodded in agreement. Father and son propelled themselves down below the clouds. Clark did the abrupt landing that Jordan, Tal, and even Jon-El always used. Jon did a softer landing that only he seemed to employ. But Clark noticed that they had landed in front of the farmhouse side by side and at the same time. Maybe there was hope for the two of them.

Chapter 11: Rookie

Summary:

Breakfast the next morning. Clark and Jon go at it again. Jon stands his ground, but Clark is quick to see he is the problem and backs down to keep the peace.
Jonathan convinces Lois she should take a Daily Planet intern with her for an interview with someone potentially connected to Intergang.

Notes:

This is really Book II, Chapter 1 of "He Ain't Heavy". I hadn't planned on going past chapter 10 but apparently I am now addicted to writing this. Hope this gets you through the hiatus until the show starts again next January.

Chapter Text

Dinner went so well that after some persuading by his brother, Jon decided to spend the night at the farm. Although Jonathan was far better at sports than his brother Jordan had been, they were always an even match at video games. They tried playing but with both players' incredible speed, the controllers could not keep up with them. They ended up slowing themselves down and playing just for enjoyment instead of to win. Jon did not sleep nearly as much as he used to, but he liked the down time to let his mind wander and relax and usually slept for an hour or two each night.

When he awoke the next morning, he decided to go for a run. While it was effortless to run, he still found they rhythmic stride was relaxing both physically and mentally. In Metropolis he had friends to run with him but in Smallville, he had to run alone. Running alone, he had found, was better than not running at all and didn’t really bother him now that he had a life in Metropolis again.

As he slathered sunscreen on his face, he could see Jordan staring at him in the mirror. “Uh....hey dude, you know you don’t need to do that anymore.” “I do need to do it “replied Jon. I’ve always had to wear it before. If I stop now, it might raise questions.”

As Jon ran a few miles through rural Kansas he would occasionally dump some water from the bottle he carried onto his shirt so that it looked like he was sweating in the hot Kansas sun. Jon had liked to exert himself physically and get sweaty. That was denied to him now. There was not much that truly made him exert himself anymore.

By the time he was back from his run and showered, Jon smelled the wonderful aroma of a homecooked breakfast. When he got down the kitchen, Jon found that for once there was an argument that was totally unrelated to him or anything he had done. The heated discussion was between his parents. Lois put a plate of toast, bacon, and eggs in front of him and while Jordan had stopped eating to listen to his parents, Jon kept his head down and focused on eating instead of the argument going on around him.

Jon kept his entire focus on the eggs on his plate until he was interrupted by the stern voice of his father. “Jon, stop shoveling the food into your mouth.”

Jon sighed and looked up his father with a stoic look on his face. “Dad, I know how to eat.” He was trying to give his father a hint by echoing his “I know how to fly” comment from the prior day. Clark, unfortunately, did not take the hint.

“Then stop shoveling and eat like a grown up.”

Jon knew no matter what he said to his father it would not help the situation. He shifted his gaze from his father’s face to the toast on his father’s plate. Instantly the toast went from a golden brown to burnt black. Jon looked back up at his father defiantly. Next to him he heard Jordan suppress a laugh.

“Is that what you got powers for?” his father asked. “To be a superpowered juvenile?”

Jon’s patience was being tested but he was holding back the outburst. He looked down again at his father’s plate and the eggs on the plate steamed for a second and then turned a crispy black. He looked back up at his father. “If you don’t stop, I am going to scorch your bacon.”

That was too much for Jordan. “Scorch your bacon???? Seriously dude, that’s almost as good as “ocular emission.”

Lois was at the stove with her back to the rest of the family, but Jon could see she was clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

Jon turned to his brother. “Butt out Superboy or your bacon will scorched also.” Lois was placing more eggs on the table when she ceased being able to stifle her laughter. That made Jordan, who was completely unperturbed by his brother’s barb, lose control also. “Go ahead bro, Jordan said, “I want to see you scorch his bacon.”

Clark paused to consider the laughter around him and came to the realization that he was being ridiculous. He looked at Jon and shook his head ruefully. “Let’s see, if you and I spoke just before dinner last night that means I made it over a half of a day without reverting back to my old self.”

Keeping his eye contact with his father, Jon took the golden-brown toast off his own plate and switched it with the blackened toast on his father’s plate. He got up to make more toast for himself but didn’t want to wait for the toaster, so he experimented with his heat vision until he found the perfect level for toasting bread. When Jon sat back down at the table to resume eating his mother had piled more eggs onto his plate and onto a clean plate for his father.

Clark had to let Jonathan know that his father understood that his eating habits were perfectly in line with the eating habits of 16-year-old boys and, his own words and tone to him were not appropriate. Clark wanted Jon to understand that he was really trying hard to live up to the standard he had set for himself as a father. “Maybe I can make it an entire day, next time” he said to his son.” Jon did not respond but threw him another piece of golden-brown toast from his plate to his father’s plate. Clark got the message. He was off the hook for his outburst.

Lois and Clark resumed their own argument. Lois had started to investigate Intergang and was going to interview someone with a possible connection. Clark thought it could be dangerous and wanted to come along to protect Lois, but Lois did not want a babysitter or a bodyguard. Jordan was clearly siding with his father which only made Lois more determined to not have either of them along as bodyguards. During a lull in the argument, without looking up from his plate, Jon suggested to his mother that perhaps she might want to bring one of the Daily Planet interns along with her on the interview as a learning experience for the lucky intern and as a driver, since she had to go to Metropolis for the interview. There was a moment of silence while Clark and Jordan let Lois consider Jon’s suggestion. Lois clearly knew where this was heading. “Was there a particular intern you were thinking about. Perhaps an intern that could life up a 5,000 pound truck?” she asked Jonathan.

Your bias against “truck lifters” is not an attractive trait, Mom.

“It was just a question of your sudden interest in journalism that I was questioning” Lois replied.

Clark and Jordan dropped out of the conversation. When Jon and Lois argued, and Jon really was good at it, it was mostly for sport and very little hostility was involved.

“First of all,” Jon replied, “my interest in journalism predates this conversation. I signed up for a class in journalism at school and was accepted as in intern at the Planet days before this conversation. Not everything that happens in this world is always about you mom.” Bull’s eye Lois thought. Jon was right on target.

Jon knew he had Lois up against the ropes and he went in for the kill. He turned to his father and said, “Hey Dad, would you mind if I tagged along with your and Jordan next time you do some superhero training stuff?” In spite of the fact that Clark knew that this question was part of Jon’s debate with his mother, he couldn’t help giving an enthusiastic “any time son” as an answer. “You see mom, how eager Dad is to have me to see what he does as a superhero. Too bad my own mother does not share that enthusiasm. Despite my previous and clear interest in journalism, you refuse to let me watch you work."

Lois remained silent while she considered the proposal and also the fact that Jonathan clearly was his mother’s son. Sam's wish to her was that she would have a child just like Lois had been. Sam had gotten his wish but Lois loved it.

“You know mom” Jon continued “there would hardly be anything unusual about bringing a student intern with you, would there?” Jon gave his mother his sunniest and most engaging smile.

Lois knew what game Jon was playing but it didn’t make her any more resistant to that sunny smile. She hadn’t seen enough of that smile lately and it seemed to have an even more powerful effect on her than usual. It was clear that Jon wanted to come along to protect his mother from physical harm but there was more to it. He had, in fact, clearly expressed an interest in journalism. She knew that he was a very good writer, but he had no experience at the investigative aspect of what she did. And again, there was his damn smile. Lois let have what he wanted. He needed something to go his way she told herself.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jonathan kept silent during Lois’ interview and enjoyed watching his mother work. He had read most of her major articles but never had been able to see how those articles were created. When they were leaving the building, they were guided to an exit in a small hallway. The door they came through locked behind them. When Lois tried the other door out of the hallway, it was also solidly locked. Jon listened for any conversation on the other side of the door they had just come through. What he heard clearly indicated that they had been locked in on purpose. He could have easily torn the door off its hinges, but he was not anxious to give away the fact that he could easily do that. He scanned the small hallway for video cameras and found only one. He backed himself up against the wall right under the camera so no one would not be able to see him as he disabled it with his laser vision. With his X-ray vision he determined that the other door led to the outside. Lois recognized that Jon was using his super hearing and X-Ray vision by the way he held his head. Shortly after the camera was disabled, some kind of gas started to be pumped into the small hallway through the vent in the ceiling. Jon knew that he would not be affected by the gas, but his mother would. Lois heard and smelled the gas and the two of them looked anxiously at each other. “Hold your breath, Mom.” Jon said as he moved to put his shoulder against the door to the outside. Jon took a deep breath inhaling the gas so that his mother would not inhale it. Jon leaned against the door and lifted his shoulder slightly. With a loud cracking noise, the door burst open. Lois ran out of air and had to start breathing again but the air in the hall was all clear by now. Jonathan motioned his mom to go ahead of him and then blasted the gas back into the hallway. Once outside he spotted only one camera and it was right at the entrance to the ally. Where they were standing, just outside the door he had broken open, was not within the range of the camera. He used his laser vision to neatly cut the broken part of the door frame away and tossed it straight up into the air. It never came back down. Jon could hear that inside the building they were already reacting to the loss of the video from the hallway. He pointed upward and quietly asked Lois “Trust me?” Lois vigorously nodded yes. Jon picked up his mother and soared up to the roof of the building where they hid behind a chimney. Jon watched the activity below through the chimney with his X-Ray vision and waited until everyone had cleared the alley outside the door. Still holding his mother, he floated down to the ground and ran for their parked car.

Lois assumed that Jon, in full protective son mode, would want to drive his own truck. He was a good driver but Lois, who was also well taught by the General, thought her greater experience driving trumped that. Much to her surprise, her son handed her the keys and headed to the passenger door. As they pulled away Lois said to her son “I didn’t think you were going to let me drive”. "You have to drive so I can be free to protect us in case they follow us." It was slightly deflating to realize that Jon’s eagerness to have her drive was not based on her greater driving experience, but it was nice to know that he had enough confidence in her driving forgo driving himself, even if it was only in order to better be able to protect her.

Jon was perfectly still in the seat next to her and staring out of the back window. All was calm for a while but then Jon uttered a quiet “Damn”, and faster than she could see he was in the seat right in back of her. Shots rang out and the rear window of the truck exploded, but Lois was not hit. Jon was taking the shots for her. “Can you stop them, Jon?” she cried out. “Already doing it mom. With the rear window shot out I can use heat vision on them without a problem.” There was a pause as more shots were fired. She heard the dull thumps as they hit her son’s body. “Are you okay Jonathan” she cried out. “Relax Mom” it’s not hurting me. Just keep driving. I think their engine is about to overheat aaaaaand, yep, the oil in their engine is starting to boil.” Jon was clearly using his heat vision to disable the car.

Lois looked in her rear-view mirror just in time to see the vehicle chasing them come to an abrupt halt with steam and smoke coming from under the hood. As soon as they were a comfortable distance away from their attackers, Jon appeared in the front seat next to her with a grim smile on his face. She had never seen him look so serious. “Do you want to go see if you can find out who they are Jonathan?”

“No.” It came out strong, leaving no room for discussion. “I stay with you until we are home.” Lois realized that her son was correct. They knew who she was and where she lived. It was possible there was someone else planted along the route back to the farm. She smiled at the thought that they might be back at the farm attacking her other superpowered son and her superpowered husband. She almost felt sorry for them. She hardly needed to worry about them but the son sitting next to her was texting at amazing speed. She assumed that he was letting his brother and father know what was happening.

Jon sat in the front seat next to her on full alert. As it got dark and they got close to the farm, Jon suddenly ordered her to take the left at the next light. They were too close to the intersection to make a smooth turn. Lois cranked the wheel and the truck skidded into the turn and then straightened out as they took off down the back road to the farm. Jon turned to her in the seat next to her. “Sorry mom but nice driving. There was someone with a very nasty looking rife in a car on the side of the road a few blocks ahead.”

It wasn’t the first time that Lois had stirred up a hornet's nest, but it was the first time that Jon had needed to use his powers to protect her. The serious look on Jon’s face was, she had to admit, warming her pounding heart. He was taking his job as her protector seriously. At that moment, he seemed to her so mature and capable. He had made all the right moves. Even though superpowers were relatively new to him he seemed to know exactly how to use them to protect his mother.

Jon looked up through the ceiling of the truck for a moment and let his mother know that his father and brother were already up in the sky above them as they approached the road up to the house. Three super powered guardians were protecting her. One next to her and two as a flying escort in the sky above them. All three of them could move faster than the eye could see, bullets would not cause them the slightest harm and Jonathan was quarterbacking the operation. She was as safe as anyone could be.

Chapter 12: Intern

Summary:

Jon gets a gift from his twin, Jon and Lois have a heart-to-heart talk about his life, and Jon focuses on the conversation he overheard during Lois' Intergang related interview.

Chapter Text

Jordan insisted on staying up in the air in a wide circling path over the house while the rest of the family ate dinner, but the rest of the night was uneventful.

Jonathan and Lois related to Clark the events of the day. Clark congratulated Jonathan on his first rescue, but Jon corrected him. It was his first “superpowered rescue”. He had a few rescues under his belt before he had any powers including rescuing Clark more than once. Clark had to admit his son was correct, but it concerned him that Jon had insisted on pointing it out. Maybe, Clark thought, since he had not emphasized Jonathan’s Kryptonian heritage to him, he still was clinging to his identity as an human. However, Jon had been spending time every weekend with his grandmother at the fortress. Clark thought that was an encouraging sign.

Clark wisely did not mention to Lois that he had been right to want to come along with her on the interview. How much superpowered protection she needed was one of the few sensitive topics between the two of them. He also kept to himself the thought that it was a shame that Jonathan would not be making rescues on a regular basis. He was clearly mentally and physically meant to be that kind of a hero, but he had learned not to push Jonathan. In the end, although Jon’s superpowers had come in handy, Clark had to acknowledge that his son’s most valuable power was knowing how to convince his mother that he should come with her on the interview.

Jon was, of course, not physically tired from the events of the afternoon but the mental effort and pressure left him a bit worn. He had no regrets about using his powers to protect his mother, but he wanted time to process what had happened. He decided he would stay at the farm for a second night. Lois was ecstatic and Clark was hopeful. Jordan, when he finally decided to come down from the sky found his brother sound asleep.

When Jon got up the next morning, he found his mother and brother sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. As soon as Jordan saw his brother he started his best fan-girl imitation. “Oh my god, it’s Superboy right here in our kitchen. I cannot believe it.” Jon knew he could expect nothing less from Jordan. Jon had been teasing Jordan about being Superboy for months and this was his twin’s chance to throw it right back at him. “Very funny Jordan” was the best Jon could come up with. Jordan was, as expected, relentless. “Let’s see. How many powers did the reluctant hero use? Strength, breath, x-ray and telescopic vision, hearing, invulnerability, speed, flying…” Jonathan finally interrupted his enthusiastic brother. “OK, I get it.” Jordan gave his brother his most smug look.

Jon sat down in his usual chair and found a gift-wrapped box in front of him. “No x-ray vision” Jordan cautioned. Jon went along with his twin’s request and opened the box without peeking. Jordan had not told his mother what was in the box, so she was peering over his brother’s shoulder to see what the gift was.

Jon pulled an adult size medium Superman tee shirt and a pair of adult medium briefs with the Superman “S” on the front. He cringed knowing that it was actually the El family crest that had been strategically placed on the underpants.

“Underoos???? They make adult size Underoos????” Jon asked his brother incredulously.

“Not easy to find Bro, but anything for my hero” Jordan replied. “Try them on. I want to see my hero in full uniform.”

Jon nodded toward their mother. “Not a prayer with mom standing there.”

“Nothing I haven’t seen before” Lois pointed out with a smile.

“Yeah, well there more of it than there used to be” Jon replied.

“That’s what you say. I’m not so sure. You really need to put them on” Jordan insisted.

To change the subject Jon pointed out that there was no cape.

Jordan smiled. “Capes are too dorky even for you dude”.

Lois objected. “I think capes are dashing”.

“Yeah, well you married one” Jordan replied. “You have to think that.”

Lois put a plate of steaming breakfast in front of Jonathan. Jordan was already done with breakfast and got up to leave. On his way past his brother Jordan stopped behind his brother’s chair, grabbed him by his shoulders, and shook him a few times. After a pause he squatted down so his mouth was right next to Jon’s ear. “You were great yesterday. Really proud of my brother. Very much the Fraternals.” Jordan didn’t look back as he left the room leaving Jon and Lois alone.

With the rest of the family out of the house Lois had a chance to speak to Jonathan alone. “I know you don’t like using your powers, but you really are very skilled with them. Thank you for taking charge and protecting me. It was good you were there.”

Jonathan was not sure how to respond. He had sort of gone on autopilot and of course saving his mother was not something he had to think about. He had no choice about using whatever means he had to protect his mother.

“Jonathan, just because you used your powers once does not mean you are locked into following your father and your brother.” Jon picked moodily at his food. “What is it, Jon? You should be proud of yourself.” Lois watched her son. The confident, take-charge young man she saw yesterday was not apparent. “Do your powers scare you, Jonathan?” Lois watched carefully and could see her son’s reaction.

“Mom, I’m not sure I should wield that kind of power.”

“You were pretty sparing in the use of your powers yesterday” Lois pointed out. “What is worrying you so much?”

Jon hesitated but decided he had the right person to open up to. “Mom, when Jordan and I were first testing my powers, we were at a DoD test facility. Jordan put a branch on top of a low brick column. I was supposed to set it on fire with my heat vision.” Jon paused and looked up at his mother.

“Jon”, Lois prodded, “just tell me what happened. I am pretty used to superpowered happenings by now.”

“I ramped up my heat vision to what I thought would set the branch on fire and opened my eyes”. Jon paused again. Lois could guess what was coming. “Mom, I wasn’t even trying, and the branch was instantly incinerated. I was so surprised I just stared and then the brick pillar blew up. I don’t know what it even would look like if I put some real effort behind my heat vision.”

Lois took both of her son’s hands in her own hands. ‘Jonathan, the very fact that this bothers you so much means that those powers are in the right hands.” Jonathan smiled weakly at her, but Lois continued. “You are exactly the type of person who should wield those kinds of powers. I know it’s a burden to you, but I also know you will take that responsibility seriously. You don’t need any lectures from me or anyone else to know when and how to use them. You will just know. You are an extraordinary young man.”

“Not an extraordinary human anymore?” Jon asked.

“You are exactly as human as you used to be. You are just a particularly strong extraordinary human now” Lois said with a slight smile.

“I feel like I abandoned you. Now it’s just you.”

“Is it? Tell me Jonathan, do you feel any differently about me than you did before? Are you any less your mother’s son?

Jon finally smiled brightly and shook his head. “Total mama’s boy” he replied.

“Don’t worry so much. You’re still a kid. Go outside and enjoy yourself.

Jonathan’s mood changed abruptly. “Mom”, I know I am only 16 but I don‘t feel like a kid anymore.”

“Your life is more your own than it has ever been. You choose what you want it to be.”

Jon leaned in to hug his mother very carefully. “You could go just a bit tighter on the hug sweetheart” Lois teased.

Jon tightened his hug just a bit and then suddenly let go.

“I forgot to mention something to you. While you were doing your interview, I was listening in to what was going on in the rest of the building. With everything that happened yesterday I forgot all about it.”

“I was sort of playing with my superhearing, letting it roam from conversation to conversation to see what I could pick up. I got two guys talking about a senator that came out of an SEC investigation completely clear. The gist of the conversation is that this senator, who is on their payroll, had taken advantage of his committee positions to make some money on insider trading, and that he had done it in a way that the SEC was unable to find.

Lois knew immediately who the senator was. The SEC had gone though all his financial transactions and not found anything illegal, but now Jon was insisting that they had missed something. “If there is a story there” Lois commented, “it’s not going to write itself.” Lois watched her son head upstairs to his room and wondered just what he might be capable of discovering. Watching him heading to his computer she noted that he was enthusiastic about what he was about to try.

Jonathan spent the entire morning in his room at his computer. He came in at lunch time and found only his mother in the house. The two of them had a rare lunch by themselves. Lois thought the talk during the meal would be about what they had discussed after breakfast about Jon’s powers but, to her surprise, Jon wanted to talk about the conversation he had overheard. He had a pile of reports and newspaper articles in his hand.

“Mom, I read the SEC report. There were four issues that came up before committees the senator is on that might have been opportunities to make money on insider trading. The problem for the SEC was that neither the senator, nor his wife or children, have received any profits from ownership of the stocks involved and furthermore there were no unexplained gifts or other receipt of funds to them. There was no evidence of illegal profits on stocks.”

Lois considered what Jon had just told her. “Study the SEC report, find out everything you can about the Senator, and then sit down and let it all roll around in your head for a while. Somewhere in there is the information you need.” Jon finished his lunch and disappeared back into his bedroom.

In midafternoon Jordan went looking for his brother and found him lying on a wide plank sticking out of the hayloft door of the barn. Jordan listened to see if anyone was nearby and then rose lazily up to sit next to his brother. Jon was so lost in thought, he didn’t even detect his brother until he landed next to him.

“Weird how good the sun feels, right?” asked Jordan. Jon nodded and said to his brother “You know you can stare directly into the sun without it bothering your eyes?” This was one of those revelations to Jon like the day he realized that he would no longer feel very hot or very cold weather anymore. Jon turned his head away from the sun to see his brother’s reaction. “Yeah, I kind of figured that out already” Jordan replied. Jordan couldn’t decide if this was one of those inhuman traits they now had that bothered his brother, or it was just a random thought he was voicing to one of the few people who would understand. Jordan was aware that his brother had a very different reaction to his superpowers than he had. Jordan embraced his powers, but Jon seemed somewhat hesitant to use them. Jordan had been surprised that Jon had finally actively used his powers the prior day. Maybe he was getting more comfortable with them but the other possibility, knowing his brother, is that for his mother he made an exception to his apparent policy of not using his powers.

“You still get thirsty after being out in the sun for a while?” Jon asked his brother.

“Not really, but I still like to have a drink for some reason. Maybe force of habit or it just feels good even though I don’t really need it.”

“Same here.” Jon replied. “I was just wondering.” Jordan was used to his twin sometimes losing himself on some problem but still making small talk with him. Jordan sat next to him soaking up the sun until Jon turned to him. He seemed to have had a revelation while lying in the sun. “We have to go talk to mom” he explained and jumped down off the plank.
Jon’s feet softly hit the ground. Jordan jumped off and landed on his feet with a thud. One day, Jordan thought, he was going to have to ask his brother how he lands so differently than ever other Kryptonian.

The boys found Lois sitting in the kitchen working. “How does this sound, mom. The senator’s mother who was somewhat wealthy died recently. The will is public record. Aside from some specific bequests, she left her estate one third to each of her 3 children. You can see in the SEC report that a big chunk of money came to the senator from her estate and the SEC verified the source.” Jonathan paused to let the information sink in before he got to his theory. “Suppose it was someone related to the two sisters who did the inside trading? The sisters get the benefit of the inside information in exchange for their share of the mother’s estate. All the senator’s money from the estate is legit. The sisters get their money from the insider trades. Everyone except the SEC is happy.”

Lois stared silently at her son for a moment while she thought about what he had just said to her. For a moment Jon though she was going to laugh at him. But instead of laughing she told him he needed to talk to someone with expertise in estates. She went into her office and made a short call to someone. When she came back into the kitchen, she handed Jon a slip of paper.

“We are talking about a US Senator. This is not the kind of thing you talk about on an unsecure phone line especially when Intergang may be connected. You have an appointment in an hour with this lawyer. Bring all your research and tell him your hypothesis. See what he thinks.”

Jon looked down at the slip of paper. “Mom, this is in an hour in Metropolis.”

Lois shrugged. “All things considered that's plenty of time for you to get there.”

“You’re telling me to fly to Metropolis and see this guy on my own?”

He has some time to see you today. I told the man you were already in Metropolis and you could be there in an hour. Your story, your choice.”

Jon grabbed the folder with all his papers and turned to leave. "Land outside of downtown and take mass transit into the city" Lois called out to her son just as Jonathan launched himself into the air and disappeared. Jordan turned to his mother and laughed. “This is the brother who doesn’t like to use superpowers?”

“That’s the brother who thinks his twin is destined to be Superboy.”

“He could be Superboy it if he wanted to” Jordan replied.

Lois was thoughtful for a moment. “Has it been tough to compete with him?”

Jordan laughed. “I know better than to try to compete with him. He’s so damn good at everything that you want to hate him for it, but you just can’t.”

Lois grabbed Jordan in a hug. “You know you really are a very good brother. I am very proud of you, and you will be a great Superboy. Lois pulled out of the hug and continued sternly. “As soon as your father decides you are ready”

Chapter 13: Collaboration

Summary:

Jonathan gets some advice and guidance about his theory and has a short, but very personal conversation with his father about the grandfather he is named after.

Chapter Text

Jon apologized to the attorney his mother sent him to for coming to his office in jeans and a polo shirt. The lawyer leaned back in his chair and smiled. “The last time I saw you, I believe you were in a double stroller with your brother right here in this office and wearing only a diaper and a tee shirt."

Jon related his theory to the attorney and handed him all the research he had done. They attorney read through everything but paid particular attention to the will. He highlighted parts of it as he read and then handed it back to Jonathan. As you said, the terms of the will state that aside from some specific bequests the estate is divided evenly among the decedent’s three children. However, if one of the siblings predeceased their mother, their share would not go to the children or spouses of that sibling, rather the share would be divided evenly among the surviving children of the deceased. Per the obituary you provided, one sibling did not have children. The other grandchildren received specific bequests, but it may be that the deceased did not want any wayward spouses or grandchildren to get their hands on too much of her money. On the other hand, this will is dated not long before the mother’s death and could have been deliberately set up this way so that the senator could receive funds from a legitimate source such as this estate.

The bottom line is that this will is set up so that if the two sisters disclaim their shares of the estate, their shares go to their brother the senator. I can have a friend at a brokerage house get you the stock transaction ledgers for the four companies the SEC identified for the years after the mother’s date of death. However, I must warn you, this is going to be a lot of data. I will have it overnighted to you in, the attorney looked down at a piece of paper on his desk, “Smallville”.

Am I grasping at straws sir? Is it possible I am right about what happened?

There is a good chance you are right. The problem is identifying the illegal stock trades. If you think you are close, call me. I have partners with good connections at the SEC.

The attorney got up and shook hands with Jonathan. “You have a good premise. Let me know how far you get with it.”

Jonathan thanked the attorney for his help and took a long walk through the city to think about how to handle finding the illegal transactions in the mountain of data he would receive the next morning. Once he was far enough from downtown Metropolis he ducked out of sight and launched himself into the air for the quick flight back to the farm.

Jonathan was back at the farm in time for dinner. Before they sat down to eat Jon asked his mother if he could talk to her after dinner. Clark, trying to be helpful and make amends for the tension at breakfast that morning asked Jon if it was anything he might be able to help him with. Jon had a feeling that his father’s reporting had just been a cover for him to be on top of breaking news. His mother, however, was the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter in the family and he wanted to work with her. Because he was trying hard to remain on good terms with his father, he just shrugged and said, “It’s just some work for the Planet that Mom and I have been talking about.”

After dinner Jonathan and Lois disappeared into Lois’ office. Jonathan explained his plan to his mother. He was going to scour the internet for information on the two sisters and cross reference all that information against the stock transaction ledgers. Jordan had wandered into the office and was now thinking up how to set up the cross referencing of the huge amount of data in the most efficient way. Jon went upstairs to start the internet search with Jordan sitting next to him at the computer coming up with new places and ways to search for the information on the senator’s family. By midnight they had come up with a good list to start off with but could not do anything until the rest of the information arrived the next day.

Before they went to bed Jon had a question for his twin. “You know we have to be in Metropolis for school next week. We both have some unfriendly parties at that school and either of us may find ourselves in a situation where we have to defend ourselves. Even outside school it could happen like what happened to Mom and me. We obviously won’t get hurt, but I am worried about hurting someone else. Have you ever worked with Dad on how hard to hit someone?”

“Yes” Jordan answered. “Once you get the hang of it it’s not difficult to do but you have to practice it a bit to get a feel for it.”

“Any chance you can spend some time with me working on that before we go back to Metropolis?”

Jordan hesitated. “Any chance you would ask Dad to do it? He knows you’re not still mad at him, but he really wants to spend some time with you before we go away. You two haven’t spent any time together in months except at meals.”

“Or when he is yelling at me.” Jon added.

“See, that’s why he is afraid to ask you. You are defensive with him all the time. I understand it, but…….”

“Jordan, we always seem to end up fighting any time we are in the same room” Jon replied. Maybe it’s better if we stay away from either other for a while.”

“Can’t argue about that with you. I know it’s true, but could you just ask him? It’s important to him.”

How come mom hasn’t asked me to do it?

She says he got himself into this by not listening to her and he needs to get himself out of it by himself.

“But you think I should do it?” Jon asked.

Jordan silently nodded.

“Fine.” Jon replied without much enthusiasm. “I’ll ask him. Tomorrow.”

______________________________________________________________________ 

Jonathan was starting to follow his father and brother at being up with the sun. He still liked some time in bed, but it was more like meditation or relaxation. When he went downstairs the next morning, he found his father was already outside working in the barn.
Jon was not used to feeling awkward but approaching his father in the barn he found it difficult to start the conversation. Much to his surprise his father started to talk to him as soon as he spotted him entering the barn.

“Up with the sun I see.” Jonathan nodded. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. It’s a nice quiet time of the day.”

“Dad,” Jonathan started hesitantly, “I need your help with something.” Jon was encouraged a bit when he saw his father’s face light up.

“Just tell me what you need son” Clark responded.

“I need to know how hard I can hit someone who is completely human.”

The question seemed to surprise Clark. “You want to hit someone who has no superpowers?”

“I may need to defend myself, or someone else, and I need to know how hard I can hit without really injuring anyone” Jonathan replied.

Ahh. I got it. I’ve worked on that with your brother. He can do it very well.

I know that, but I am asking you to help me with it.

Father and son did not always understand each other but this time Clark got what his son meant. He smiled and nodded. Clark led his son to the middle of the barn and hit him squarely in the jaw. Jon stared at him for a second blankly. He had barely felt the blow. “That’s it? That’s how hard I can hit?”

“That’s it son. You possess immense strength. The effort you put into restraining it will be more than the effort you put into the actual hit. Now you hit me.”

Even though this was an exercise in improving father/son relations, he couldn’t help smiling at the thought that he got take a shot at his father even if it would not hurt him. Jon swung and gave his father a light hit on his jaw.

Clark shook his head. “No son, that was not it. I think you just killed someone.”

Jonathan sighed. “Okay, I’ll dial it back more.” He took a second shot at his father.

“That, just so you know, would send someone reeling and maybe knock them out for a short time.”

The level of his own strength was making Jon uncomfortable, and Clark could see it. “Just a little bit less. Once you do it a few times you will be fine.”

Jon tried a third time. “That," Clark said, "would be a normal human hard punch. Do it again.”

Jon swung again and tried to repeat the exact amount of strength of the last blow. Clark smiled and nodded. Jon tried it a few more times until he was sure he could consistently reproduce it.

“Thanks, Dad.” It was almost weird having a normal conversation with his father that didn’t degenerate into a verbal brawl. As he was walking out of the barn Jon turned for a moment to look back at his father. Clark was watching him.

“You know dad, when I deal with you, I never know which father I am going to get. The great guy in front of me now or the harsh critic. It’s like walking through a minefield.”

“I wasn’t so bad at breakfast yesterday, was I?”

“I’d almost rather you go with the critic all the time. At least I would know where I stood.”

Jonathan turned to leave but found his father standing in front of him.

“Jonathan”, Clark started but then stopped. It was going to be more words and that was not what either of them needed now. However Jonathan, encouraged by his father’s vulnerable look, decided to ask is father a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“Dad, what was the other Jonathan Kent like?”

“You mean my father?”

Jon nodded. “I look a bit like him, don’t I?”

“Yes”, Clark responded. “Sandy blond hair, blue eyes, slim build. He was a great athlete also. But he would not have thought the burnt bacon and toast was funny. He was a very serious guy, got a lot of respect, but he did not engage people like you do.”

“Was he tough on you?”

Clark pondered how to respond. “He had to be son. I was so strong at such a young age. He had no choice. It was a huge responsibility.”

“Do you worry about Jordan or me being out of control?”

“Jordan has already been out of control once” Clark reminded him. “Your hand got broken stopping him. It was lucky you were there.”

“Do you think your father was afraid of you?” Jon asked.

“Not really, I think he was afraid of what I could do if he didn’t give me self-discipline.” Clark hesitated before he continued. “One time….just one time when I was angry with him, I gave him a little bump with my shoulder. He went flying. I was just rebelling, but he never was 100% sure of me after that. He died when I was your age. He never got to see…..” Clark voice trailed off and he shrugged.

“Dad, look at me." Clark looked directly at his son's face and saw the serious expression on it. "I am not that Jonathan Kent, and I am not 16-year-old Clark Kent either. I am Jonathan Kent your son.” Jon paused for a moment and then turned and walked back toward the house. Clark watched his son thoughtfully until Jon was back in the house.

Chapter 14: Into the Haystack

Summary:

Jonathan and Jordan wade into the huge amount of stock transaction data to see if they can find the few transactions they are looking for. They come close to breaking off a small part of the house but reason and fear of parental retribution prevail.

Notes:

I had some time, so I wrote a quick chapter to post. It's not long but think of it as a mid-week bonus.

Chapter Text

Right after lunch a small package arrived for Jonathan with the computer data he needed. The twins disappeared into Jonathan’s room with both of their laptops and remained in there for the entire afternoon. When Lois walked by, she saw her two sons working side by side at their computers and deep in a discussion of VLookups, pivot tables, filtering and other data manipulation terms.

Sometime before dinner she heard simultaneous yeses from upstairs and then heard both her sons racing down the stairs. Somewhere mid-stairs they got jammed up in their eagerness to show their results. Lois heard “If you try to squeeze by me, you’ll break the railing and we’ll both be in trouble for it.” She got up and walked over to the stairs to find them untangling themselves from each other and the railing at normal speed. Lois always tried to be positive with the boys. “Thank you for not destroying our house.”

They boys completely ignored her remark. Jordan let Jon speak first. “We got one hit so far. The senator’s sister, the one with no children, had a big gain on one of the stocks using the last name of her first husband. It was more than her share of the estate.”

Lois had let Jon run with his story just to see how far he would get on his own. Now, with some help from his brother, he already had a big break. “You guys did amazing good work. Let’s eat dinner and then figure out how to find the rest of the transactions.”

Clark actually made it home for dinner that night. The conversation at the table was about the story Jon was working on. Sometime during the meal Jonathan got quiet and then stopped eating. He sat, still holding his fork, staring at his plate. After a moment, the rest of the family stopped to watch him.

“Hey bro, where are you at?” Jordan asked him.

Jon looked up and asked, “How much tax do you think you would have to pay on a gain like that?” Jon had clearly lost track of the dinner conversation a while ago.

Lois responded. “I think it depends on how long you own the stock before you sell it. They were in and out fairly quickly so I would guess maybe one third to 40%. I don’t know exactly.”

Jon stared off into space for a moment and then started speaking slowly as though he was still working things out in his mind. “If you take out 40% for taxes, the amount remaining works out to her share of the estate plus 20%. The stock did go higher, and they could have made more money if they had waited to sell it. It’s almost like they timed it exactly so that they made enough to cover the taxes they had to pay, the share of the estate they gave up and 20% bonus for them. Without the bonus, why would she do it?”

“Why not wait to sell and make more money?” Jordan asked.

Lois stepped in to answer. “Because if the gain was too high it would set off alarms. The way they did it, by selling too soon, it looks less like insider trading. Plus, the two sisters would have to make close to the same bonus or else there could be trouble. A good politician would understand that.”

When Lois finished her explanation, everyone looked at Jon expectantly. They were not disappointed. He addressed his answer to his brother. “Let’s go through the transactions on all four companies and look for people with a similar gain amount.”

Lois held up her hand. “Wait!” Both boys were clearly eager to get back upstairs to their computers.
“You are excused if you can make it back upstairs without destroying anything.”

Jon waved his brother ahead and the two of them disappeared in a split second of footsteps.

“What did they destroy on the way down the steps?” Clark asked with a sigh.

“Nothing. It was a close call, but they stopped themselves in time.”

“Close call?” Clark asked.

“The point is they stopped themselves before the railing broke off.”

Clark held his hand to his head. He didn’t get headaches but if he did, he knew he would have one right now.

Lois saw her husband’s worry in his face. “Clark, this story is big. Our sons are 16 years old, they just cracked it wide open, and, and in a display of good judgement and fear of parental retribution, they stopped themselves before they caused any damage. It’s all good.”

Lois was right. Clark had been ready to talk to them about almost causing damage when in reality, they seemed already to know when to stop themselves.

Lois smiled at her husband. “Once I used to hear the pitter patter of four little feet. Now I hear a cattle stampede at superspeed.”

“Go out onto the porch” Clark said. “By the time you get out there the kitchen will be clean and I will be out there waiting for you with a bottle of wine and two glasses. We can pretend the wine will work on me.”

Lois didn’t often take orders from anyone. But there are always exceptions

Chapter 15: On the Road, Again

Summary:

The twins get further with their search but run into some trouble on their way back to Metropolis to start school.

Chapter Text

The twins were back at their computers searching the data for any parties that had gains that were similar in amount to the sister’s gain they had discovered. There were a few but they did not match any of the names on their list. Finally, with nothing to lose, they searched for any matching data from the few people on the short list of similar gains with any data field matching something on their list of the senator’s family data. There was one match. The zip code of one the parties with the right gain amount matched the zip code of the other sister’s home address. It was tentative at best, but it was a bit odd that it was not a person that had the gain. It was a company.

The boys did a search of the address of the company and found other companies in the same office building. They downloaded the information and checked it against the list of the senator’s family information. The address of the company matched the work address of the senator’s brother-in-law. The two brothers looked at the computer screen and then at each other. A little more work and they found that there were a few businesses with that same suite number at that address.

“Too much of a coincidence” Jordan proposed. Further searching did not yield any information on who the owners of the firm were.

They caught Lois on her way up to bed and explained the dead end they had reached. They had found a second gain similar in amount to the first one they had found. It was to a company they could not identify except that it was at the same address as the senator’s brother-in-law. Not clear proof, but too much of a coincidence. Lois had a ready answer. “You have to go back to Metropolis for another meeting.”

Jon was hesitant. “You don’t think he would mind?”

“He was very impressed with you and,” Lois had to smile, “he did like seeing you again after seeing you in diapers the last time you were in his office.”

Jonathan grimaced. “Khakis and a button-down shirt this time?”

“That sounds about right. You’ll have a little more time to get yourself ready. I’ll see if he can see you tomorrow.”

Lois kissed her sons goodnight and went to bed. The boys stayed up a bit longer.

Jon asked his brother “How about we drive back to Metropolis together tomorrow?”

“Drive?” Jordan said with mild distaste. He seemed not to have the patience for driving anywhere outside of Smallville.

“Come on,” Jonathan pleaded. “Fraternals road trip. I’ll let you choose half the music. Besides, we are both going to want to have the truck back in Metropolis.”

“You actually like driving as much as flying” Jordan suggested, somewhat incredulously.

His brother considered the point carefully. “About the same. I like both.”

Clearly, Jonathan thought, he was going to have to sell this trip harder if he going to have his brother’s company. “We could go for a little flying tonight and then driving tomorrow.”

Jordan’s face lit up. With the work they were doing on the story for the Planet Jordan had not had his brother with him up in the sky. “Done” Jordan said without hesitation.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

As soon as Lois had a confirmed appointment for Jon in the late afternoon, the twins took off in the truck to Metropolis. They would easily make it to the city before rush hour and it was a beautiful late summer day. Perfect for driving and music.

Jordan indulged his brother who liked to stop at scenic overlooks, rest areas and gas stops with convenience stores. The latter involving carefully selected snacks and drinks. Jordan found that the drive forced him to relax and slow down in a positive way and did not object.

Halfway to Metropolis they found themselves at a rest area with only one other car. Jordan could not figure out exactly why his brother liked to stop to stretch and walk around since his muscles did not get tired or sore. He guessed Jon was looking to maintain some sense of normality in the face of the powers that they both had.

As they were getting ready to leave, they found themselves in their truck with men at each door tapping on the glass with the barrel of a revolver. “Get out” the man on Jon’s side of the truck demanded.

Instead of getting out, Jon turned to talk to his brother. “Got a plan for this dude?”

Jordan did indeed have a plan. “When you open the door use your speed to grab their gun and then punt their asses onto the grass.”

The man at Jon’s window was losing patience. He tapped on the glass again and repeated more insistently his demand that they get out of the truck.

Jon turned away from his brother to look at his adversary. He held up one finger and mouthed “One minute” and turned back to his brother.

Jordan continued. “Don’t snap your kick at them. You want to sort of get your foot on them quickly and then push gently.”

“I can do that” Jon replied. “But let them open the door. It will make them feel more in control”

Jon turned back to the window and nodded that they were ready. He hit the button that unlocked the doors and as expected both men opened the doors while holding the gun in front of them aimed at each brother.

Jon tried to gauge his speed so that it was too fast for his assailant to stop him, but not too fast that it would be too obviously superhuman. He grabbed the gun and gently shoved the man with his foot. The man flew backwards about 10 yards and landed hard on the grass. Jon turned to his brother just in time to Jordan’s assailant flying across the grass in the opposite direction while Jordan had his assailant’s gun in his hand. Jon threw the truck into gear and took off while Jordan watched their assailants try to recover.

“The landing banged them up a bit. Doesn’t look like they are coming after us.”

“Good plan” Jon commented.

“I have to point out, Mr. Quarterback” Jordan said with a superior smirk, “that I punted my guy further than you punted yours.”

“I’ll work on improving that” Jon answered.

You think they were after you because of the story you are working on?

Jon considered the question. “Maybe the house is bugged. We should have Dad do a scan.”

They rode on is silence for a minute until Jon pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. He turned to face his brother.

“What’s wrong?” Jordan asked.

“When Mom and I did our escape thing after her interview it was mom who drove my truck, this truck, when we got away.”

Jordan quickly got the point. “You think they thought that this was Mom’s truck, and they’ve been after her?

Jon nodded to his brother. Jordan groaned, “Mom is alone on the farm. I’m heading back there right now.” He climbed out the truck and took off straight into the sky at a speed too fast for anyone but his brother to see.

As his brother flew toward the farm Jon heard Jordan’s voice calling back to him. His super hearing seemed set to hear certain familiar voices if they spoke his name.

“Jon, tell Dad to get his ass back to the farm.”

Jon felt slightly ridiculous but spoke to his father as if he was in the car with him. “Dad, I need to talk to you.” Jon sat back in his seat and tried to filter out everything he heard except his father’s voice. It worked. After a moment he heard his father talking to him. “Are you okay Jonathan?”

Jordan and I were attacked on the way back to Metropolis. We think they may have been after mom, and she is alone at the farm right now. Jordan is almost back there by now, but you may want to be there to.”

“On my way son.”

His father and his brother were plenty of protection for his mother and Jon felt comfortable keeping his appointment in Metropolis with the lawyers.

Chapter 16: Alone on the Farm

Summary:

Jon makes an agreement with the SEC, the twins realize that their mother is alone and unprotected on the farm and Jon makes a difficult choice.

Chapter Text

When Jonathan finally got to the lawyer’s office, he found the partner in charge of SEC work was in the room also. Jonathan explained how far they had managed to go.

The SEC partner said that he had already contacted the SEC but they seemed a bit reluctant to do more work based on information from a 16 year old boy. If it didn’t pan out, they would look foolish, and if it did pan out, they would look even more foolish if a 16-year-old boy did better than they had. If they brought in Lois, he suggested, it would help get them in the door, but the SEC might get very defensive. The best strategy he thought would be, if it was okay with Lois, to let them know you are her son and then just the lawyer and Jon go to the meeting. That way it is less threatening, but they would get in the door.

The lawyer had joked that Jon might have to share a byline with his mother because of this.

Jon smiled and joked “As long as my name goes first.”

The lawyer looked up at him. “If this journalism thing doesn’t work out you should consider law school.”

As promised the lawyer called Jon later in the day to tell him that his mother was fine using her name and that they now had an appointment at the SEC the next afternoon.

The next day the woman at the SEC not only looked at the information Jon gave her but questioned him about every step of how they came up with that information. Finally, with all Jon’s papers spread over a conference room table, she asked him “You did this all in three days?”

“My brother helped me with some of the computer work” Jon answered.

“How old is your brother?” she asked.

“Same age, we’re twins” Jon told her.

“There are two of you????” she asked, somewhat unnerved by that news.

“We’re not identical, we are fraternal twins.” The woman seemed to be relieved.

“Here is the deal we have worked out for you. We will keep you up to date on the investigation, but you cannot publish anything until we give you permission. We will not give any information on the investigation to the media until you have had 24 hours advance notice to publish. The Planet will essentially be one full day ahead of everyone else on this story. You, your attorney, and your mother will all have to sign agreements to adhere to these restrictions. We know your attorney and your mother well enough not to worry about them. You however must understand that this is very serious business. Even though you are 16 years old you must act as an adult and adhere rigorously to the terms of the agreement.

I understand” Jon replied.

As soon as he got in his truck, Jon called his brother to see what was going on at the farm. No one had showed up looking for Lois, but their father thought it might just be a matter of time.

“We need to talk bro” Jon told his twin.

“Are you coming back to the farm tonight?”

Jon knew that the trip back to Metropolis for Jordan was quick and easy. “No, I need to talk to you one on one. I’ll be at the General’s house in about 20 minutes.

“I’ll meet you there.”

When Jon and Jordan were finally face to face at The General’s house, Jon had The General at the table with them.

“I’m worried about mom. She is going to be alone on the farm or at the Gazette office and we are going to be in Metropolis.”

“But I made a commitment to you to go to school with you.”

“I know, but we have not yet officially told Smallville schools that we were not coming back. We could both start school there in a few days.”

Jon glanced over at his grandfather. “I can arrange anything you want to do, and I support what you are proposing. My question is are you sure you want to go back to school in Smallville?”

“I don’t think I have a choice anymore” he answered to his grandfather and then addressed Jordan. “This affects you too.”

Jordan had to point out the problem. “Bro, I am fine but are you sure about this? You really wanted to get out of Smallville.”

I am going to have to just suck it up and make it work.

“What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?” Jordan asked his brother.

Jon considered that for a moment. “I guess I’ll just say I changed my mind.”

The General laughed. “You know damn well your mother is not going to fall for that. She will know exactly what you are doing.”

“I know she won’t be happy about us playing protectors but on the other hand she is suddenly going to be able to have both of us home. Do you think she is going to argue with that? Jonathan asked.

“That is good strategy son” Sam told his grandson.

Jonathan made the call to his mother to tell her the change of plans. Lois was surprisingly not that opposed to having some superpowered protection close by. What bothered her was that Jonathan had really needed to get out of Smallville and now he was once again trapped there for the benefit of someone else in the family.

“Mom”, Jon argued over the phone, “I had the entire summer to get my head back on straight. I can handle it. It won’t be easy, but it is the right thing to do and you know it.”

“I wish you would not be so ready to sacrifice your happiness for me” Lois told her son.

“I wish you would not be so ready to sacrifice your safety for me” he responded.

Jon’s acute hearing picked up Lois’ sigh.

“Mom” he added, “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve decided already, haven’t you? You didn’t call to discuss this.”

Watching his mother’s interviewing technique, Jonathan had learned the value a long silence. He let the ensuing silence speak for itself.

“Okay, I really missed you guys. Just try to be as unobtrusive as you can when protecting me.”

I think I am going to ask Jordan to come back tonight, and I’ll drive early tomorrow.

Jonathan, you’ve been driving back and forth so much are you sure it’s not too much for you?

Mom, are you suggesting that I will be too tired to drive? Because we both know that is not going to happen.”

“I forget sometimes. You have to understand that it’s hard to modify my “mother mode’ to new circumstances with you and Jordan. Put Jordan on the phone for a minute.”

Jon handed his brother the phone. “I know you don’t have much patience for travelling by car” Lois started.

Jordan interrupted her. “He wants to go right back tonight. I’ll go with him in the truck.”

“Take you time, but dinner out for us when you get home. You two work out where you want to eat.”

Jon was glad to hear dinner would be a Kent dinner out to celebrate the return of the boys. Jon liked it because being in a restaurant in town precluded discussion of whether Lois needed a super powered bodyguard.

Unfortunately, during dinner, they encountered a portent of things to come. The mother of one of the Smallville Crows football players approached their table with some harsh words for Jonathan. He was resigned to having this happen but this time it was his mother who was in “full son protection mode”. She had that look that intimidated senators and congressmen and certainly the mother in front of her.

“First of all, nothing my son did was illegal or contrary to any stated rules at the time and, he was not selling. But more importantly, he was hardly the only player who used X-K and he was hardly the first one to use it. If you don’t want to have to read an article in the paper on exactly who was using X-K on the football team, you will turn yourself around and go back to your table and stay there.” Lois stood staring at her waiting for a response. The woman, wide-eyed and unhappy, but clearly not wanting that article, turned and stalked back to her table.

Lois sat down and turned to her son. “I owed you thay one Jonathan.”

Chapter 17: Battlefield

Summary:

No one expected the first day of school at Smallville High to go smoothly for the twins.

Chapter Text

Jon wrote a part to his article for the Planet each time he received an update from the SEC but couldn’t publish anything until the day before the SEC went public. He got to keep his internship with the Planet but had to find a journalism course at a local community college. Smallville High, with far less resources than Metropolis, didn’t offer the course. He did, of course, have his mother to work with him and she was generous with her time. It was also an excuse to spend time with Lois at the Gazette while he was writing and, just coincidentally, protecting her.

Jonathan and Jordan drove together to school in Jon’s truck. After Jon parked the truck at the school, he took a $5 bill out of his wallet and put it down on the console between the seats. “Got $5 on you?” Jon asked his twin.

“Yeah” Jordan responded as he pulled out his wallet. “What’s up?”

First one to get picked on today get the full $10 pot” Jon proposed.

Jordan took a $5 bill out of his wallet and tossed onto the console. “I’m in.”

They got out of the truck and headed into Smallville High School together. This would be a very different day than the first time they went to school in Smallville two years ago. Much had happened and they had both changed.

The first people they encountered were waiting for them were friends, not foes. Sarah and Natalie greeted them at the main entrance to the school. Jonathan noticed a subtle change in his brother’s demeanor when he was within range of Sarah. The exact status of their relationship was a mystery to all including, he thought, Jordan and Sarah themselves. Jordan, he suspected, still had strong feelings for Sarah although fortunately they did not manifest themselves quite as compulsively as they had in the past. The events of the last few months had not only given Jordan more confidence in himself, but he also seemed more mature then had been before the Ally Allston crisis. He had proven to himself that he could overcome his fears and anxieties if he had to. Jonathan wondered what Sarah was thinking about his brother now that she knew his secret and the reason for his sudden disappearances. Was the path to a relationship with his brother clear, or did his powers and his status as a half alien block that path?

The twins had to check in at the school office since they had registered for classes late. They came back sporting new Smallville High ID tags around their necks and carrying new course schedules. The boys separated and headed to their first period classes.

When Jonathan entered the classroom a few minutes late, a few of the Smallville High football players in the class suddenly developed coughing fits of the sort that you thought you left behind in middle school. Jon thought the $10 was going to be his. There was no way that these three linebackers were going to hurt him, but Jon was worried about having to give away his powers when the moment came to defend himself.

Surprisingly, the new team captain leaned over to his three teammates, whispered a few words and the commotion stopped.

The rest of the class was uneventful. No one bothered Jon as he went to his next class. However, as he walked through the halls, he spotted his brother all the way at the other end of the school about to be shoved against his locker by one of the Smallville Hight football players. Jon’s first instinct was to race down the hall across the school to protect his brother. He stopped that instinct before he acted on it. Jordan hardly needed his brother to help him, but Jon stayed at his end of the hall to watch what would happen.

The huge football player was Jon’s old rival for quarterback Timmy Ryan. Timmy hit Jordan with his shoulder to shove him against his locker. At the moment of impact, Jordan did not move and, in fact, twitched his shoulder back a bit sending the football player hard into the lockers on the other side of the hall. As soon as the football player started to fly backwards Jordan propelled himself backwards into his own locker and fell to the ground with a fairly convincing moan. Only a few students were in the hall to see it happen, but they all stood back to see what would come next. Jordan slowly got up, walked over to Timmy and asked him if he was okay. As he got close to his old teammate lying dazed on the ground, he stepped on one of the fingers on his left hand with just the tiniest bit of strength and heard it crack. As soon as he heard the crack and the subsequent cry of pain, he moved his foot away and squatted down to speak to the boy on the floor. In a whisper he said, “Next time it’s gonna be your passing hand.” He grabbed the large boy’s uninjured hand and helped him up. The two of them stood facing each other in the hallway. Jordan smiled and patted Timmy on the shoulder and said “You’ve got to watch where you are going. My back is already starting to ache” and walked away to his next class.

No one heard the whispered threat except the two boys involved in the collision and a brother down at the other end of the hall who happened to have extremely acute hearing. Jonathan had been right to leave Jordan on his own. He had handled the situation perfectly. There were enough witnesses to spread the story, and the finger, either fractured or broken, was enough of a warning to prevent any further harassment. It was also enough to win the $10 Fraternals bet. Jordan’s quick fight had just cost his brother his $5.

Later in the morning as Jordan passed by his locker, Jon, with a smile, stuck the two $5 bills into Jordan's pocket. “You saw that?” Jordan asked.

“Opposite end of the hall” Jon replied. Looks like your back is going to hurt for a while.” Jon said smiling.

“That’s what it was supposed to look like Jordan answered.

“I think you made your point” Jon responded. “Nothing happened to me so far but this day is not over yet.”

The boys had lunch with Sarah and Natalie. Both brothers picked up with their hearing talk about Jordan’s run in from the morning, but nobody bothered them. The rest of the afternoon went well until Jon was summoned down to see coach Gaines.

Jon texted his brother that he would be a little late going home. Jordan texted back that he would go home with Sarah, but Natalie was staying a little late and he should wait for her and drive her home.

As soon as his last class was done, Jon reluctantly headed down to see Coach Gaines at the football field where the team was practicing. He said hello to the coach who responded with “Good to see you back at school here.”

The coach was watching practice drills with alternating quarterbacks. Jon recognized the first quarterback as Timmy Ryan. Coach Gaines turned to him and asked “What’s your opinion of these two guys?”

Jon watched them carefully as they each took a turn. “The first guy is no quarterback. The second guy looks like he has a lot of raw talent but needs to develop it. His form is off for both passing and running.”

The coach turned to look at him. “Do you think you could do better?”

“Yes” was Jon’s one word reply.

“Do you want to try out?” the coach asked.

Jon shook his head. “No.” The coach waited for a further response, but Jon decided that his one word was enough.

The coach sighed. “We have a new captain. He transferred here last year, but I’ve only seen him in practice. He never got to play because it was after the X-K fiasco. He’s a receiver. Incredible hands and the defensive line can’t get their hands on him once he gets moving.

Jon remained silent.

“He’s a good guy. A lot of the players who gave you trouble last year have graduated and he is getting the rest of them under control.”

Jon shook his head no.

“You know you are allowed to play. Your record has been cleared.”

“I am aware of that, but I think my football days are over.”

“We could have done better off the field for you last year. I know you love the game and will miss it. How about coaching the kid with the talent out there. He’s completely full of himself and needs to get his ego under control. His father sees no wrong when it comes to him. He could use a good coach and a good role model.”

In spite of himself, Jon was intrigued.

If you and our new captain can influence him, you would save him from coming under the influence of the remnants of your own problems from last year.

Jon watched the kid. His own practiced eye could see the talent. At least as much as Jon had himself but it was not refined or harnessed. He hadn't put in the kind of work that Jon had put into his game, but this kid could be a really good player.

Jon turned back to the coach. I’ll meet him and decide.”

The coach called the kid over and left the two of them to talk while he wound up the practice session. One other player remained on the field. It was the captain he had seen earlier in the day.

Jon held out his hand. “Jonathan Kent.”

The kid looked at him and shook his hand. “I know who you are. You got run out of town by the team last year.”

“I got run out of town by my own bad judgement last year.”

“Coach thinks you can coach me.”

“Let’s go out there and see what you’ve got.”

Jonathan watched the quarterback and receiver run a few plays. The new captain was, in fact, a great player but the quarterback was more potential than anything else. Not too bad but nowhere near as good as he could be.

Jon walked onto the field and waved the captain off. As the captain walked by him he held out his hand. “My name is Tom. I am the team captain this year. Good to meet you.”

Jon shook his hand. “Thanks for calming things down in class this morning.”

Tom laughed. “Trying to make you feel like part of the team. We need you. Playing or coaching”

Jonathan walked over to the kid. “You do have a lot of talent, but you need to harness it. Your technique is all off. You fix that, you can excel.”

“I don’t need lessons from a 16 year-old has been. There’s no one else here that can play my position. I am QB 1 no matter what.”

“I could play your position.” Jon answered.

A shadow of uncertainty crossed the kid’s face, but he shook it off. “I don’t think so. If you could play you would try out.” The kid, without any further words, walked away down the field.

Jon couldn’t help it. He saw Jon-El in that last sneering face. He gave it one last try. He picked up a football and waited until the kid was far down field. Even without powers he knew he could make the distance with decent accuracy. With powers there was no way he could miss. Jon threw the football and watched. Perfect spiral, great speed. It slammed hard right between the kid’s shoulder blades and made the kid stumble forward. Jon knew he missed playing football but this moment on the field drove it home to him. He watched the kid turn and face him. Jon held out his hands to indicate that the kid should pass the ball back to him. The kid hurled the ball as hard as he could. It landed a few yards short and wide of where Jon was standing. Jon turned and walked off the field leaving the ball where it had landed.

As Jon left the field, he got the text from Natalie that she was ready to go. Jon took a short cut across the back of the school to get to his truck. As he turned a corner he ran into Timmy Ryan.

“Ryan, man, haven’t you had enough for today?” Jon asked.

Timmy got right up in Jonathan’s face and then used his bulk to shove him. Jon let himself get shoved backwards.

“You were never as tough as your brother, were you Kent?”

“Let it go man. I really don’t want this. Just let it go.”

“I missed a season of football because of you.”

Timmy took a swing at Jonathan. It was weird for Jonathan. It seemed to happen in slow motion. He had plenty of time to block Timmy’s punch to the side and step in to punch Timmy in his ribs just hard enough to bruise them.

“Face it Ryan, the problem is we both screwed up.” Jon knew he had to end the fight before Timmy got badly injured.

Timmy swung again, Jonathan blocked again but stepped to the side and swept Jimmy’s legs out from under him. As Timmy lay on the grass stunned, Jon carefully punched the ribs on Timmy’s left side. There was a faint crack and Jonathan could see a slight fracture form.

“Consider it a gift that I hit you on your left side.” Jon figured Jordan had purposely stepped on his left hand. It was all just a warning to Timmy.

Jon left Jimmy lying on the field holding his cracked rib without looking back and walked right to his truck where Natalie was standing watching the fight.

“He deserved worse from you” she said.

“I already cracked his rib. I don’t think he’ll be a problem anymore.”

They both got into Jon’s truck and headed home.

Lois saw Jon come in from the porch. She knew the first day would be rough for both boys, but Jonathan’s would probably be worse. She already heard from Jordan about his day. From the look on Jonathan’s face his day had been worse.

Jon nodded at his mother and turned to head upstairs but Lois was not going to let Jon handle this alone.

“Going to hold it all in until your head explodes?” Lois asked him. “It’s going to be easier if you talk about it.”

Jon stopped. He just wanted to be alone, but he knew his mother was not going to go for that. He turned to face her.

“Yeah” he said. “That’s pretty much what I was going to do. The head exploding thing.”

Lois smiled at him. Do you want your bother to come down and hear this so you don’t have to repeat for him?”

“He’s got this weird thing where he hears me if something is wrong. He probably knows already.”

On cue, Jordan came bolting down the steps. “Ryan has got to be the biggest fool I’ve ever met. He’s lucky we’re such great guys” Jordan said with a smile.

“Timmy Ryan came after you too?” Lois asked. Jon nodded.

“Okay, Jordan broke his finger. What did you do to him?” Lois asked.

I bruised his rib but it didn’t stop him so I tried a footsweep and cracked a rib on his non-passing side.“ He went down onto the grass. He’ll be fine.”

“So, nothing really superpowered from either of you. I won’t be seeing video of either you on the news?”

“Nothing” Jon answered.

“I guess we all knew today would be tough. Hopefully everyone will leave the two of you alone now” Lois added.

“Coach Gaines asked me to try out for Quarterback. Timmy is not too good without his X-K and his back up has talent, but his mechanics are all off.”

“Jonathan, you know you can’t play. It’s not the X-K.”

“I know mom. I told him no. He wants me to coach the kid though. He’s got a lot of raw talent.”

“You would be good at that. Are you going to do it?”

“The kid is an arrogant piece of work, but he reminds me of Jon-El for some reason.” As Jonathan started up the steps to his room he turned back for a moment. “He was not so eager to have me coach him at first, but I may have changed his mind.”

Homework at superspeed and then some time for video games put Jon into a much better mood. When the twins were called down to dinner, they came down the stairs laughing until they caught sight of their father. He was not happy about something, and it was going to be one or both twins. The boys stopped part of the way down the stairs as their laughter subsided.

“What?” Jonathan asked.

“You each injured Timmy Ryan with your powers today?” Clark asked.

It was an accusation, not a question. Jonathan took a deep breath to calm himself. He was just feeling better about the day and now he had to deal with his “father problem”.

“No Dad. There were no superpowers involved. I used Karate that any non-powered person could use, and Jordan just stepped on his finger. No powers.”

Clark was surprised. “You know Karate?”

I took Karate as a kid. From about 7 years old until I went full time with football at around 12 years old.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Of course, you didn’t know. You weren’t there for any of it.” Jon responded, his anger rising. And if you dropped in at the “family fortress” occasionally, you would know that your mother has the fortress teaching me Kryptonian martial arts.”

Clark turned to Jordan. “How did Timmy go flying into the lockers?”

Well, mostly he just sort of bounced off of me. Maybe I gave him a tiny boost with my shoulder.”

Jon could see his father getting ready to lecture Jordan and interrupted him. “I wonder,” he asked, “where I’ve heard of that shoulder twitch move before?”

Clark immediately deflated. “I said that was a mistake, Jonathan.”

“Right dad. Your father didn’t attack you like Timmy attacked Jordan.” Totally different circumstances.”

Jordan looked at Clark with surprise. He had never heard the story before.

“Mom, are you going with a parental united front with Dad on this? Jon asked. You didn’t seem to have any objections when we told you what happened

“Your father and I are going to have a talk about this after dinner” Lois responded.

After dinner the twins were upstairs when Jon brough up a superpower related subject.

“You know, we are lucky that we have been able to get away without letting anyone realize about our powers but I’m not sure that can continue.

What’s the solution? Jordan asked. Jonathan tossed him a ski mask.

We’ll look like freakin’ bank robbers Jordan complained.

Better than looking like Jordan and Jonathan Kent, Jon replied. But I have a better Idea. We need uniforms.

Dad said no uniform for me yet.

Not tights and a cape. I was thinking of something close fitting made of Kryptonian materials, and we have got to obscure your curls. Either a hood or a mask of some type. More for camouflage than a uniform.”

Jordan smiled. “And who do we know that is capable of making that and willing to provide it?”

“We’ll visit the fortress this weekend” Jon answered.

Chapter 18: Passing It On

Summary:

Jon's second day of school goes well until right at the end of the day. He doesn't want to be a hero, but he knows he has to do this rescue.

Chapter Text

The second day of school went way better than the first day. No one bothered either of the boys. Candice was back and met up with Jonathan on the front steps of the school. She had spent some time in protective custody, and financial help was now being provided for her and her father. They talked about their summers but when Candice wanted to meet him for lunch, Jon found himself more looking forward to lunch with Jordan, Natalie and Sarah. He now had worries about his mother’s safety, his problems with his father, coming to terms with his own powers on top of normal high school issues. He felt sure after a few days without any distractions he would bounce back.

As soon as Candice walked away, he saw the young quarterback he might coach waiting for him.

“You got a name because I am going to call you “Kid” until you give me one” Jon told him.

The kid smiled. “Justin” and then turned so Jon could see his last name on the back of his jersey.

“Justin” Jon repeated and then silence fall.

“That was some pass yesterday.” Justin commented. Jon remained silent.

“I saw some of your game films from Metropolis. You were pretty damn good.” Justin continued.

“Thanks” Jon replied.

“By the way,Timmy Ryan threatened me about having you coach me. I thought you should know.”

“If you get into a fight with Timmy Ryan, go for the ribs on his left side and you’ll be fine.”

Justin smiled. “So, it was you who did it.”

Jon shrugged in response. “Are you going to let Timmy Ryan make this decision for you?”

“He pretty much dared me to do it?”

“I’m not saying that that’s a bad reason, but it had better not be your only reason.”

“Man Kent, you are going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

Jon waited silently.

“Okay, I need to be able to make that pass and I know you know how to do it. I need you to teach me.”

Jon nodded. “Fine. I’ll meet you after school. Get suited up for practice and I’ll meet you at the far end of the field.”

He had the feeling that he was looking at a 14 year old Jon-El before things went so bad for him.

After class Jon went down to the football field where Coach Gaiines approached him. “I see my other QB has some sore ribs and a broken thumb. Busy day?”

I had nothing to do with the thumb.

The Coach knew right away. “Geez, he went after your brother too?”

Jon was learning the value of silence.

Thanks for keeping all the hurt on his left side.

The coach pulled a Crows uniform out of a bag he was carrying. “You handed me this the day you left the team. Wear it for now.”

His uniform was not something he expected to even want to wear again. Now he was looking forward to seeing what he could do to lead Justin down the path of righteousness and better passing mechanics.

Jon nodded and put the jersey on over the shirt he was wearing. The coach held out his hand and Jon shook it.

“Go make me a quarterback Kent. We need one badly.”

When Justin hit the field ready for practice Jon took him away from the rest of the team and sat down on the bleachers with him for a talk.

“I am going to criticize your passing form. Don’t get defensive with me and don’t reject what I am telling you until you’ve tried it for a while.”

Justin nodded.

Jon continued, “You have your ego under control?”

This time Justin’s nod was accompanied by a smile.

“Okay. When you set up to pass you have the ball too low. You end up pushing it and it ruins the spiral. Hold the ball up higher.”

“That’s it???”

“No, there’s more. Your arm is huge compared to mine, but I can send the ball farther than you can because I’m not using just my passing arm. I’m using my entire body. I throw my left arm back and twist my body and push with my legs.

Jon took out his phone a played a clip of some pro QBs passing technique. “See it?”

Jon slapped a ball into the kid’s hands and went out onto the field to practice.

It was not easy for Justin to concentrate on all the corrections Jon was giving him and the kid was still trying to throw the ball as hard as he could. Jon stopped the drill. “You’re losing your spiral and getting too much wobble on the ball. The spiral keeps the ball straight and it’s much easier to catch a ball that isn’t wobbling in flight. Just concentrate on form and not worry about distance.” Once he seemed to be able to do it all at once Jon told him to just keep doing it until he didn’t have to think about it. It was all muscle memory.

As he walked off the field, he got hit between the shoulder blades with the football. When he turned around Justin was smiling his most arrogant grin at him. Jon couldn’t help smiling back. This kid was going to be a challenge, but he might just be worth it.

Heading toward the truck he was starting to feel good, but just as that good feeling started, he came tumbling back down to earth. He heard a panicked scream calling for Jordan coming from somewhere fairly close by. Jonathan knew that Jordan had gone “somewhere” with his father after school and probably was much farther away than he was. Jon scanned the area the cries were coming from and spotted Timmy Ryan lifting Sarah’s car by the front end and slamming it back down hard. The front suspension was already busted. Jon called out to his brother “I got it Jordan. I’m going.”

As he flew toward Sarah, he heard his brother tell him he was coming but was much farther away. By the time Jon landed Timmy, who had clearly gotten his hands on some X-K, had torn the door off Sarah’s car and was holding her up by her neck. Her screaming had stopped. Timmy, intentionally or not, was strangling her. Jon landed hard behind Timmy and grabbed the hand holding Sarah. The problem was Jon wasn’t really sure how strong Timmy would be and couldn’t take a chance on him snapping Sarah’s neck. When Jon grabbed Timmy’s hand, he peeled his fingers back hard. Timmy tried to keep his grip but the result was that Jon broke all of the fingers on Timmy’s hand. As Sarah fell out of his hand, Jon caught her, shoved Timmy face down onto the road and carried Sarah off into the woods on the side of the road. He gently put her down leaning up against a tree as she caught her breath.

“Stay here and don’t make a sound unless you need me.”

“Where are you going? Sarah asked. “Wait for Jordan or you’ll get hurt.”

“Anyone who comes into contact with Timmy will get badly hurt or killed. I have to keep him under control Sarah.”

“No, you’ll get hurt. Stay here.”

Jon knew there was no other way. “Sarah, I’m Jordan’s twin brother. I can handle it.”

It only took an instant for Sarah to understand what Jon was trying to tell her.

“You too???” she asked, but Jon was already back up on the road ready to deal with Timmy.

Timmy charged Jon as soon as he saw him. Jon easily caught Timmy and tossed him into a tree. Timmy was hurt but he managed to stand up and charge Jon again. Jon hit him hard but it just dazed Timmy so he hit him again harder. This time Timmy faltered but remained on his feet. Jon was trying not to kill Timmy with his punch, but the repeated punching was making Timmy’s face look like hamburger meat. Jon swung again adding just a bit more power to his swing. This time Timmy’s eyes rolled up into his head and he fell to the ground. Unfortunately, there was nothing Jon could use to tie up Jimmy that he couldn’t break out of.

Jon pulled out his phone and texted his grandfather. The DoD was in charge of the X-K investigation and they would be able to handle Timmy. After a quick explanation, his grandfather told him that a team would be there in less than 15 minutes and would follow his phone’s signal. He walked back into the woods to make sure Sarah was okay. She looked frightened and a bit wide eyed. “That was amazing” she told Jon.

“Happened after Jordan told you about him. My choice to keep it a secret. Aside from Jordan, my parents and grandparents, no one knows. I really need you to keep it that way. Not even your mother.”

“I understand. I will forget what I just saw but can you fly me home? My car is ruined.” She asked Jonathan.

Have you flown yet?” asked Jon.

“You mean with Jordan?......No.”

Your first flight should be with Jordan. I am sure he will be here in a minute.

In less than a minute Jordan landed on the road right in front of Sarah’s destroyed car. Jonathan had not seen him that anxious in a long time. He looked around desperately for Sarah until Jon came out of the woods carrying her.

Jordan zipped over to them. Jon handed Sarah over to his brother.

“Bro, I owe you big time for this. I got really scared.”

Jon just squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “She’s fine. Just shaken up.”

Sarah watched a both twins’ heads tilted the same way.

“I can hear the DoD chopper coming. Can you handle them?” Jon asked. “I need to get myself back to school.”

“No problem at all” Jordan replied.

Jonathan emerged from behind the bleachers on the football field a few seconds later and headed toward the locker room.

Chapter 19: The Road Taken

Summary:

Jon has run out of options with his father. He has only one path if he is ever to stop the emotional battering he has been receiving. Will he choose to think about himself for once, and can he pull it off?

Chapter Text

After Jon pulled up in front of his house he sat for a moment and rested his head gently against the steering wheel of his truck. Today school was worse than yesterday. However, now that the DoD had their hands on Timmy Ryan, he would finally be rid of him for a while. But this week was not off to a good start.

He let himself into the house and tried to sneak upstairs past his mother’s office, but Lois had been in the kitchen grabbing some coffee and he came face to face with her. She took one look at him and knew the day had not been good.

“Into my office sweetheart. I want you to talk to me.” Jon followed her obediently. Lois sat silently and patiently until Jonathan started to tell her about his day. The attack on Sarah in her car, the close call with Timmy’s X-K enhanced hand around her neck and having to let Sarah know he also had powers like his brother and father. He confided his fear that his father might somehow twist the events of the day so that he came out the bad guy. It all came tumbling out in complete detail until he ended with “I know I don’t get tired, but I feel so tired, mom. So damn tired.”

When Jon was done Lois finally spoke. “Go upstairs and lie down until dinner is ready. We can talk more after dinner.”

Jon trudged up to his room, dropped his backpack on the floor and lay down on his bed. Since he was not physically tired, and the afternoon sun was pouring into the room, there was no way he was going to fall asleep. However, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift. He tried to imagine what his life was going to become and what his future self might say to him in the way of advice if he could come back to this moment in time.

In front of him Jon could mentally construct an older version of himself. A little bigger and a little bulkier. His version had the same sandy blond curly hair but it was cut differently. The sides were longer and curlier. He had a bit of blond stubble that Jon did not have now. But the eyes were the same. His older self smiled at him. It was a good smile that radiated warmth and made him relax. Jon was almost self-hypnotized and he let his subconscious mind take control.

“You already know what you need to do or I wouldn’t know what to tell you” the older Jon said. “Your strength is not in your powers. It’s in your character. You have to understand the difference between a good person and a well-behaved person. Your father loves you, but you need to deal with your father’s issues and you need to do it now. You are going to have to stand up to your father and not back down. You are going have to show strength to earn your father’s respect and until you do, nothing will change.”

“Somewhere along the line” older Jon continued, “we forgot that we deserve to enjoy our life. We even forgot what it is like to enjoy our life. Things may get dicey for a while, but you are the only one who can get that back.”

“One last thing,” he smiled, “next time you walk past the tire swing, give it a shot.”

Jon let his concentration become unfocused and older Jon dissolved in front of him. The last part of the message did not make sense to him, yet the message was from his own mind so he had to be able to understand it.

Jon hopped off his bed and went downstairs. His mom was busy working in the kitchen.

“Don’t go too far honey,” dinner will be ready soon and your father should be home shortly.”

Jon walked outside onto the porch and stared at the tire swing. He had been obsessed with it as a kid. Constantly throwing footballs at it. He smiled at the memory of summer days at the farm before his grandmother died. He walked off the porch, picked up one of the footballs lying in a basket and threw it at the tire swing. Superpowers meant super aim and the ball passed right through the middle of the tire. Not nearly as satisfying as when he was a kid without powers. Not as satisfying as that glorious summer day when he had knocked the tire swing off the rope that it hung from. He had caught his parents looking at each other oddly when it happened and wondered if he was in trouble. But he called for his grandmother to come out and see.

Jon picked up another ball and, thinking about that particular day when he was younger, threw it hard right at the knot above the tires. The power in his passing arm was way too much for the weathered rope. The rope broke and the tire dropped to the ground. Jon’s superpowered total recall started playing a video in his head of the same event as a child. The memory was vivid, and he could feel exactly the way he felt that day. He could feel the elation and the happiness. For that moment he felt great. Not tired and old but young and happy. He wanted to reach out to that kid and tell him to hold onto that feeling. Not to lose sight of it. It was the same message he had just heard from his older self. Jon replayed the memory in his head again and felt that same wonderful feeling, only this time when the memory ended, he was able to hold onto just a bit of the happiness he had felt that day. He vowed to all three versions of himself, current Jon, younger Jon and older Jon, that he would not lose sight of that feeling again.

Lois and Jordan were in the kitchen with Jon when the boys heard their father land. Land hard. Lois’ eyes opened wide. She could not usually detect when Clark arrived home.

Clark marched into the house and approached Jonathan. “I saw what you did to Timmy Ryan. His face was battered and bloody. You don’t have powers so you can beat an unpowered person like that no matter what has happened in the past.”

“You saw Timmy Ryan?” Jonathan asked.

“I was at the DoD when they brought him in. He was unconscious and his face was a bloody mess. All of the fingers on one of his hands were crushed and broken. Your grandfather told me you had done it.”

“He didn’t say why the fight happened and how bad Timmy’s injuries were?” Jon asked.

“I didn’t stick around to find out. There is no excuse for what you did” his father replied.

Jordan started to stand up to confront his father, but Jon put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and Jordan reluctantly sat back down.

Jonathan calmly explained to his father how he had heard Sarah’s cry for help, had seen, as he flew to the scene, how Timmy was destroying Sarah’s car with her in it and how when he arrived Timmy had just ripped the door off Sarah’s car and was holding her carelessly by her neck so that she couldn’t speak or breath.

Jordan jumped in to defend his brother. “Dad, the guy was hopped up on X-K. He was about to snap Sarah’s neck. Jon saved her life.”

“I’m sure he could have accomplished that same thing without giving Timmy a beating. Clark turned to Jonathan. “Maybe if you had trained with me, you would have handled it better.”

Clark looked like he had more to say but Lois stopped him. “Clark. Stop yelling and listen to your son for a minute.” Clark silently turned to Jonathan.

“I don’t know how much X-K he took or how long ago he had taken it. He tried to tighten his grip on Sarah’s neck when I went to help her, so his fingers broke when I bent them back to release her.”

“And you beat him senseless after Sarah was safe?”

“The guy was crazed and powered up. If I let him go, he would have hurt or killed any other people he encountered, including the police. They would not have been able to stop him. I didn’t know how hard I had to hit someone on X-K to knock them out so I tried twice with less power. The third punch was just enough to knock him unconscious. I’m sure his face is bruised where I hit him, but he has no internal injuries and nothing on his face is broken. I did the best I could.”

Jordan was anger was rising. “Did you see what her car looked like?”

“Sit down Jordan. This is between your brother and me.” Clark yelled at Jordan.

Jonathan put his hands on the table and pushed himself into a standing position facing his father. “I am done here and I have to be at work in an hour. Mr. Olowe is short-staffed and he asked me to take a shift tonight. I’ll grab something to eat in town.” He turned and headed toward the front door. Jonathan’s calm manner seemed to infuriate Clark.

“You do not excuse yourself from the table with ‘I’m done’. Sit back down and eat what your mother cooked.” Jon never even looked back.

Once Jon was outside, Clark used his superspeed to get between Jon and his truck. “You are not going anywhere. Get up to your room.”

“Get up to your room” made Jon smile. He had heard it so much lately. It was his father’s go to response to anything that had to do with him. “I promised I would take a shift tonight and Mr. Olowe is depending on me.”

“You are not going anywhere” Clark growled.

Jon’s face was completely neutral and unreadable. Everyone was silent until Jon replied in a quiet voice to his father. “Who is going to stop me? I’m not that helpless boy anymore.”

Clark’s face showed how shocked he was by Jonathan’s reply. Jonathan had never spoken to him like that. Defiance was not something he expected from this son, and he felt he had to stop it from happening again. He turned to Jon’s truck and with a quick blast of his heat vision the front tire on the passenger side of his truck exploded leaving a gaping hole and the smell of burning rubber.

Lois was surprised but Jordan was clearly shocked and a bit panicked. He was worried about what his brother’s reaction might be and tried to defuse the tension.

“Just change the tire Jon. I’ll hold the truck up while you do it.”

Jon stared at the ruined tire, but his expression did not change at all. “Run flat tires bro. There is no spare. These tires were not made to stand up to and attack by Superman’s heat vision.”

“Wait….” Jordan told him and disappeared for a moment. When he re-appeared he was holding the fob for his own truck. “Take mine. You always say it needs to be driven and it hasn’t even been started in a while.”

Jon held out his hand to indicate that his brother should toss him the fob. As the fob flew toward him Jonathan saw out of the corner of his eye his father start to move at super speed to intercept it. But interceptions were something Jon knew could be avoided. As his father ran toward the spot where his path and the path of the fob would intersect, Jon ran straight forward at top speed toward the fob and grabbed it before it reached his father.

“Remember the day the three of us were playing football?” Jon asked his father as he held the fob in his hand. “Jordan’s powers had just started to show themselves. You passed the ball to me, I caught it, but you used your superspeed and strength to grab the ball out of my hands to teach me some bull-shit lesson.”

Both Clark and Jordan remembered the day. Jon wondered if his mother knew about it.

Jon continued, “Not so easy to push me around with your superpowers anymore, is it?”

Jon let his point sink in. He found himself face to face with his angry father. His grandmother Lara had told him it would have to come down to this. Jon had tried patiently and as hard as he could to avoid it, but he should have known that his grandmother would be right. Clark’s right arm pulled back and then swung toward Jon.

The problem with using superspeed is that if the other person has superspeed also, he can see your moves and move just as fast. It is even less effective if the other person is expecting your move and knows how to counter it.

Jon solidly blocked his father’s punch and then hit him hard on the side of his jaw. Clark reeled from the blow but didn’t go down. He tried to swing again but he was too off balance. Jon swung a second time, just a bit harder and his father sank to his knees and then fell over.

Chapter 20: Another Day in the Life

Summary:

Jon finishes day 2 and gets ready for day 3 at Smallville High. Will things get worse or is this the turning point for Jon?

Chapter Text

When Clark woke up he was lying on a chaise in front of the house in the fading afternoon sun. As soon as he stirred, he heard Jordan’s voice. “Dad, you back with us?”

Clark turned to see his son bare-chested on a chaise next to him soaking in the last remaining sun of the afternoon. Clark’s own shirt was off also. He rubbed his jaw which was still sore.

“Your mom said you would be fine. We should just let you absorb some extra sun.”

“You took me to the fortress? How long was I out?”

“Jon took you to the fortress. He already went to work. You’ve been out for almost an hour.”

“Jonathan knocked me out” his father said but it was hard to tell if it was a complaint or a question.

“He was defending himself. I told you. Jon never swings first.”

Clark considered what his son was telling him.

Jordan’s tone changed. His tone had been cold but now it was as though he had been hurt himself. “Why did you do it? You know he could have just flown to work if he hadn’t taken my truck.”

Clark had no good answer and changed the subject. “Where is your mother?”

“She’s in her office, supposedly working, but I don’t hear any typing going on. I’m supposed to tell her when you are up.”

“I’ll go tell her.” Clark got up and was steady on his feet. He looked down at Jordan. “Did you know your brother was that strong?’

“No”, Jordan responded, “but I think Mom knew. Probably from Grandma Lara. I think Jon knew but never told anyone.”

Clark was puzzled. “Why would he not tell anyone?”

Jordan thought to himself that his father just didn’t get his brother at all. “I don’t think he thought it was that important.”

Clark headed into the house.

When Lois realized Clark was standing at the entrance to her office she leaned back in her chair and spun around to face him. She was not happy.
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When Jon got to Brit & Dunn’s he picked out a few snacks for his dinner and brought them up to the counter. Mr. Olowe looked at what he had chosen and then up at Jon.

“Is this your dinner?” he asked Jon.

“Sort of” Jon replied not wanting to get into what had happened at home.

“You usually eat at home before an evening shift. Did something happen at home?” Mr. Olowe asked much to Jon’s surprise.

Jon deflected the question. “Why would you ask that?”

“You have had an awful lot of injuries lately and when your father first brought you in here he was very angry. I gave you the job just to get you away from him.”

“That was right after the whole X-K thing. He was mad about that.”

“You’ve worked here for months. I know who you are Jonathan. If I were your father, I would have been more concerned than angry. You are a good kid who made a mistake.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jon replied. “That means a lot to me coming from you.”

Mr. Olowe took out his phone. “Your shift doesn’t start for a half hour. Come back in fifteen minutes. My wife will bring some dinner over for you.”

“No Mr. Olowe. You don’t have to do that.” Jon pleaded but it was too late. He was already on the phone speaking with his wife.

Jon ate his dinner in the back of the store. When he was done Mr. Olowe came back to him to talk to him.

“My wife wants to know if you need a place to stay tonight” he stated.

“I’ll be fine at home. I promise.”

Mr. Olowe grew very serious. “Jonathan, if you ever need a place to stay you are always welcome at our house. Remember that.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”

Jon was tempted to accept the invitation. He really did not want to see his father that night. However, he knew his mother and brother would want to talk to him.

Jon cleared the small table in the back he had been using and went back into the store to start his shift.

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When Jon got home after work, he was emotionally exhausted. Even in the pitch black he could see that his truck had not been touched. The tire his father destroyed was still in place. He could see through the wall of the house that his mother was sitting on the living room couch with her head in her hands. He had no choice but to talk to her.

As soon as he opened the front door his mother looked up. Her eyes were red, but she was not crying. “Are you okay Jonathan?”

Jon gave her a crooked smile. “He missed. I’m fine.”

“Jonathan, stop that. I’m worried about you. You got pushed to the limit today and you are acting like nothing has happened. If you want to help me then you have to talk to me.”

“What is there to say mom. You were there and saw it all. I already told you how I was feeling before Dad got home.”

Lois crossed the room and grabbed her son in a tight hug. Or at least Jon assumed it was a tight hug. He couldn’t be absolutely sure anymore.

Jonathan, I never wanted this for you. I didn’t realize what was ahead of us when we moved from Metropolis.

Mom, this is the hand I have been dealt. I am going to play it as best as I can. I think it’s still winnable.

“You’ve lost a part of yourself. There is no joy or enthusiasm in you anymore.

“No, mom. You’re wrong. It’s there. Things may get worse before they get better, but I can make it work.

Lois looked into her son’s eyes. There was no joy but in place of resignation she saw determination.

“Don’t count me out yet. I need you to believe in me, that I know what I am doing.”

Lois smiled. The young man in front of her was the confident young man who had engineered her safe escape from Intergang after the interview. He had surprised her with his calm and capable performance that day. There had been no drama or grand heroics. But he got her home unharmed.

Jon climbed the stairs but before heading to his own room after a quick stop in Jordan’s room to tell him that he was fine. Jordan didn’t believe him, so Jon changed his statement to be closer to the truth. “I am going to be fine” he told Jordan and then headed to his own bed.

When Jon finally got out of bed the next morning, he could hear Jordan getting ready for school, his mother typing away in her office and someone, almost certainly his father, cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Jon took a quick shower and dressed for school.

When he went downstairs his father was waiting for him along with a big country breakfast he had cooked.

“We need to talk Jonathan.”

“You need to repair the damage to my truck Dad. This is not exactly something I can report to the police or my insurance company.”

Jonathan, I am your father. This is more important than a tire.”

“Maybe to you it is, but not to me.” Jonathan replied. “No tire, no talk.”

He saw Jordan standing on the stairs. “Come on bro. Don’t make me late.”

Even though there was toast on the table Jon grabbed a slice of bread and toasted it expertly with his heat vision. He walked out of the house holding the toast in his mouth followed by Jordan.

Going to drive your own truck? Jon asked his brother.

No way. You’ll get driving withdrawal if you don’t drive somewhere every day. I don’t want to be responsible for that.

When The brothers got into Jordan’s truck, Jordan asked his brother “Is tweaking Dad improving your mood?”

Jon’s smile was enough response. It was getting closer and closer to the smile he used to get from his brother.

“You think he’ll have a tire by dinner?” Jordan asked.

Jon’s smile broadened. He took a $5 bill out of his wallet to put on the console of the truck. “Not a prayer. He’ll be too busy saving the world.”

Jordan put his own $5 bill on the console. “I should ask for odds on this” he complained to his brother.

“Here we go” Jon said to his brother. “Day three at Smallville High.”

Chapter 21: A Note from Fraternal to Fraternal

Summary:

Jordan is worried about his brother. While Jordan's life has been on the upswing, Jonathan is struggling, not without some success, to pull his own life out the rut it veered off into two years ago. With all the incredible abilities at his disposal, Jordan is at a loss as to how to help his brother. His brother that helped him so much over the course of their lives. Finally, he figures out what he can do for his twin. It may not seem like much from the outside, but what Jordan gives to his brother, is exactly what Jonathan needs to get him through some difficult times until all of his efforts begin to pay off.

Notes:

I really only intended to write 5 chapters and now I have completed 20 chapters. The story just keeps playing like a movie in my head.
I thought for Chapter 21 I would do something a little different. Here it is.
I want to thank all of you who keep reading what I have been writing. It's the best encouragement of all.

Chapter Text

When Jonathan opened his locker in the middle of the day, he found a note taped to the inside. Only one other person knew the combination to his locker. He had already spent time with him on the ride to school and would see him again at lunch. He could also have delivered a message via text or a whispered comment. Anytime Jordan even whispered his brother's name, Jonathan could pick it out of the cacophony of noise his acute hearing could pick up. Jonathan's curiosity was piqued. What message did Jordan want to deliver to him that had to be done in a written note?
--------------------------------------

Hey Bro:

I know things aren’t going well for you. You keep telling me everything is fine but neither of us believes that. Today you changed it to “Everything will be fine.” That was easier to believe.

I confided in Mom that I had to do something to help you. With all the vast possibilities open to me, none of them seem to offer any help. Mom told me you asked her to believe in you. Asked her to believe that you know what you are doing.

I was going to offer you my support and any help I could possibly provide for you. I still offer you that. After all, for every day of the last 16 years you have done that for me. However, for all those days, you also gave me what no one else could manage to give me. You unfailingly believed in me. You believed, and you reminded me constantly, that my day would come. No one believed in me more than you did.

So, my brother, my twin, I do not underestimate what I give you today and for the future.

There is no one I believe in more than I believe in you. I know, without a doubt, that you will defeat whatever fate has set against you. I know it’s going to happen. Just hold on a bit longer and until that day comes, lean on me as I have leaned on you so much in our lives. No matter what happens, I will stand with you.

Believe in The Fraternals, bro, as I do.

Jordan

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Chapter 22: The Best is Yet to Come

Summary:

Things get much worse for Jonathan both at school and at home. He finally allows himself the luxury of acknowledging how hard he is struggling to those very few people he trusts. Jon is totally unaware of how many people care about him, but that may slowly that begin to change.

Chapter Text

Day three was not too bad until football practice. Candice had cornered Jonathan at lunch and made a date for the weekend, but seeing Candice made him see a possibility that he had not wanted to think about before. Timmy may have had some X-K left over from last season, but it was odd that he had it the day Candice was back at school. As unlikely as it seemed after everything that happened, it might have been Candice that sold Timmy the X-K. It was impossible to get X-K now with the government controlling it so he couldn’t be sure he was right.

Football practice ended his speculation. Justin’s first pass to Jon was a bullet far faster than he had ever thrown before. Jonathan looked across the field into Justin’s eyes and recognized the look. His pupils were dilated, and he had a smug smile on his face. Jon was so angry for a moment that he was tempted to knock Justin over with a powerful pass but then he realized that he had been guilty of the same mistake and maybe for the same reasons.

He waved Justin over the bleachers and sat down with him. “Take it from me kid, you are about to screw up your life.”

“What?” Justin asked as innocently as he could.

“Do not ‘What?’ me. Don’t forget who you are talking to. I’ve been down that road.”

Justin shrugged. “I’ve got 50 pounds on you and a snoot full of this stuff, your hand-to-hand stuff is not going to help you against me.”

“You’re threatening me? What are you going to do when the X-K wears off? Because my ‘hand-to-hand stuff’ is not going to wear off.”

Justin looked less sure of himself. “You’re going to kick my ass?”

“You are standing at a fork in the road of your life. I want you to listen to me for once. Get rid of whatever X-K you have right now.”

Justin didn’t really want to give up the X-K, but he could feel the intensity coming off Jon.

“Do it now Justin.” Jon demanded.

Justin took an inhaler out of his gym bag and vented it into the air. Jon looked down at Justin’s gym bag with his x-ray vision and saw a second full inhaler. He really wanted Justin to do this on his own.

“Anymore inhalers in there?” he asked Justin.

“Are you going to search the bag? Justin asked.

“No. I am counting on a little trust between two friends. Are there anymore inhalers?”

There was a prolonged silence before Justin produced the second inhaler from his bag and vented it into the air.

“Get rid of the empty inhalers.” Timmy Ryan has already been arrested. My guess is that they found your dealer’s fingerprints on the inhalers and will catch up to her shortly. If she discloses who she has sold to, I wouldn’t want to be caught holding any of those inhalers.”

It was hard to be too mad at Justin. Jon had made the same mistake and Justin had, after all, given up the second inhaler hidden in his gym bag.

“Practice is over for today. Go shower. We’ll get back to it tomorrow.”

Jon went back into the school building to find Candice and confront her. When he found her, she saw the expression on his face and knew that he was aware of what she had done. “I had a few left and I just wanted to recover the money I had paid for them.”

“You have every kind of financial assistance my grandfather could arrange for you. You didn’t need to do this.”

“You don’t understand. You lead a charmed life.”

Jon couldn’t even bring himself to laugh about the ‘charmed life’ remark. “I understand perfectly. You did it purely for the money, not because you needed to do it.”

Jon didn’t wait for a response. He turned and headed toward Jordan’s truck. He needed to vent but Jordan had gone off with his father on some training exercises and there really wasn’t anyone else he wanted to vent to.

As he was walking back to the parking lot, he heard his mother’s ELT alert and her muffled cry. What he didn’t hear was his father or brother close by responding to the signal. He launched himself into the sky and at the same time looked into the Kent home. Someone was already pulling the trigger on a gun aimed at his mother. He flew as fast as he could, as fast as he ever had, not even stopping to use a door to get into the house. He crashed through the wall of the house and got in front of his mother just in time to feel bullets hitting his chest. Lois didn’t even realize he was there until after the bullets had hit her son. Jon raced toward the shooter. As he grabbed the gun, he backhanded the shooter which sent him flying into a wall, knocking him unconscious. As he turned back to his mother, he heard the sound of someone heading in from the back door toward his mother. Jon threw the gun he was holding. As the intruder opened the back door he was hit squarely in the middle of his forehead with the butt of the gun and collapsed to the ground.

Jon and Lois stared at each other across the kitchen. He could hear both his mother’s heart and his own heart pounding hard. Jon held up a finger to indicate that she should stay quiet while he scanned the house and farm for any other attackers. Finally, he nodded to his mother that they were safe just as Clark, followed a second later by Jordan, burst through the front door.

Jon’s eyes glowed red as he looked at his father. “I don’t even want to know where you were, just take care of this mess. I am going back to school to calm down and get Jordan’s truck.”

Jon got back to the school just in time to see Candice, in handcuffs, being led out of the school by the principal and some plainclothes agents. Right next to the front door more agents were patting down Justin and searching his gym bag. Jon sat on the curb next to his brother’s truck and hoped like hell that Justin had been completely honest with him. Finally, they let Justin go and he headed straight for the late bus that would take him home. In a long, bad day he just had a small bit of relief. He hoped that the kid appreciated how close he came to disaster. Jon had felt miserable when he had left the farm but now, he thought that maybe he had saved two lives that day. Candice was clearly a failure for him. The shots fired at his mother were so close, way too close but still a save. However, Justin needed a close call. With Justin there had been no hypersonic flight, no bursting through a wall, but nonetheless, maybe he could count that as a save also. He would find out soon enough.

Jonathan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He had a text from his brother. “If you promise not to kill me, I’ll come and ride home with you.”

“Promise.” Jon texted back. A few seconds later Jordan was standing behind him. He silently dropped one of his own tee shirts onto Jon’s lap. As Jon looked down at the shirt in his lap, he realized that there were two bullet holes in the shirt he was wearing. When he pulled off his own shirt, he saw gun powder marks where the bullets had flattened themselves against his invulnerable body. As he put his brother’s shirt on, he asked “Where were you and Dad?”

“Dad took me training near the old fortress. I should have stayed closer to home.” Jordan looked guiltily down at his twin but there were no excuses from Jordan.

Jon nodded in agreement and patted the curb beside him. “Sit down for a minute. I need to talk.”

Jon explained his entire afternoon to his brother, including for a change, how he felt. He let it all out while Jordan sat and listened. When he was done Jordan took out his own phone, typed in a text and showed it to his twin.

“Bad afternoon before mom happened. Candice arrested and kid almost went with her. Tread lightly.”

Jon looked skeptically at his brother.

“How many times do you want to have to repeat this story?” Jordan asked him.

“Send it” Jon answered.

Jordan stood, held out his hand and pulled his brother to his feet. “Give me the fob. I’ll drive you home.”

“Haven’t I already been through enough today? Jon asked.

“It’s my truck. Give me my fob.”

For once, Jon was glad to have someone else drive.

On the way home Jon received a text from Mr. Olowe.

“My wife would like you to join us for dinner tonight. Can you make it here by 6pm?”

“Do you need me to work tonight?” Jon texted back.

“No, come just come for dinner.” Mr. Olowe texted.

What’s that all about” Jordan asked.

“Denise must have told her about Candice. They are worried about me.”

Jon looked out the window of the truck and scanned for the farm. He could see his father getting ready to cook some steaks on the grill outside. He was in no mood to sit at the table with his father right now.

Jon texted back his reply. “Thank you. Will be there by 6pm.”

Chapter 23: Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows?

Summary:

Jonathan Kent is carrying a heavy load and it suddenly gets much heavier. At the same time his relationship with his father hits a new low. The bond tying father to son is stretched so thin it feels like it is going to snap, and he can't get away from Smallville to get some relief. But being a good guy is playing the long game. Jonathan never looked for shortcuts. He never does what is easy, he has always done what he thinks is right. So far that hasn't had much payoff for him. But he has more friends than he realizes. No one can fix his life for him but it's good to have people standing with you while you work on it.

Notes:

At the end of this chapter I make a reference to a journal Jon has been keeping since his grandmother died. That journal, pretty much exactly as I imagined it, was written and posted on Archive of Our Own by someone other than me. I couldn't do it better. So if you want to read what Lois is going to read at the end of this chapter, copy and paste this link.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39918360/chapters/99954084

Chapter Text

As he entered the house Jonathan saw the hole he had made in the side of the house. The exterior shingles and interior wood framing had already been replaced, probably by his father, but there was a big hole in the interior plaster, and he could see wiring that had been pulled right through the plaster and broken as he had hit the wall at high speed. The hole in the wall was curiously round as though a missile had come through it instead of a teenaged boy, the result no doubt of his extremely high speed.

It nagged at him somewhere deep inside himself that his own body could do damage like that with almost no effort. He had been concentrating on stopping in the exact right spot and had barely even noticed smashing the wall. He was the missile that had struck the house. He had saved his mother from the bullets fired at her, but the effortless damage he had done to the house, coupled with the realization that his father had not been there to save his mother, had wiped out any satisfaction he should have had from protecting his mother.

As he glanced toward the window he could see that the tire on his truck had not been touched He wished his father had taken the time to get the tire for his truck but at least he had the satisfaction of getting the $5 from his last bet with Jordan back from his brother. . With a smile he held out his hand to his brother.

“What?” Jordan asked.

Jonathan nodded toward his truck sitting outside in front of their house.

Jordan followed his glance and saw the damaged tire. He took both $5 bills he had been holding and handed them to his brother.

“What is that all about?” his father asked.

Jon shrugged and Clark turned to Jordan for an explanation.

“Jon bet me you would not have his tire fixed by today.”

Clark turned back to Jonathan but before he could say anything Jonathan pre-empted any conversation with his father.

“Too busy having a snowball fight in the Arctic to take the time to get me a new tire?” Jon asked pointedly. “Because I know you weren’t busy saving mom from getting shot. Do you realize how close it was?” Jon could feel the emotions of the day starting to boil up inside of him. He wasn’t going to completely give in to them, but he wasn’t going to hold them down as tightly as he had always done. Lois watched her son closely. Jon wasn’t crying but the tears were starting to stream down his cheeks. “I didn’t think I was going to make it in time. I thought I was going to have to watch her die. Just like in the video I saw in John Henry Iron’s trailer.”

He felt Jordan’s hand on his shoulder squeezing very hard. His twin’s grip would have been crushing for someone else but it steadied Jon and calmed him. He took a deep breath. Jordan’s hand stayed on his shoulder.

“I am having dinner with the Olowes tonight. I don’t want to be late.”

“Are you working again tonight? Maybe you should take a night off.” His mother asked.

“Not working tonight. Just having dinner with them.”

“Son, I was planning on a family dinner tonight,” Clark told Jonathan.

“Well, I wasn’t. Being at the Olowes makes me feel like I am someone worthwhile. I don’t get that when you are here.”

“You should have let us know in advance.” Clark chided gently. Lois cringed. It was not that Clark was trying to hurt Jonathan. The steak dinner was specifically planned for him. However, the implication appeared to be that the problem was advance notice instead of how Clark made his son feel. Clark, as usual, was somehow being completely tone deaf to Jonathan’s feelings.

The immediate result was that Jonathan momentarily clamped down on his emotions and calmly responded to his father. “You’re right. From now on assume I won’t be home for dinner unless I tell you otherwise.”

“You can’t miss every family dinner.” Clark demanded.

“You missed fourteen years of them. I have a long way to go before I catch up with you.” Jon replied.

Jon turned away from his father toward the door. This time it was his mother who stepped in front of him. “I am going to be waiting up for you. Try not to be too late.” She kissed him gently on his forehead and stepped aside to let him leave the house.

 

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When Jon was walking back to his truck after dinner in town with the Olowes, he spotted Sarah’s father in the firehouse tossing a football up and catching it repeatedly.

“Hey Mr. Cushing.” Jon held out his hand to indicate that he should pass the ball to Jonathan. Mr. Cushing threw a perfect spiral right to Jonathan. “Too bad Justin wasn’t there to see it” he thought to himself.

“You still got game sir.” Jon passed the ball back and forth with Mr. Cushing a few times. In his day, Sarah’s father must have been a good player.

Finally, Mr. Cushing motioned Jon to come into the firehouse and sit down with him.

“You know, my mother and your grandmother were very close friends.”

Jon replied “I didn’t know that. I don’t remember ever meeting her.”

“She died when I was a freshman in high school. If it wasn’t for your grandmother, I don’t think I would have made it through high school.” Kyle Cushing got a faraway look in his eyes. “She was unbelievably kind to me. She was an absolutely amazing person. Very special.” He smiled at the memory of Jonathan’s grandmother Martha. “I miss her.”

“I know what you mean. I miss her too” Jonathan echoed.

“Jonathan, if you ever need any help, someone to talk to or maybe a place to stay, you can call me.”

Jonathan laughed. “Do I have a sign on my back that says this kid is going to need help?”

“I think the main source of information is my daughter and Denise Olowe. Sarah isn’t talking but I have a feeling you had a lot more to do with her rescue from Timmy Ryan than everyone thinks.”

“Thank you for the offer. I will keep it in mind” was all that Jonathan felt he could say.

“There is a lot of your grandmother in you. All that time you spent with her……it meant the world to her. She talked about you all the time.”

“You couldn’t pay me a better compliment than that sir.” Jon shook Kyle Cushing’s hand but before headed for his truck he stopped for a moment. “Do you miss playing football? Jon asked him.

“I do” Mr. Cushing replied. It’s not just being a teenager I miss, I really loved the game.”

“I am trying to train the new quarterback for the Crows. If you ever have some free time around 3pm you might want to come over to the football field. I could use your help.”

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When Jon got back to the farm he found his father sitting on the front porch.

“Jonathan, we have some serious issues. We have to talk.”

“I don’t see my truck fixed.”

“You are being juvenile Jonathan.”

“You vandalized my truck and I’m the one being juvenile?” Jonathan asked his father.

“I spoke with your mother. I fully intend to replace the tire.”

“Well, your good intentions are not holding up that corner of my car very well.”

Lois shot out of the front door. “Jonathan, I need to talk to you one on one to make sure I know you are okay. Can you meet me upstairs in your room in a minute?”

Jonathan knew his mother was trying to separate her husband and son but nodded yes to his mother and went into the house. Lois turned to her husband.

“Clark, I love you dearly, but you are sorely testing my patience. I want you to go save someone right now and make sure it takes you at least two hours to do it.”

Clark knew better than to argue. He disappeared into the sky. For at least two hours.

When Lois got up to her son’s room Jon was standing in the middle of the room waiting for her.

“It’s not getting better mom. I am trying so hard. How much more am I supposed to take? Shouldn’t there be a moment when it all turns around and everything that happens to me is good?

It’s going to turn around Jonathan. You asked me to believe in you and I do. I know this is too much at once and I will do anything I can to help you get through it. I know you got scared this afternoon. So did I. But as scared as you were you performed flawlessly. You didn’t let your fear stop you in any way. I have to accept that you are not a little boy anymore. Maybe you never had enough time being a little boy.

I can deal with Candice, and I can deal with the kid. You know I hate showing weakness but almost seeing you killed really scared me. It suddenly hit me that I am the one responsible for your safety. I can’t count on Dad. He is supposed to be helping me, but he is most of my problem and I can’t get away from him because I can’t leave you unprotected.

“Jonathan, you are sixteen years old. You are taking on way too much responsibility.”

“If I had been in school in Metropolis today instead of in Smallville, I would not have made it back in time. Do you really believe I have an option to leave?”

Lois had no answer for him but had a question. “Your brother thinks you have a journal of everything that’s happened between you and your father.”

“It’s everything that has happened to me since Grandma died.”

“I know there are things that happened that I might not be aware of. You don’t talk about your problems. I really would like to read the journal. You can blank out anything that is too personal.”

Jonathan didn’t give an answer.

“You know how scared you were for me today? I am scared for you. I need to know what is happening to you.”

Jon paused and then fished his keys out of his pocket. There was the fob for his truck, a key for the house and a computer flash drive on the key ring. He wrote a code on a scrap of paper and handed his keys and the scrap of paper to his mother.

“You have to promise that no one else will see this. I never meant this to be an indictment of my father. It was just an outlet to express myself.”

Lois took the key ring and went down to her office computer. She connected the flash drive, entered the password to decrypt the drive and started to read.

Chapter 24: Half Asleep

Summary:

Lois and Jonathan talk about what was in the journal and what his idea of a solution looks like. The next day starts off with some bumps in the road, but the day has only just begun. Later on in life, when he looked back, he would realize that the changes in his life had already started before that day. They just became more obvious that day when a door opened and, without hesitation, he walked through it. The long game takes patience, but the payoff is almost always greater.

Chapter Text

A half hour later Lois was back up in Jonathan’s room. Jon was lying on the bed waiting for her but stood up when she entered the room. She silently handed him his keys.

She took both her son’s hands in her own. They felt exactly the same to her as they always had even though she knew they had vastly different capabilities than they had before.

“Jonathan, I am so sorry. There is a lot in there that I didn’t know about. I needed you to let me read it. I needed to know.”

“I know I could have told you more. I didn’t want to make dad look bad to you.”

“What do you want to do? We need to come up with a plan for you. You can’t go on like this.”

“I already have a plan but you’re not going to like it.”

“I don’t have to like it. Is there anything that you need me to do?”

“First you have to back off the Intergang story for a little while. I need a breather from being scared for you.”

Lois smiled at her son. “You’re right. I don’t like it, but you need the break. What else?”

Jonathan took a deep breath and continued. “I’m firing Dad.”

“Firing Dad?” Lois repeated. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Dad can’t be my father anymore. I take no orders, criticisms, or punishments from him. He has no authority over me. Anything relating to me has to go through you.”

This was not what Lois what expecting but Jonathan had a habit of coming up with the unexpected and from her son’s point of view it made sense. It would alleviate one of the major pain points in her son’s life but still leave a chance for a reconciliation. “Where does that leave your father?” Lois asked.

“That’s up to him. Maybe we can be friends. That’s what I’m working towards, but he can’t be my father.”

“And what about Jordan and Dad?”

“Jordan’s relationship with Dad is different. I don’t want to come between them.”

“I understand but this is going to be a hard sell to your father.”

“There is no selling, Mom. That one is non-negotiable.”

Lois was not happy but understood Jonathan’s reasons and most importantly she knew he would not be dissuaded.

“Is there more?” she asked her son.

“I can’t wait for Dad to replace the tire on my truck. I get the message. I am low on his priority list. Jordan has been great about me using his truck, but I need my truck back. I’ve worked for the last few months but haven’t been allowed out much to spend what I earned. I can buy my own tire.”

“Was there an unsaid “and screw Dad” at the end of that?” Lois asked. Lois finally got that crooked grin from her son that she missed so much.

“Is that not obvious?”

“I’ll agree to, and support, all of what you are asking except, 1: I pay for the tire, and 2: we omit the ‘screw Dad’ part.”

“I think I would rather pay for the tire myself. There is a message in that.”

“Come on Jonathan. I understand exactly the message you want to send but I have to deal with your father on this. Help me out a bit here, Mr. Kent.”

Jonathan’s grin broadened into something close to the golden smile Lois used to get from her son. Jon had not been sure he would have his mother fully behind him.

“Agreed” he said to his mother. You lay down the law with Dad and I’ll have the talk he says he wants. No hostility from me, but he’s getting only hard truth.”

“Would you let him read the journal?”

“No, absolutely not. You can talk to him about it, but he can never read it.”

Lois hugged her son. “It’s going to work out for you. I know it will, even if you are not so sure of it yourself right now.

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Jon woke at sunrise the next morning as usual but pulled the covers over his head as if he could somehow protect himself from the problems in another day in his life. Oddly, what finally got him out of bed was the feeling that he couldn’t let down “younger Jon” and “older Jon”. He dragged himself out from under the protection of his blankets and got himself ready for school.

Jon was behind the wheel of his brother’s truck when Jordan climbed in on the passenger side. “Day four of Smallville High” Jon said to his brother. “Let’s see what new horrors it brings.”

“Way to show that Jon Kent positive attitude dude. Very inspiring.”

“Live my life for a while and we’ll see how inspiring you are.” Jon responded.

“Well, that wouldn’t be fair. I am not as tough as Jonathan Kent.”

Day four only made it to second period before one of the Kents disrupted the peace of Smallville High. Halfway through Ms. Busch’s interminably boring English Lit class Jon’s mind started to wander. He had been half paying attention to her talk on The Canterbury Tales and half thinking about his screwed-up life. After a while the people in the screwed-up life part of his brain started mixing in with Canterbury Tales part of his brain, Halfway through the class he realized that the cast of his screwed up life daydreams were speaking in Olde English. In the middle of all the confusion he heard his name called. “Mr. Kent. Are you awake enough to tell me what I just said?”

Ms. Busch’s opinion of anyone vaguely athletic, male, female or other, was formed decades ago. Since Jon was “sort of” on the football team, he was on her radar.

This was a moment Jonathan was happy about his powers. With his total recall Jon was able to play back for Mr. Busch her last 5 sentences verbatim, even though only half his mind had been following her. Jonathan’s detailed knowledge of what she had just said did not make Ms. Busch particularly happy. His recitation, in her eyes, labelled him as a “wise ass” who somehow tricked her into looking bad. In reality, Ms. Busch was not really so far off the mark. Jon had little to no interest in Olde English or The Canterbury Tales, but did feel pretty good about spoiling yet another attempt of hers to make him look bad.

That, however, was just the first shot in the war between the Kents and Ms. Busch that day. A student messenger from the Dean of Students Office knocked and entered the classroom to give a note to Ms. Busch. She read the note, shook her head “no” and told the intimidated student messenger that “her students remain in her class until she dismisses them, no exceptions”. The messenger retreated, but only temporarily.

There are people for whom the Canterbury Tales, in olde or moderne English, and no matter how much reading they do for the rest of their lives, will always be deadly boring. Five minutes later, just as Jon and most of the class were comfortably half asleep again, Jon heard something that even the all-knowing Ms. Busch could not detect.

The sound of determined footsteps from the heels of a very determined person was quickly approaching. Jon was too lazy to peek. He assumed that it was the slightly less terrifying but infinitely more reasonable Dean of Students herself that was approaching. When the door burst open, without a knock, only Jon knew the day of ignoble defeat for Ms. Busch was at hand.

Ms. Busch pumped herself up into her most indignant posture. “It is customary for one to knock……”

Ms. Busch did not get to finish her allocution.

“My name is Lois Lane. I am Jonathan Kent’s mother. I am here to take him out of class.”

Ms. Lane, regardless of your pass from the Dean’s office, Jonathan is under my supervision until the end of this period.”

“You and I, Ms. Busch, are both aware that is totally false and invalid”. Lois turned to her son. “Jonathan, the clock has started running.” She fingered the strap of the backpack that hung from her shoulder. Jon recognized it immediately. It was an old backpack of his in which he kept all the materials related to his article for the Planet.

Jon got up and began to pack up everything on his desk. As he walked down the aisle, Ms. Busch turned toward him. “If you leave this class without my permission, you risk failing the course.”

As he headed out of the classroom, he turned to face his teacher. “There are more things in heaven and earth than you think Ms. Busch, he intoned, that are more important than my grade in your class.”

He followed his mother as she moved quickly down the hall. Without pausing to look at her son, she smiled as her son walked beside her. “Nicely said Flyboy.” Just literary enough to keep you out of trouble, maybe.”

When they got out to the parking lot, Lois asked Jonathan “Where is your truck?”

“At home with a vandalized tire” Jonathan responded.

Lois sighed. “You can put a hold on that. Your father is not here.”

“Sorry Mom,” Jon smiled. “It’s become a reflex. Jordan’s truck is down there. How did you get here?”

“Uber” Lois replied. Your father was off putting out some wildfire out west.”

“Let me text Jordan about taking his truck.”

Jonathan took out his phone and typed faster than Lois could follow.

In a moment Jordan texted back that he would manage “somehow” to get back to the farm on his own.

Jonathan tossed his backpack into the back of the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“We need to head straight to the Planet” Lois told her son. “We have time for one short stop at most but no speeding!”

Jonathan turned to his mother with a superior smile on his face. “I’m not the coffee addict who is going to need to stop, and I am not the one with a speeding ticket on my license.”

“Easy for you to say ‘fly boy’. When you are in a hurry you don’t risk speeding tickets. Just drive.”

Halfway to Metropolis, after the quick rest stop, Jonathan noticed that his mother was watching him thoughtfully.

“What is it mom? You are sneaking peeks at me.”

“Will you get upset if I exercise my maternal prerogative and ask you if you are tired and need a break?”

“No” Jonathan replied.

“No to which part?”

“No, I won’t get mad and no I don’t need a break.” He was trying to sound argumentative to break the monotony of the drive but his delight at a good argument with his mom was all too clear. “I can open the sunroof and get charged up if it makes you feel better” he offered.

“You are making fun of your mother, aren’t you?”

“True” he smiled, but it’s still nice to be mothered a bit.”

Lois touched her son’s shoulder but said nothing. Next time Jonathan checked his mother was peacefully dozing.

As he pulled into the underground garage of the Planet, Jonathan was stopped at the entrance by the security guard. As He rolled down his window Lois leaned over to talk to the guard. He recognized her and his demeanor instantly changed.

“Ms. Lane, good to see you.” Turning to Jonathan, “Don’t tell me this is one of the twins!”

He nodded to the guard. “Yes, I am Jonathan.”

“Son, I remember you as a little boy.”

Jonathan unconsciously put his hand to his head as if warding off a headache.

The guard laughed. “I guess you’ll get enough of that here today. Just pull up and take any open spot not marked reserved.”

When Jonathan pulled into a parking space and shut off the truck, his mother was still laughing.

Chapter 25: Calling My Name

Summary:

It's a very long day for Jonathan Kent and a very busy one. He did well on the research and the writing of the story. He gained the respect of the SEC by not having the story leak before they were ready. A very likeable and articulate young man has been set loose in the world with a big story he has uncovered. Today is the day Jon Kent's powers are revealed. No, not those powers. The one's he's had all along.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Lois and Jonathan both had to show IDs at the entrance to the building. Lois went first. The guard looked up when he saw her name on the ID.

“Welcome back Ms. Lane” he smiled.

When he checked Jonathan’s ID his head popped back up and he stared at Jonathan’s face carefully.

“Sixteen years old??? It can’t be.”

Lois jumped in to save her son. “Don’t say it. He’s already been through it down in the garage.”

The guard smiled with understanding. “It’s good to see you again Jonathan.”

Lois and Jonathan were quickly escorted to the executive conference room. Jonathan already knew some of the faces at the table. The lawyer who had helped him so much, the woman from the SEC and a face he remembered from a very long time ago. Perry White sat at the head of the table flanked by a few people he did not recognize.

After the normal introductions, which were accompanied by some quiet comments, all of which Jonathan could hear, Perry asked Jonathan if there was anything he wanted to say before they started.

Jonathan, still standing, looked around the room and noted that he was by far the youngest person at the table. His smile was genuine, both charming and a bit embarrassed. “We can talk about anything except me in diapers last time I was here.” There was a ripple of laughter from those who had met Jonathan before. His momentary shyness dropped away, and his smile brightened. Lois could feel the effect his smile generated. People were put at ease. The atmosphere became more relaxed. She had noted that effect many times before with her son. Even as a toddler he had the same effect which, she suspected, was why toddler Jonathan was so well remembered. However, she hadn’t seen the full wattage of that smile for a while. Something had changed inside of her son. Lois knew was seeing Jonathan at his best.

“Jonathan” Perry started, “the Senator has filed suit to stop publication of this story based on an accusation of tainted sources of your information. There is a hearing. Our attorney and I will accompany you to court but you will have to testify. We need your mother here to work on the story with our editors since we are seeing it for the first time right now. Are you okay in court without your mom supporting you?”

Lois smiled to herself. Jordan, as strong and powerful as he was, would need someone there to support him. But Jonathan, even at sixteen years old, could go it alone without a second thought. Jonathan was the one who knew everything about the case and Jonathan was the one with total recall. Jonathan, she thought, needed to do this on his own and his mother needed to stand down and act like it was no big deal for him to do it.

“That won’t be a problem, Mr. White” Jonathan replied. I just need to make a copy of the summary of what I did to get my evidence to give to the judge to read. Everything else can stay here.”

“Great” Perry replied. We are going to take the Planet helicopter there so we won’t be late. Do you have any problem with heights?”

Lois forced her face to remain impassive.

“Heights?” Jonathan echoed. He didn’t dare look at his mother.

Yes, if you have a fear of heights the chopper will give you a panic attack. It’s a lot different than a plane. Perry smiled, “You’re only sixteen. I can’t even offer you a good stiff drink.”

“I think I can hold it together for the trip Mr. White. I’ll close my eyes if I need to.”

“Good man, Kent. I don’t suppose you have anything else besides shorts and a tee shirt to wear to court?”

From her own backpack Lois pulled out Jonathan’s Khaki pants, a blue oxford shirt and shoes.

”Perfect” Perry commented. “Change now and let’s get going.”

“Right here?” Jonathan asked.

“It's fine right here but you can use the men's room if you are more comfortable.

“Yes sir," Jon replied. During his time in school sports, he was used to changing in all sorts of settings. He took off his tee shirt and shorts and replaced them with the clothes his mother had given him.

Jonathan’s enhanced hearing picked up a few comments that he thought his mother would most likely, and quite fortunately, miss. However, with a glare Lois reminded the room that her son was almost two years away from 18 years old. The room became instantly silent.

Jonathan grabbed his shoes and followed Perry out to the helicopter for the short ride to the courthouse. Perry White, for all his reputation for gruffness, put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder just as he was about to climb into the helicopter. He handed Jonathan a sheaf of papers and said quietly to him, “If you have a problem just focus on reading this. It works for me.”

After the quick ride to the courthouse Jonathan found himself in the witness chair, sworn in, and being questioned. His lawyer submitted the summary Jonathan had written to the Judge and copies to the
Senator’s attorneys. The Judge questioned him closely on each step of his research. The attorney for the senator continually objected to Jonathan’s testimony but the judge, becoming increasingly irritated, overruled him. Perry watched the proceedings with increasing interest.

Finally, the judge turned to the counsel for the senator. There is no indication of any information used that was not in the public domain. Superior computer skills are not a valid reason to block publication. The request for an injunction is denied.”

Perry gave Jonathan one of his rare smiles and immediately called his assistant editor. “The injunction was denied. Go with the story. Tell hair and makeup to be ready for the kid in 15 minutes. I want him on air in less than a half hour.”

“On the air, sir?” asked Jonathan?

“Definitely. You are way too good to keep as just a writer.” Perry tapped him on his head with his pen. “You are now a Planet staff reporter. You’ll receive your press credentials when you get back.”

As soon as the chopper landed on the roof of the Planet building, Jon was handed a list of questions he would be asked and whisked down to the Planet TV studio. The story he had written would be on the Planet website in minutes, but a video clip would enhance the story.

Jonathan found himself in a chair getting makeup applied and his curls cemented into place as though a hurricane was expected in the Daily Planet TV newsroom. The girl working on him tried for just a touch of eyeliner to make his blue eyes “pop” but if Jon-El ever saw it he would never hear the end of it, so he declined.

Jonathan was led to a chair on the newsroom set and turned to find Catherine “Cat” Grant sitting opposite him. Cat Grant was not one of his mother’s favorite people. “You grew up very cute young Jonathan” Cat said, mostly, but not completely, to throw him off balance for the interview.

“Inappropriate” Jonathan smiled, “but much better than another baby Jonathan in diapers comment.”

“Exactly how old are you?” Cat asked.

“Drop the act Ms. Grant.”

“It’s only partially an act.”

“But it’s still wholly inappropriate.”

Cat Grant smiled so sweetly that Jonathan’s invulnerable skin crawled. “Any problems with the questions we gave you?”

“No problems Ms. Grant.”

“Great, just relax and you’ll be fine.”

As he sat in the studio, he saw himself on the studio monitor. He was more neatly dressed than he was used to, and when he shook his head, his curls did not budge. Then suddenly, he was on air.

Cat asked the questions exactly as they had been given to him and he had no problem answering them. As the clock on the interview was starting to run down, Jonathan sensed Cat’s demeanor suddenly change.

“Jonathan” she asked, “Do you think the SEC is embarrassed that a 16-year-old boy broke the story they failed to break?”

“Not at all.” This was unproductive territory for Jonathan, but Jonathan was very familiar with the concept of running out the clock. He left his answer simple while Cat tried to let the gathering silence force him into commenting further. He watched the clock ticking away the time remaining. It could have been a football game.

Finally, Cat couldn’t let the silence continue. With some feigned surprise she asked, “Why would you think that, Jonathan?”

Jonathan feigned a thoughtful pause to run out some more time until he replied. He was trying to have the last word in the interview.

“My theory was based on the immense amount of research published by the SEC in their initial report. After reading their report I was able to step back and see the possible methods that might have been employed by the senator and come up with some additional research to support that theory. However, I needed the resources of the SEC to get additional proof and I went to the SEC for help with that.

Cat raised the level of her feigned doubt. “So, the SEC did not show any resentment of a 16 year old high school junior being able to move the case forward when they couldn’t’ do it themselves.”

Jonathan kept an eye on the clock. “I learned a tremendous amount working with the SEC and am grateful to everyone there who took the time to work with me.”

Cat Grant was becoming frustrated at her own inability to crack the 16-year-old boy sitting opposite her.

“Come on Jonathan, you cannot tell me that you did not cause an embarrassing moment for the SEC?”

“Ms. Grant, isn’t the real story here about a potentially corrupt US Senator using his office for criminal purposes, and not about how my day went with the people I teamed with at the SEC?”

On that note the last second or two clicked by on the clock and the countdown on the I interview hit the zero mark. As soon as the lights dimmed and Jon was unhooked from his mike, his mother was at his side with her arm around his shoulder. She leaned in and whispered in his ear “I don’t care how high you can fly, you are from the “House of Lane” and hugged him tightly. “I couldn’t possibly be any prouder.”

The only moment in the last two years that came close to how he was feeling at that moment was that first flight alongside his brother.

Jonathan and Lois got back up to the executive conference room just as his clip finished playing on the large monitor. Perry pounded his fist on the table once for emphasis. “You nailed it son. You come across great on video. You were articulate and very likeable.

Perry continued. “Now we have some issues to discuss. First the SEC is getting hounded with questions. They just contacted us to let them out of their 24 hour news exclusive so they can do a 6pm news conference tonight. That means that no one else can have it on their 6pm news shows but it goes online right afterwards. In return, and I am guessing this is due to young Mr. Kent not making them look like incompetents in his interview, they will allow him to be part of the news conference as part of the SEC team. Jonathan will unofficially be allowed one unscripted plug for Daily Planet TV News. Young Mr. Kent, are you up for this?”

“Absolutely sir” Jonathan replied.

“I am trusting you with the image and reputation of the Daily Planet. Just handle it like your interview with Ms. Grant and you will be fine” Perry added.

Next item. Perry nodded at Jonathan’s attorney, and he handed Jon some papers.

You have just been handed a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee. They apparently are starting an investigation relating to the same issues involved in the SEC investigation. Although this has not yet been officially announced, there is nothing in the law or in that subpoena to stop you from announcing that there appears to be an investigation starting. Go back down to the studio. While they are touching up your hair and makeup, our attorneys will go over exactly what you are allowed to say.

“Mr. White”, Jonathan interrupted. But Perry charged ahead.

“Don’t worry Mr. Kent. We’ve had enough time to get a different on-air newsperson ready to interview you. He will sit in on your briefing with the attorneys so he knows what he can and cannot ask. I suggest you get moving right now so you are able to have some dinner before the SEC news conference.

The second interview was another exclusive story for the Planet, this time about the intention of the House Judiciary Committee to begin an investigation.

After the interview, dinner (a really great steak dinner) was served in the Planet executive conference room. Lois, knowing that the wine wouldn’t affect him anyway, allowed Jonathan one token sip of her own wine to celebrate. After dinner he was given his Daily Planet credentials and driven the few blocks to the Metropolis office of the SEC. Jonathan made Perry White and the SEC team extremely happy, not to mention got an understanding laugh from the crowd, when he was asked what his experience working with the SEC was like.

“Great learning experience for me. I don’t want to take up a lot of time going into more detail since you can get the video of my answer to that question on the Daily Planet TV website.”

By the time Lois and Jonathan got to General Lane’s Metropolis house it was already past 10pm. Jon knew his mother would not want him driving home after such a long day no matter how well she knew he would not be physically tired. This time she said he had “too much on his mind to absorb” as the excuse. Since Jon wanted to see his grandfather, he was happy not to argue. Lois texted Clark, and Jon texted Jordan, that they would be staying overnight in Metropolis. Clark was a bit annoyed that Jonathan had elected to inform his brother instead of his father until Lois pointed out that they were driving Jordan’s truck and keeping it overnight. Clark dropped the issue.

__________________________________________________

Jordan had been in the school commons area in the afternoon when someone shouted to him “Hey Kent. Isn’t that your brother on TV?”

Jordan looked up at the big monitor as saw his twin being interviewed. He focused his own hearing on what was being said while he used his phone to get the audio feed from the Daily Planet TV website for Sarah and Natalie. A crowd formed as more students and teachers picked up the audio and watched the video on the monitor. When the interview was done Jordan texted his brother with three thumbs up and a further message.

“Fraternals rule, bro. You killed it.”

Sarah watched Jordan carefully. She had never seen him so happy and excited. There was something endearing about how much it mattered to Jordan that his brother was regaining some traction in his life in such a big way. It said a lot about this guy Jordan Kent.

______________________________________________

Lois went to sleep early but Jonathan stayed up late talking to his grandfather about the day. His grandfather, never one to miss anything, had one question in his mind. Why was Jonathan driving Jordan’s truck? However, he didn’t want to take a chance that the answer would bring Jonathan down from his great mood so he texted Jordan who gave him the short version of the story. The General’s only comment was to tell Jordan to go out to Jonathan’s truck and message a picture of the VIN number to him.

The next morning Lois, Sam and Jonathan were up early for a celebration breakfast out. When they got back to the General’s house there was a new tire resting against the front door of the General’s home.

Jonathan turned to his Grandfather. “Did mom tell you?”

“She didn’t have to. I have been your grandfather for sixteen years and the head of the DoD for longer than that. Where is your truck Jonathan? This is Jordan’s truck”

“You got the story out of Jordan last night and the tire is already here?” Jon was clearly impressed.

“In Smallville they have to order the tire from the warehouse. This is Metropolis son. The Midwest distribution center is Metropolis.”

“How much was it. I’ll pay you for it.”

“Like hell you will. Put it in the back of Jordan’s truck and you can have it mounted on the wheel when you get home.”

Jonathan looked at the tire. It was, of course, the exact match for the tire that had been destroyed by his father. Army Generals, and his fellow car loving grandfather, weren’t likely to get that wrong.

“Do you need help carrying it?’ his grandfather teased.

“I think I can handle it” Jonathan replied.

When Jonathan went to hug his grandfather to say goodbye, his grandfather admitted to him “You are one tough young SOB, and thats from one tough old SOB.” It was, Jonathan knew, high praise from his grandfather.

Jonathan got into the driver’s seat of the truck while Lois said goodbye to her father. For the first time Jonathan saw his mother hug his grandfather. It took a lot of focus not to hear what they said to each other. Whatever it was, he didn’t need to listen to know that it was good.”

Notes:

Twenty five chapters??? I'm not sure how that happened. This thing has taken on a life of its own in my head. It just keeps pouring out. Thank you to all who are reading it, have given it kudos, and especially those who have taken the time to comment.

Chapter 26: Way Up High

Summary:

Jonathan gets to see how the people he knows perceive him after his article in the Daily Planet and his appearance on Daily Planet TV. He is finally has his life heading in the right direction, but he still has to face his father about their continuing issues to find a longer lasting resolution.

Chapter Text

The weather that morning for the drive back to Smallville matched Jonathan’s mood. A sunny and mild day that was perfect for driving. With his mother sitting right next to him they could argue about what music to listen to, talk to each other about the next steps in the investigation, and best of all, he didn’t have to worry about Intergang attempting to attack her again. His mother was right there next to him where he could protect her.

Jon dropped his mother off at the farm before he headed to school. As she kissed him goodbye Jonathan thanked her for all her help. Lois deflected the gratitude. “I did very little. It was you.”

When Jonathan finally arrived at Smallville High, he discovered that the reason for his absence was already widely known. By the time he got to class it was, of course, second period English with Ms. Busch. Jonathan knocked and entered the classroom. There was instant silence as the class waited to see what Ms. Busch’s reaction would be after her prior threat to fail Jonathan.

“Don’t just stand there Mr. Kent”. “Take a seat and see me after class.” Jonathan sat through the remainder of the class and approached Ms. Busch after the bell rang.

Ms. Busch took a sheaf of papers out of her desk and handed them to Jonathan. It was hard copies of the news stories he had written for the Planet and transcripts of his interviews.

“It’s not exactly Chaucer Mr. Kent, but it is impressive work. Even your parting shot to me yesterday, because you so ably paraphrased Shakespeare, was at worst a break even. I clearly underestimated you. It was careless and a bit lazy of me. It won’t happen again.”

Jonathan stood there for a moment before he handed the papers back to his teacher. He was totally taken by surprise and was not sure how to respond. Finally, Ms. Busch, rather gently, suggested that he had better get moving or he would be late for his next class.

Toward the end of the day, he had a class that Jordan was in also. Before the class started Jordan informed him that their father had asked Jordan to tell Jonathan that he was planning a celebratory dinner for that night.

“He asked you to tell me???” Jon asked skeptically. “He couldn’t tell me directly?”

“I think he is so used to being intimidating to everyone that it rattles him that he doesn’t intimidate you.” Jordan speculated.

“I don’t really want to have dinner with him tonight. I’m finally riding a big wave of “happy”, and I don’t want him bringing me down from it. I want just a bit more time up on that wave.”

“Fine.” Jordan replied. “You and I go out to dinner tonight, but you talk to him when we get back.”

Jon hesitated but Jordan persisted.

“You know you are going to have to talk to him sometime. You don’t have to make nice, but you do have to have that talk.”

At least he could celebrate with his brother before he dealt with his father.
----------------------------------------------------------

After school Jon found Jordan to let him know he would leave football practice early so they could celebrate. Jordan gave him an alternative offer.

Denise Olowe said her mother wants to make a dinner for all of us tonight to celebrate.”

Really? Jon asked.

She was practically insisting on it, Jordan replied.

Fine with me. We can go out over the weekend.

Jordan texted his father. “No dinner but he will talk to you when he gets home.”

Jon headed over to the football field for practice. As he and Justin ran a few warmup laps before practice, Jonathan was still riding his wave of happy, but Justin was uncharacteristically quiet.

“Why so quiet today? Did something happen?” Jonathan asked him as they ran side by side around the track.

“My backpack and my gym bag were searched. I got patted down. I know you saw that. My locker was searched too. There was nothing to find and they just let me go.”

Jonathan was relieved. He was trying to keep his mood up. “So that’s good, right?”

“I saw your interview online last night. How do you do all that and still have time to babysit me?”

That brought a grin to Jon’s face. “Dealing with a corrupt US Senator is infinitely easier than having to deal with you.”

Justin would normally have smiled at that but this time he remained serious. “I would have been so screwed. I owe you and we both know it.”

Jonathan laughed. “Just holding that over your head is reward enough.”

“You hide a lot of yourself, don’t you?”

Jonathan had a feeling they were talking about Justin also. Jon, thinking more about abilities like flying, wanted to say, “If you only knew.” Instead, he answered “So do you.”

But Justin had made a shrewd observation and Jon was beginning to feel that Justin’s arrogant goof off persona was for show. Being able to save Justin from a dumb juvenile mistake with X-K had apparently made an impression on Justin. Underneath the surface this kid had an interesting set of values that he was afraid to show to most people. Jon thought about all the people, even outside of his family, who had watched him stumble a bit and reached out to help. Kyle Cushing was Justin’s age when Martha Kent reached out to him after the death of his own mother. Then the realization hit him. Justin was Jon-El a few years ago when he still could have been helped, and Jon-El had become Jon-El because the right people were not there to guide him. Martha Kent had left her mark on Jonathan’s life, Kyle Cushing’s life and many others. She had been a hero to the town. In the Bizarro world there were no Kents.

“Come on you have a scrimmage” Jon said to Justin. “You need to get your arm warmed up. Let’s go show them what you’ve got before I have to leave”

---------------------------------------------------

Lois was trying to convince her husband to listen to her, but he was clearly not getting her point.
Lois calmly started to read her husband a list of his failures as a father to Jonathan. Clark stopped her midway through the list. He did not want to hear more. He could admit his failures but could not let go of his role as Jonathan’s father.

“Clark, you don’t know him like I do. You can’t win on this. It’s not just his Kryptonian powers. It is something inherent in our son. He’s not infallible but when he is absolutely sure of something, has he has a peculiar knack of being right. He won’t back down. You are about to run into a big wall of Jonathan and if you fight him on this, you will only make it worse.

“Why is he so stubborn with me?”

“You are missing the entire point with Jonathan. What happened to Jon-El could never have happened to Jonathan. He is too tough to intimidate and too perceptive and self-confident to manipulate. Ally Alston would have had the same problem you are having.”

“Ally Alston”, Clark replied, “is not Jonathan’s father.”

----------------------------------------------

As Jon drove home from dinner that night, he was quiet. Jordan knew what was on his mind and let his brother brood. Jon was thinking about the people who were sitting at the table with him at the Olowe’s home. When this group of people looked at him, they saw someone completely different than his own father saw. He had some theories on why that was happening. Perhaps it had something to do with the Kryptonian culture his father had absorbed from Jor-El, and maybe something inherent in some Kryptonian males, but the reasons didn’t matter now. He was resigned to the fact that he couldn’t fix this father/son relationship. He could only change it to something that would not periodically drain the happiness and joy out of his life. He dreaded what he knew he had to do. He pulled off the road just short of the Kent farm and sat staring ahead. Jordan turned to his twin. “You are not the one who brought this on. Do what you have to do.”

Chapter 27: Know When To Hold

Summary:

Jonathan and Clark confront each other. Jonathan can't have a conversation just like all the other ones he's had with his father. This one needs to change the trajectory of Jon's life away from where it's been heading since he arrived in Smallville. Jon knows what needs to be done and the time has come when he is ready to force a long-term solution.

Chapter Text

As expected, when Jonathan pulled up in front of the house, his father was sitting on the front porch waiting for him. Jordan got out of the truck, nodded to his father and went into the house alone.

“I know you are upset with me son, but I really want to try to work things out with you.”

“We can’t afford to have that kind of conversation again, Dad. We’ve tried it before. It’s like picking up a book and realizing a few pages in that you’ve read the book before. I’m not sure what you want from me.”

“You are a Kryptonian, but you won’t accept using your Kryptonian powers to save people.”

“I am not a Kryptonian” Jonathan stated firmly. “I am a hybrid and there is only one other of my species. You insult my human family when you act as if being Kryptonian trumps being human. You demean both the Lanes and the Kents.”

“You have Kryptonian powers Jonathan. That makes you Kryptonian no matter how much you don’t want to feel alien”.

“I am a human with Kryptonian powers. I was raised as a human for 14 years and I identify as a human. That is your doing. When I had no powers, you treated me as a human. The power being released from inside my body changed what I am physically capable of doing, but it did not change what I am.”

“I thought you would be the one to take over from me.”

“You have Jordan to do that. He wants it. He has enthusiasm for it. It’s his role. You should consider yourself lucky to have him.”

“You don’t want to admit this, but you know that you are physically and emotionally better equipped than Jordan for that role. You are the one who should be Superboy.”

Jonathan was shocked. He had not suspected this at all. First, he had disappointed his father by not having powers and then he disappointed him again when he had powers but wouldn’t take the role of Superboy.

“You don’t know either of your sons very well. Jordan has had to face fear his entire life, but he triumphed over it. My brother has the heart of a hero. A little more or less in strength isn’t going to make a difference. You completely underestimate Jordan.”

“Even so, what are you going to do to make this world a better place?”

“What have you done to make this world a better place? You pretend to yourself that you inspire the people of earth to be better but look at the world around you. You have been at this for a long time. I don’t see the world being any better for it. The evil in this world remains impervious to your inspiration. Only those who are already good are inspired by you. The best you can say is that the good have been inspired to be better.”

“What would you have had me do? Not try?”

“How much more misery would you have relieved if you had used your superior intelligence and access to advanced technology to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or any of those kinds of those long-term debilitating diseases? No spectacular saves, no hypersonic flights, no cheering crowds but a lot more misery undone.”

Clark could feel his anger rising. Jonathan could reach him in a way no one else could. “Are you trying to invalidate my whole life? I won’t give up on that goal.”

“No Dad. You have two sons so the world can have it both ways. Maybe, just maybe, I removed from power a US Senator who was in the clutches of Intergang. I didn’t really think I could do it but how much will I have weakened Intergang by doing that as opposed to taking them down one by one.”

“So, which is it? Science or Journalism?” Jonathan could tell it wasn’t a real question. It was a taunt.

“I really don’t know the answer to that that yet. I am 16 years old. I have time to make that decision. I have time to try each one on and see which is the better fit for me.”

“You have physical talents that will be wasted.”

“As opposed to mental talents that would be wasted? I think your own mother would be on my side.”

Clark could see he was not going to be able to budge Jonathan.

“Your mom says you want to dismiss me as your father.”

“I have already dismissed you as my father. It’s a done deal. This talk is about what comes after.”

“I know I could have been a better father to you. I admit that.”

“No dad. That’s the problem. You are a good man and a great hero, but you are not able to be a better father. You don’t have the ability to be a better father to me.”

“Jonathan, isn’t this too much of a punishment?”

“It’s not a punishment at all. It’s the realization of what has to be.”

Clark was devastated and his son felt his pain and softened his tone.

“You and I are destined to fight with each other interminably unless we do something now. We are going to end up hating each other. I don’t want that. That father son relationship between the two of us just won’t work. I am willing to try something else.”

“But I am your father and I won’t just step away. I would disgrace the House of El.”

“So is the issue, your pride versus the welfare of your son? After I took the X-K you said I had disgraced the Kent family name. You worried about what the neighbors would think, at a time when I needed a father to help me with the problems that caused me to take the X-K. Fatherhood is not in your skillset.”

“I’m sorry son, I know you think you are right, but I won’t do it.”

“How are you going to stop it? I am every bit as strong as you, as fast as you and as impervious to harm as you. You can hardly spank me to make me behave.”

“Do you really think you are ready to be an adult?”

“No. I still have Mom. It’s not like I am a 16 year old out there with no adult guidance.”

“If I can’t control you, how is your mother going to control you?”

Jonathan laughed. “Have you ever met my mother? Besides, she doesn’t need control; she has my respect. I value her guidance.”

Clark waved away that logic. He was out of words, but he just couldn’t give in. He couldn’t allow it. Jonathan was, of course, right. Clark could not force him. The last time he had tried that his son had knocked him to the ground and then knocked him out. On top of his fully developed Kryptonian powers, he was an incredibly good athlete and, with all his training, an unusually good fighter.

It was a blow to his ego that his teenage son could stop him dead in his tracks. Maybe it was a moment that other fathers of sons had to face. His own father had to face it at an incredibly early age. As a pre-teen his father didn’t have a chance against him, but Clark had never challenged him. Or had he? Clark had begun to chafe at his father's control around the time his father died. Had his father lived longer, what would have happened? Clark shook those thoughts out of his head.

Jonathan could see his efforts were futile. He had already given up any hope of having a real father and now he was saying goodbye to a childhood that he never really had. There was no more to say, and nothing left to discuss. He headed into the house and up the stairs. When he opened the door to his room his mother was there waiting. She didn’t need super hearing to hear the conversation on the porch below the window in Jon’s room.

“Do you want to talk?”

“I’m a bit talked out mom.”

“I made a mistake before. I want you to talk to me this time. You have to get out of the habit of holding everything in.”

Jonathan smiled. His mother was right. “Okay, how about making me some lunch on Sunday.”

Lois nodded and kissed her son goodnight. “Go say goodnight to your brother. He wants to make sure you’re okay.”

Jon, in spite of the vast well of energy that resided within him, he felt himself dragging as he walked into his brother’s room.

“You okay?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Jordan looked at him skeptically. Jonathan knew the reason. He had said it so many times when it wasn’t true. Jordan wanted to make sure his answer was not just a reflex.

“I swear to you, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Jon turned to go to back to his own room but paused for a moment. He would not let the day end like this. There had to be a change and it would have to start with him. He said to his brother, “Tomorrow, flying at dawn, then we can have lunch together in town while we get my tire fixed.”

“Dude, I hope that’s all the plans you made because we are having dinner out tomorrow night with Natalie, Sarah and Denise. I told them you were going to have a very tough night.”

As he dragged himself back to his own room he called back to his brother, “Well done, bro.”

As he fell asleep that night, Jonathan’s thoughts turned to trucks, tires and Saturday night out with friends. He knew he would never have what anyone would ever consider a normal life, but it was beginning to feel like it could be a good life. His father had disappointed him with his lack of faith in Jordan and by putting his pride ahead of the welfare of his son. It was not so difficult to let go of him. He really had only been with him for two years and they were the worst two years of his life. He had tried for the optimal solution, but it didn’t work. He would put Clark Kent aside, but he would not put his life aside. If he really wanted it, he could have a good life and today was a good start. Tomorrow would be even better.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Right at dawn, as Clark lay in bed with Lois, he heard muffled laughter from outside the house. He glanced outside to see his two sons. Jordan was holding up the front of his brother’s truck with one hand.

“Come on Jordan. Use two hands. You’re putting too much load at one point when use one hand.”

“You love your truck more than you love your brother” Jordan pretended to pout.

“My truck gives me less trouble than by brother does.”

Jonathan slipped some old jack stands underneath the front axle to hold up the truck and grabbed the lug wrench that was lying on the ground nearby.

Clark watched as Jonathan removed the tire from his truck and put it into the back of his brother’s truck with the new tire his grandfather got for him. As soon as the wheel was locked in Jordan’s truck the two boys disappeared into the morning sky at high velocity until they were above the cloud cover.

Clark felt a pang of jealousy. He had been alone during his childhood and teen years. Clark gave into temptation and searched for his sons in the sky. They were racing along high above a river passing a huge rock back and forth between them as they bobbed and weaved around imaginary obstacles. They were both clearly having a great time. It made him feel lonely. He went back to bed so he would be snuggled up against Lois when she woke up.

Around 10 am he heard the truck start. The boys were no doubt heading into town to get the tire mounted. Something that Clark should have done himself but had not. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t done it. Jonathan had made it clear that it was important to him.

While the tire was being worked on in town, Jon and Jordan went to find some food. Over lunch they watched the people in town walking by. Tom, the captain of the football team stopped by their table to say hello. Kyle Cushing dropped by to let the boys know that Sarah’s car had been repaired and returned to her by the DoD. Tom tried to convince Mr. Cushing that his football expertise was needed by the Crows, and he should show up at practice that afternoon to help the team. It was nothing special except that it all felt good.

Once the tire was ready the brothers drove back to the farm, mounted the wheel with the new tire and while Jordan lifted the truck, with two hands this time, Jon removed the jack stands and put them back in the barn. Jon tossed the fob for Jordan’s truck back to his brother and drove off in his own truck to Smallville High for a weekend football practice and maybe, even though he was still stuck in Smallville, a life that felt like it was going somewhere good.

Chapter 28: Rescue Me

Summary:

General Sam Lane may have retired from the DoD, but he is still available when they need his help. Sam thinks he might need some extra help on what should be a routine job, so he invites his superpowered grandson Jonathan to come with him. Jonathan, in spite of not wanting to assume the heroic persona of his father, has to step into the role when things go very wrong and he is in a unique position to help.

Chapter Text

Jonathan Kent received a text from his grandfather inviting him to take a flight with him from Metropolis to Washington DC on a new military jet. Jon had always been close with his grandfather, but now that he was retired, he had more time available for his twin grandsons.

When Jonathan texted back “when?” the answer from General Lane was “now”. That meant the General expected him to fly from the farm in Smallville to Metropolis. For Jonathan, that was not a long flight and he wondered why his grandfather was asking him to accompany him on the flight to DC.

Minutes after receiving the text Jonathan was at his grandfather’s Metropolis home. The General was waiting in driveway to drive to the military airfield just outside of Metropolis. On the way, his grandfather explained to him that this new jet was small, only a few passengers and one pilot, but flew at supersonic speeds. It was especially good for shorter hops like the one they were about to take as opposed to transatlantic flights.

It was designed to minimize sonic boom by being smaller and had an advanced aerodynamic design to reduce the boom. Jonathan himself made little sonic boom when he flew since he was very small compared to a plane and tried not to go supersonic until he was at a high altitude. A long carpet of broken windows, according to his father, was not allowed except in the most dire circumstances. When his mother was about to be shot, even at his small profile, he had left some broken windows in this path since he was flying lower than usual.

When they reached the airport Jon saw that the plane they were flying was small and narrow. One pilot in the narrow cockpit and 5 rows of 2 seats. It felt like being inside a cigar tube. Jon assumed his grandfather just wanted company but the young air force pilot, seeing a teenage passenger, spent time explaining the physics of supersonic flights and the associated effects. It was hard for Jon to become too enthusiastic since they would be flying close to Mach 2. Jonathan normally cruised at Mach 6 and could push much faster if he wanted to.

General Lane understood that his grandson was not impressed with flight at Mach 2 and they sat and talked during the flight. It was a strange feeling for Jonathan to be a passenger in a plane after flying himself without a plane. Jon occasionally glanced outside the plane to check their progress. Once they were over the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, he knew they were close to Washington DC.

Jon leaned back and closed his eyes to appreciate the now unfamiliar sensation of flight inside an aircraft. Just as his eyes closed there was an explosion. His eyes flew open. He saw immediately that the cockpit was severely damaged, and the plane was heading into a tailspin. Everything in the plane was being pushed outward toward the fuselage from the centrifugal forces of the spinning plane as it rapidly descended. Oxygen masks dropped from above the seats but his grandfather was being helplessly pinned in his seat by force of the spinning plane which was preventing him from reaching the mask.

Jon, not affected by the centrifugal force, jumped out of his seat, snapping his seat belt, and put the mask on his grandfather. He listened for the heartbeat of the pilot but there was none. The pilot was beyond his help. The centrifugal force was getting more powerful and the temperature in the plane was dropping. He motioned to his grandfather to take a deep breath from the oxygen mask because they had to get out of the plane. Jon hesitated. He easily had enough strength to pull his grandfather out of the seat but was afraid he would injure his grandfather if he tried it. Jon grabbed the entire seat and yanked if off the floor of the plane. Then holding his grandfather, he kicked open the door of the plane and let himself get thrown clear.

Jon hung in midair for a moment watching the plane dropping rapidly toward the water off the Atlantic coast and then checked his grandfather. He was gasping for air in the high altitude. Jon dropped downward quickly until he was just above the cloud cover. His grandfather was breathing more easily but shivering. He used his heat vison to warm him gently. Jonathan watched the doomed plane hit the water off the Atlantic coast and begin to sink. He looked back down at his grandfather. His eyes were closed.

He was about to head to medical help when his grandfather regained consciousness. For a moment he couldn’t recall what had happened and why he was hanging in midair with his grandson. Then it came back to him as his mind cleared. Where is the plane? He asked. Jonathan shook his head. “The pilot?” Jon shook his head again. “Did you see where the plane went down?”

“Yes, sir. I can see it from here. It’s in the water still dropping toward the seabed.”

Jon’s grandfather was having trouble speaking but he wouldn’t let Jon stop him. He told him they were going to land at an unmarked airfield with no control tower. Using the easy to spot Washington Monument as a marker, Sam instructed his grandson how to find the hidden field. Jon flew carefully above the clouds until he could drop down right onto the field.

Jon looked at the pale face of Sam Lane and began to worry. “Grandpa, I think you need medical help.”

You’re right, but we have to be cautious. The field was completely deserted except for an empty car waiting for them. Sam had Jon drive them to a nearby military facility where they were stopped momentarily at the gate and then admitted.

Someone who clearly knew Sam well, and who was dressed in the same uniform that his grandfather used to wear, came running out to meet them. The servicemen at the gate had called ahead for an ambulance which was waiting for them. Jon insisted on going with his grandfather. Something was happening, he wasn’t sure what it was, but his grandfather seemed to be at the center of it. The explosion on the plane could have been sabotage. He wasn’t going to let himself be separated from his grandfather just when he might need his help. One of the MPs denied permission for him to go in the ambulance and tried to pull him out with absolutely no success. Finally, his grandfather’s friend ordered the soldier to stand down. He closed the ambulance doors himself and banged on the side of it. The ambulance to them on a quick and short ride to the medical facility of the base.

Jonathan waited just outside the medical ward while they checked his grandfather. Jon hoped he had gotten his grandfather to a low altitude quickly enough and that the centrifugal force had not somehow injured him. When the doctor finally emerged, he asked him “Are you Jonathan Kent?”

Jonathan said yes.

“Your grandfather said I should talk to you directly. He is going to be fine. He has a little frost bite, but his blood oxygen level is now close to normal. He will be out in a minute. Please try to convince him to stay in the wheelchair and use the oxygen for at least for a while.”

Shortly afterwards, much to his relief, Jon saw his grandfather wheeled out to him. He had oxygen flowing into his nose through two prongs. As soon as the nurse walked away, he tried to take it off.

“I don’t need it” his grandfather growled.

Jonathan grabbed his grandfather’s hand gently but firmly so he couldn’t grab at the cannula. You got me into this and all I want from you is to wear the damn oxygen. Jon looked directly at him as his grandfather tried to loosen his grandson’s grip. As gentle as it was, it wasn’t allowing any movement.

Finally, Sam Lane looked at his grandson and smiled. “I know better than to argue with a Lane with that look on his face. You can let go now.”

Someone in uniform came to wheel Sam to the office of the friend who had met them at the gate when they first arrived. Jon followed and no one objected.

Jon sat in the office with his grandfather and his friend. His grandfather’s friend did not wear a name tag or any identification except his rank.

Once the door was closed Genera Lane addressed his grandson. “Jonathan, I was carrying an important package in that plane. It is intelligence we have gathered covertly and are sending to the Ukraine. Not only have we lost the intelligence but if someone else gets to the information before we do then we will have compromised and endangered some of our most reliable sources.”

Jonathan waited for more of the story. The mystery General continued. The plane went down in an area that is too deep for us to recover it without using diving platforms, robot undersea remote equipment and in general making a show that would mark where the plane is. The Russians are ahead of us in few areas, but one of them is deep sea operations. That’s how they to blow holes in undersea pipelines.”

“Jonathan remained silent preferring to let the General continue.”

“The package is still on that plane. Your grandfather thinks I need to talk to you about this.”

Jon looked at his grandfather who nodded to him. Jon sighed. It would reveal more of himself than he intended to especially at this time in his life.

“Sir, I can recover the package without any special equipment.”

“We need it done immediately.”

“Tonight is fine” Jon responded.

“Your grandfather will tell you exactly what the package looks like and where it is located in the plane.”

“What about recovering the body of the pilot?” Jonathan asked. “He was fatally injured but still aboard the plane as it sank.”

“We can’t recover him either and for the same reason. The target was your grandfather and that package. We need that package back.”

“What will happen if they figure out that neither my grandfather nor I are down there?”

“They will become suspicious, probably abort their activities and go underground for a while, but they will continue to gather intelligence.”

“What would happen if they got down there and no bodies were in the wreck?”

The general laughed. “They might not know what to make of that. If they hadn’t observed any diving operation it might make them think we have capabilities that we do not actually have. It would certainly confuse and worry them.”

“Sir, I could recover the body of the pilot without any equipment.”

There was a long pause in the conversation.

“That is unexpected, but I must warn you, you would be recovering a corpse that has been in the water long enough to become extremely distorted. Body parts may have been severed in the crash. Parts may have been eaten by undersea life. Even if you are physically capable, this is going to be an extreme experience. I’m not sure a 16-year-old is ready for that, and retrieving the package is more important.”

“But there would be a strategic value to it, if only to freak out the people who sabotaged the flight.”

“Son, we are already asking a lot of you.”

“I can recover the body of the pilot” Jon stated again a bit more forcefully.

“Do you know where the wreck is?”

“Yes, sir,” Jonathan responded.

“Fine. We will provide an inflatable body bag with locators attached. You recover the body, put it in the bag and let it inflate. We will take care of the rest.”

Jonathan had one condition. “No one can be watching when I do it.”

“The locators do not activate until you let the bag inflate. The recovery team will be on shore waiting.”
________________________________________

Jon had never travelled undersea. Basically, it was flying through water. When he dove down to the wreck the intense pressure didn’t bother him, and he didn’t need any air tanks for breathing. The recovery operation was as described, a nightmare. He clamped down on his emotions, something he was already good at, and completed the task mechanically.

When he was done with the recovery of the pilot’s body, he let the body bag they provided inflate and then swam to the back of the plane. Near the tail was a safe. Jonathan tried the combination he was given. As expected, there was already too much silt in the lock for it to work properly. He hit the door to the safe with the side of his fist and it crumpled inward enough that he could rip the door off of the safe. He grabbed the package that was in it and, instead of shooting out into the sky, he swam for the shore and walked out of the ocean like any ordinary person would. He was picked up by a DoD car. He sat silently in the back seat of the car still soaking wet as he was driven back to the base.

When he got back to the base he was escorted immediately to his grandfather and his friend who were waiting for him. Jon handed his grandfather the recovered package.

“The body bag was recovered, son. You did a good job” he said quietly with his arm around his grandson.

Jonathan was standing in still damp swim clothes that had been provided for him. He wasn’t cold but he wanted to get back into dry clothes. “I need to change” was all he said.

The guard will escort you to the locker room where you can shower and change back into your own clothes. If you are hungry, we can go into DC to have dinner. Otherwise, we have a plane standing by ready to fly both of you back to Metropolis.”

“General, I would love to some other time, but I really would like to head home right away.” Jon answered.

“You must be exhausted. We can get you on that plane as soon as you are dressed.”

Jonathan’s grandfather knew better. Jonathan did not get exhausted, but he couldn’t say that. He turned to his grandson. “Jonathan, my blood oxygen is normal, and I feel fine. You don’t need to rush me home to bed.”

His grandfather was partially right. He did want him to get home to rest, but there was more to it. Jon had always felt safe with his grandfather as a little boy and in the past two years his house had been a refuge for him from the disaster his life in Smallville had been for a while. After Jonathan had pulled his unconscious grandfather from the falling plane, he had floated for just a moment in midair to check his grandfather for injuries. When he looked down at his grandfather’s face it had a bluish tinge to it, and he was gasping for air. It had scared Jonathan. Now he just wanted to be back in that safe refuge of his grandfather’s home with grandfather safely resting. Normally Jonathan would love to go out for dinner with his grandfather’s friends, but not tonight. From the plane crash to the recovery of the pilot, and from the mid-air rescue to the deep-sea swim, it had not been an easy day for him. If he had learned anything in the time he spent in Smallville, it was that he had to be easier on himself. Jonathan had suppressed too much of his own emotions and needs and right now, Jonathan wanted to go back to Metropolis to the house that was his refuge.

“Sir, I really would love to come back on a better day for that dinner. I will enjoy it more. Right now, I would like to get back to Metropolis.”

Sam’s friend turned to Jonathan. “I understand completely. Is there anything we can do for you? If you have any intention of going to one of the military academies after high school, I can clear the way for you.”

:I appreciate the offer sir, but I think I am a Met U boy. Family tradition.”

“Is there something else we can do for you to return the favor you have done for us today?”

“There is something. There is a young man my age being held in the DoD facility near the old X-K mines in Smallville.”

“You know about the X-K mines?”

“I live in Smallville, sir.”

“This young man deserves to be locked up, but he is locked up under extreme conditions. He has nothing to do to pass the time and is in a solitary cell 24/7. I want something interesting for him to do. Books, television, crossword puzzles, video games, anything a smart 16-year-old boy would be interested in, and I want continuing access to him in his cell for me and for my brother.”

“I believe I am aware of who you are talking about. He is a very antagonistic young man. The head of the facility had taken an extreme dislike to him.”

Yes. That would be him. But he is 16 years old, and this is cruel and unusual punishment. He doesn’t even have a bed or a chair.

The General considered the request for a moment. “I will override the policy regarding this young man and the conditions under which he is being held will be improved as you have requested.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jon-El, he thought, was going to be in for one hell of a surprise.

Chapter 29: Yeeting Me

Summary:

Even with superpowers the Lane-Kent family is not that different than other families cooped up in the car together for a long drive. There has been relative peace in the house, but Jonathan sees problems ahead on the trip. For once Jonathan does not want to be the driver.

Chapter Text

Driving from Smallville to Metropolis was usually an enjoyable experience for Jonathan Kent. He, like his grandfather, loved to drive. To them driving on the highway was relaxing. He had already made the trip numerous times with his brother and with his mother. For their grandfather’s birthday his entire family would be in the car, and he didn’t think being locked in a car for a few hours with his father was such a good idea.

He decided to ask his mother if she would be okay with him flying to Metropolis with his brother. Jordan found long rides in the car frustrating when he could fly so much faster. Jonathan was hoping that perhaps his parents would like to have some time together without their sons.

The problem was that this was Grandpa’s birthday and was supposed to be a family occasion. He didn’t want to ruin it for his mother, but in the day or two before they were to leave his father seemed to renew his criticism of anything Jonathan did. It wasn’t always out and out criticism, sometimes it was suggestions on doing something a different way. To Jonathan, that was just implied criticism.

The car had been loaded with everyone’s gear for the weekend and his mother was sitting in the front passenger seat. As he approached the car his mother asked him if he would drive. Jonathan did climb into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car. He turned to his mother.

“Mom, if I drive that will give dad way more opportunity for criticism. I was hoping to hide in the back seat with ear buds and some music or maybe you would let me fly to Metropolis.”

“Jonathan, I was up late last night working, and I am too tired to drive. I was hoping to get some sleep on the way.”

By now Clark and Jordan had locked up the house and were heading toward the car. When Clark saw Jonathan in the driver’s seat, he wanted to know why Jonathan was driving.

“Clark, I need to sleep on the way. Let Jonathan drive.”

Clark opened the driver’s door and said to Jonathan “I’ll drive.” Jonathan turned to look at his mother’s reaction.

“No, Clark. I can’t sleep when you drive. You rarely drive and you don’t do it well when you do drive.”

“Lois, are telling me that you can sleep with a 16-year-old boy driving on the highway, but you can’t’ sleep with me driving?”

Lois sighed. “Clark, Jon most likely already has more driving experience than you do, and he’s made this trip at least a dozen times. Let him drive.”

Jonathan was trying to avoid what he knew would be a disaster. He suggested that Jordan could use the experience behind the wheel since he hardly ever drove, but Lois wanted to sleep which meant that Jonathan had to drive them to Metropolis.

The three family vehicles were parked in a line on the driveway. Jonathan cranked the wheels hard to one side to pull out of the line and turn the car around to head down the drive. Immediately Clark suggested it was easier to pull up to the end of the driveway and turn around there than it was to turn the car around where he was parked.

Jonathan’s voice was calm and even. “I have no problem doing it here Dad.”

“It’s easier up there Jonathan,” Clark replied.

Easier for you but I have no problem turning the car around right here.

Jonathan’s acute hearing picked up stifled laughter from right behind him. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw his brother’s face. At least Jordan was enjoying himself. After he turned the car around, he drove down to the end of the driveway and set the navigation system on his phone to his grandfather’s address.

“If you made the trip so many times, why don’t you know how to get there?” Clark asked.

Jonathan turned to his mother just as Jordan lost control of himself and started laughing. “I am not driving for hours like this. If you want me to drive then he has to fly and, turning to Jordan, this guy can keep him company.”

Clark, with so little experience in driving, was still insisting on knowing why Jonathan had to use the navigation system. Jordan was insisting that if his father flew, then he would fly with him. The front wheels hadn’t actually hit the road, and everyone was fighting

Jonathan held his hands up forming a “T”. “Time out.” Turning to his father, “Dad, if there is traffic or an accident, the nav lets us know and routes us around it. It’s Thanksgiving weekend. Busiest travel time of the year. The closer we get to Metropolis, the more traffic there will be.”

“Oh.” Was Clarks response.

“And”, Jonathan continued, “put your seat belt on.”

“You know I don’t need one.” Clark replied.

“You need to put on a seat belt because if you don’t, I can get a ticket. And Mom’s rule is that whoever is driving is responsible for making sure everyone is wearing their seat belt. So put on the damn seat belt.”

Clark was not happy with his son giving him orders and Jonathan’s tone of voice had changed to one clearly showing his impatience with his father. He was hesitating to put on the seat belt.

Jonathan’s mood had been great for the last few weeks. He had managed to avoid his father or quickly escape from his comments. Now, closed into the car together, Lois could see Jonathan’s frustration starting to boil over. Jonathan got out of the car, walked around to Clark’s door, opened it, and stood staring at his father. Through his clenched jaw he said “Dad, put the seat belt on.” Clark didn’t move. Lois knew what was coming. She remembered her exact words to the boys. “If you ask someone to put on their seatbelt and they don’t do it, throw them the hell out of your car.”

Lois cried out, “No Jonathan, don’t.” But Jonathan was too fast. He grabbed his unbelted father with both hands, pulled him out of the car, and threw him up into the air and away from the car. Clark managed to stop himself in midair, but his son had clearly thrown him hard since it took him a few seconds to bring himself to a halt. Jonathan had already closed the car door and was heading back around the car to get back into the driver’s seat. Clark remained floating in the air. He had been caught off guard by his son. He kept making the mistake of seeing two little boys instead of two young men, both with Kryptonian powers, when he looked at his boys. He landed on Jonathan’s side of the car. Father and son stood almost nose to nose.

“I am not spending a few hours in this car listening to you question everything I do. I will stay home rather than let myself be tortured by you.”

Jonathan’s eyes were not glowing red, a good sign, but his voice left no doubt that he meant what he said. For the last few weeks Jonathan had let his father’s commentary roll right off him. He didn’t seem bothered by it at all. But now, the prospect of being trapped in the car with his father’s running commentary on his driving, had changed that.

“When exactly did you decide that you would be a full-time wise ass?” Clark asked his son.

There was only so far Jonathan was willing to go for the sake of family harmony. Jonathan, got right up into Clark’s face. This behavior was so unlike Jonathan when his father wasn’t around. Jordan was starting to get out of the car to get between them. Lois watched her son and his father facing off like they were mortal enemies. It was as if Jonathan gave off some signal that his father was picking up that just annoyed him immensely. “Jordan, stay where you are,” she commanded.

Lois looked over the roof of the car at her husband. “Clark, unclench your fists.” Clark looked down at his hands and seemed to be surprised that they were clenched tightly into fists. Clark’s hands relaxed. “Jonathan, get in the car.” Jonathan closed his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to let the hostility drain out of him and rubbed his itchy eyes. When he was sure that a burst of laser vision would not escape from them, he got back into the driver’s seat of the car.

Lois watched her son and realized that even though he had his heat vision under control right now, after some time in the car with his father that might change. Lois’ voice got very calm and quiet. “I can’t take any more of this. I am already exhausted. You three work out a solution amenable to all and let me know what you want to do.” She got out of the car and headed toward the house leaving the three male Kents in the car.

She made it into the house before Jonathan chased after her. Lois was just about to sit down at the kitchen table when suddenly, with a gust of wind, Jonathan was in front of her. “Mom, I’m sorry but I just can’t live my life like that. I try to ignore it but…”

Lois stopped him. “I get it Jonathan, and I know you feel badly, but I am not up to this either. I just don’t get what the problem is but there is something about you that just brings this out in him.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better, Mom?”

“Jonathan, you and your father are hardly the first father and son to have this problem, especially at this age.”

Meanwhile, outside, Jordan was upset. He got out of the car and accused his father. “You caused this. I don’t get it. Why can’t you just leave him alone?”

“He is not an experienced driver. He should be willing to take suggestions.” Clark answered.

“About where to turn the car around in the driveway or whether or not to use the nav system? Really, Dad? That’s the best you can come up with?”

Clark did not respond. Jordan suspected that his father had no answer.

“If Jon does anything well it’s driving. It’s some gene he got from the Lane side of the family that you and I don’t have. I saw him the first time he drove your truck. He just got in and drove. He knew exactly what to do.”

Jordan was starting to get himself angry. Clark started to reply “I want him to…” but Jordan cut him off.

“You want him to listen to constant unwarranted criticism thinly veiled as suggestions.” He stormed off into the house followed by his father.

When Jordan got inside the house, his mother was at the kitchen table talking to his brother.

“Jonathan, I know this isn’t your fault, but I love your father, and aside from his problems with you, he’s a pretty terrific guy. I’ll keep working on him.”

Jonathan was trapped. He didn’t want to upset his mother or disappoint his grandfather. When his father followed Jordan into the house it was plain to see that a long drive with him in the car would be a disaster. He looked up at his hostile father.

“How about I will drive Mom to Metropolis and Jordan can fly there with you? That should give everyone what they want.” He looked around the room. “Can everyone live with that?”

The three other Kents nodded.

“Good.” Lois said tersely. “Jonathan, get back in the car.”

Out of range of Clark, Jonathan was immediately back to his usual accommodating self. In the same room as his father, Jonathan didn’t give an inch with his father anymore. Lois was heartbroken about it. She didn’t want to criticize her husband in front of his sons, but Jonathan needed to know that she was aware that he was not the problem. He needed support and he needed to know he could count on her. Something had happened that had changed her son. It was almost imperceptible, but Lois could see it. Jonathan had lost trust in everyone but his brother and his mother. Lois had read Jonathan’s journal and she could pretty much pinpoint the moment it happened.

“Why didn’t you answer your father’s question?” Lois asked.

Jonathan looked surprised. “About the nav system?”

“No, Jonathan.” Lois smiled. “About when exactly you decided to become a full-time wise guy.”

“Very funny,” Jonathan answered.

“I am serious Jonathan. I read your journal. I think I know the exact moment.”

Jonathan was surprised. His mother did get it. She had seen exactly what she thought would be the breaking point.

“You’re thinking about when he and Jordan came back from flying lessons after Dad forgot about me.”

“That is exactly what I am thinking.”

“Actually, that’s not exactly the moment.”

It was Lois’ turn to be surprised. She waited for Jonathan to tell her.

“It was right after that. He thought I was overreacting. Like I was making a big deal over nothing. That’s what really hurt. I poured my heart out to him. I really needed him to help me.”

“Jonathan, I know you don’t see it, but I have talked to him endlessly about this. I don’t want you to think I am ignoring it.”

Jonathan smiled a crooked smile at his mother. “You knew I was going to throw him out of the car, didn’t you?”

“Talk about words coming back to haunt me.”

“Tell me mom, can you blame me for doing it?”

“I almost laughed when you did it. I know he can’t be hurt by a little toss is the air and, yes, he was pretty much asking for it.”

Jonathan grew serious for a moment. “Then why did you try to stop me?”

“I was afraid the fight would escalate and become physical again.” Lois paused to try to think of the right words to tell her son.

Jonathan, I know it’s hard to believe, but I swear he loves you. He is still the wonderful man I fell in love with so many years ago. He has developed this one nagging flaw. I am seeing there is no easy way to fix this, but I want you to know I do stand up for you.”

“What is his problem with me? I’m not saying that I’m the greatest kid in the world, but I am a pretty decent guy.”

Lois tried to lighten the mood. “Even if you are not the greatest kid in the world, you are at least in the top 5 percent.”

“That’s not good enough for him? He loves his little clone though. Yet all evidence available points to me being his son too, even if I don’t look anything like him.”

Jonathan let a little bit of heat flow to his eyes so that they glowed red for a moment to make his point.

“Don’t be upset with your brother about this.”

“I’m not upset with him at all. He’s my biggest supporter. He’s…..” Jonathan paused to find the right words.

“He’s in the top 5 percent of brothers,” he said echoing Lois comment.

“Try not to be too mad at your father either.”

“No way. You told me not to bury my feelings. I am good and mad at him. Maybe this is not fair but if he had been a better father, I don’t think the X-K would have happened. He was absent for 14 years and then he stole the last two years from me. You tell him I am good and mad at him and if he thinks because of an accident of birth, or because he is Superman, that I am going to lie down and take it from him, he is going to find out otherwise.”

Jonathan was getting angry and the volume and intensity of his voice was rising.

“If I ever have a son, I will NEVER treat him like this.”

So much for calming down her son. Perhaps it was better that he let it all out verbally in the car to her.

Jonathan took a deep breath.

“Okay, I’m done. You can take your nap now.”

Chapter 30: Surprise Me

Summary:

When Jonathan gets to Metropolis, he has a conversation with his grandfather and Jordan about the plane crash. He gets Jordan involved in trying to discover who wanted the plane at the bottom of the ocean but also learns something from his brother about himself and his father that is a big surprise to him.

Chapter Text

Jonathan and Lois reached Sam Lane’s house before Clark. Superman’s help was needed somewhere but he sent Jordan on ahead to Metropolis on his own. Lois went upstairs to take a quick nap while Sam Lane made lunch for his grandsons. As they sat out on the patio eating Jonathan brought up the subject of the plane crash.

“Have they figured out what happened on the plane?”

“A bomb or maybe a missile, which raises a lot of issues.”

Jonathan closed his eyes and, in his mind, replayed the minute before the explosion on the plane.

“I think I would have heard a missile and wouldn’t the damage have been different?”

“Different how?” his grandfather asked.

“The edges of the metal were all bent outward”. Jonathan paused. “If it was a missile, wouldn’t the edges be bent inward?”

“Probably so” his grandfather replied. “You can remember what the damage to the plane looked like?”

“It’s weird to explain, but yes.” Jonathan replied. I can play it in my head like a video clip.”

“Do you remember anything else out of the ordinary?”

“When I went to retrieve the body of the pilot, he had an oxygen mask that was attached to his seat. It was tangled around his head. It made me wonder can a pilot eject from a plane like that?”

Yes, but you cannot survive it at supersonic speeds. Well, the two of you could survive it but the pilot couldn’t unless the plane slowed down before he ejected.

Jordan asked “But you survived it grandpa.”

“First of all, after the explosion the plane slowed down considerably. Second you brother used my seat to brace my body in the back and used his own body to shield me in the front.” Sam turned to Jonathan.

“Wouldn’t you know if the plane had slowed down?”

I’m not sure” Jonathan replied. “I’m not used to flying in planes like that. It seemed slow the entire time.

Jordan stifled a laugh and let his brother continue.

Look at it this way. We were cruising below Mach 2. Jordan and I cruise at Mach 6 or more. If you figure Mach 6 is like 60 mph in a car, how would you feel driving down the expressway at 20 mph?”

Sam Lane understood Jonathan’s analogy. “So, you are suggesting that the pilot intended to eject himself from the plane before the explosion but something went wrong?”

“Actually, what I am suggesting is that it all went right. The pilot expected to eject from the plane but his seat was rigged not to eject. He was probably pretty low down on the food chain in whatever organization is responsible and he was considered expendable. One less witness. What went wrong is that there were survivors.”

“Someone has to go back down and get the black box.” Sam looked at his grandson Jonathan.

Jonathan shook his head. “Not me. I should be clearly seen elsewhere when the black box is retrieved. What we need is someone else who has the same skill set that I have and would do it for us.” He turned to look at his brother.

“What do you say bro? You up for a little deep-sea diving?”

“I’m not sure dad would allow me to do that?”

“You need a parental permission slip just to go swimming?” Jonathan asked.

Jordan really wanted to do this. To actually do something more meaningful than drills and also to do something as a team with his brother.

“Jordan, how many years are you going to be training until he lets you do anything?” Jon asked.

“I take it,” Sam interrupted,” that things with your father have not improved.”

Both boys laughed.

“I can’t even be in the car with him. Mom made me drive. We didn’t even get onto the street before we were going at it.”

Sam turned to Jordan. “What about you?”

“Well,” Jordan replied, “I am the clone so everything I do is fine. But Jon is right. All we do is train. I’m never allowed to actually do anything.” Jon has more saves than I do and he doesn’t even want to be Superboy.”

“Dude, you have to lose that Superboy thing. It was funny at first but it won’t be funny when your 25 or 30.”

“Let’s solve that issue later. Let’s deal with the black box. The problem is that your father thinks he is the only one who can handle these jobs or, at least doesn’t want to find out that he’s not the only one who can do them. Especially if it’s his two teenaged sons who could do it.”

Jon was skeptical. “You really think so? I am as strong and as fast as he is and he knows it.”

Jordan replied hesitantly. “Not exactly Jon.”

I’m not as strong as he is?

Sam Lane and Jonathan Kent looked toward Jordan with comically similar expressions.

“Bro, I hate to tell you this but you are actually stronger than dad. I thought you knew.”

Jon was not ready to hear this. “How do you know that?”

“I asked our grandmother one day how strong I was compared to dad. She said my powers were still growing but dad was at his max. She said if he’s a 10, I was an 8.”

Jordan hesitated for a moment and then continued.

“I asked if your powers were still growing and she said not as fast as mine were because you were already near your max. On the same scale with dad at 10, you are a 12.”

Jonathan thought about the ramification of what he was hearing. “Does Dad know this?”

“He sure does” Jordan replied.

“He talked to you about it?” Jon asked.

“No way, I asked grandma if Dad knew. She said he had asked and she had told him.”

Jonathan sat and pondered the significance of this news. He didn’t really care about being stronger, he was thinking more about the significance of his father knowing that he was stronger and what effect that might have had on their relationship, but he couldn’t work on both problems at once. He turned his attention back to the original issue.

“Jordan, I will tell you exactly where the plane is. Just dive in the water right off the coast, and swim down to the plane. Grandpa can tell you where the black box is. Then swim underwater back to the shore where you started.”

Jonathan turned to his grandfather. “Happy Birthday Grandpa. I’m taking you out to lunch today. Just the two of us. A nice place. Somewhere where we’ll be seen.”
_______________________________________________

When Sam and Jonathan got back from lunch Jordan was sitting in his grandfather’s study playing a video game. When they saw him, he glanced over to a backpack on his grandfather’s desk looking very pleased with himself.

“Great job Jordan”. Sam Lane told his grandson as he picked up the back pack and headed out to his car.

“I was beginning to feel useless” Jordan said to his brother.

“If you don’t want to be sidelined then we should make a quick trip to the fortress. If we leave now, we can be back in plenty of time for dinner. We need the special clothes our grandmother made for us.”

___________________________________________
The trip to the fortress with his brother was just the kind of thing Jonathan liked to do. Their grandmother had them try on the clothes she had manufactured for them and gave them instruction on all the features built into them.

Jordan couldn’t wait to try his out and left for home while Jonathan stayed behind to do some research and talk to his grandmother about his grandfather Jor-El. Jor-El had been a brilliant scientist. He was intensely proud of the accomplishments of the House of El and of Kryptonian culture. Jonathan related to his grandmother that there was a streak of that in his own father and wondered how the two of them would have gotten along.

“Don’t forget, your father spent years alone with Jor-El’s AI wandering the galaxy and being taught by him. Jor-El insisted on it. It should be not surprise if some of Jor-El wore off onto Kal-El.”

Jonathan voiced something that he had suppressed for a long time. “He left his widowed mother alone to do that.”

“You would not have done that, would you?”

“I honestly don’t think so”.

“You and your father are very different men and Jor-El was a powerful personality. Your father had just lost his human father and maybe was feeling a bit lost. He didn’t’ know anyone else like himself at that time. There was no one else who could tell him about himself.”

Jonathan stared off into empty space for a moment. Lara could tell he was accessing some memory and viewing it. “I can remember meeting Jor-El when I was a toddler. It was the only time. It was very different than when I met you. He was not like you.”

“Unless you showed some great promise that would bring glory to the House of El, he would not have been that interested in a half Kryptonian grandson. In addition, he expected everyone to do exactly as he instructed them, especially his offspring. You are not so pliable. You would have been a great disappointment to him.”

“I think I tend a bit more to the House of Lane,” Jonathan answered with a guilty grin.

“I agree, you are not easily led. However, from the Lane family you have a unique way of seeing the world around you. Even if your brother surpassed you in raw intelligence, you have some kind of unconscious ability to see patterns in data where others see only random information. You can somehow differentiate between what is relevant and important and what should be ignored. You would make a good scientist.” Lara smiled. “IF that if what you choose to do.”

Jonathan chatted a bit more with his grandmother before he left the fortress. While Jordan had headed right back to Metropolis, Jonathan had stops to make on his way back.

Chapter 31: The Wit and Wisdom of Jon-El

Summary:

Jonathan visits Jon-El again for a chat. His unique insight into Jon-El's world during the aborted merge may help him hold up a mirror to his own world.

Chapter Text

From the fortress Jonathan headed straight for the DoD facility outside of Smallville where Jon-El was held.

When he got to the glass cell, Jon-El was sitting on a recliner with a book of crossword puzzles on his lap.

Jon-El jumped up when he saw Jon. A smile slipped out before Jon-El could stop it. He was glad to have company and glad it was Jon.

Jon opened the glass door and jumped up onto the yellow sun platform. The promise to Jonathan had been kept. Jon-El also had video games and an entire bookcase full of books.

Jon asked Jon-El “What are you working on there, tough guy?”

Jon-El tried to quickly hide the crossword puzzle book he had been working on, but Jonathan used his superspeed and the book was in Jonathan’s hands before Jon-El had barely started to move.

Jonathan flipped through the book. Jon-El had already finished over half of the puzzles. Jonathan looked up from the book with a self-satisfied smile. Jonathan loved crossword puzzles. It was his guilty pleasure but at first It didn’t seem like something that Jon-El would want to do. But Jon had a feeling once Jon-El started, he would get hooked. It was kind of eerie that Jon had been so right. Jon-El was much smarter academically than he let on. Academics was not part of the image Jon-El liked to project.

During the aborted merge, Jonathan had a unique glimpse into Jon-El’s psyche. For a few moments they had shared memories and emotions. They experienced each other’s lives. Jonathan knew Jon-El was much more like him that even Jon-El would want to admit. As Jon sat in the chair opposite Jon-El he saw the two of them reflected in the glass surrounding them. In profile, they looked even more alike.

“So how goes it with your dad?” Jon-El asked. Jon-El had a way of making anything he said sound like a taunt.

Jon hesitated before responding and Jon-El picked up on it right away.

“What happened? Come on, you know you can’t hide it from me.”

“He took a swing at me and I knocked him out.” Jon responded.

Jon-El’s face showed his delight. “I know how good that feels. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“It was self-defense”.

Jon-El smiled with satisfaction. “I hope you beat the bastard to a pulp.”

“Beating someone to a pulp is not exactly my style.”

“You’re such a boy scout.” Jon-El laughed.

“True, but then of course, I get to go back out there, and you have to stay in here.”

Jon-El became thoughtful for a moment. “You know after everything that has happened to me, it’s kind of peaceful in here. I never had that in my life. It’s nice to be left alone.”

Jonathan noticed that Jon-El was back to full eye makeup. “I see they replenished your stock of eyeliner”.

Jon-El looked at the two of them reflected in the glass wall. “When I look at you it’s weird to see me without eye makeup.”

“You and your brother must have spent a fortune on eye liner.”

Jon-El responded with the taunt back in his voice, “What’s the hoodie budget for the Kent family?”

Jon looked down at the hoodie he was wearing and laughed. Jon-El had a point.

There was a lull in the conversation. Jon-El could read on Jon’s face that there was something Jon wanted to ask him.

“I don’t know how you did it. The guy who runs this place hates my gut but suddenly I’ve got these upgrades to my cell. Just tell me what you want to know.”

“What happened between you and your father?”

Jon-El shook his head. “He never saw me as a son. Before my powers I was more of a fashion accessory. After my powers he wanted to completely take over my life. We had a parting of the ways. I couldn’t take him as a father anymore.” Jon-El told him.

“I tried to fire mine as a father for incompetence. He didn’t like that at all.”

“You hit him in his most vulnerable spot, his ego.” Jon-El retorted. “My father hated that I became more popular than him after I went public. I was younger, cooler had a bit more charisma. I started to get all the attention. He hated that.”

Jonathan nodded. “During the merge I could feel your anger and your frustration but most of all your isolation.”

“I thought I was going to complete myself by merging with you and that would make me happy.” Jon-El had no pride or arrogance in his voice as he said it.”

“I had my brother,” Jonathan replied. “I was never alone.”

“My life was so out of control. I was desperate. I didn’t know how to fix myself. I tried, but in that world, it didn’t seem like there was another way. Ally Alston made me feel like I mattered. She made me feel like I belonged to something important. She gave me hope, although it turned out to be false hope. The whole thing was an illusion conjured up by her.”

Jon-El thought for a moment and then asked. “The older woman with the grey hair that I saw in your memories—you spent a lot of time with her. I could feel how great she made you feel. Who was she?”

“I forgot. There were no Kents in your world. That was my grandmother, Martha Kent. She made a huge difference in my life. She prepared me for what was coming.” Jonathan smiled sadly. “She made a difference for a lot of people.”

“I was important to Jordan-El. He was a total dork,” Jon-El smiled an actual warm smile at the thought, ”but he loved me more than anyone else in my world did.” Jon-El’s eyes were shining, making them look even bluer than they normally looked. “The cynicism that protected me from my father kept my brother out also.” Jon-El shrugged. “I have regrets.”

“I could ask my brother to come visit you?”

Jon-El laughed. “Not if he beats me to a pulp. He made it pretty clear he was more than capable of doing it.”

“He is, but I think I can get him to go easy on you.”

“He an interesting guy. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.”

Jonathan glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get going.”

“Listen, before you go,” Jon-El hesitated as though he was forcing the words out.

“I don’t miss anything about my old life except my brother.”

“Don’t worry. Jordan will come.”

Jonathan smiled and with a small gust of wind suddenly vanished leaving Jon-El with his thoughts.

Just outside Smallville he made a quick stop at the farm to get Jon-El’s leather jacket. It was a cool night and he should be wearing some kind of coat. Just before he took to the air again, he stood in front of the tire swing and peered down into the ground at the remains of Jor-El’ AI crystal buried there.

Chapter 32: Excellent

Summary:

The Kent family manages dinner out without incident. Jonthan shows Jordan a prediction about their father's behavior toward him.

Chapter Text

Dinner out with his family for his grandfather’s birthday was interesting for Jonathan. Sam insisted on having one grandson on either side of him and Lois right across from him. Jonathan had the impression that Sam would have liked to have Clark seated out in the parking lot. There are some kinds of cold that even Superman can feel. Jonathan wore Jon-El’s leather jacket to the restaurant. The jacket seemed to bother Clark but one look from Lois stopped anything he had to say. Even Jordan had to admit that his brother looked a bit more “dangerous” in the jacket. In spite of Jon-El’s jacket, all of the Kents and Lanes managed to behave themselves for an entire meal.

When the family returned to Sam Lane’s house, he called the boys into his study for a quick update on the plane crash. The flight recorder had revealed that the pilot had only broken the sound barrier for a short period of time before he started to slowly decrease his speed. Somewhere around 500 mph he had engaged autopilot and tried to eject from the plane. However, the eject sequence failed because the clear canopy above the pilot failed to detach from the body of the plane. Without the canopy blown away from the plane, the ejection of the pilot was halted. Shortly after that came the explosion.

Both boys started to talk at the same time but the general held up his hand.

“We know. There is an intense investigation of the pilot going on as we speak. He didn’t do this on his own and he had some plans for the future that hopefully we can discover. As soon as I know more, we can talk again. Let’s get back out to your family before they notice that the three of us are missing.”

Jonathan went straight up to bed. When Jordan eventually followed his brother upstairs to their room, he found Jon studying a graph on his computer.

“Busted computer boy. Who’s the nerd now?”

Jon was too focused on his graph and didn’t even acknowledge the insult. Jordan, wondering what had his brother so focused on his computer screen leaned down next to him and looked at the graph. Jon turned to his brother. “Something grandma said to me at the fortress today gave me the idea.” This thick line is the state of my relationship with dad.”

“You’re kidding, right? You keep a graph of that?”

“I sort of had one in my head but not a real graph until today. I used the journal I’ve been keeping as a gauge.”

“I get it. What are the other lines on the graph?”

Jordan listened as his brother launched into an explanation of what sounded like a research project or a science experiment.

“This is the trailing number of days I’ve spent in the same location with dad in the prior 5 days, this is my distance from home and this is dad’s distance from home each day. This is the estimated number of hours I’ve spent each day face to face with him each day and this is the estimated tweaking level for that day. The X axis is each day since grandma died.”

“Tweaking level?”

“How much I purposely tweaked dad to let off some of my own frustration with him.”

“Interesting, what are you looking to do?”

“Predict what will happen if dad and I are locked in the car together on our own while I drive him home.”

“You cannot be serious. You need a graph for that?”

“I think I do, and I predict we will be okay in the car together.”

Jordan laughed. “Based on what?”

“This little beauty of a graph tells me what data has an effect on our relationship, and what data has no effect. The great thing about the graph is that it has no idea of what this data means so there is less confirmation bias. I won’t tend toward preconceived conclusions. It can only tell me correlation.”

“Is the graph talking to you now?” Jordan asked doubtfully.

“Dude, it’s pretty much screaming at me.”

Jon tapped on the keyboard for a few seconds.

“Here is the level of correlation of each factor to the state of relationship line. It tells me that I have identified two different factors at work. One has some effect and the other has a big effect. That’s what had me confused. The others are irrelevant.”

Jordan could see exactly what his brother was talking about.

Jon tapped the keyboard again.

“Here I add in projected future levels for the various factors and let it mathematically calculate a projected state of my relationship with dad. I can actually use this slider here to vary tweaking level since that is most easily controllable factor and frankly the most fun.”

Jonathan turned to his brother to make sure he understood what he was explaining.

“In spite of what you might expect, even with a fairly high level of tweaking the ride home should proceed without a dad explosion.”

Jordan studied the graph. He easily grasped what his brother was showing him. “But, based on this, even with a low level of tweaking, Thanksgiving dinner should be another explosion.”

“Kaboom” Jon replied.

“No way to avoid or it?”

“Not be there.”

_____________________________________________________

Lois and Clark stayed up for a glass of wine together before they went to bed. “Why is he wearing that jacket?” Clark asked. Clark was more mystified than annoyed.

“I kind of like the jacket. It was handmade to fit Jon-El from the most beautiful black leather I have ever seen. I saw Jordan try it on once. Normally they can wear each other’s clothes but the jacket just didn’t fit him right.”

“It bothers me when he wears it. Does he aspire to be like Jon-El?”

“Clark, you know better than that.” Clark still looked disturbed about the jacket. Lois cuddled in closer next to Clark.

“Maybe you should try to figure out why it bothers you so much when you see him wearing it.”

________________________________________

Chapter 33: Travels with Clark

Summary:

Clark and Jonathan are alone in the car for the long drive back to Smallville. Jonathan has to find out if he is correct about his father's behavior and, if the moment seems right, express his feelings to his father.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the four Kents stood in the driveway of the Lane house. The car was completely packed and the issue they had been ignoring had to be resolved now. Jonathan startled everyone with a question.

“Mom, have you ever flown with Jordan?”

Lois knew right away that something was up.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then how about Jordan flies you home and I’ll drive dad home?”

There was a moment of dead silence until Lois recovered from the surprise of her son’s suggestion.

“You are going to drive your father home? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Jonathan turned to his father with a bright smile. “We can do it, right Dad?”

Clark was wary but he had bigger issues. “I don’t think your brother should be flying your mom anywhere yet.”

“Don’t be silly Dad. He’s certified by your mother and he flew me to the fortress and back. This is a far shorter ride.”

Clark was still uneasy. “He had a carrier and gauges to guide him.”

“The carrier and gauges are here in grandpa’s garage and Jordan already has experience using them.” Jonathan turned to his mother. “Unless mom, are you uncomfortable with Jordan flying you home?”

“No, I think that would be nice. I don’t have a problem with it.”

He turned to his brother. “Jordan, you’re good with that?”

“Absolutely” his brother replied.

The twins moved the carrier out to the trees in the back yard. Lois climbed in and let her son lift her up. Jonathan could tell that she was eager to have Jordan fly her. He watched his father. He could see the mixed emotions on his face as Jordan gently took to the sky carrying Lois.

“Dad, did you see how mom looked at Jordan. I hope she doesn’t burst with pride on the way home. Her little Jordie is taking her flying.”

Clark gave his son an annoyed look. Jonathan smiled back sunnily at him.

“Let’s go dad, we have a long ride.”

Jonathan and Clark drove the first hour in complete silence. No radio and no conversation. Clark kept looking over at Jonathan waiting for something to happen. His son had clearly arranged this so there had to be a purpose. If his son had seemed mad at him, he could have ridden out the silence but Jonathan seemed perfectly happy driving in silence. Finally, he gave in.

“Jonathan.”

“Dad?”

There was more silence while Clark tried to figure out what to ask.

Jonathan, did you want to talk to me about something?

Yes. I did.

Did you have a question, son?

Your father’s AI kept you away from Smallville when you were not much older than I am now, didn’t he?

Yes. It was to train me and teach me about Kryptonian culture and knowledge.

Are you going to make me leave mom and go on a journey like that?

Clark was shocked. “Jonathan, you should know I would never separate you from your mother like that. It would devastate her.”

“Was your mother devastated when you left? It wasn’t that long after your father died.”

“That was different.”

Jonathan let the silence grow heavy in the car.

Clark tried to fill the void with a further explanation. “There were things I needed to learn, that he needed to teach me. It was knowledge that should not disappear.”

“Could you teach it to me at the fortress like Lara does?”

Clark was flattered that Jonathan would ask him to do that. “Yes, I think she is already teaching it to you.”

“But I can still come home. Why couldn’t you go back home to your mother while you were learning from Jor-El?”

“That was different,” Clark replied.

“Would you have stayed in Smallville if your human father had still been alive?”

“He would not have let me go away like that or at least done everything he could to prevent it.”

This was the moment that Jonathan needed to find out if he was correct about his father.

“Do you think Jor-El killed Jonathan Kent because he would have prevented you from leaving?”

“Jonathan, what kind of question is that?” Clark seemed more hurt than angry. Jonathan went just a bit further.

“Would he have valued a human life over what he saw as your destiny?”

The reality is that Clark did not know the answer to his son’s question. There were nagging doubts that he had pushed to the back of his mind. Clark found it disturbing that Jon had asked the question but, with all Jon’s experience with Kryptonians, it was a fair question. Clark responded, but it was a clear dodge of the issue.

“I don’t know that I can answer that, son.”

Jonathan returned to his silent self and the silence in the car grew heavy to Clark. He knew how close Jonathan had been with Martha Kent and now his son apparently felt he had abandoned her and even worse, that his Kryptonian grandfather might have done something to do with his human father’s death. It was good to have an honest and calm conversation with Jonathan even if the topics were sensitive ones but this was not at all what he had expected. Clark labored to restart and redirect the conversation with his son. The silence was tough to handle.

“Why no music? I thought that was an essential part of a road trip for you?”

Jonathan knew he had pushed his father hard but there was no explosion. He was fine with the change of subject and tone. However, there was one subject he wanted to broach as long as he knew his father could handle it.

“Dad, even Jordan and I fight about what music to play. You and I could make it into a galactic battle. I thought better to do without it and avoid the fight. Besides, the sound system in this car is not that great.”

“What’s wrong with the sound system in this car?

That made Jonathan smile. “Dad, you and I do not have much in common. If it weren’t for the powers, I would wonder if I was really your son. Fortunately, you have a little clone who wants to be exactly like you but for some reason you are holding him back. Lots of training but no on the job experience. No internship. I wonder if you don’t like sharing the spotlight.”

“That is a horrible thing to say. I am your father.”

Jonathan could sense that he had really hurt his father this time. However, the point was there was no explosion of anger and he had made his point about his brother. It was enough. Jonathan turned to his father with a smile.

“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”

There was a little smile on Clark’s face he was trying to suppress. “You’re making fun of me.”

“The Kessel Run Dad. Really? You and Jordan really are like geek clones.”

“I will try to be less geeky for you.”

“Do or do not. There is no try.” Jonathan intoned to his father in his most serious voice.

“Jonathan! Stop doing that.” His son had him laughing at himself. The level of tension in the car dropped.

“You know son, I never understood that line. What happened to “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

“It means that failure to commit fully is the fastest path to failure.”

Clark turned to his son in surprise. “More movie wisdom?”

“No. I had to figure that one out myself.”

Clark pondered the fact that now that there was no audience, he and Jonathan were not fighting. Was that the secret to fixing his relationship with Jonathan?

“How did you know we would be okay in the car together unsupervised?” he asked his son.

Jonathan knew this was not the moment for that discussion so he deflected his father’s question for the moment to something he badly wanted to discuss with his father.

“We have to accept that we’re gonna fight dad. It’s okay to disagree. I am going to do things differently than you do. I am not being disrespectful or trying to invalidate your own life.”

“Sometimes it feels like you are.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of pack dominance instinct or maybe it’s some Kryptonian herd instinct. This house of El worship that Jor-El imprinted on you. All that pride, I don’t think it’s healthy.”

“Lately you always manage to surprise me. When I finally got to know you, you were not who I expected you to be.” Jon was surprised to hear his father admit this. He decided to make an admission of his own.

“I once wanted so badly for you to be proud of me. Sons look for the smallest bit of praise from their fathers. Every bit of criticism stings. It’s a power that needs to be wielded carefully.”

Clark had not been allowed to see his son’s journal, but from what Lois had related to him about it he knew he had made mistakes with Jon that had hurt him. He tried to find something to say to him that was honest and would undo some of the damage.

“I saw a video of you sparring with a hologram at the fortress. Your grandmother says you are too fast for anything mechanical. You were always such a talented athlete. When I saw you practicing Kryptonian martial arts, I asked why does he need to do that, he is so fast and so strong already? But your grandmother explained that you need some kind of athletic activity and, most of all, you need the challenge.”

Jon had not known. “You saw me practicing?”

“You were very impressive and, to be honest, at bit intimidating.”

“That was never my intention.”

“I know that son but this was right after you knocked me out. I think your grandmother was trying to warn me not to challenge you that way again.”

Jonathan glanced quickly at his father. “Fathers and sons should not intimidate each other.”

Clark didn’t respond but Jonathan needed him to understand that this was not a competition. He pulled off the Kansas backroad he was driving on and stopped the car on the shoulder.

“No one wins a fight like that. The best I can do is not lose. You think I have you boxed in but the reality is you have me boxed in. No matter what I do, I lose something. I need you to understand that this is not a competition. We are on the same side. I am just trying to stop the fighting the best way I can.”

Jonathan held his father’s gaze for a moment then threw the car back into gear and drove back onto the road.

They drove on in silence. Jonathan had finally had his chance to talk to his father without it turning into a brawl. He was pretty sure it was just a lull in his battle with his father but at least he got to tell him what he was feeling. He was playing the long game. The things he needed his father to understand were not for the next few days. It was for what came after that.

Chapter 34: In Dubious Battle

Summary:

Jon thought he had the Thanksgiving dinner problem under control, but a well-meaning change of plans has the night teetering on the verge of mayhem.

Chapter Text

A few nights later at dinner Lois announced that since Thanksgiving was the next Thursday, each of her sons could invite one guest. Jordan immediately informed her that Sarah didn’t want her father to be alone for the holiday so she was spending it with Mr. Cushing.

Jonathan looked around the table in surprise. “I’m not going to be here for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“What do you mean not here? Where do you intend to be? his father demanded.

“I am volunteering at the senior citizen center to serve Thanksgiving dinner.”

Clark was turning into his surly self with Jonathan. “You should be home with your family for Thanksgiving dinner!”

“I already committed to this. They need volunteers. You are always talking about helping people. You save their bodies but I will be saving them from feeling alone.”

“Don’t you think you should have told us about this before tonight?”

Jonathan was careful to keep his voice neutral, no annoyance. “I did tell you. I said not to expect me home for dinner unless I specifically said I would be here. I’ve stuck to that.”

“But not for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“I don’t recall making an exception for Thanksgiving dinner.”

Clark had told Lois that the ride home from Metropolis with Jonathan had gone smoothly. Lois wanted that to continue. She did not want Thanksgiving dinner to be a stumbling block.

“Jon, what time do you have to be at the senior center?”

“From 4pm to 6pm.”

“I admire what you are doing. We can change our 4:30pm dinner to 6:30pm to accommodate you. You can do both.”

This was not good Jonathan thought. He thought he had taken care of a Thanksgiving Day explosion but now it was back to haunt him.

“Is there someone you want to invite? We have room for one more person.”

“No mom. There is no one I want to invite.”

Jordan jumped right in. “Jon, let me invite Mr. Cushing as your guest. Then Sarah can come.

Jonathan shrugged. He could hardly say no.

“Dude” Jordan enthused. “Best brother in the world.”

The problem was that Clark and Mr. Cushing did not really get along. Having him at Thanksgiving dinner with Jonathan also at the table just upped the chance of the explosion happening while their guests were in the house. One moment he had the situation completely under control and the next minute it went to bad, and then to even worse. It was, Jon thought, the story of his life.

Jordan knew right away something was wrong. He didn’t think Jonathan would mind being at Thanksgiving dinner after successful car trip with their father. Changing the time of the dinner and inviting Mr. Cushing had done something. When Jon went up to his room Jordan followed.

“What just happened down there? You look like you’re the one having an anxiety attack.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be here. That’s how I was going to avoid the Thanksgiving Day explosion. Let it happen Friday when no one is here.”

“Dad said you guys were fine in the car. You had a real good talk.”

“What happened in the car is irrelevant. It was just the timing that made it go well. There is going to be an explosion on Thursday if I am here.”

“So go downstairs, piss him off and let the explosion happen now. You know you can fight him off.”

“He’s not ready to explode. He’s just irritable now. He’ll be ready to explode Thursday afternoon. I was trying to delay it until Thursday after everyone went home or until Friday. It’s harder to control the situation with a house full of people.”

“Can’t you just remove whatever the irritant is before Thursday?”

“No, I need to know for sure that I’ve got it right before I act.”

Normally Jon was completely open with his brother, but he was clearly being purposely obscure for some reason. “Obviously, you are not going to tell me more.”

“If anyone else knows it throws too many variables into the equation and I won’t know for sure.”

“It sounds like you are experimenting with our family?”

Jon did not answer.

“Okay, I trust you, but you are one scary dude and it has nothing to do with being able to incinerate things with a glance.”

 

By Thursday Jonathan had considered taking pre-emptive action but if he got it wrong it could misfire and happen at dinner anyway. He couldn’t come up with an excuse to miss the holiday dinner. If he said his truck broke down his father would just tell him to fly home. A bad fall or broken bone would hardly be believed. It was the downside of invulnerability.

When the Kents and their guests sat down for dinner Clark made his usual request that everyone talk about something they are thankful for. The only person who hated that more than Jonathan was Sam Lane. Last year Jonathan had said it was too personal and wouldn’t do it. His grandfather backed him up but his father was furious. This year Jonathan was just going to go along with his father. As they went around the table Sam Lane nudged his grandson Jonathan as each person said something trite about what they were thankful for. Jordan had mumbled something about family and friends that had already been said a few times already. When it came to Jonathan’s turn, Lois turned to him and asked “Is it too personal?” She was trying to avoid getting Jonathan upset but he could hear his father’s heartbeat speed up as soon as Lois asked the question.

“Yes, it’s personal but I’ll do it for dad if that’s what he wants.”

Clark glared at him and nodded.

“I won’t list the reasons for this because there are many and the food is getting cold. I am thankful for having Jordan as my brother and best friend, especially this year.”

Lois smiled, “Jonathan, that is so sweet.”

Jordan announced to the entire table, “He’s only saying that so he can look better than me.”

Jonathan shrugged. “Bro, you had your chance at greatness at Thanksgiving and you passed on it.”

It probably happened because Jordan was so giddy about having Sarah at Thanksgiving dinner with his family, but he made a mistake. He turned to his brother.

“I thought it was understood that we were just going to say anything and get right to the food.”

It was apparent to everyone at the table that this was some good-natured kidding between the brothers. The good-natured part ended when Clark’s voice was just a bit loud when he spoke to his son.

“Is that what you think this is about Jonathan?”

Jon realized he was trapped. No matter whether he argued with his father that he had taken the pre-dinner ritual seriously, or just sat mute, he was in trouble.

Jordan immediately came down from his “Sarah high” and tried to fix the situation he had caused.

“No dad, I was the……..”

Clark didn’t want to hear it.

“Jordan, I am not talking to you right now. I am talking to your brother.”

It happened so quickly that only Jonathan and Jordan were capable of seeing it. Clark’s eyes, just for a fraction of a second, flashed red. Jonathan shook his head very slightly to his brother to let him know to drop it. He turned to his father and did his best to defuse the moment but by now everyone had stopped talking and was watching either him or his father.

“Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I did my best.”

Lois, Jordan and Sam realized the seriousness of the situation. Jon was apologizing to his father for something that he didn’t do. When Jonathan looked at his mother, she saw fear in his eyes. Not for himself. Clark couldn’t hurt him. It was fear for the consequences of Clark blowing up in front of their guests. She acted quickly.

“Jonathan and Jordan, come help me in the kitchen so we can start serving dinner.”

Jon stopped in the kitchen for just a moment.

“Jordan, go catch Sarah’s attention and get her to come help serve. Mom, if dad comes in here looking for me just tell him I was upset and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Jonathan?” Lois was feeling her son’s anxiety.

“Please, just do it.”

Jonathan walked out the back door into the yard. From where he was sitting Kyle Cushing could see Jonathan leave the house. He excused himself and went through the kitchen and out into the yard.

“Why didn’t you stick up for yourself?” I’ve never seen you show fear like that.”

Jonathan just shook his head but Kyle needed an answer.

“What happened that made you so afraid of him?” Kyle demanded.

“I’m okay Mr. Cushing, I swear.”

“I overheard Sarah talking to your brother. Did your father hit you?”

Jonathan gave a weak smile. “No sir. I blocked it and hit him back. I can handle this.”

“The point is that you should not have to handle this. I am calling the Olowes. You are leaving with me tonight and spending the night at their house.”

“It really means a lot to me that you are trying to protect me, but it’s not the right move for this moment.”

“Half of the town is worried about you. You don’t realize that some of the hostility that came your way since the moment you moved here is really blow back from everyone’s hostility to your father.”

Jonathan’s mind raced. He replayed two years of misery through the lens of that little nugget of information. It all made sense.

“Why my father?”

Kyle Cushing hesitated. He didn’t know if Jonathan knew.

“After your grandfather died your father left your grandmother all alone on this farm. We didn’t see him for more than a year. Even when he re-appeared in Metropolis, he never really visited your grandmother very much. Your own mother came more often than he did. Martha Kent deserved better treatment than that. I owe it to her to watch out for you like she watched out for me when my mother died. In the dark Jonathan could see the earnestness on Kyle Cushing’s face.

“Let’s go back in and see how the rest of the night goes. When you are ready to leave, we can talk.”

“Fine but I’m not leaving you here. Tell me honestly, do I need to take Jordan too?”

“No. Jordan is fine. It’s just me. You saw that.”

“You won’t have to go to foster care. The Olowe’s already are committed to taking you in.”

Mr. Cushing turned and walked back into the house. Jonathan stood in the dark yard wondering if during her last days Martha Kent had extracted a promise from Kyle Cushing to watch out for him. Maybe from Mrs. Olowe also. His grandmother knew.

What was needed that night was an emergency to call Clark away for a short while. Jon could not remember a Thanksgiving dinner when his father didn’t get called away. It wasn’t until desert was being served that Jon finally heard an emergency Jordan heard it and fortunately so did Clark. Jonathan shook his head slightly to Jordan to signal him not to go with his father. Without help Clark would be absent for a longer period.

As soon as Clark slipped out of the house, Jonathan slipped out into the yard. He lasered the flood lights on the side of the house where the tire swing hung from a tree leaving that side of the house in the dark. Jordan would be the only one who would be able to see him in the dark and at the speed he was moving.

It only took a few seconds for him to dig up the remains of Jor-El’s crystal and put them in a lead box. The lead box went into Sam Lane’s truck. Jordan was a bit wide eyed when Jonathan was back in the house less than a minute after Mr. Cushing had returned to the table. As soon as Sam saw Jonathan back in the house, he announced he had an emergency and had to leave right away. He kissed a perplexed Lois and then hugged a suspicious Jordan and a relieved Jonathan. By the time Clark slipped back into the house Sam was on the road for almost an hour. Jonathan figured the clock started ticking as soon as Clark left the farm so he had over an hour without close contact with the crystals. Lois told her guests that Clark had fallen asleep upstairs. It had been a long day for him and he was exhausted.

Jonathan had to deal with Mr. Cushing who would not leave without him. Since Kyle had noticed that Clark was missing, Jonathan told him his father rarely drank and he was probably sleeping off his wine in the barn. Jon would be fine in his own bed that night. That left Jordan.

As soon as all the guests had left the house, Jonathan told his brother what happened. Jon had waited until they were back from Metropolis for enough time for the crystals buried on the farm to reach maximum effect on their father. Then once their father exploded, he would separate Clark and the crystals to see if the effect wore off. He had decided not to wait for the big explosion. The little one at dinner was enough. They would have to see how Clark was behaving when he returned and over the next day or two. The remains of the crystal were on the way to Metropolis as they were speaking.

Jon didn’t want to have close contact with his father until the effects of the crystals had worn off more. He wasn’t tired but he was emotionally drained. He wanted to get into his bed and let his mind drift away to more pleasant subject matter than his father. He decided to sleep in the loft of the barn. Lois was exhausted from the evening but before she got into bed, even though she knew he would not be cold in the unheated barn, she gave Jonathan a blanket,. She was right. It was comforting to get under the blanket even if he wasn’t cold.

Jordan waited up for his father. When Clark finally returned the first thing he asked was where was Jonathan. Jordan didn’t answer but Clark could hear his son’s heartbeat out in the barn.

“Dad, let him be for now. You are better off talking to him tomorrow morning after both of you have time to decompress.”

Clark left Jordan sitting in the living room wondering why it was always his brother that had to carry the family burdens. They had taken care of the problems at school. Now Jon had to take care of the
problems at home with their father.

Chapter 35: The Wayward Son

Summary:

Jonathan is finally satisfied that he is right about the cause of his father's outbursts and reluctantly takes action to put a stop to them.

Chapter Text

Friday morning a group of staff and volunteers from the senior center were set to play touch football on the village green in the center of Smallville. Justin was playing his usual quarterback for the opposing team. Justin was a great quarterback but not as good at choosing his team. Jonathan had some better players but he had one player Justin overlooked as too old in Justin’s young eyes. Kyle Cushing had great hands. Maybe his legs were not quite as fast as when he was 18 years old and playing for the Crows, but his hands hadn’t aged a day. Jon’s deadly passing arm, coupled with Mr. Cushing’s sticky hands allowed Jon’s team to win. The best part of the game was that Jon ended up completely covered in mud, head to toe, by the time the game ended. He opted to ride home in the bed of his truck while Jordan drove, rather than get mud inside the cab.

When he got home his mother met him at the door with clean clothes and walked him out to the barn to shower. Jordan hooked up a hose and blasted most of the mud off his brother before Jon turned on the shower. The cold shower in the freezing barn didn’t bother him at all. It was early in the afternoon when Jon put on a pair of gym shorts and laid down in a patch of sunlight that was streaming into the loft. It was just strong enough at this time of the year for a pleasant and relaxing feeling. Jon had discovered a good substitute for the hot shower that he could not feel anymore.

Clark knew Jon was home and expected him back in the house after he had cleaned himself up. He could hear his son’s heartbeat coming from the barn. It was slow and relaxed. Jon was either sleeping, unlikely at this time of day, or just relaxing and letting him mind wander.

Clark wanted to talk to Jonathan and his impatience was showing. He paced the living room floor.

“Why is he still out in the barn Lois?”

“You lived in the barn for most of high school. Why did you stay in the barn?”

Clark hated to give the answer. “To get some privacy and get away from my parents. Well, really my father mostly.”

“Does that answer your question?” Lois responded.

This is different. Until last night he always slept in either his room or in the other bed in Jordan’s room.

“He’ll come in eventually. Be patient.”

Jonathan relaxed in the barn for an hour. He had a great time playing football that morning and lying in the sun in the loft of the barn was extending his good time. He knew it wouldn’t last. He wanted to see if his father would come to him and he didn’t want an audience when he spoke to him.

After an hour of pacing Lois suggested to Clark that he either sit down or go see Jonathan in the barn. He found him lying in the sun, on his back in his gym shorts using a feed bag as a pillow. Clark had not taken a good look at Jonathan in a long time. He stopped at the top of the steps to the loft and watched his son. Jonathan was not one for walking around the house bare chested and, because of his fair skin, had not in the past gone outside in the sun without a shirt. Of course, now he would never get sunburned again and. he wasn’t in the house so he was comfortable exposing some extra skin to enjoy some solar absorption.

It occurred to Clark that the last time he had seen Jonathan wearing only gym shorts he was 14 years old. Now he was past 16 years old. He wasn’t looking at a boy any more. The son lying on the floor of the loft was a young man. How could he have missed that happening right in front of him? It gave him an emotional jolt to realize that his boys were not boys anymore.

Clark knew that his son could detect his presence in the barn but Jonathan kept his eyes closed and didn’t move. Clark walked over to where his son was lying and sat down on the floor facing him.

Jonathan, you know I am here. Are you ignoring me?

Jonathan’s eyes remained closed but he smiled.

“If I ignore you is there any chance you’ll go away?”

His son was not giving off a hostile vibe at all. He was smiling and best of all he seemed totally relaxed. “No, Jonathan. No chance. You and I need to talk.”

Jonathan effortlessly sat up and spun himself around so that he was leaning against the hayloft door frame and facing his father.

“Son, about last night…..” Clark came to an abrupt halt unsure of where to start.

“What about last night?” Jonathan asked.

Something went very wrong right from the beginning. I know you said you were thankful for your brother but it seemed like you were just paying lip service to the Kent family tradition of everyone expressing what they are thankful for. It really bothered me. Then suddenly I realized that everyone was staring at me and you looked scared. You practically ran out of the room and the rest of the dinner was so awkward, even when you came back in. Was I that bad at dinner?

No, dad. You weren’t that bad. You were teetering on “that bad” and I was doing my best to keep you from blowing up in front of friends and family. It was borderline and I was scared you were going to put on a laser light show our neighbors would not soon forget.

“You thought I was going to lose control of my powers?”

I thought we were going to see an unexpected ocular discharge.”

How could you think that would happen?

It did happen, dad. Your eyes flashed red for a fraction of a second and your voice rattled the windows a bit. Only Jordan and I were capable of seeing it but it did happen.

Jordan saw it also?

You have the same total recall that I do. Replay the evening in your head and watch what happens.

What am I looking for?

Just replay it. Jonathan stood up and looked down at his father as he pulled on some clean sweats and running shoes. “Can talk about it tonight? I really want to go for a run.”

Clark nodded and watched Jonathan running toward the road at a totally normal speed. Why run, and why at a human speed? He really didn’t get his son but as Jon had said in the car coming back from Sam’s house, sometimes that happens with fathers and sons.

When Jonathan was about a mile from the farm he stopped for a moment and sent a text message to his grandfather.

“All Good. Do it now.”

Back in Metropolis Sam Lane went down to the large safe the DoD installed years ago in his basement. He opened the door to the safe and then raised the covers on the two lead boxes that were inside. He took the glowing green rock from one and put it in the box with the crystals his grandson had given him. As soon as the green rock touched the crystal, the crystal started to turn black. In a minute the crystal was completely black and starting to crumble. He closed both boxes, put them back into the safe, and locked the safe.

Jonathan was still on his run when he got the text from his grandfather.

“Done. Results as expected.”

He deleted the texts and continued his run.

Chapter 36: All Our Yesterdays

Summary:

Jonathan finally forces a long-term resolution of the problems between his father and himself. However, it's not an easy one for Clark to accept,even though he knows it's the only one that will make peace in the Kent family.

Chapter Text

When Jonathan was back from his run he headed straight into the barn. His habit was to shower and change into clean clothes after a run. He would never sit down for dinner wearing his sweaty running gear. He could get away with it now since the run didn’t make him sweat anymore, but he liked the routine and stuck with it. He had put his jeans and hoodie back on and examined himself in the mirror set up a long time ago in the barn. His damp hair had been pushed up on his head making him look a lot like Jon-El. He stared at himself thoughtfully in the mirror and wondered if the peace and quiet of that glass cell had some appeal to him also. Maybe that’s why he was finding the loft of the barn so comfortable. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his damp hair a few times to let his curls reappear. As soon as he was done, he was looking at Jonathan Kent again in the mirror.

Jonathan lay down on the mattress in the loft of the barn, he texted his father and then closed his eyes and waited. In a moment his father was standing in front of him looking down at him. Jonathan sat up and leaned his back against the wall. Clark pulled an old chair that had been in the loft for years over to face his son.

Clark got right to the issue that was puzzling him. “It was Jordan who made the remark about saying anything to get right to the food. It’s like I’ve been on a roller coaster ride with you lately. Everything was great in the car but something went wrong when we got home.”

Jonathan shrugged noncommittedly.

“I have a feeling you know what’s been happening to me.”

Jon did finally have some sort of answer but he wasn’t sure how his father would react to it. “It was the remains of your father’s sunstone. There was a little bit of Jor-El still left in there and it was affecting you.”

“Why not you or Jordan?” Clark asked.

“You spent so much time with alone with Jor-El. He was in your head teaching you for a long time when you were younger and you’ve been going back to see him ever since. I never met him and I was half human without any powers. I was beneath his notice.”

“Why would he affect me like that?”

Jonathan paused for a moment. He had to decide how honest to be with his father now that the danger of his out-of-control anger had been managed.

“You Kryptonians think you are superior to humans, but now I’ve read your history. What you really excel at is war. Your famous House of El is nothing more than the pack instinct of wolves. It should be called the Pack of El.”

In spite of the hard truth Jonathan had spoken, Clark’s reaction was muted but he still seemed doubtful so Jonathan continued.

“Think of all of the Kryptonians I’ve met and heard about. Almost all of them represented danger to this planet. Kryptonians are warriors. You know now I have the strength and the skills. You've got your warrior, but I will only defend. I won't attack.”

“But you are part of the House of El. It got worse when you got powers.”

Jonathan had used the wolf pack analogy for a reason. Although it was harsh to compare his father’s beloved House of El to a wolf pack, the analogy made it easier for Jonathan to explain to his father the dynamics that caused their problems.

“In a wolf pack, if any pack member shows signs of usurping the role of pack leader, the pack leader has to show his dominance or lose his position. Jordan loves being Kryptonian and loves his powers. He is thrilled to learn from you. I am different. You don’t intimidate me and I challenge you constantly just by not being exactly like you. You were subtle in the beginning. But as time went by the humiliations you handed me became more obvious. When I got powers, you actually punched me, right here in front of the house. It became physical.”

Clark had a rueful smile on his face. “You mean I tried to punch you.”

“You weren’t’ in control. You would have tried it again.”

“How did you stop him from affecting me? We are talking now like we talked on the ride from Metropolis.”

“I destroyed the pieces of crystal in a way that they can’t affect anyone anymore.”

Clark was stunned. “You killed any chance of reviving my father?”

“There was no chance of reviving your father. You mother told you that. You could have revived the small part of him that remained in the crystals but it would have been unbalanced. Only a small part of him would be there. The part that was slowly growing stronger and affecting you.”

“How did you destroy it?”

Jonathan shook his head. Maybe someday he would tell his father, but not right now. “You, Jordan and I can have a huge responsibility. We can never take a chance on someone gaining control of any of us. You saw what happened on John Henry Iron’s world. It was my responsibility to make sure that didn’t happen here. You could never have destroyed those crystals on your own.”

“Are you sure you didn’t do it because you blame Jor-El for Jonathan Kent’s death. You tried to plant that suspicion in my head.”

Jonathan shook his head again. “It was already there, dad. You knew it at the time but couldn’t face it because you needed Jor-El. That’s probably why you rarely came back to the farm. How uncomfortable was it to have to face your mother? That’s why I had to be absolutely sure it was the crystals that were affecting you. I would not have done it just to get revenge.”

“What happens to us now?”

A wry smile appeared on Jonathan’s face.

“Dad, you are always going to see me as a challenge. I don’t conform to your idea of what a Kryptonian son should be. You barely acknowledge that I am half human yet I embrace my human side. Kryptonians may be more advanced and stronger than humans, but I don’t see them as any better than humans. During all that time you spent with Jor-El, he got the idea of Kryptonian superiority into your head. The crystal made it much worse, but it wasn’t all from the crystal. Some of what Jor-El tried to teach you is still in your head.”

“But I will have more control over it. I want to be your father? Can’t we rebuild?”

Finally Jon and his father came to the truly difficult truth. Something that Jon had only come to realize recently.

“There is nothing to rebuild. Even forgetting about what you did during the last two years, the fact is that you were missing from the first 14 years of my life. You made a choice and I won’t judge you for it, but there are consequences to that choice. You’ve never really had me as your son. There is nothing to rebuild because there was never anything there. Maybe two years ago it could have happened, but I am 16 years old. It’s just not going to happen now.”

“You are being too harsh.”

No dad, I am being realistic.

Jonathan leaned back and grabbed his laptop. His keyring with the flash drive dangled from one of the ports. He put it on his father’s lap with the screen facing him. Clark read through his son’s journal.

Jonathan waited until his father looked up from the screen of his laptop.

“Is there anything in there that is factually incorrect?” Jonathan asked him. “Did I get any of it wrong?”

“I didn’t intend…..”

His son interrupted him. “ I’m not talking about what you think your intentions were. I am talking about what was said and done. All parents make mistakes, I understand that.” Jonathan nodded toward the computer sitting on his father’s lap. “That is hardly what we are looking at here.”

“You are making a mistake Jonathan. You need a father at your age.”

“I came to you to pour my heart out and you did nothing because it didn’t seem important enough to you at that moment. Dad, I told you I had no future. I desperately needed your help. Why would I come back to you if I needed a father after that. It was other people who had to step up to support me.”

“Do you hate me for what happened?”

No, I don’t hate you. You’ve done a lot of good in this world so I don’t even consider your choice to be wrong. But you did make that choice. We’ll have to find a different sort of relationship to have. I don’t know what to call it but it doesn’t have to have a name. It won’t be easy but we’ll try to figure it out.

Clark tried to hug his son but Jonathan pulled back for a second out of habit, or maybe some kind of reflex. He could feel the sadness rolling off of his father and he didn’t like being the cause of it. He couldn’t change the situation the two of them were in but after a moment he stepped forward and hugged his father. It was not like hugging his brother or his mother or his grandfather but it was the right thing to do.

Chapter 37: In Search of Jonathan Kent

Summary:

*Last Chapter*
Jon Kent begins to think about the human grandfather he never met but is named after. For sixteen years he has carried his name but never really thought about him. In a search for his own identity and place in the family, Jon tries to get to know the other Jonathan Kent.

Notes:

This is the last chapter of this story before the Epilogue.

Chapter Text

When Clark left the barn, Jonathan headed out to his truck. This was not a trip that should involve flying. He was heading back the cemetery in Smallville for the first time since his grandmother had died.

There had been a weird moment when he first arrived at the cemetery for her funeral. He had walked over to stand in front of the open grave. When he looked up there was a gravestone with his name on it---Jonathan Kent. Although it was logical to assume his grandmother would be buried next to his grandfather, it had still caused an emotional jolt to see his own name engraved on a gravestone in a cemetery. It was something you might see in a surreal nightmare. It had caught him unprepared.

This time his destination was that gravestone. He had not thought very much about his namesake during his life. Now he wanted to get to know him a bit. His other human grandfather, Sam Lane, had been a big influence in his life. All of the fishing and camping trips, digging in the garden, and most of all the long talks. His grandfather, along with his brother, had supported him in the worst of the last two years. Sam Lane’s home had been his refuge. What was his other human grandfather like? What kind of relationship might they have had? They had been deprived of each other by Jonathan Kent’s early death. He would not be deprived anymore. He needed to know his grandfather and namesake. He sat in front of the grave lost in thought until he felt he knew how to do it. Before he left the graves, he ran his fingers first over his grandfather’s name on his stone and then over his grandmother’s name on her stone. The tears rolled down his cheeks for a short while. If there had been Kents in Jon-El’s world, he was sure Jon-El would not be living in a glass cage right now. In the end these Kents were stronger than the House of El. Jor-El was dead but the Kents would live on through Jonathan Kent II. He would make sure of that.
____________

Jordan heard his brother’s car pull up in front of the house. He knew Jonathan had just guided their entire family through a crisis and he wanted him to step back from all the responsibilities that he had taken on. The last few days especially had been hard on his brother. He wanted him to stop being so responsible and start to let go and have some fun. What his brother had just accomplished, and he did not know all the details, had been needed, but he wanted his fun-loving brother back.

He had thought that Jon would stop in his room when he returned but Jon had continued on up into the attic. He glanced upward through the ceiling of his room into the attic. Jon was standing in the middle staring at all the boxes. Jordan knew, from the way his brother was staring, that he was peeking into each box at the contents with his x-ray vision. He was searching for something. Eventually, he walked over to a pile of big plastic bins and with one hand picked up all of them except the bottom one. He slid the bottom bin out of the way with his foot and put the rest of the pile back on the floor of the attic.

Jordan decided he should let his brother know he was watching him so he climbed the steps to join Jon in the attic. Jon, standing in the middle of the attic earing a very retro looking varsity jacket, had a smile on his face.

“What are you looking for up here?” Jordan asked.

“Our grandfather, the one who lived here.”

“He’s in that bin?” Jordan asked doubtfully.

A little bit of him is in there.

Jordan looked at the jacket his brother was wearing. “And you lecture me about style? Whose jacket is that?”

With a smile his brother replied “Jonathan Kent”.

“Maybe I should be the one buying you and dad matching cardigans.”

“Look closer.” Jordan stared at the jacket. Smallville Crows Football across the back. In cursive stitching, on the front, Jonathan Kent. Very different than the jacket his brother normally wore.

His brother, he realized, had found and was now wearing their grandfather’s varsity jacket. Jon’s namesake had been captain and quarterback of the Crows decades ago. Jonathan, standing in the attic in the jacket that bore the name that belonged to him and to his grandfather for the sport both of them excelled at, had lost the distressed look of the past few days. “That is actually pretty cool since you share the same name and sport.”

“Did you know he grew up in this house? Everything in this bin has the address of our house on it. He had to have grown up here in this house.”

Jon grabbed the bin and brought it down the stairs into his room followed by his brother.

Jon reached into the bin and pulled out a picture of their grandfather and grandmother, wearing their high school graduation caps and gowns.

Jordan watched the way Jon looked intently at the picture.

“What is this all about bro?” he asked Jon.

“I want to get to know him.”

“You’ve been carrying around his name for 16 years and now you suddenly got interested in him?”

“I didn’t like what I learned about Jor-El. I decided I may like this guy better.”

“Because he is human?” Jordan asked,

“I am aware that I am half alien. Genetically I have zero in common with this guy, but he was married to Martha Kent. There must have been something special about him.”

“And how are you going to figure that out?” Jordan asked.

“We’re at ground zero for Jonathan Kent. Smallville, Kansas. I’ve got a yearbook in here and our mother owns half of the Smallville Gazette. Jonathan Kent would probably be around the same age as grandpa. There are still people here who knew him.”

“You’re going to ring door bells of his old friends and ask them questions?”

“That is exactly what I am going to do. I am going to write an article for The Gazette about the journey of getting to know the namesake that I never met.”

“Does mom know that yet?”

“I’ve been published in the Daily Planet. She’s lucky to get an article from me.” Jonathan smiled and it seemed that he suddenly the wise ass part of him was back in business.

Before he went to The Gazette Jonathan stopped in the Smallville library to see what materials they had. When he asked for help from the librarian, she told him that she had attended Smallville High with Jonathan Kent. He was, she said, way out of her league although she would love to have dated him. What she remembered most of all was that although he was so tall and good looking, quarterback of the football team, that he was a modest guy and always a gentleman. Lost for a moment in her memories, she repeated her words, “Always a gentleman.” She stopped her reminiscences abruptly. “I remember those jackets You are wearing Jonathan Kent’s jacket.” Jonathan replied, “My name is Jonathan Kent also. He was my grandfather.” The eyes of the older woman lit up. “Come” she said. “I’ll help you find what you need.”

Something about remembering her school girl crush on Jon’s grandfather made the librarian seem to grow younger. After she had exhausted the materials in the library and her own stories, she called a few of the people still living in Smallville that had known Jonathan Kent. Jon never got to the Gazette that day. He spent it talking to people who had known his grandfather. He was well liked, but more than that, he was well respected. A few of them told him how me he reminded them of his grandfather. There was a vague physical resemblance, but it was more in his manner and his personality. One of the people he met had an 8mm film of that long ago state championship game in which his grandfather had led the Crows to victory as their quarterback. Jonathan had it converted to video and burned onto a DVD. When he finally returned home that day, he had taken the disc up to is bedroom to watch the game. It was too personal to him to share it the first time he watched it and it had, in fact, given him a surreal jolt when he saw that his grandfather’s jersey bore the number “22” as did Jon’s own Crows jersey. He would have to find out from the coach if that had been done intentionally. In a town like Smallville that could be a tradition.

Against family rules, Jon brought his computer down to the dinner table. Jonathan knew he would be allowed to do it once the video started. The star of the video he was about to show had sat at that very table the day of the football game they were about to see. He placed the computer so that the rest of his family could see the screen. Without comment he started the video and watched the faces of his parents and brother as the game flickered to life. Jordan understood immediately what he was watching but he had known that his brother had wanted to get to know his grandfather, so he had an advantage. Lois got it next. She looked at Clark. He still looked puzzled. The quarterback wore number “22” on his jersey and he could see right above that the name “Kent”, but everything else was wrong. The recording was grainy and the uniforms were not exactly right. He thought for a moment this was Jon-El playing on his own world. He looked up at Lois who took his hand in hers. “That is your father. Your father is the quarterback.” Lois couldn’t see acutely enough to see it, and Jordan was not looking for it, however, Jonathan, with his enhanced vision had been looking for it. Jon saw it register on Clark’s face when his father’s own enhanced vision detected it. There, in front of the bleachers, in the row of cheerleaders, was a very young looking Martha Clark who would a year later become Martha Kent. Clark had never seen the film before. This was a look into his parents past that he had never seen. At half time number “22” took off his helmet and the face of Jonathan Kent I could clearly be seen. Jonathan watched his father’s face carefully and could see the moisture forming at the edges of his eyelids. He could tell from the expression on his face that he had succeeded in breaking down the barriers that, for complex reasons, Clark had erected around the memory of his human father. Everything he had suppressed for so many years came flooding back to him all at once.

The article, when it was eventually published in the Gazette, was not exactly a biography of Jonathan Kent. The biography of Jonathan Kent was the framework upon which his grandson had written a story about search for identity. It was widely read in Smallville. When Lois sent it to Perry White so he could see what Jonathan had written, Perry decided to run it in the Planet. Jonathan had not only struck a chord with grandfathers and their grandsons, but will also sorts of other family relationships. It was about anyone searching for themselves somewhere in their family.

Jonathan had wondered why his own personality, or maybe more accurately his values, were so similar to his grandfather’s values. It wasn’t genetic and he doubted it was from Clark. Martha had somehow imbued him with a bit of her late husband. All those visits, all those meals, all those trips into town for ice cream—they had been accompanied by long conversations. Just as Jor-El had gotten into Clark’s head, Martha, and through her Jonathan Sr., had gotten into his head.

When he first wore the varsity jacket to school, he had to explain the significance of the old-fashioned jacket. Within a few days he noticed a few more vintage jackets being worn by both girls and boys. Old varsity jackets that had belonged to their fathers or grandfathers. Each person who came to school in an old Crows jacket had taken the time to tell their story to Jonathan without him even asking

In the first two weeks after Thanksgiving Jonathan slept in the barn every night. It had started on Thanksgiving night when Jonathan had wanted to avoid any contact with his father that might set him off again. But now that the danger of that “dad explosion” had passed, Jonathan was still going out to the barn every night to sleep. He found it peaceful in the barn and he was reluctant to move back into his old room. Clark had wanted to talk to his son about coming back into the house to sleep but Lois stopped him. “Can you imagine how exhausting being with this family has been for him?” she asked. “Give him some peace and some space and he will come back on his own.” Two weeks after Thanksgiving Clark heard the slow rhythm of the heart of a sleeping Jonathan in his bedroom.

Jordan had taken it upon himself to perform the last difficult task that remained for Jonathan. Now, he had to decide the best way to let him know he no longer had the burden of that task. He headed out to the barn where Jon was studying.

Jordan grabbed the book out of his brother’s hands and bodily picked him up and carried him outside. Now that Jon had superpowers, Jordan felt free to man handle him any way he liked. Jordan hoisted his brother over his head as if he weighted almost nothing and, in fact, Jon’s weight was negligible compared to Jordan’s strength. Jordan heaved his brother up into the air much as his brother had done to their father a few days ago. Jonathan didn’t fight it at all. He soared up in the air until he ran out of momentum and then stopped himself and floated hundreds of feet above the farm.

“What is your problem, Jordan?” Jon was laughing but a bit mystified.

In a moment Jordan was floating up in the air face to face with his brother.

“Who got you flying for the first time?” Jordan demanded.

“You did.” Jon replied.

“And who was your ‘training wheels” the first time you flew?

“You were.”

“Who was right there to keep you on your flight trajectory?”

Jon shrugged his shoulders. “You were. I get it. Just tell me what it is that you want from me.”

I’m going to the fortress. You had better be right behind me when I land there.

Jon shrugged but before he could say anything Jordan was accelerating toward the fortress.

The twins landed side by side inside the fortress. Jordan put their grandmother’s crystal in the slot on the podium and Lara came to life.

“Here he is grandma.” Jordan announced.

“Jonathan, I haven’t seen you for two weeks, that is very unusual. I was concerned.”

Jon had anticipated that he was going to have to tell his grandmother that he ended the last small vestige of life in her husband’s crystal.

Grandmother, I……..” Jordan held up his hand in his brother’s face. Jon stopped his explanation.

Lara continued to speak to him. “Jonathan, you do not have to explain. Your brother had told me everything that has occurred. You acted prudently. There is nothing further that needs to be discussed. Your experiment was very clever. It seems to me you reached the correct conclusion. Perhaps you can show me your calculations and your graphs.”

Jonathan hesitated. Lara was very different from most of the Kryptonians that he knew. Maybe his alien side was not as tainted as he thought.

Lara was eager to see what her grandson had accomplished on his own. She had come to know her grandson well enough to realize that he thought like a research scientist should think. She repeated her invitation more insistently. “Come show me your data Jonathan.”

Chapter 38: Epilogue/The End

Summary:

Here is the last chapter of this story. I may write an additional story that will be a volume II to this story, but with this chapter this story is complete. I would like to thank the people who gave kudos and especially those who took time to give me input via their comments. Since this story is complete with this final chapter, I appreciate any readers who will take a moment to give me some feedback via comments. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you

Chapter Text

After the reconciling hug in the barn, Jonathan had watched his father walk back from the barn into the house before he got into his truck. The hug had clearly meant a lot more to Clark than it had to his son. Jon thought it would be a long time, if ever, that he could have a strong emotional connection with Clark. He was a hero to so many people in the world but not to one of his own sons. Although he could not find strong love in his heart toward his father, in spite of the events of the past two years, he found he couldn’t find enmity either. He was tempted to say that his father was “only human”, as much as that was clearly not very true about Clark, Jordan or Jonathan himself. Superman was not, as some thought, a god. He was just a very strong person. Jonathan considered himself lucky that he had learned that lesson before his own powers became a reality. Perhaps, growing up as a perpetual outsider in Smallville had an effect on his father. In spite of knowing that he was now different than the people around him, Jonathan had enough years as “one of the guys” to enable him to compartmentalize those differences. However, in the last two years, he also had a close enough view to those powers to know not to overestimate what they could accomplish.
Jordan, on the other hand, had seen all of the things he could do with his powers and celebrated them. Jordan wasn’t wrong. There was so much he could do now that he could not do two years ago. Jonathan, on the other hand, saw that there were so many things his powers could not do. His father’s goal was to inspire people, change their hearts for the better. Jonathan thought that his father might be fooling himself. His quest to help the world was highly inefficient. Saving people one by one wasn’t making much of a dent in the suffering of mankind. It was like cutting your lawn one blade of grass at a time instead of using a mower. Clark thought Jonathan was wasting his powers but Jonathan thought that Clark was using his abilities efficiently.
Jonathan’s path was clear to him. It would be science. The world could have it both ways. Jordan could cover being a super hero. Clark could not have done all that he had done and still have been a father to the two sons he had brought into the world. There was a lesson there for Jonathan. He was not sure he would ever have children. The ramifications of passing on his genes was a complex knot of problems he had yet to unravel, but it did not present an insurmountable barrier to his becoming a parent. If he did one day have children, he was going to make sure he was there for them. Lois was a hero to Jonathan. As much as he admired her Pulitzer Prize and work as a journalist, he also admired that she attended every one of his games and every one of his brother’s therapy sessions. He thought of the words he had used to tease his dorky Star Wars era father on their ride from Metropolis back to the farm. “Do or do not. There is no try.” Parenting required a level of commitment that Clark had not been willing to make. If Jonathan did become a father at some point in his life, he would make that commitment. He would not a perfect father, because no parent gets everything right. However, even though he would not be a hero to the entire world, the people he would try hardest to inspire would be his own children.