Hello! So I know my posting has been slightly less consistent, but hey at least it's not three weeks between chapters. I'm gonna finish it, though, and its probably going to be slightly longer than my 10 chapter prediction. We'll see. Anyway, enjoy! Let me know what you think.

"Dad?" Clark looked up from his spot leaning against the family truck. Jon was walking up to him hesitantly.

Anyone who thought that it would be easy for Superman to search one particular region of the world, such as deserts, would be very wrong. For one thing, he couldn't fly even close to his top speed. He had to fly, listen, and look all at the same time and all in a very particular way. Not to mention, he then also had to fight the constant anxiety that he had missed something in an area he had just gone over.

Clark was far passed frustrated after 34 hours of searching then reconvening with Sam then searching again. He had heard nothing from Morgan Edge or Leslie Larr. The military had no luck either. Airspace around the world was being constantly monitored to no avail. Wherever Edge was hiding, he wasn't moving from that location yet. Lois finally convinced Clark to take a break before he collapsed in some desert crater from exhaustion.

"Hey," Clark wrapped his son in a hug, pausing just a moment before letting himself let go. "It's late, you should be getting some sleep."

"Can't sleep." Jon shrugged.

Clark didn't try to insist Jon goes back in the house. He honestly was happy for the company. The father blinked out of sight for a moment before reappearing with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and held one out to Jon.

Jon took it wordlessly and looked down at it, not quite able to take a sip.

"It's got cinnamon. No marshmallows. Your favorite."

"Jordan's more the no marshmallow one." Jon finally responded. "He thinks it makes it too hard to drink. The marshmallows getting all over your face part, you know."

"Huh," Clark chuckled lightly. "That does actually make a lot of sense."

Jon could see from the creases on his father's face how much he was trying to stay positive for Jon.

"Dad-"

"Jon-"

Jon and Clark both started at the same time, interrupting each other.

"I'm gonna go first." Jon stopped his dad before he went on and Clark nodded supportively. "After that whole Kryptonite sickness thing, me and Jordan talked about all of this stuff. A lot. And I just wanted you to know that he doesn't blame you for all the Kryptonian, Superman stuff that's been going on. Like, he really doesn't. I know that you're blaming yourself for Morgan Edge but…we both think you're a really good dad. Superman problems included." Jon lets out a long held breathe. "Especially Superman problems included honestly."

"Jon, I-" Clark trailed off, looking down at the cooling mug in his hand. "I still have a responsibility to protect you two and-"

"And you're gonna do that. If anyone can save Jordan, it's you. It's just a matter of time. I mean, you're literally using your break from flying around the world looking for him, to stand in the yard and listen for him."

"And your mother says I'm the impassioned speech one."

Jonathan snorted.

"Maybe it's a Kryptonian thing." He shrugged.

Clark was about to respond when a sound hit him like a lightning bolt.

DAD!

DAD! I'm in the Badlands.

The mug in Clark's hand shattered.

"I've got him." Clark gripped Jon's arm briefly, meeting his son's wide eyes. "Tell your mother he's in the Badlands."

DAD!

I got out.

Clark landed on the burnt orange sand hard.

"Jordan!" He yelled and spun in a circle, his cape snapping behind him. "Jordan!"

The sand of the Badlands danced around him in the wind, twisting like the panic in his gut. He thought of Lois and Jonathan waiting behind for him. He thought of Jordan. He knew he couldn't let any of them down again.

Picking up an incoming sound, he turned just in time to be hit in the chest with the force of a missile. He slid across the gritty floor, hitting every bump along the way, before slamming into a rock structure with a boom. His eyes glowed red catching sight of a familiar black suit.

The stone crumbled underneath the father's hand as he pushed himself back up. Edge wouldn't have the advantage of a weakened Superman this time.

"Dad!"

Clark stopped, every ounce of his body zeroing in on that one noise. The dust cloud from his impact cleared to reveal his son standing a hundred feet away from him. A voice reminded him in the back of his mind to watch out for hologram tricks. They weren't a mistake he could afford to make, but a deep part of him knew that was Jordan. From his heartbeat to the outline of his hair, it was his son. Clark covered those hundred feet in an instant.

Jordan was covered in dirt with a streak of red dripping from his forehead, clumped in some of his curls. The black shirt and pants he was wearing were filthy and torn like the teenager had been thrown around as much as his father had just been.

His face was strained and pinched in pain.

"Are you-"

Jordan dropped before Clark could even finish two words. The father didn't see any major wounds after a scan of the teen but fear still hit him hard in the gut. Clark caught him in his arms and the wave of pure relief from finally having Jordan in his sight turned to red, hot anger.

Where is he?

Clark whipped in a circle, scanning for the other Kryptonian.

Tal-Rho was just here. And if the other Kryptonian thought he was going to pull Clark's family out of his grasp again, he was dead wrong. Every protective nerve in Clark's body was on fire, being on a battlefield with his son lying unconscious in his arms.

He was torn between the urge to end things with Edge and the urge to pick Jordan up and fly him as far away from here as possible. It wasn't really a competition, though, as Edge didn't appear in the next moments. He listened to the surrounding environment and heard nothing.

Clark lifted Jordan up, forcing himself to ignore the nagging thought in the back of his mind that this was just a little too easy.

Clark landed in the middle of the DoD swarm that was occupying his and Lois' front lawn, his caped entrance obviously startling more than a couple of the soldiers. Jordan was still tucked in his arms, unconscious.

"Can I get a medic?" He shouted sharply. "I have Jordan Kent."

"Jordan!"

He froze at his other son's voice. Jonathan, Sam, and Lois were all standing in a circle near the farmhouse, eyes wide. Lois and Jonathan broke into a sprint before any of the soldier medical teams even had a chance.

Clark set Jordan down on the ground as they approached Lois dropped down next to him with an intensity like the teen might disappear if she looks away. Her entire body tensed as she took in the bruises and cuts.

"Is he okay?" Lois' desperate eyes met Clark's and she brushed back Jordan's curls to get a better look at the cut on his head.

"I don't believe he has any serious injuries, Ms. Lane." Superman nodded, expression tight, before looking back up to the sky. "I have to go."

Like a switch Lois' face changed and she looked toward the main house. Clark disappeared in a flash as medics finally surrounded the group with a gurney. He pulled the same switch he had done at least five times at this point on the DoD forces and zoomed back into the main house, unseen.

"Clark!" Lois screamed out her husband's name at the exact moment the house door banged open to reveal a scrambling Clark Kent.

He ran toward the group at Clark Kent's top speed.

The father could still very clearly remember the day not too long ago the pipes fell on the boys and turned their lives around. Surrounded by all those people, he had to run at a snail's pace to reach them. It had been some of the most agonizing seconds of his life. This run felt very similar to that. Jordan may have just been in his arms but any time out of his sight was too long at this point. Especially with Edge still out there. He and Jonathan might have to get over their father spying on them for a while.

"Oh thank god," Clark tripped the last step before practically falling to the ground beside Lois. He had to physically force himself to allow the medics pull Jordan out of their grips. Super healing or not, the teen needed medical attention and Clark sent out a quick prayer that that healing would kick in fast.

The relief finally sunk in as Jonathan practically tackled him in a hug, the teen a mess.

"Edge?" Lois' hushed question broke his focus.

"Still out there." He shook his head as discretely as possible, him and Lois sharing a knowing look that they would need to talk in private very soon.

Clark, Sam, and Lois could barely fit in the corner of the operations room they picked for their family meeting.

"What happened out there?" Lois asked quietly, wringing her hands and starting through the clear, plastic tent walls to where some medical staff were cleaning Jordan's cuts in a different section of the tent. Jon stood rigidly beside his unconscious brother, scanning the room back and forth. He had instantly volunteered to stay next to him in case he woke up.

"I'm not even sure." Clark shook his head and lowered his voice. "Jordan yelled for me out in the middle of the desert like he had been able to escape from wherever they were. Maybe he found a new ability, speed or flying, and was able to surprise Edge and Larr."

Sam tilted his head, clearly not liking the story.

"Did Edge say anything? Hint at any next moves? Give up any information on the Eradicator? I had a hell of a time finding somewhere to store it safely."

"Nothing." Clark's face darkened. "He hit me once then disappeared."

"He didn't engage you at all after that?" Lois frowned. "This is personal for Edge. He hasn't missed a single opportunity to gloat."

"And he had the strategic advantage." Sam crossed his arms. "With Jordan there, Superman would have had to stay on defense the entire time during any fight. And it would have made more sense to fight at the risk of losing an asset like leverage if not."

Neither parent seemed to appreciate Sam's use of the term "leverage", but Clark continued on.

"Maybe he didn't want to get into a fight he didn't know he could win? We've never been able to catch him off guard before."

Sam and Lois seemed to consider this proposition and the noises of the tent surround them tensely.

"You know what, I don't even care right now." Lois held up her hands, her voice tight. "I just want to be with our son and make sure he's okay. That's our main priority right now. Edge may not have had the opportunity to experiment with the Eradicator with him or whatever he wanted to do, but he damn sure was able to traumatize the hell out of Jordan."

"Lois-"

"No, don't Lois me like that right now Clark." Lois raised her voice. "Our son almost died."

"I know that." Clark seemed to deflate right in front of her. "And I was just going to agree with you."

Lois let out a shuddered breathe and pushed back her hair.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." She looked up to meet Clark's eye, suddenly guilty that she may have just increased his own personal guilt toward the situation.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

Sam coughed discreetly as the third wheel of the corner.

"You know what," He started, having gained their attention. "You guys should be with Jordan right now. I'll work on this from my side for the time being and once the kid wakes up, we'll go from there."

Their conversation was interrupted by a disturbance in the other side of the tent.

Clark looked over just in time to see Jordan throwing himself up from his medical bunk, tearing the needle from a saline drip in his arm.

"Wait, wait, you're back-" Jon tried to get his attention as Jordan spun around in confusion.

"Jordan," Clark was at his side a split second before Lois, hands on his shoulders trying to stabilize the teen. "We're here. It's okay, it's okay."

"Dad?" Jordan finally seemed to concentrate. The fight drained out of the boy as he blinked and let himself fall back onto his bed.

"You're okay. We're here." Lois dropped to her knee beside him.

Jordan winced, adrenaline fading, and rubbed his forehead as if he were fighting a headache. He looked up to see his family then smiled, the smile not quite reaching his eyes.

"I'm back." He echoed.