Superboy Unleashed

By Jeune Ecrivain

Rating: T

Summary: A while after 1x05, a startling truth is revealed about Jordan's powers, just in time for the Cushings to witness something they can't explain. Established Jordarah.

A/N: I imagine this taking place anywhere from a few weeks to a full year after 1x05, though a few months may be the best time frame. My writing may be rusty, so I welcome constructive critique.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Clark blinked out of his daze of contemplation and looked over his shoulder at Lois as she stood in the front door of the Kent farmhouse with a gentle smile on her face. "I'm proud of Jordan for deciding on his own to quit the team," Clark said as his wife joined him on the patio, "but at the same time, I really wish it didn't have to be this way. He was happier than I've seen him in a long time!"

"I know," Lois agreed. "He finally seemed to have found something of a niche for himself, a sense of belonging."

"Exactly! His doctor actually felt comfortable putting him on a trial run without his meds. That's huge!"

Lois hugged her husband around his abdomen from behind, head resting between his shoulder blades. "And now you're afraid we might lose at least some of that progress?"

"The guilt of accidentally putting one of the first real friends he's made in the hospital might have already been enough to do that. But on top of that, he has to walk away from a social activity that really seemed to be bringing him out of his shell. So yeah, I am worried about that."

"Well, he has Sarah now, and not just as a friend anymore," Lois reminded Clark as she released her embrace and stepped forward to lean on the railing beside him. "And it's not like the friends he made on the team are going to totally ignore him now. Sean was over just yesterday, and Jordan's literally dating his ex!"

Clark laughed. "I guess if their friendship can survive that, leaving the team isn't likely to do much." He paused. "How he's treated Sarah is another thing I'm proud of him for. The friend zone is never a fun place to be, but he hardly ever complained, and certainly never to her face. I think he was just grateful to have her by his side in whatever capacity she was ready for."

"As I recall," Lois smirked, "you were actually respectful to a fault when you were his age. Lana told me about how she eventually got downright frustrated that you wouldn't make a move!"

Clark chuckled at his wife's playful taunt. "I nearly lost my chance because she wondered if I was even interested anymore. Yeah, I remember."

Lois' teasing smile morphed into a warmer one as she grew serious again. "Hey, don't let the attitude he has sometimes fool you. When it really counts, I think Jordan does listen to the life lessons you try to teach him, even if he doesn't always take your advice. I don't think genes are the only reason he takes after his father in mostly the best ways."

Clark raised an eyebrow at the impish use of the word "mostly" but decided to let it pass, as Lois' words once again led him back to a more serious topic. "Speaking of taking after his dad,…"

"The powers," Lois easily anticipated.

Clark shook his head. "He's levitating now, Lois, which means flying isn't far off if my own history is anything to go by. What I can't quite figure out is why his control has seemed to falter so much lately. When he first joined the football team, he seemed confident that he could keep his abilities in check, and for a long while, that really did seem to be the case. I mean, he still pancaked pretty much anyone who came up against him on the field, but it was never at a dangerous level, either for the other players or for the family secret. Honestly, I was impressed! But just in the past week or so,…I don't know. There was one especially brutal tackle that had me concerned, so I told him to dial it down, and for a few days, he seemed to succeed at that. Then it happened again, and that time, it was even worse. For the first time, I suspected he might be flirting with the upper limit of what could be considered reasonable for an ordinary human of his age and size. I can't help but think we were lucky that a broken bone was the worst of it. It's almost like…"

"…he's getting stronger and having to recalibrate his level of self-restraint," Lois finished for him.

Clark nodded. "Not just stronger. Faster. And of course, Earth's gravity is clearly losing its grip on him." He shook his head once more. "And the timing really worries me, too! It all seems to have started just a day or two after we took him off his pills."

"I had exactly the same thought, so I did some digging," Lois said. "That's actually what I was on my way to talk to you about before I caught you so deep in thought already."

Clark turned to face Lois more directly and crossed his arms with a small smile, eager both for some answers and for the sight of his wife once again in her element. "I'm listening."

"Well, Dr. Kidder advised that we still refill his prescriptions so we have some on reserve in case he seems to really need them again. But in the last batch of benzos that Jordan actually took, I noticed that the color seemed a bit off. I shrugged it off until I had the same thought you had: the timing of Jorden's apparent burst in abilities." Lois jerked her head in the direction of the front door. "I have the details on my computer inside, and to be extra safe, I've done all my Internet research in incognito mode on a VPN, but for now, the gist of it is…intriguing, to say the least. The particular brand we've always gotten chose that trademarked color because they wanted people to associate it with the 'GO' signal on a traffic light. It's a way of saying, 'Let your social life take off!' or something along those lines. But as it turns out, they've finally run out of their patented edible dye and had to switch to the closest thing they could find. The alternative is more expensive too, which is why the price of Jordan's drugs went up a bit. Anyway, they can't make any more of the dye because – get this – the asteroid mineral they grind up as the main ingredient has become almost impossible to get on the open market."

Clark stared at her. "Lois, those pills have always been neon green!"

Lois nodded. "And the mineral shortage? I checked with the company and cross-referenced with my dad. It happened right around the time he believes he finished acquiring as much kryptonite as he could find across the world. Then there's a press release the company had to put out a few years ago to assure their customers that their drugs weren't radioactive. Why? Because someone happened to notice that their benzos glow in the dark ever so slightly and posted on social media about it."

Clark sighed and took a seat on the bench swing. "So basically, we've been poisoning our own kid for years."

"Because of a marketing ploy, no less," Lois observed as she claimed a seat beside him. "I can only assume it was always in too trace of an amount to have any noticeable effect on you. It's probably different if you actually ingest the stuff and get it into your bloodstream."

Clark nodded again and met Lois' gaze, which mirrored his own growing concern. "So now, the question is just how powerful will Jordan actually get."

As if on cue, a now familiar vehicle arrived on the Kent farm and slowed to a halt in front of the house. Dr. Kidder, who was treating both Jordan and Sarah, had concurred with Lois that Sarah could be quite a valuable source of support for Jordan during his trial phase without medication. Indeed, she saw great potential for each to help the other heal from their respective issues. With her parents' blessing, Sarah's own individual therapy session that day was followed by a joint session with Jordan in which she was briefly instructed on basic coping mechanisms for social anxiety disorder that could be guided by a trusted companion. While notably later than expected, their arrival was no surprise.

What Lois and Clark did not expect, however, was a clearly very nervous Jordan to march towards them followed closely by three pensive and furiously murmuring Cushings.

The murmuring stopped as Clark and Lois met their son before the steps to the patio, immediately on alert. "How'd it go?" Clark ventured, glancing at the worry on Sarah's face, the confusion on Lana's, and the lingering bewilderment on Kyle's, before his gaze landed on his son, who now looked crestfallen.

"Dad," he hurried to say, "I'm sorry. It happened so fast! I didn't think I had a choice! I'm pretty sure Mr. Cushing would've died if I didn't do something."

The elder Kents exchanged a knowing but apprehensive look before Clark spoke up gently. "What happened?"