The atmosphere in the house was so incredibly tense, the air felt as if you could cut it with a knife into slices and the silence was hurting in everyone's ears.
It was the morning after. The morning after something happened, they were all not prepared for. The morning after probably one of the worst days ever. The morning after first Lex Luthor got released from prison, then Jordan revealed himself to the public, then he lashed out with his powers against his father, and then Luthor stood on their porch and threatened them…
It was a long night for Lois and Clark. Both barely slept while they were brooding about everything. About their sons, about Luthor and about what the new situation means for the family.
After a sleepless night full of brooding and thinking, Clark, Lois, Jonathan and Jordan sat on the table in the dining-room. It was a horrific atmosphere. So full of anger, hate and mistrust.
"Okay… After yesterday I hope we all can talk about it now in a calmer way!" Lois said.
Everyone was silent and looked on each other. Jonathan made a face as if he asked himself why he is even here. Jordan was still mad. Clark was worried. And Lois was looking as if she was about to burst out in tears every second.
"Okay… As we didn't get a way to talk about this yesterday, we start from the beginning again!" Clark started and looked on his son who was sitting right in front of him. "Do you have any clue what you did?"
"I saved grandpas live! And a couple of others!" Jordan said stoic.
"Yes! Yes, you did that! We told you to don't use your powers in public, but it was an emergency. So that is excused! But… instead of flying away and out of sight, you decided to reveal yourself to the world. Without our permission! Unprepared! And then you even posed for photos!"
"You always stay after a saving, too!" Jordan defended himself.
"But I am not, posing for selfies! The only reason I stay is to be seen, so the people know it was me and not some other powered person, or anything like that! So… Why, Jordan? Why?" Clark asked to upset but tried to sound as calm as possible.
Jordan just shrugged. "I am just sick of hiding! You were, too!"
"This is not about me!" Clark countered. "This is affecting all of us! This family, all our friends and everyone we care about!"
Lois leaned forward, put her hands together on the table in front of her and took a deep breath before she continued.
"Right in this moment, your grandfather is interrogated at the DOD! Because someone there recognized the suit, he organized for you! George Dean Jr. spreads the rumor that the Smallville-Samaritan could be a student at your school. I receive calls from journalists all over the world asking me if I knew about Superman's supposed son and if he is married! Do you have any clue what a chaos you caused with this!"
Jordan just shrugged. In his face, Lois and Clark could see that he didn't care.
"Jordan, this is serious!" Clark said. "One wrong word, or just one closer look at this town, on our friends, or on us and we can say goodbye to our secret. And not only that! The DOD is now after you! They don't care that you saved this town! They only see that you have powers and that you are a potential danger! In me they see a potential danger, too till today! Working with your grandfather doesn't change that! And now, every major media in the world is looking on this town again. The town's center is already full of reporters."
Jordan just moaned and looked up on the ceiling while thinking about how to counter that…
"It was time that the people see that there is another hero!"
"Jordan, you are… aww…" Clark bit on his lip, avoiding saying something condescending.
His view wandered to Jonathan, who just sat there with his arms crossed, watching them silently. Clark remembered how well Jonathan handled the latest conflicts between them and how he managed to deescalate everything by remaining calm, diplomatic, and fair. Clark decided to try it this way for once. To see if it helps with Jordan, too.
"…listen… It's right, that we all knew that this day would come one day! That one day, we would have to reveal your existence to the world. But… What you did yesterday, was reckless, overhasty, and selfish! And not only that, but the people also still don't know who you are! There are rumors, that you could be a former subject of Morgan Edge, that still has powers! Or that you a local teen who is taking high doses of X-Kryptonite!"
"So, why not tell them that I am your son?" Jordan asked stoic.
"That must have been real considered before! Do you think it was an easy decision for me to reveal myself to the public?"
"Grandma made you a suit for it!" Jordan responded. "And I got a suit from grandpa!"
"Yes, but my reveal happened during a whole different period! And your grandfather gave you the suit just to hide your identity! I am not talking about the pre-smartphone/ pre-social-media era now! Back then nobody knew that extraterrestrial life was even existing. I caused a huge shock across the world with my reveal! And after the past few years with those Eradicator-incident, the people are way more wary about me! About Kryptonians in general!"
"Come on, dad! The people love and adore you! Kids play with your toys and sleep in pajamas that look like your suit while posters of you hang all over!"
"Not everyone loves me! A lot of people fear me! Maybe even more than who love me! Is it that what you want? Becoming an action-figure? Getting on posters? Or sleeping with little kids?"
"Ughh…" suddenly Jordan looked disgusted.
"Dad, that sounds gross!" now finally Jonathan said something.
Clark took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "Okay… bad choice of words… the point is: We don't know how this will impact! If we… that means we all, have decided to reveal your existence to the public we would had been able to come up with a plan! We would have been able to control it! Decide what gets published, how it gets published and when! Preventing fake-news and rumors! We could had told the DOD first, so they don't start a search for you! Or our friends! Do you have any clue how much trouble Sarah and her parents have now?"
Mentioning Sarah's name let Jordan's expression change to something undefinable. Some mix of concern, eagerness, and irrelevance…
"What about Sarah?"
"George Dean Jr. suspects her to hide something! If this information reaches the wrong person, she could be in danger!" Clark explained. "I talked to her and her parents just a few minutes ago! To warn them and to tell them to be careful. Sarah is worried! And also, a bit mad on you!"
Clark also heard some other things about Jordan from Sarah but didn't want to upset Jonathan with it now! He would safe that matter for after this talk. But his eyes wandered to Jonathan anyway.
"Jonathan, there is something I want to ask you later, too!" Clark said. He wanted to talk to Jonathan about the 'coffee-scene'.
"Fine!" Jon responded before looking on his brother. "Jordan, you are…"
"Why is it such a big deal for you?" Jordan moaned before his brother could finish.
"BECAUSE WE ARE SCARED!" now Lois yelled angrily and finally the dams breached and the tears start to flow.
Suddenly all the emotions and the fear she kept inside her since yesterday evening break their way free. Out of instinct, Jonathan pulled a package of tissues out of his pocket to hand it to his mother, who pulled one out of the package to clean her face. She needed a few seconds to find her voice again…
"Yest… Yesterday… evening… Lex Luthor, stood right out there on the porch… and thread us! Me, your father, you and your brother and everyone we care about! And that… only two hours after your video became viral!" Lois cried. "Luthor is, without doubt, one of the most dangerous people your father and I ever dealt with! He hates me, he hates your father just because he is married to me, he hates you, just because you are my son, and he hates Superman! And believe me, he hates the 'Smallville-Samaritan', too! And that just because he has powers like Superman! Luthor could right now start to connect the dots and if he figures out that you are Superman's son, he won't stop to hunt you! Is it that what you want?"
"I can deal with trouble!" Jordan said.
"Luthor is more than trouble!" Lois yelled. "Believe me, the 17 years in prison didn't change him! On the contrary, I think he has become even more sinister!"
More tears ran down her face. Jonathan reached out his hand to comfort her.
"Mom is there anything I can do?" he offered.
Lois nodded and pushed the notepad and the ballpoint pen in front of her over the table to give it to her son. Being glad that at least one of her son's was acting mature and responsible now.
"We have to take some precautionary measures! You could help me in the house and in the office!"
"Yes, of course!" Jonathan responded.
Clark was glad that at least Jonathan seemed to be strong enough now. But he had no clue how he was thinking about it. At all, it was his own brother who was going viral through the media. Clark decided to postpone it to after this meeting and turned back to Jordan.
"And in the meantime, we talk about your punishment, Jordan!"
"Punishment? For saving the town?"
"No, for disobeying me and your mother, again! I don't know what is going on with you lately! This behavior of you is not okay!" Clark said harshly and start to tell him the conditions of his punishment. "Yesterday we asked you to not use your powers! But you disobeyed us and then you dared to lash out with your powers on me! Now it is an order! That means, no use of powers, except to burn of excessive energy when necessary. And that only under my supervision! The suit remains with Sam for good now! You are grounded! And no trips to the fortress! For one month!"
"One month?!" Jordan yelled offended.
"One month! And that is just the grounding! About the power use, we are not sure yet! But for now, you are not allowed to use them anymore. At least until we dealt with the fallout of your public reveal!"
"That's not fair!" Jordan yelled offended again.
"Hey, come on! There are worse things!" Jonathan interfered now. Trying to calm down the situation. "Look at me: I survived without fortress, too so far!"
"Come on! You have no clue! You don't have powers!" Jordan moaned.
That speech hit a trigger.
"Oh yeah… I might not have powers, but for that you are acting like a spoiled little brat…"
"BOYS!" Clark tried to interfere, but Jonathan continued unimpressed.
"…seriously, ever since you got that suit from grandpa, you are acting so aloof. And all that just to impress Sarah, right? She is over you, get it!"
"Boys!" Lois tried now. But the boys didn't listen to any of their parents anymore.
"You are just jealous because I got a suit from grandpa, while you just got that ugly shirt from him!" Jordan countered. "It's not my fault that he doesn't want to spend time with you! He said I am something special!"
"He only told you that to be able to control you! To me he said to be wary of your powers!" it blurted out of Jonathan, what he immediately regretted.
"Boys, now it's enough!" Clark tried to stop it before anyone of them says something they might regret even more. But the boys continued fighting…
"You had everything in Metropolis! You were popular, had many friends… I had nothing!"
"Yeah, and just to help you getting over it, I gave up everything. And how do you thank me? You cheated with your powers to get into the football-team! And that just to get revenge on Cutter…"
"It's not my fault that I got all the cool powers, while you are just uselessly standing on the side all the time and have to take X-K just to keep up with others…" Jordan said scornfully.
Before Jordan realized that he went too far this time, everyone could see the top of Lois' pen, Jonathan was holding in his hand the whole time, flying through the room after Jon cracked the pen with his cramped hand and the spring inside jumped out…
"Oh…" was everything Lois was able to say when she saw Jonathan's expression. Clark was too shocked to respond to this and just put his hand on his forehead while lowering his head in shame. This went really too far. And Jonathan fought to not to burst out in tears, too while speaking.
"Yeah! Yeah, that's right! I had to take a darn space-drug just to keep up with others and just because I wanted a chance to prove myself next to Superboy! So, thank you for reminding me how useless I am compared to you and your superiority! You might get everything you wanted ever since you have powers! But I tell you one thing: If you were the powerless one among us, you would still spend all your time alone in your room playing videogames to hide from the world and curse about everything. So, stop wailing about not going to the fortress! At least you got taken there!"
"Jonathan, if you…" Clark suddenly realized that he really didn't take Jonathan to the fortress enough. But Jonathan didn't want to discuss this now. He was too upset!
"You are the one who hates Krypton?" Jordan countered.
"You would hate Krypton, too if you would have been the one who got his bones broken and almost got killed by your eradicated brother or evil doppelgangers!" Jonathan moaned angrily and prepared to leave. "I need some air!"
Jonathan lift from his chair, threw the remnants of the pen on the table and stormed away. Leaving the house through the front door, he smashed close violently behind him. That was the moment Jordan realized that he went too far again.
With a totally red face, he turned back to his shocked parents who both looked as if they are about to explode again.
"Wow… so… for that you can add another two weeks to your punishment!" Lois yelled, slapping with her hand on the table. "And in this time, you do your brother's chores around the farm. Without using your powers! And most importantly, you go now to your brother and apologize to him!"
"Yes! Yes, you do that!" Clark added. "And you will apologize to Sarah! And to Lana and Kyle, too! Kyle by the way is really mad on you, too! Sarah told me what you said to your brother that evening, about the coffee-orders, and that offense was not okay! Your brother might not have powers, but he is right now way more reliable than you! And he does way more than just getting coffee! He is working hard and you better stop making fun about him. Firefighters are not there for you to feel superior to them! And now leave! Go to your brother to apologize! I will join you in a minute! And then we talk about that matter, too!"
Jordan's red face turned pale when he nodded and lift from the table to follow his brother outside.
"Jon…" Lois and Clark could hear Jordan say. This time with a lot more guilty in his voice. Jordan left the house and Lois and Clark were alone now.
"What's wrong with the boy?" Lois asked.
Clark took off his glasses to rub his tired eyes. He had headache from all the brooding already. But now it got worse.
"Do you think we should had been stricter with Jordan in the past?" Clark asked.
He had to think about Jonathan's sentence about Jordan getting everything he wanted since his powers manifested. And Clark thought about that he was maybe a bit too negligent with Jordan's behavior or with what he did.
It was right: After Jordan broke Jonathan's arm that evening in Metropolis, he regretted that he allowed Jordan to join the football team. He only allowed it because he wanted Jordan to feel more included and to spend more time with the boys in the process. And there were the other occasions Jonathan must had felt left out!
"Jordan is acting so… not like him anymore!" Lois realized. "Since when he got so arrogant? Is it the powers?"
"I don't know, Lois! I really don't know! But do you think Jonathan is right?"
"Well… I honestly have to say, I felt bad for him in the beginning when he felt left out by you two!" Lois remembered. "But I didn't take care of that issue enough until it was too late! The boys are different! They always had been! And I am not talking about the powers or being powerless! They always had different needs and feelings! It's like that till today!"
"Yes! I know… I think Jonathan is still mad on me for interfering in his issues with Kyle they had in the firehouse. I know now I should have interfered."
"But one thing I don't understand: What did you mean with 'getting coffee'?" Lois asked.
Clark sighed before he began to tell her how he visited the Cushings before to talk to them about this new crisis and to be careful because of Luthor. And Sarah told how she noticed Jordan's change in behavior lately and about that evening in her living-room, when Jordan told his brother that only he is a hero because he has powers and everything Jonathan is good for is getting coffee-orders. About how offended Jonathan was. Lana shocked that Clark allows Jordan to talk to his brother like this. And Kyle, as a firefighter, was offended, too. As he doesn't have powers, too but is helping people anyway.
"Aww… Two more weeks!" Lois moaned. "And we don't give him the suit back! And talk to Jonathan! I don't want him to feel useless!"
"I will, Lois!" Clark said and looked down on the notepad with Lois' to-do-list. "I think I was a bit hasty with Jordan! I should had told him earlier how dangerous it could be!"
"And this comes for the absolute worst timing! If someone sees the connection between Jordan and Smallville, Luthor will be a bigger thread to this place than your brother, Ally and everyone else, together!" Lois said and buried her face under her hands.
"And you? What are you going to do now?" Clark asked.
"Well… I am definitely not retiring! I keep a low profile over the next few days. To see what happens next or what Luthor's next steps are!" Lois said. "And you should talk to Jonathan now! Maybe if you would have spent more time with him, too, he would not ditch you like you ditched him?"
Clark looked on her and thought about her words. She was talking about the day, he wanted to take the boys to wrestle-mania. But Jonathan rather left to go with a party.
"You mean… that day I left him behind to give Jordan flying lessons?"
"I am sure, if he is like me, he didn't fully forgive you that till today! I would rather go on a party, too!" Lois said. "And Jordan… we have to get his latest arrogance under control!"
"And how do we do that?"
"Let's don't make it like we did with Jonathan after he got caught with the X-K!" Lois said, remembering that they didn't make a real progress for a long while back then. "But we should keep him busy! Chores! Or a job in town? I heard Jonathan's old job at Brit and Dunn's is still vacant! Or maybe something else! At least something that keeps him busy and under supervision!"
"Good idea! And I need to talk to your father, too! I suddenly don't get out of my head what Jonathan said. About him trying to control Jordan!"
"My father is living in his own world! He always wanted to control you, too in the past. And then he spends so much time with Jordan and Natalie? And Jonathan's statement… My father always thinks more like a soldier than like a father or grandfather!" Lois moaned. "Clark… we're in trouble! Luthor… if he…"
Lois began to cry again. Clark put his arm around her to comfort her. Lois was the strongest person he knew. Determined, strong, stubborn, and self-confident. But when her family was in trouble, and she was losing control she showed weakness. That, the medication she was taking, and her current condition made everything even more complicated.
With trembling hands, Lois reached out for the remnant of the pen, Jonathan broke when his brother offended him…
"Jonathan broke my favorite pen!" she said with a tear running down her face.
"I am sure he didn't do that on purpose! I get you a new one!" Clark said when he hugged his wife and gave her a kiss. That was just a cheap pen, Lois got for free in a drugstore one day. But she was fragile now. "Everything will be fine!"
They were in trouble! Yes, there was no doubt! And they couldn't allow themselves to lash out on each other and fight over everything. Clark knew he had to fix a lot with his boys and take a closer look on Jordan's behavior and Jonathan's feelings.
But for one thing they were sure: They will handle it! Together! As a family! They couldn't allow themselves to don't stick together! Especially now!