Chapter 28 - Severe

If there was one thing Jonathan hated more than watching his sons cry, it was making it happen.

He knew he had to play that role sometimes. He knew that part of raising good, strong men was being the voice of reason, and even discipline, regardless of whether it would hurt. He also knew that when his boys did cry, it wasn't because they felt degraded or unloved; often, it was the exact opposite.

Still, it never got easier. And Clark was already on the edge. This was going to be a hard conversation. He was thankful to have his wife with him; she followed him into Clark's room and sat down next to Clark on the bed.

"Dad," Clark said, "I know you're gonna be upset, but I just wanna say… I don't regret it. Any of it. I have my brother back, and that's all that matters to me."

This was not a great start. Jonathan sat down across from Clark. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Clark took a deep breath. "What do you already know?"

Martha hadn't told him much. Said it was better to hear it from Clark. "That's not what I asked, son."

"I lied to you," Clark sad. "But I didn't know what else to do. I found out on the trip to Egypt that Lex's dark side took over. He threatened me with kryptonite to keep silent about it. I was afraid he might hurt you guys."

"When did you lie?"

"It was more that I just... didn't tell you."

Jonathan was surprised by that comment, but he was also proud. He had told Clark that a lie of omission counted as dishonesty, but he wasn't sure if that lesson had stuck. It was good to know that it had. "OK. What happened after the plane landed?"

"His lab assistant shot him. I was telling the truth about all of that."

That was a relief, at least.

"I stayed by the hospital a lot. I was really scared that Lex would wake up and hurt one of you, so I didn't tell anybody what I knew."

That was concerning. On the one hand, Jonathan understood why he had done it. On the other, he had left them completely defenseless if Lex had decided to hurt them. "So what did you do?"

"I talked to Chloe about her research into the meteor rocks. I knew that a lot of people who had been infected ended up… not being the best people, even though it wasn't their fault. But I was wondering if there was any way to… do the opposite."

"You were trying to force your brother to be a better person by infecting him with kryptonite?"

"I was trying to protect our family. And I wanted my brother back. My real brother."

"Clark—"

"I didn't know what to do!"

"You could have come to us!"

"He could have killed you! I couldn't talk to you about anything that was happening, I did the best I could, I..." His voice caught.

"OK," Martha said softly, rubbing Clark's back.

Jonathan had to take a few deep breaths. It was still early in the conversation; he couldn't afford to be losing his temper already. "What happened then?"

"Chloe had heard a rumor about some thing called black Kryptonite. She didn't know exactly what it did...but I was desperate. So I found some."

"How did you find it?"

"Sped around town. Used X-ray vision."

So they needed to add both doing better research and not risking exposing his powers to this conversation. "What did you do with it?"

"I was just going to put it under his pillow, but I couldn't risk it… Not working. So I found a generator—"

"Wait, wait. You found a generator?"

Clark shifted in his seat. "I stole it."

Martha's eyebrows raised at that one; Jonathan assumed she hadn't known. "What did you do with the stolen generator?"

"I got some electrodes and I connected it to the black kryptonite and to Lex, and I cranked it up until the electricity started… but I didn't really know how to use it. It ended up... shocking him." Clark's eyes began to water.

Normally, Jonathan would've been feeling sympathy for him. Right now, all of his focus was on holding back his anger. "Did that wake him up?"

"Uh...yeah, but...it didn't just wake him up..."

"It brought his good side to the surface?" Maybe there was a silver lining to all of this, even if Jonathan did have quite a lot to address.

"Not exactly." Clark looked over at his mom. "Can't you tell him?"

His son's distress pierced Jonathan, and his heart softened a little. "Hey. Look at me."

Clark's eyes snapped back to his dad.

"This is a lot. I'm not gonna lie to you about that. But we will get through it, and I will still love you, no matter what you tell me."

Clark swallowed. "The black kryptonite split him into two halves. It… it's like it cloned him."

Jonathan's heart sank. "The darkness and the light?"

"Yeah."

He hated that he had to ask. "Where is the dark side?"

"We don't know."

"He ran away from the hospital?"

Clark looked over at Martha again, his eyes begging, but she raised her eyebrows, and Clark looked back at his dad. "He ran away from the mansion. I locked him up there."

"How did you get him over there?"

Clark was silent for a moment.

"Son?"

"I knocked him out," Clark said very softly.

Anger boiled over in Jonathan's chest.

"But I was scared! He might've hurt you guys!"

"Clark…" Jonathan kept reminding himself to take deep breaths.

"That's the whole story. That's everything."

Jonathan had to be methodical. Otherwise, he was going to lash out. "Let's start at the beginning again. Where did you go wrong?"

"I don't know," Clark said, squirming in his seat.

"How about when you didn't come to us from the beginning?"

"I was scared he would hurt you."

"He was in a coma, son. We could have had time to plan."

"I didn't know what you would do. Dad… this was life and death."

"So were the choices you made!"

Clark flinched.

"You-you didn't even know what the black kryptonite was supposed to do. And you risked exposing your powers to find it, you stole a generator to use it, and you never once came to us?"

"Dad..."

"Did you learn nothing from the incident last summer?"

Clark gasped.

Jonathan immediately knew that had been the wrong thing to say. He'd been talking about the three months in Metropolis. But by the way Clark's face had lit up with shock and pain, it was clear he thought his dad was talking about the incident with the ship and Martha's miscarriage.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." He broke down in tears.

Martha gave Jonathan an exasperated look and wrapped an arm around Clark. "He was talking about Metropolis, baby," she said softly, carding a hand through his hair.

"But he's right," Clark sobbed. "I could have killed both my siblings."

Jonathan hung his head. "Son… "

"I'm sorry! Please… please…"

This was going all wrong. Jonathan took a seat on the bed next to his son and wrapped his arm around him as well. He didn't even know what to say. It was true that this was the second summer in a row that Clark had made a rash decision without consulting his parents and put one of his siblings in danger. And last summer, his decisions really had killed one. Of course, since then Jonathan had had a chance to calm down and see that Clark had really been doing the best he could do. The best he could do without his parents' help, anyway.

Clark was still crying uncontrollably. Jonathan didn't blame him. He tightened his grip around his son and let the boy ride the waves of guilt and fear and grief, and he found his own eyes prickling as well. He should've been more careful with his words. He knew Clark was going to cry, but he hadn't meant to hurt him nearly this badly.

When Clark's weeping quieted a little, Jonathan stood and came around to face him, pulling the chair up close. He focused on letting all of the love he felt for his son show on his face, and he tipped Clark's chin up to look him in the eyes. "Clark, are you listening?"

"Yes, sir," Clark choked out.

"I love you very much. And your love for your brother is one of the things I'm the proudest of. I know this was an impossible situation. I wish you could've trusted your mother and me to know how to handle it without anyone getting hurt. And if anything like this ever comes up again—" Jonathan almost felt silly saying it, but given their family, it was unfortunately likely— "you will come to us."

"Yes, sir."

Jonathan frowned. "What are we going to do about the stealing? This is not the first time for you."

"I know," Clark said softly.

"Two hundred lines. I will not steal."

"Yes, sir."

Jonathan paused a moment to let him process before moving on. "What about running around the city? Mining for black kryptonite?"

"Dad, I don't know how to prove it, but I really didn't endanger my secret. I know how to use my speed in a way that keeps me from being seen."

"Check for security cameras?"

"Always. I swear."

"OK. I'm going to let that one go."

Clark let out his breath.

Jonathan still had the worst offenses to deal with. "We do have to talk about the electrocution. And knocking out Lex's other half."

"Dad..."

"No, Clark. You didn't think through your plans. You didn't do enough research, and you could have seriously hurt someone."

"It was just the dark side!"

"Clark!" Martha chided.

"What if the two sides were linked, son?" Jonathan asked. "You could've hurt both sides."

"He could've hurt you."

"Could you have restrained him without hitting him?"

"I mean, I guess, but—"

"Then that's the problem. What's the real reason you knocked him out?"

Clark on his head, a couple more tears falling. "To get him to the mansion. So that I could try to figure this out before…"

"Before what?"

"Before you found out."

"Unacceptable."

Clark cringed.

"What did I say about hitting people?"

Clark's face paled. Jonathan could tell that he remembered the exact words.

"What did I say would happen if you did it again?"

"You said…" Clark bit his lip. "The consequences would be severe," he whispered.

Jonathan nodded. He didn't want to follow through. He felt no anger, not while Clark was so upset. But discipline wasn't about anger; if he was angry, he would have needed to take some time. "You're grounded for a month," he said.

"OK," Clark said.

"Extra chores the entire time, with the exception of the first week."

"What's the first week?"

"You're on house arrest. In your room. We will bring you breakfast and lunch. You can come down for dinner, and you can leave to use the restroom, but other than that—"

"What the hell are you thinking?"

Jonathan turned. Lex stood at the doorway.

He didn't even have time to process what was happening before Lex was yelling. "You're grounding him? You just said it was an impossible situation."

"Lex—"

"Should we review a dictionary definition of the word impossible?"

"Lex! Watch your tone."

"I threatened him. I pulled kryptonite on him. Hell, I took his blood, and his marrow. Without anesthetic."

"That wasn't you, son."

"And if Clark claimed that he had a secret dark side that made him do it? That would let him off the hook?"

Jonathan turned to Clark. "Do you?"

"No, sir. This was my choice."

Jonathan turned back to Lex and gave him a look.

Lex glared at him. "You're punishing him for defending himself. For defending you."

"Son, I need you to trust me on this. As your father."

"My crime was worse than his. You're grounding him for a month. How long am I grounded?"

Jonathan hadn't been planning on even so much as lecturing Lex. He couldn't have controlled his actions. "You're not."

"Like hell I'm not!"

Jonathan was starting to get angry again. Clark had been repentant; Lex was being openly defiant. "I've had enough of that language and that disrespect."

Lex stood up straighter, setting his jaw. "Ground me, then."

The challenge hung in the air.

Jonathan looked over to Martha, but she was just staring at Lex curiously. This was on him to deal with.

"No," Jonathan said firmly.

Lex glared for another moment before a sarcastic smile turned up his lips. "Then I'll ground myself."

"Lex!" Clark cried.

"I'll match whatever punishment you give him."

"You're not grounded, son."

"I am if he is. And you'll know it the whole time."

"Lex, stop!" Clark said.

"Shut up, Clark," Lex said.

"Hey!" Jonathan snapped. "You do not speak to your brother that way."

"You're one to talk."

Anger was blurring the corners of Jonathan's vision. He couldn't think clearly. He remembered to take a few breaths before speaking, counting to ten in his head, then again, then backwards.

Finally, he said, "You're not grounded, Lex. You're free to make your own choices. And if you'd like to choose to stay in your room and do extra chores and cancel all your social engagements for a month, that's up to you."

Lex just stared at him for a moment. Then he said, "You have my terms. My fate is in your hands." And he left Clark's room.

Jonathan let his breath out, but he had a feeling this was nowhere near over.