Hello and welcome back!

This chapter focuses Sam and his relationship with Jonathan. I see in the current episodes that Sam spends a lot of time with Jordan and Natalie. But absolute no time with Jonathan. And I believe that his purpose is to get them into the DOD.

Enjoy!

Jordan's face turned as white as chalk when he realized it. And he was furious about his father's further reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding?" Jordan wailed and rubbed with his butt over the seat to show his father how it was. "The seat is not in the right position! Jonathan didn't drive!"

In fear Jordan took his phone to call 911…

"Who are you calling?"

"The police!"

At the farmhouse meanwhile, Lois finished the last name on her list and moaned…

She was shocked about how apathic and even partly spiteful some of them reacted to Jonathan's disappearance. She even talked with some of the other player's parents. Even those who used to insult Jon. And most of them had this apathic reaction that let Lois flinch.

Lois suddenly had to think about the election-day again. That scene of the other mother, who used to attack Jon in front of all others played in her head again. It was Lana who stepped in and helped Jon. But it was Lois' job. And she didn't do anything. She just watched it happen… What kind of mom is she? Other players took X-K, too! Even the son of that other woman. But Jonathan was the only one who got punished for taking it. Thinking about it, it was one of the many injustices, she used to uncover as a reporter. So why not when it involved her own son?

Lois had still one name on her list. But she was not willing to call him! Not after what he said yesterday! And not after his own mistakes. Her own father: Sam Lane!

Sam gave Jordan a suit without hers and Clark's approval. Sam secretly trained Jordan and excluded Jonathan. Sam gave Jonathan the feeling of being useless. And Sam tried to recruit Jordan and Natalie for a DOD team, while everything Jonathan got from his own grandfather was a ugly shirt, that was not even Jon's size.

Lois always guessed, that if something bad happens at home, that Jon would go to Sam and stay with him. Because they had a good relationship and because her father truly cared for Jon in the past. At least she thought so. Now she didn't get that thought out of her head, that her father might preferred Jordan because of his powers, too. The suit he gave to the boy and the way he tried to convince Natalie to join the DOD, were true indications for it…

But she could also be wrong! Maybe Sam knows anything? He should at least know what's going on right now! After all, he was still Jonathan's grandfather! Even if he didn't act like one in the last time…

"Lois, pumpkin, good that you call! Listen I am sorry! I didn't mean it!" Sam said. His voice sound upset and desperate!

"This is not a 'reconcile call', dad! And I am not the one you have to apologize to. But Jonathan is ghosting us. You should know that!"

"Ghosting you? I thought he went to that little communist who used to live next door to you in Metropolis when the boys were younger?"

"Don't call him that! Why do you think Timmy Tanner is a communist?" Lois asked upset.

"Because of the way he was talking and his worldview." Sam moaned.

"I am not discussing that with you again. Just wanted to tell you to call us if you hear anything from Jonathan." Lois said.

"Of course! Wait… Lois, listen I am very sor…" Sam said before the call was ended by Lois.

Sam, who was in his office at the DOD, looked desperately on the screen of his phone and asked himself, why he was so stupid.

Thinking about Jonathan's accusations and his words, Sam knew that they had a lot to talk about. But Jon didn't respond to any call or any message he sent him. Sam opened the Messenger app again to record a voice-message…

"Jonathan, I know you are mad on me. I understand that. And I am really sorry for what I said and for how I let you feel. Not only yesterday, but for the other times, too. I thought about everything, and you were right! I want to make amends for it. Take the time you need. But I would be grateful, if you could just give me a brief call or write a short message. Just that I know that you are okay. I love you!"

Sam pressed on send, right when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in!" Sam said and put his phone away.

Sam's secretary came in with a blue folder with some documents.

"General, here are the information you wanted!" a petite woman in uniform said and handed the folder to Sam.

"Thank you!" Sam said after he took the folder and looked on the first page. "Oh, and… please send Private Harris to me! Tell him it's 'super-urgent'!"

The woman agreed and left the office. Sam continued reading the file for a couple of minutes. But was not really able to focus on it. Jonathan didn't get out of his head.

Was Jonathan right? Did he unintentionally preferred Jordan because of his powers, too?

Ever since he learned the truth about Clark, Sam tried to not let his reservations against his son-in-law impairing his relationship with his daughter and his grandsons. When they were little, and everyone was convinced that none of them ever gets powers, Sam tried his best to be a good grandfather to them. Even if Lois often accused him to not to work on his relationship with them good enough.

With Jonathan it was easier than with Jordan. Jonathan liked to join him on fishing trips, while Jordan was always so closed up. After Jordan's powers emerged and after some trouble, Sam not only learned to accept Jordan's powers but also found a way to bond with him.

Sam enjoyed spending time with Jordan. It was great to finally get some relationship with him. But what he didn't expect was Jonathan getting jealous…

Jonathan was always supportive and protective. And Sam was impressed of how Jon stepped in for his brother. Especially after Sam accidentally poisoned Jordan and Clark by the 7734 project. But there was one thing, Sam couldn't stop thinking about…

'You're training the wrong guy!'

Sam always thought that it was just spitefulness. But thinking about it and considering the fact that Jonathan felt left out and betrayed, he understood it: Jonathan was jealous on Jordan for getting more attention than him. After they learned about the X-K, Sam banished Jonathan from their training and even prohibited him to watch them. Just for Jonathan to feel useless? Unloved? That he is not worth to get training, because he has a superpowered brother?

Sam thought about what he said and realized: If his own grandfather would have talked to him like that, he would had been angry and disappointed, too! And thinking about the training, Sam realized that offering Jon to train him at least in self-defense, would have helped the boy to feel better. Jordan gets so much attention from anyone, and now he joined them in ignoring Jonathan?! What kind of grandfather is he?

Sam barely slept last night! Maybe half an hour at most! Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Jonathan desperately trying to get his attention. Hoping to distract himself, he went to the office at 5 am, just to not lay in his bed awake. Before he could brood about it any longer, there was a knock on the door again.

"Come in!"

The door opened and none other than Tag Harris entered the room.

"Close the door and take a seat!" Sam ordered.

Tag nodded and obeyed.

Tag Harris' life had changed a lot since he left Smallville. Working for the DOD had its perks. Even if there were a lot of 'teething problems'.

After his first getaway, attacking Jordan, the unintentionally kidnapping of Sarah Cushing and his capture, Superman helped him to adjust to his new situation. It was Superman who arranged some meetings with General Lane to talk about everything. And Tag learned that the general's dislike of him was just because he was the grandfather of the Kent-brothers, who Tag used to bully in School before and later attacked.

Superman's only condition for helping Tag, was that latter had to apologize to everyone for what happened. Tag wrote letters to Jonathan, Jordan and Sarah, which he gave to Superman. And things got better. He was allowed to see his parents, he got emotional support by a psychologist, and Superman himself showed up and gave him an encouraging pep-talk.

That Superman was 'indirectly responsible' for his powers he learned much later. After losing his fear of his powers and learning to control them better, Tag was proud when General Anderson choose him for his 'Supermen-of-America' program. Wearing the uniform with the Superman-symbol with pride, making new friends, and feeling like a hero.

After the death of his two friends after the encounter with the bizarre Superman-copy, the program was ceased, and Tag returned to normal duty after his recovery. Being a metahuman didn't give him any other advantages anymore after the end of the Program. But compared to the partly freaking powers of the other Metas he met, his powers gave him some more freedoms.

Tag was now a soldier like any other, and not treated differently. Despite his powers. Sam Lane learned to forgive him, and Tag learned to forgive the General. Making it both able to have a relatively normal working relationship.

Jordan and Jonathan Kent never got out of his head. He was always convinced that they knew more than they admit. He had the video, and he remembered the evening of the party when his powers kicked in. When Jordan Kent was able to hold him, and Jonathan Kent kept the others away and helped him to leave. As if they knew what happened. And Superman saving them made him just more suspicious. He guessed it was a matter of time before he figures out the truth.

And the truth was: Both were the kids of Superman! That Jordan has powers was obvious for him. And Jonathan must have them, too! He was in touch with his parents in Smallville and knew what happened there in the past years. When the existence of 'Superboy' was revealed to the public and that of his powerless brother, he knew it were the Kent-brothers! That Jonathan Kent is the powerless twin he never dared to believe. But it was true.

He confronted General Lane with his knowledge, and both agreed to each other that Tag keeps it for himself. Jordan Kent might had turned him into a metahuman, but his life was better now than it would be if he would have stayed in Smallville. With a low-income job and with parents who were barely able to pay their bills. Today he was able to support them with his income and found true friends.

Tag often thought about getting in touch with the Kent boys again. The way both tried to support and to help him, despite the difficult time he made them, impressed him. Who knows, if he had stayed in Smallville, they might had become friends? And now, Tag was forced to lie to his own parents about the origin of his powers! And he had to lie about the identity of Superman and his powered and his unpowered son. The official story was that the bonfire lighted up some X-K in the ground, which exploded and altered his cells.

And now Tag was here. Wearing a standard camouflage uniform like every other soldier here. And he was nervous. Private meetings with General Lane were rare. And they always were about keeping the secret, not telling anyone, or getting thread to be send in custody again if he abuses his powers.

"Thank you for coming!"

"You wanted to see me, general!" Tag said. Trying not to sound too nervous.

"Yes… Private Harris, you are aware who my grandsons are?"

"Yes, I am! Jonathan and Jordan Kent! Alias Superboy!"

"Are you in touch with any of them?"

"No, sir!"

"Neither Jordan nor Jonathan?"

"No, sir!"

"I am asking this question… because there was an incident yesterday!"

"Oh… I heard about it! My father told me yesterday when I called my family!"

"Where they know that from?" Sam was suddenly deeply red in his face.

"It's the no. one matter of the town-gossip right now!" Tag responded. He could see that this statement made the general even more upset. "I have to admit openly, that I understand why your grandson is so upset!

"However, …" Sam tried to not to sound too upset by himself. "… My grandson Jonathan has left the town to spend the night at a friend's place. According to that boy, he never arrived. But I don't trust this statement. I have a little mission for you!"

Sam took a page from the folder and handed Tag a big copy of Timmy Tanner's driver's license.

"Who is that?" Tag asked.

"The boy my grandson went to. But as I said, he supposedly never arrived!"

"Maybe he learned to fly and went somewhere else?" Tag said with a shrug.

"This is not the right time for jokes!" Sam ranted. "Go and observe this boy! And report to me immediately if my grandson is with him! And when you see him, take the chance, and apologize to him in person for the attack."

Tag wanted to say that he already apologized to both Kent-brothers multiple times, but he didn't dare to contradict. Instead, he just nodded.

"Before I leave… May I ask a question out of curiosity, General?"

"What?"

"How is it possible?" Tag asked.

"What is possible?"

"How is it possible that one of your grandsons has all his father's powers and the other one does not have a single one?"

"Why do you ask this question, Private Harris?"

"Everyone is talking about! And for most it makes no sense. That there is only one Superboy, while Superman has two sons! And I admit, for me, too!"

"I don't know the reason! And I honestly don't care because my grandson is fine with having no powers!" Sam said. He was honestly not so sure about this and knew that Jonathan's problems went far deeper than his powerlessness. That he doesn't care suddenly sounds so mean. Otherwise, Clark never told him the true reason for Jonathan being powerless, or if there was some specific event that caused it?

Jonathan had a lot of problems because of who his father was, and he knew now that he was no help eighter. Instead, Sam worsened everything… when he told Jonathan to be afraid of his father and his brother and when he told Clark, that this is going to tear them apart…

Tag meanwhile was impressed by Jonathan's supposed calmness and his point. If Jonathan was really fine, it proved that Jonathan was a very modest person. And his respect for him grew even more. One more reason why Tag hoped that Jonathan never gets exposed as the powerless one. It would destroy him.

Tag lifted from the chair, bowed, and left the office with the copy of Timmy's license. Once outside in the corridor, Tag took his phone and opened a messenger-app to write a message…

'Spare away! Wrench in place!'

After Tag saw that the message was read, he received another one…

'B12 & C'

Tag deleted the whole chat before he put his phone away. Nobody knew what those crypted messages meant, expect him and his chat-partner. But Tag knew that things get even more complicated now…

Sam meanwhile received a call from Jordan… While Clark called Lois at the farm… Just a few seconds later, Sam stormed out of the office to head directly back to Smallville!

Only a few minutes after Jordan mentioned the misaligned seat, a police-car approached them. Just in time for the two officers inside to witness Clark and Jordan yelling on each other and blaming each other for all kinds of things…

"Okay, what's going on here!" a female officer asked.

"Officer, my brother is missed!" Jordan wailed.

"We are not sure yet!" Clark added. He tried to remain calm, for Jordan and for Lois. But he was nervous.

"Are you fucking kidding, dad?"

"Jordan… watch your words in front of the police!"

"Sir, what's going on?" the male officer asked now.

"We found my son Jonathan's truck here! The battery was empty, and the keys were left behind! We came here to bypass it and to bring it home!" Clark explained.

"But Jonathan didn't drive the truck here! The seat is not in the right position!" Jordan interfered.

"And where is your son Jonathan, now?" the female officer asked.

Now Clark became pale…

"We don't know…!"

"You don't know! Yesterday, he told everyone, he doesn't know where you are!" the male officer said.

"Aww… yesterday… yes, I ditched him! And yes, everyone is talking about it because it makes me look like I don't care!"

"Don't care? Your son had tears in his eyes when he stormed out of the school. And he yelled loudly that he is so sick of always being second fiddle to his brother and that nobody cares for his problems!" the male officer told. "My son filmed everything with his smartphone! And my daughter sat in the audience, too!"

Clark turned red.

"Ehm… Yeah, I admit we had a terrible fight yesterday!" Clark confessed.

"But the truck! The seat…" Jordan yelled.

"Young man, calm down!" the female officer said. "Your brother might do this on purpose."

"What do you mean with that?" Clark asked now shocked.

"Mr. Kent… Might it be possible that your son just ran away and ghosts you?" the male officer asked. "I mean… It's well known in town that your son is not very happy here and that you…"

"Are you telling me I am doing this on purpose! Yes, I made some mistakes! Yes, he is right to be mad on me, officers!" Clark yelled now. "But something happened here!"

"Mr. Kent, all we can do is making a report and if he does not appear after a certain time, we start to search him…"

Clark felt more than offended. The officers were in his eyes not really interested in the case. Brushing everything off as if it is normal for a 16-year-old boy to leave behind his truck, with the keys. And to ghost everyone. Even those who he supposedly trusted and went, too.

"But he never arrived in Metropolis! Nobody has heard about him!" Jordan interfered.

"For now, there is no prove that anything happened!" the male officer said, while making some notes. "Most runaways return within 24 hours!"

"And what if he got kidnapped?" Jordan was close from real screaming. "Where are your CSIs? Where are the sniffer dogs? Where are the helicopters?"

"All we can do is wait for now…"

Jordan felt offended. And the worst was that the officers left without taking a closer look on the truck. Both were pretty unworried and didn't seem to bother. Otherwise, it was common knowledge that Jon had 'a reason' to be so mad on them that he leaves and ghosting his family seems to be common in Smallville. Otherwise, Jordan and Clark didn't understand why the officers were so jaunty.

Jordan expected detectives and CSIs collecting evidence or fingerprints. And not two bored officers, brushing off everything as the mood-swings of a neglected teenager. Even allowing them to take the truck back to their place as if it was not evidence!

The officers drove away, with the promise to inform the colleagues. Clark turned to Jordan to talk to him again. But Jordan turned away from his father heartbroken, entered his mother's car and drove it away. Leaving his father alone with Jon's truck. His father was Superman, he can carry it…

Hour after hour passed. And still no sign from Jonathan…

Lois expected to receive Jonathan's call by midday. But by late afternoon there was still no call. Sam showed up and Lois reluctantly allowed him to stay. Just Jordan stormed away to avoid any conversation with his grandfather.

The doorbell rang…

Their neighbors showed up and asked if everything is fine. The news about their fight with Jonathan and his disappearance spread quickly in town.

After a while, Clark left for a heavy storm in Oklahoma! Jordan, who would normally join him on such an easy mission, stayed home. Still avoiding any conversation with his parents or Sam. All while the sky outside became darker and darker with every passing hour.

Sam received the first message from Tag: 'TT at police-station. No trace of gs. Boy upset!' Sam start to get worried about it and start to believe that Jon was really not in Metropolis, too.

The longer Jonathan was gone, the darker the sky got. In the distance, everyone could hear weak thunder. Jordan used his superhearing to listen to the area, to hear if anyone was talking with or about Jonathan. Clark returned from Oklahoma when it began to rain. And the rain got harder and harder with every minute.

When the doorbell rang again, Clark rushed with Superspeed to the door to open it. Hoping it was Jonathan. But it wasn't him…

"Mr. Kent?! I am detective Parker! Rice County Police Department!" the man in a brown men's suit, with a red, kitschy tie and black polished leather shoes, that didn't fit to the rest of the outfit, said and offered his hand for a handshake.

Clark shacked the man's hand and invited him inside immediately.

"Please come in!"

After introducing himself to everyone else present, Detective Parker sat down on the dining-table with the Kents to talk with them about Jonathan.

"Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane… I looked on your son's case! Before we can start investigating, we need more information! Our colleagues here in Smallville haven't informed us about it. We received the report about your missing son from our colleagues in Metropolis!"

"Metropolis?!" everyone said confused.

"Yes!" the detective said and opened his folder with his documents. "A boy named Timothy Tanner reported him as missed there!"

"Timmy!" Jordan realized.

"Was there a specific reason you didn't report your son as missed by yourself?" the detective asked.

"What? I did! I called the police when we found his truck!" Jordan said offended. "How dare you?"

"It's just… Your son's case seems a bit… special…!" the detective said.

Before the detective could continue, suddenly a bright lighting light up the sky, followed by a terrible rumble from outside. The whole house was vibrating and there was a howling…

Everyone looked around upset. Clark instinctively lifted from his chair and went to the window to see a storm developing outside. The wind blew violently over the area while he could see in the distance a power pole tipping over…

That was the moment, all lights went off…

Jonathan deserves better. I am currently watching re-runs of Season 2. And I see so many similarities between Jonathan, Lucy and even Tal. The season was about the family and many storylines around Jonathan remained unsolved. And I know a lot of people think the same.