Jordan woke up slowly. It was the type of waking up where you don't actually think for a good five minutes, just blearily focus on making yourself open your eyes.
He took a deep breathe and paused at the taste of stale air and the sound of absolute silence except for his own heartbeat. The Kent farm was many things but definitely not silent or stale.
Holy shit, he thought. The teen jumped up then crashed back to sitting position on the bed after immediately being met with a wave of dizziness. Jordan looked around at the dimly light, bunker type room around him. It was maybe 10 feet by 10 feet with just the bed he was sitting on in the corner. There were no windows and the door was just four barely visible lines on the wall of the opposite side of the room.
The black, athletic style t-shirt and long pants were definitely not what he had been wearing before. They looked expensive and the material was odd and thick.
He pressed his hand against the cold metal of his prison numbly.
He could dent concrete easily at this point but could definitely not even come close to completely breaking through thick metal. Heat vision maybe? The teen weighed his options at escaped a room that was made to hold in probably Superman himself.
A thought startled him.
He had just been kidnapped. He. had. just. been. kidnapped. Someone just took him almost certainly with the intention to get to his parents, one of which was Superman. Jordan had thought he was used to this fact up until this point. He was pretty sure after the Kryptonian bug, he wouldn't be shocked by anything.
He was wrong.
Jordan chewed his lip and pressed himself to the back of the bed, as far into the corner as possible. The rational, problem-solving part of his mind fell silent to the stronger, choking feeling of panic. He swallowed it down as much as possible. He couldn't panic.
But he also probably couldn't escape this room, a voice echoed in his brain.
To help matters, the sinking truth was that Jordan in no way felt the desire to want to actually leave this room. However freezing and terrifying this room was, outside that door seemed worst.
Jordan cursed to himself again.
He wasn't brave like his father or self assured like his brother. He was barely a step above the loser he was at his old school. The best he could do was wait to be rescued. Or wait for whoever took him to open that door himself.
Like the universe had been waiting for him to hear that, a soft alarm blared from the other side of the room. The door panel slid to the left revealing a man who Jordan had only seen before in pictures and tv. Morgan Edge was wearing athletic clothes similar to his own unlike the black, Kryptonian suit his father had described before. Jordan wondered if the attire was the man's attempt to not immediately freak out the teen in front of him. Although, good luck with that considering the whole kidnapping and everything.
Jordan searched his face for some familiarity, some sign that the person in front of him was actually his uncle. The man's jawline might be familiar. Maybe if the man had on a pair of glasses, he could more easily compare to his own father.
Edge must have noticed Jordan's analyzing gaze because his face broke into a wide smile. It was unnerving.
"I know, I inherited most of the looks from Kal-El and I's mother." Edge says, stepping forward as the door closed behind him.
"I don't know who you're talking about." Jordan lied and stood up. His worst fears being confirmed that his father's identity was now much less secret.
Edge laughed and shook his head.
"You don't need to hide your heritage around me. We're family. Some of the very few pieces of family either of us have left, nephew."
"I have plenty of family." Jordan responded quickly, surprising himself. He didn't know what to say in this situation. It felt pointless to play dumb about his father's identity.
Edge didn't bother responding to the teen, instead looking at the wall like he hadn't even heard him. The older Kryptonian knocked against the metal and shook his head.
"I apologize for these accommodations." He started, not quite looking that sorry. "I'm a cautious man, especially for the people I care about. It's been so long since I've even had anyone I could even claim to feel some connection to, let alone a slowly growing group. I may be overcompensating…but let's focus on you. You must have questions."
Jordan paused. Sure, he wanted answers. He did not, however, want to just stand around chatting with this crazy dude. Even with the room's distance between them, his arm hair stood on edge.
"People will come for me." Jordan swallowed. He pictured his family now, once again having to panic over him.
"That's not a question. And I'm not worried about humans."
Jordan blinked at the venom that disappeared as quickly as it came to Edge's seemingly calm facade.
"What about your brother? I thought you said you cared about family." Jordan dared to ask.
"I'm trying to give my brother a chance. Believe it or not, bringing you here is a part of that. Kal-El has betrayed our own people up to this point and he needs a reminder of the Kryptonian ties that still bind him."
"I don't think kidnapping his son is going to help your case."
"You're the first naturally born Kryptonian since the planet's destruction. My brother needs a reminder of that and you need a chance to see what Kryptonians truly are before this war begins. You, Jordan, deserve a second chance just like any other Kryptonian." Edge pushed his hands forward in a grand gesture. "I know you don't see it now, but you are a displaced soul as much as the rest of our people."
Jordan suddenly was suddenly able to see the Kryptonian lurking beneath the surface of the man standing front of him. Morgan Edge was the perfect disguise it was so difficult to see through it.
Edge reached into his pocket and Jordan instinctively took a step back, bracing himself. The older man gave the teen a pointed look and raised his hands in a surrender position to reveal the phone he was reaching for. He made a few gestures against the metal device and light shot from the screen, highlighting the dust in the air before forming a 3D model of a tall, smiling man in some sort of white coat.
The hologram image was definitely a new one, Jordan thought.
"His name was Zeta-Ro." Edge started. "He was my father and the match of your grandmother. He named me Tal-Ro. He died when Krypton exploded but not before he sent me to make sure I could continue its society." Edge paused. "I know, you are under the assumption that his way to do so is barbaric but he was also trying to save a dying planet. Maybe, even trying to save his son from being alone in the world."
Edge waved his hand and a new image appeared of a woman. She was pretty. And serious looking.
"This is my mother. You are probably more familiar with her. She advanced Kryptonian science hundreds of years in just a handful of her own in her attempts to save her family. I did not know her that well, but her intelligence could have probably saved Krypton given just a little more time. If she had been at the head of leadership from the beginning of the crisis, she may have been able to avoid it all together."
Edge continued in this pattern showing a few more Kryptonians, sometimes pulling up pictures of their children or siblings. Jordan was silent, expecting threats not a powerpoint presentation. Not that he was complaining.
"Jordan, do you-?" Edge pauses. "Or should I say Jor-El? I suppose we haven't clarified what to call each other considering I too rarely use my Kryptonian name. Yet."
"My name is Jordan."
Edge shrugged. The teen wondered if he didn't exactly mind not having to use the name of the guy who kind of home-wrecked his life.
"So then Jordan, do you know what these people have in common? Other than the obvious."
Jordan took a beat to stare at the current image, casting a white glow on each corner of the room almost like some ghost that was haunting the small space.
"They're Kryptonians you're trying to put in human bodies."
"They are Kryptonians I am trying to save." Edge turned off the phone. "And, as you know, humans have not exactly had the best track record of taking care of this planet or each other here. A civilizational renaissance here might save this planet from potential destruction with the knowledge from those who know the real fear of destruction. It would be no more than the dinosaurs being swept over to make room for the biped evolution."
Jordan looked down. Despite the anger and righteousness in Edge's monologue, the fear and loss of a very messed up and lost guy was there too. Edge definitely thought he was right. Morally and societally. The teen knew his own father would never hurt anyone, but he figured superman may be able to relate to this person if life had been different.
"Krypton is gone, though." Jordan finally chose his words carefully. "Those people are dead. You can't change that and you can't hurt the people here to do it. Humans have families and ideas too."
Edge shook his head like a disappointed teacher and took a lazy step closer to Jordan.
"I've read all your records, you know. Therapists, school, and the such." He made a point to rotate his gaze slowly around the room before landing solidly back on the teen. "It couldn't have been easy growing up with so much potential inside of yourself but no room to express it… no help from your parents about why you are as different as you've always felt you are…Tell me, have you hurt anyone with your powers yet?" Edge winked. "Accidentally, of course."
Jordan visible flinched.
"It was an accident."
"Of course, needless to say, I can understand complicated relationships. Your family, though they may seem good and true…are imposters that will hold you back. You weren't made for humans. They're fragile. You are, well, super. I can help you to rise to your full potential without the shame, fear, and constriction of this inferior human society that will never truly accept you."
Jordan felt his fingernails dig into his skin, he was clenching his hands so tightly. He wanted. to. panic. He wanted to explode. And disappear. The madman in front of him being able to know every personal, painful detail of his past left him feeling more exposed than he thought possible. And he knew, it shouldn't. He wanted it not to, but all he could feel now was that there was no where to hide. But he couldn't show Edge that.
He had to do the one little thing he could to show he wasn't a complete failure in the shadow of his father.
"I don't want that." Jordan choked out. "I don't want to rise above anyone or destroy people's lives" The teen finished as steadily as he could.
"I know." Edge grimaced. "You wouldn't be of Lara's blood without a healthy does of stubbornness but-"
"Or Lois Lane's blood."
Edge's smile faltered for a split second before he started again as strong as ever.
"Things are changing, nephew. Fast. " He mulled over, turning to the leave the room, glancing back one last time. "Now, I have a call to make."
Jordan was left alone in the dark as the door closed shut again.
Like a fuse finally hitting its end, he whipped around and kicked the bed as hard as he could. It broke free from the metal screws holding it down with a crack and jumped three feet into the air before slamming down hard.
He hoped his family was okay.