Chapter Text
*Seven Years Ago*
“Hey, boys? Caleb’s here for you.” Clark watched both of his sons’ faces light up as they abandoned their toys and raced across the living room to greet their friend.
It had taken a lot of figuring out, but finally, Clark and Lois had been able to arrange a real, in person visit from a friend for the boys. The security issues still made him worry both for his sons’ and for Caleb’s safety, but he knew that having friends was an essential part of life, and he wasn’t going to let the world take that away from his kids.
Seeing the boys finally be able to play with a friend was a huge moment, and Clark indulged in watching it until Lois gently took his elbow and steered him into the kitchen.
“They can probably do without an audience, babe.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I just wish there was more we can do for the boys. Everything’s been so tough for them since Luthor.”
Lois nodded tightly. Then she wrapped her arms around him and ducked in close. Leaning into the embrace, Clark closed his eyes. Their problems weren’t exactly solved, but it felt better to face them with Lois at his side.
Lazily, his hearing drifted towards the room beside them.
“Your house seems normal,” Caleb commented.
“Well, yeah,” Jon replied. “It’s always been normal.”
“But you don’t have any, uh, space alien stuff here?”
“No. Everything’s pretty much the same as the last time you were here.”
Clark didn’t have his eyes trained on the living room, but he could sense the wary edge in Jon’s voice as he replied. It wasn’t fair, but people viewed the boys differently now that they knew the truth of their heritage. But it had to work out eventually, right? Kids were adaptable and Caleb would figure out that his friends were pretty much the same as they had always been.
Anyway, as disappointing as it might be for a seven-year-old, Jon was right. Most of Clark’s Kryptonian artifacts were stored either at the farm or the Fortress. Originally, that had been to prevent the boys from stumbling across anything, but now it felt like a good plan for security’s sake.
Lois was nudging him. “Everything going okay?”
“I thought you said they didn’t need an audience.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know. Do you think they want a snack? I can take something in.”
But it was only a minute longer until the boys all trotted into the kitchen.
“Mom, can we go to the park?” Jon asked, head tilted up hopefully.
Clark stilled. The constant requests for visits to the park, the library, or the swimming pool had mostly died out, and he thought his kids understood how things were now. Maybe they should have explained to the boys that just because they had a friend over didn’t mean that things were back to normal.
“Sorry, sweetie, remember that the park is too busy for us,” Lois replied. She tried to keep her voice light, but Clark could sense the tension behind it.
“Oh. Right.” Jon’s shoulders slumped.
But Caleb was still confused. “What do you mean by busy?”
“She means that there could be bad guys there. Or people wanting to take our picture.” It was the first thing Jordan had said so far, and Clark felt a bubble of guilt at hearing his already shy son explain why being out in public was dangerous for them. It was the opposite direction he had wanted Jordan to grow in.
“Well, can you fly us somewhere that’s not busy, Mr. Superman?” Caleb asked.
Clark hesitated. Out of necessity, he had flown Caleb here, and of course the boy had been enthralled with the whole experience. But this visit was meant for the boys to be together, and he knew that Lois’ earlier instincts were right all along. Jonathan and Jordan needed to be able to play with their friend without their dad pulling attention the whole time.
“It’s still Mr. Kent,” he corrected gently. “And I’ll fly with you again when I take you home, but for now how about you boys play together inside? There’s all those Legos upstairs.”
Grudgingly, the boys trooped upstairs to dig into the Legos and that at least kept them occupied for a while. The rest of the visit passed easily enough, but as he flew away from the McDonald house after dropping Caleb off, Clark couldn’t help but stew about it.
It was a good thing that the boys were adjusting to their new reality, but already the differences between them and Caleb were more stark than Clark expected. His sons couldn’t walk down the block to the neighbourhood park whenever they wanted, and they couldn’t even have a friend over without him being airlifted in and out. Sure, they also got Superman flights whenever they wanted, but was it worth the trade-off?
Clark couldn’t shake the feeling that it ultimately wasn’t.
*Present Day*
The headache was fading, but from what he had just learned at the fortress, Jordan wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“He’s healing,” his dad explained to the rest of the family as they gathered in the living room, “but the damaged cells are being repaired stronger than ever and it’s causing a sudden increase in his abilities. The headaches and ocular episodes are from sensory overload as his superhearing settles in.”
Jon sat forward in his seat. “Wait, so, he’s getting superhearing? That’s cool, right?”
“I mean, only if you call super-migraines cool,” Jordan muttered.
“It’ll be an adjustment,” his dad said encouragingly. “I know it’s tough now with it fading in and out, but once it sets in properly, I’ll teach you how to manage it.”
The whole thing sounded totally daunting, especially when Jordan remembered the couple times already that he had been overwhelmed. How the hell was he supposed to handle that all the time?
“We’ll keep you at home until it evens out,” his mom said as she gave his arm a supportive squeeze. “I don’t know what it feels like, but I’m going to be here for you. We all are.”
“Wait, Jordan’s staying at home, but I can still go to the football game, right?” Jon worried. “Dad, it’s the biggest one of the season!”
“It’s not like you’re even gonna play,” Jordan pointed out.
“Hey.” His mom frowned. “It’s important to your brother, Jordan.”
Feeling a flicker of regret, Jordan muttered a quick apology. Yeah, sure, it was important to Jon, but it felt totally abstract to Jordan. He couldn’t even go to school right now; the thought of riding a packed bus into a busy city and hanging out in the stands sent him into an anxious spiral.
His dad was hesitating, too. “The plan was for us all to stick together.”
“Dad!”
The outburst wasn’t something that Jonathan really did, and Jordan could see it had an effect on his parents as well.
“Clark, you two can still go. I can stay with Jordan, and I’ll know you’ll keep an ear out for trouble.”
But Jordan’s dad was shaking his head. “I know you can handle yourself, Lois, but Jordan’s powers are unstable right now. And if the stranger comes, that would make things even worse.”
A lump settled in Jordan’s throat. His episode at school had been awful, not only because he had been in such pain, but also because he had almost lost control again in full view of his peers. The thought of something like that happening when it was just him and his mom… There’s no way he’d let himself hurt her, but did he actually have any say in that?
And she wasn’t backing down. “We’ll have Tal hang around,” she decided. “He can help out with the stranger or with Jordan if something happens.”
That seemed like a decent compromise. Jordan liked his uncle well enough, and at least there’d be someone around who knew what to do with unstable, potentially explosive powers.
But part of him just wished that it wasn’t even happening.
Lois wished things were like it was when the boys were six and most issues could be solved with a hug and a bowl of ice cream. Instead, life had gotten more and more complicated, and the latest development of Jordan’s powers made that even more clear.
He had been wandering listlessly around the house all day now. Tal had put in a valiant effort to make conversation, but Jordan had shrugged all of it off, instead burying his head in his phone and flinching at any sound that he didn’t expect.
It wasn’t that it was actually overstimulating him; both Tal and Clark had assured her of that. Instead, it was more like he was on edge for what that sound could possibly bring. He was waiting for the moment when everything would finally settle into place and he’d be faced with filtering all the sounds of the world at once.
She had no idea what that was like, and even after she had spent an hour late last night relentlessly quizzing Clark on the whole experience, it was obvious that she was out of her depth.
Did Jordan feel that, too? He had been giving her a wide berth most of the day, and even if it went against her instincts, she was trying to give him space as he worked through all of this. In the past, he had always come to her when he needed her. Surely, it was still the same.
She was almost glad when the doorbell rang and gave her a distraction. But then she opened the door to Marcus Bridgewater.
“What are you doing here?” Years of dealing with public attention had led her to be even more short-tempered with people approaching her. Clark was always kind and courteous to everyone who demanded a bit of his time, but she didn’t need to act the same way.
“I just came to mend fences,” Marcus replied. There was a wary, but genuine smile on his face. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Yeah, well, you’re working for the man who destroyed my life. Not sure we’re going to find a lot of common ground.” She shifted her weight onto her hip. Why did he care so much about what she thought? It’s not like they ever had to work together.
“Look, Lois–”
“Ms. Lane.”
“Ms. Lane,” he corrected smoothly. “Just because Lex Luthor has made mistakes in the past doesn’t mean that the work he’s doing today isn’t important.”
Anger prickled within her. “It wasn’t a mistake to rip away the privacy of my family. It was a vindictive move designed to distract from the very real crimes he was committing. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
“Well, Superman was hiding something big from the rest of the world.”
“Superman is a public image,” Lois countered. “Clark was just living his life in a way that everyone absolutely deserves to do, no matter what planet they were born on. He could
have chosen to keep his powers to himself, you know. Instead, he decided to use
them to help people and the only thanks he got was–”
“Mom?”
Blinking, Lois turned around to face Jordan. He was standing at the foot of the stairs, hands shoved in his hoodie pocket as he stared at her with wide eyes.
She forced herself to take a breath. Usually, she could keep those thoughts inside her head, and it was best to continue that with a son who was developing the exact same powers as her husband.
“Sorry, Jordan, did you hear me upstairs?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Not, like, heard you, heard you. Just, uh, normal…” His eyes skittered across Marcus’ face.
“Well, things are fine here, sweetie. Your uncle’s in the kitchen; why don’t you go talk with him for a bit?” She didn’t like where this conversation was going, and having Jordan listen in on it would make it even worse.
He willingly scurried out of sight, but Marcus’ eyes followed him all the way.
“I thought he’d be at school right now.”
“He’s been sick,” she replied shortly. It was an oversimplification, but the entire damn world already knew too much about Jordan’s developing powers, this guy didn’t need a private update.
Marcus’ eyebrows lifted. “I, uh, didn’t realize he could get sick.”
She glared at him. “Jordan might have heat vision, but mostly he’s a kid just like any other.”
“Right…” He dropped his eyes down to his feet. “Look, you’re right: this was a bad idea. I should leave you to your family.”
He trudged down the stairs and turned towards his vehicle before Lois could give him much of a response. He was driving an RV, of all things, and she leaned against the doorframe as she watched him crunch down the drive and head out onto the road.
What the hell had that been about?
Jonathan knew that he was making a bigger deal over this football game than it deserved, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He was really starting to gel with the team, and facing off against Metropolis was a huge deal to all of them. Coach Gaines had been pushing them hard at practice for weeks, lecturing constantly about the other team’s skills. With an increasing sense of pride, Jon had been nailing his role as backup quarterback. Maybe he would finally get a chance to hit the field this time?
He tried to temper his excitement as he waited to board the bus with the rest of his teammates.
“Clark!” Coach Gaines’ eyes widened. “I, uh, didn’t expect you to be on the bus with us.”
“Oh, well…” Jon’s dad shrugged as he adjusted his Crows hat. “I’m here to help, right? Put me to work, Coach.”
“Okay… Okay…” Coach Gaines nodded dazedly and Jon tried not to sigh.
Too many people in the world couldn’t seem to see past his dad’s other persona, and this case was particularly weird with his usually bossy and overbearing coach tripping over himself any time Clark Kent was nearby.
“You want to ride in the front with me?” Coach finally suggested. “These boys know to behave themselves on the trip into town.”
It was a plan that Jonathan was also a fan of. Having his dad come on this trip in the middle of everything with Jordan and the crazy metal suit guy meant a lot but also… It was kind of nice to hang out with his friends in the back of the bus. After seven years, Jon could finally just be normal.
Although he had lived in Metropolis for most of his life, he hadn’t gone to regular school here in years, so he didn’t care too much about the school they were facing off against. And he actually didn’t care that they spent the entire first quarter getting creamed by the home team. All that mattered was that he was standing with his team and participating just like any other kid. It wasn’t until Timmy Ryan got his elbow sprained by a particularly rough tackle that things started to change for him.
Coach was stomping and swearing on the sidelines, and finally Jon saw his chance.
“Looks like you need a QB, Coach,” he commented casually, bouncing on his toes as he looked out onto the field.
Gaines pivoted slowly. “You’re right on that, Kent. You think you’re ready to play?”
Jonathan drew a breath to respond, but Coach Gaines cut him off.
“You know, actually, it doesn’t matter. Either way we’re heading for a loss. You’re up, #12.”
Barely believing his luck, he flashed a smile towards his dad before he trotted onto the field. All those hours at practice, all the sweat and effort and drive… It was all going to pay off. And who knows? Maybe he’d be even better than Coach Gaines thought he would. Maybe he’d turn the whole game around, earn the team a touchdown, and get the game ball. Maybe he’d–
The harsh sound of a whistle cut through his musings, and he turned to see the ref waving and jogging towards them.
“Timeout!” he called.
Confused, Jonathan watched as Coach Gaines went over to talk to the coach for the Metropolis team. Whatever was wrong, it was obviously a big deal. Both men were waving their arms and glaring at each other. Then Coach Gaines looked at Jon with a weirdly heavy expression.
Stomach clenching, Jon jogged back over to the sidelines in time to meet up with his dad and Gaines.
“They’re refusing to play if Jon’s on the field.”
Jon felt his stomach tighten further at his coach’s words. “What? Why?”
There was an uncomfortable silence, and then it finally clicked. He was Superman’s kid. Of course a bunch of high schoolers would think that it was unfair for him to be playing against them. Even if they were totally wrong about it.
His dad seemed to be fully aware of the problem. “Look, I understand where the issue might be, but Jonathan doesn’t have any powers. We’ve been checking regularly for that very reason. If they want to see documentation, I can provide that.”
Shoulders drooping, Jon pulled off his helmet. The whole ‘no powers’ thing had been weirdly uncomfortable for a while now, and having it be the center of conversation right now just… Well, it sucked. He was the only kid here whose biology was being called into question, and yet he was also a total failure as a Kryptonian.
“That might be good in the future,” Coach Gaines allowed. “But it doesn’t help us now. The Metropolis team got a call into the HSFA and we’ll have to forfeit the game if I keep Jon on the field.”
Glancing over to the rest of his team sitting on the sidelines, Jon felt a weight settle in his throat. They would be better off with literally no one on the field rather than Jon.
“It’s fine,” he said stiffly, letting the helmet slip through his fingers and fall to the ground. “I don’t have to play.”
“Jonathan–”
“No, Dad, it’s whatever. I should have known this wasn’t going to work out.” He couldn’t face saying anything to his teammates, and so he just pivoted on his heel and walked towards… Well, he didn’t even know where the hell he was going. All he knew was that he had to get away.
There were people in the stands, the locker rooms were the other direction, and any second he was going to run into someone from the Metropolis team.
His dad was jogging up beside him. “Jon.”
“Dad, can we just get out of here? Please?”
There was a beat of painful silence, and then finally his dad nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Hold on.”
They landed in a barren cornfield, and it didn’t take Jon long to spot the farmhouse in the distance. They were back in Smallville. Back in the place where he had thought for one stupid moment that he actually belonged with the rest of the world.
“Jon, can we talk about this?”
Shrugging out of his jersey and shoulder pads, Jon stared down at the dirt. “What’s there to talk about? I thought I could be on the team and it turns out I can’t, so…”
“I should have done more checking into it,” his dad said. “I shouldn’t have assumed that everything would be okay.”
Jon let out a huff. “Yeah, well, Coach Gaines should have, too. Like, he didn’t check at all before he…” Offered Jon a chance, let him get attached, let him hope.
“I think the whole thing’s kind of unprecedented, bud.”
That was certainly a painful truth. It had been his reality for years now, and he was sick of it. Being unprecedented sucked.
“But look, Jon, we can still figure things out. I can appeal to the HSFA and make your case. There’s really no reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to play, and we can prove that.”
By having his pitiful limitations documented and submitted to whatever idiots were in charge of the High School Football Association? He didn’t want them digging into the embarrassing truth of his powerlessness. Not that he actually wanted powers. He just wanted… Well, he had no idea what the hell he wanted. All he knew was that he needed his dad to butt out.
“Can we just drop it?”
“Jon, I get being different and how that’s hard. When I was growing up–”
As much as he loved his dad, this was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. “Dad, when you were growing up you had powers! And no one knew that you were actually an alien. Don’t tell me you get it because it’s totally different. We’re different.” He felt a flicker of regret at the sight of his dad’s stunned face. “Look, I just want to be on my own for a bit, okay?”
“Yeah. Sure. We’ll talk about this later.”
Hopefully, it’d be never, but Jon was willing to take what he could get. He hauled his pads back to the house, and was just about to head inside when he caught sight of his brother moping on the porch.
When Jonathan approached, Jordan lifted his head and frowned. “The game’s over already?”
“No. It, uh… Whatever, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” Jordan eyed him warily before finally shrugging. “Well, I’ve still got no sign of superhearing. I’m kind of ready for it to just come already.”
Jon raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it supposed to hurt?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s gonna come eventually, right? I might as well get it over with.”
Swallowing, Jon stared at his twin brother. How was it that the same guy he had shared a room with as a little kid was so calmly (and even eagerly at some times) accepting of actual superpowers? Like it was some inevitable part of growing up just like learning to drive or having to shave.
“Oh, hey, since you’re here, want to go bug Uncle Tal to take us to his fortress? I think we can convince him and Grandma to teach us some Kryptonian swears if Dad’s not there.”
Jonathan frowned at his brother’s suggestion. Usually, he was up for a trip to visit either of his Kryptonian grandparents, but how much of the conversation today was going to be taken up with discussing Jordan’s powers? It was something that Jon couldn’t relate to at all. And it wasn’t what he wanted. For weeks, he had been putting in the time at practice, making connections with his teammates, developing his football skills, and now…
“Jon? Bro, what’s going on?”
“Nothing!” he snapped. “Maybe I don’t want to sweat my ass off in the desert learning a language that only four people in the entire world speak!”
Jordan flinched. “Okay, but–”
“Just drop it, Jordan!” Backing away from his brother, Jon hunched his shoulders. “Look, you can go be a superteen or whatever, but we’re nothing alike. Maybe it’s time we realized that.”
Did he even really mean that? It had come out faster than he realized, and he found he couldn’t take them back, even after he heard the wounded gasp coming from Jordan. They were different now, right? Jordan had his whole powers thing and Jon had…
Well, he didn’t know what the hell he had, but he knew what he was missing. He scuffed his foot on the wooden porch boards, unable to bring his eyes up.
“Jon…”
He sighed. “Look, man, I didn’t–”
A pained groan escaped Jordan, and Jon pushed through his guilt to lift his head.
Jordan was digging his hands into his scalp, eyes once again glowing with dangerous red light. But that’s not all that was glowing. Pulsing sparks collected at his temples, racing up and down his neck as they grew in intensity.
“Holy shit… Jordan, what’s happening?”
It was too much for his brother to respond. Instead, Jordan groaned again and then collapsed onto the porch. His limbs started to twitch wildly.
“Dad! Dad, you gotta come quick!” Finding the ELT was beyond Jon’s capabilities right now, but thankfully his dad was keeping an ear out. He was right at Jordan’s side in a flash, head bent down in careful examination.
“It’s happening,” he announced. “I got to get him to the Fortress. Stay here with Tal, Jon.”
Head craned upwards, Jon watched his dad and his brother disappear into the sky. It had to be Jordan’s superhearing, right? That’s what this had all been leading up to? It was way more terrifying than Jon had thought it would be. Hopefully, the knowledge at the Fortress would help Jordan stabilize and he’d be back at home soon.
But no matter how well-adjusted he’d be when he returned, it meant there’d be yet another difference wedged between them, joining the increasing super strength and the deadly laser eyes.
Jon and his brother would be further apart than ever before.