"Hey, so how'd your talk with my dad go?" Lois asked Clark when he returned.
"I made it clear that attacking Kara would be seen as the United States government declaring war on me and that I would sever all links with them and personally call for the head of whoever it was who was responsible. Even him." Clark said.
"And I'll support that completely. But you do realize that the moment he and Kara are in the same room together and you reveal your relationship to her, he'll figure it out." Lois said and Clark nodded.
"Only thing that's kept Kara out of your father's hands is that she hasn't been in the same room as him in this universe. At least not with me." Clark said and Lois nodded.
"I'll call J'onn, because honestly, I think I may need to have him wipe your dad's mind of my identity to ensure that he can't connect the dots to Kara's." Clark said.
"Honestly, we never should've revealed your identity to him in the first place." Lois said.
"Maybe not, but we thought it was the right call at the time. Obviously now we know how wrong we were about that." Lois said and Clark nodded.
"Have things between Jonathan and Jordan calmed down at all?" Clark asked.
"Yeah. I spoke to Jordan and I think I got him to come around, but you might want to talk to him too. Assure him that you're not going to let Jonathan take over this whole kryptonian bonding thing you two have now, but remind him that Jonathan has just as much of a right to learn about his heritage as part kryptonian as he does." Lois said and Clark nodded.
"I can't wait till Kara confirms that Argo still exists, since she's the one with access to the DEO's transmitters, since once she does, I want to take the boys there so that they can actually see a part of Krypton." Clark said and Lois smiled.
"They're gonna love it." Lois said.
When Clark came up the stairs, he found Jordan waiting for him and was not that surprised.
"Surprised it took you this long to come and see me." Jordan said.
"Would've come up sooner, but I needed to talk to your grandfather about your aunt." Clark said.
"Why would you need to talk about her?" Jordan asked.
"Because your grandfather has a very black and white view of aliens. Only one he trusts is me and I'm pretty sure that's only because I'm married to his daughter. I don't want to go into details about it, but let's just say that my relationship with your grandfather is complicated to say the least." Clark said.
"And you don't want him to know about my powers?" Jordan asked and Clark nodded.
"Not yet at least. Right now I'd like to focus on keeping him from aiming his weapons of destruction at her. Once things calm down on that front, then we can start thinking about telling him." Clark said and Jordan nodded.
"But anyways, you know that's not why I came in here." Clark said and Jordan nodded.
"I am sorry about how I reacted to you teaching Jonathan about Krypton. I know that he has just as much of a right to learn about it as I do, but at the same time." Jordan said.
"At the same time you feel like you finally have something special about you and you didn't want to share it. But Jordan, you know that you're the only one with powers." Clark said.
"Yeah, for now. You said it yourself, you're taking Jonathan to the fortress to have him retested for powers and there's a good chance that he will end up getting powers too." Jordan said.
"Even so, it wouldn't change anything if he does. But right now, you are the only who has powers and I promise, I will help you learn to control them. One good thing about Kara putting on a cape is that it frees up some of my time to be around here more." Clark said.
"Do you really think that will happen?" Jordan asked and Clark nodded.
"Only reason why I've had to devote so much time to being Superman is because I was the only hero the world had. Now I'm not." Clark said.
"But you're still the best." Jordan said and Clark chuckled.
"Well I don't know about that. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that once your aunt gets some experience under her belt, she might give me a run for my money. But anyways, enough about Kara." Clark said.
"Dad, can I ask you something else?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah, what's on your mind?" Clark asked.
"Which do you think is harder. Being you or being Superman?" Jordan asked, taking Clark by surprise.
"Honestly, being Clark Kent is a lot harder." Clark said.
"Why? I thought that you'd say that being Superman is harder, since a lot more people could get hurt if you make a mistake." Jordan said.
"True, but at the same time, that's something that I can control. Being Superman is relatively easier since when I'm him, I'm solving problems I actually know how to fix. Being Clark Kent on the other hand, that's significantly trickier." Clark said.
"Really." Jordan said, honestly amused by his dad's opinion.
"Yeah. The mistakes I make as Clark Kent may not have a huge impact on the world, but they do have an impact on the people I care about and honestly, I've made a lot more mistakes as Clark. Especially towards the people I care about." Clark said.
"I would agree, since until now, you've never really been around. Kind of felt like mom was raising us on her own. No offense." Jordan said.
"None taken, you're right. And you and Jonathan aren't even the first ones I've made that mistake with, since I wasn't exactly there for your aunt Kara as much as I would've liked to be when she first arrived. I put being Superman before my family and honestly I think the only person who approves of that is your grandfather." Clark said.
"Why would Grandpa Sam be happy about that?" Jordan asked.
"Because he believes that being Superman should be my top priority. He thinks that I should put my responsibilities as him first. He thinks I should be like him. An absent parent who cares more about their job than their family and I swore that I would not be that. And I won't. I promise, I'll be around more often." Clark said.
"I hope that's true dad, because honestly, I need you now more than ever." Jordan said and Clark nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Clark said as he hugged his son before leaving his room.
The following morning, after taking the boys to school, Clark and Lois entered the Daily Planet and they were surprised to find several of their fellow workers packing up their desks.
"What's going on?" Lois asked as one of their reporters, Scott Ryan, approached them.
"Didn't you hear? Daily Planet got bought out and the new boss is doing a massive layoff. Only a few reporters have been spared." Ryan said as he walked past them.
"Wait, who's the new owner?" Lois asked.
"That would be me." a new voice said from behind them, causing Lois to jump slightly as she and Clark turned to find Morgan Edge standing there.
"Morgan Edge." Lois said.
"Good, you recognize me." Edge said.
"What is going on? Why are you laying all these people off?" Clark asked.
"Simple. They're too caught up in the old ways. Can't adapt to a new era and sadly, based on what I've seen, neither can the two of you." Edge said.
"Excuse me?" Lois asked.
"I am terribly sorry, but seeing as I am planning on redesigning the entire layout of the Daily Planet, that also means a new staff and while you both may be skilled reporters, I think it's time for new blood to take over. So, please, pack up your desks. Both of you." Edge said as he walked away from them without a second glance, leaving Clark and Lois stunned at this.
"What are we going to do now? Our severance packages are not going to be enough to allow us to keep the house or get any decent housing here in Metropolis and I refuse to go with unemployment checks." Lois asked her husband as they sat in the kitchen, boxes full of their belongings from work on the table.
"Well, we were planning on moving to Smallville eventually, but honestly, I don't think we have much of a choice now." Clark said.
"Now, in the middle of the school year?" Lois asked.
"You said it yourself, we can't afford to stay here in Metropolis with our severance packages and we don't know how long it would take us to find new jobs. This way, we'll be guaranteed a roof over our heads while we figure things out, not to mention it would give us more time to teach Jordan how to use his powers and I could help Ma out on the farm." Clark said.
"I don't know." Lois said.
"Lois, I think that moving to Smallville is actually what this family needs, since it's a simpler life." Clark said.
"We should talk this over with the boys first, but I do think you're right. We don't have a whole lot of options and maybe moving to Smallville now would be a good thing." Lois said and Clark nodded as he pulled out his phone to call his mom, only for it to start ringing indicating that she was calling him.
"Hi Ma." Clark said with a smile, only for it to fade when he heard his mother's doctor on the other end of the call.
"What, is she okay?" Clark asked, causing Lois to look at him in concern.
"I'll be there as soon as I can, but get her to a hospital." Clark said as he hung up.
"Is everything okay?" Lois asked.
"My mom had a stroke." Clark said.
"Is she?" Lois asked.
"The doctor said that she's still alive, but she's on her way to the hospital right now." Clark said.
"Go. I'll tell the boys." Lois said and Clark nodded as he flew out of the house.