It was almost funny to think that less than a year ago, Jor-El had been at his wife's side, welcoming their newborn son into the world. In that moment, everything had been perfect. Seeing Kal-El's tiny body curled in Lara's arms for the first time had brought tears to his eyes, and his mind had raced with excitement at the thought of introducing this brand new life to his extended family, seeing him make friends, and watching him grow up into the wonderful man Jor-El knew he was destined to be.
Now, he was racing to reprogram the escape pod he had managed to steal from Brainiac's forces to be able to safely take his infant son as far away from his family and home planet as possible. Though 'as far as possible' may not be the correct phrasing, as Jor-El was relying on the pod being able to make it through the portal that had been opened between Krypton and the planet that was about to be invaded.
Krypton's oncoming explosion should destroy the ship keeping the portal open before the invasion could actually get underway, but while Jor-El was hopeful the pod would make it through in time, he also had to be careful that this pod didn't end up reopening the link. Brainiac's ships, even those that could grow from escape pods, were what opened the portals when they found worlds to conquer (they were meant to be used for backup in dangerous situations or to return home if stranded on an unknown world, not this, where the technology on board would just as quickly attack a Kryptonian as it used to defend them), so in order for Kal-El's escape to remain secure, Jor-El didn't have much time to set up a defense against the rogue AI's influence.
Putting one hand on the pod to establish the link for the copying of his mind into its AI for as long as he remained nearby, Jor-El turned to see Lara quickly approaching, a bundle of blankets cradled in her arms. Jor-El breathed out a sigh of relief. As much as he had tried to push the worry from his mind, the creeping concern that Lara wouldn't be able to arrive with Kal-El in time had been there.
Ever since the strange explosive had been launched into Rao, changing the sun's color from yellow to red, the remaining Kryptonians who didn't have shielding against the low-energy rays had their energy drained. It had taken less than a day for Jor-El and Lara to lose the ability to fly, and it wasn't long after that their maximum speed had plummeted. Those weren't the only abilities they had lost, but those were the ones they had been missing the most with how precious their remaining time was.
Jor-El walked over to where Lara had come to a halt, clutching a crying Kal-El tightly. As she looked mournfully up at the explosion filled sky, Jor-El rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, even though they both knew that, in what could be seconds, it wouldn't even matter. Wordlessly, Lara shifted her hold on their son and allowed Jor-El to take him into his arms.
Forcing himself to carry Kal-El to the waiting escape pod was probably the hardest thing Jor-El had ever had to do. With how little time they had, he should have been moving as fast as possible, but it was all he could do to hold back the rising tide of despair and keep moving forward. He had to keep moving or else he would stop. Or else he would cling to his son and his wife until his dying breath, but he knew that he couldn't do that. He had to hold back the selfish desire to spend his last moments holding his family close because even if the escape pods were too small to fit his whole family, his son had the opportunity to survive.
He signaled the escape pod to open through the mental link, and watched the metal casing pull back. Carefully placing Kal-El in the glowing blue chamber, Jor-El smiled sadly down at the tiny bundle who would grow up in a completely foreign world among people who Jor-El and Lara could only hope would accept him despite his origins.
The crest of the House of El stood for hope. It was painfully fitting that what was left of it would be relying so heavily on that hope to survive.
Taking a deep breath, Jor-El closed the pod and sent it skyward.
Finally allowing the tidal wave of emotions to wash over him, he collapsed to his knees, his hands pressed against the ground as he blinked back tears. He felt, rather than saw, Lara drop down next to him and wrap her arms around him comfortingly for a moment, before he grabbed her hand tightly in return, a gesture of reassurance that they both knew was empty.
Pulling on the last of his willpower, he looked toward the sky as they held each other close, the ground shaking beneath them from the explosion of the planet's core. He watched as the small spacecraft flew towards the portal, just fast enough that it would reach the other side before the explosion. He didn't have the strength to speak as tears poured freely from his eyes, but as he felt the fiery destruction about to consume him, he had the strength for one last thought.
Kal-El. My son. Live.
As an AI, Jor-El unfortunately could not follow his son to wherever the man and woman who found him had taken him. In fact, he couldn't even manifest outside the ship without Kal-El's presence to respond to. He was barely aware of time passing as he waited in the ship, making sure that Brainiac's systems didn't activate, hoping that one day, Kal-El would be able to return.
Then, one day, he did.
As soon as Kal-El set foot on the surface of the ship, its systems lit up and Jor-El immediately snapped to attention. He didn't exactly have a heartbeat anymore, but he knew that if he did, it would be racing from anticipation. He would finally be able to see his son. He would be able to explain to him who he was, where he came from, why he had been sent to this planet. That he had family. Even if Jor-El wasn't the original, he was an exact copy of him in every way that mattered. Neither of them would have to be alone anymore.
The ship's obelisks rose, and Jor-El could sense Kal-El as he walked across the ship's surface and made contact with one of them. He let out an unnecessary sigh of relief. While he could still use the transportation functions of the obelisks, he couldn't use their full capabilities without Kal-El activating them in the first, and it would likely be best to have their first meeting take place somewhere more familiar to his son who, as much as it pained Jor-El to admit, would find Kryptonian technology and his own father unfamiliar.
So, Jor-El turned his focus to the powered obelisk, steeled himself, and projected himself through it to see-
Even if he hadn't known who was in front of him, a part of Jor-El whispered that he would have recognized him anyway. Still so small, yet so much bigger than when Jor-El had placed him in the escape pod, Kal-El's vibrant blue eyes were wide with shock. Every paternal instinct begged Jor-El to reach out and pull the young boy, his boy, into his arms, but even if had been able to make physical contact, he knew that would only scare him more. The last time they had seen each other was when Kal-El was an infant. Kryptonians had excellent memories, but even for their people it was rare to remember their infancy, and the look on Kal-El's face didn't even hint at recognition.
Jor-El only realized how long he'd been silently staring when Kal-El spoke. "H-hello?"
The word was unfamiliar, but the ship's automatic translators quickly processed it into the questioning greeting it was.
Steeling himself, he responded, "Son, I am your father. My name is Jor-El."
There wasn't a hint of recognition on Kal-El's face as Jor-El continued to speak.
Jor-El knew he had a one track mind at times. He knew he could get overly passionate. Years later, after countless times running over his failure to communicate with his son, to realize there were people put at risk as he tried to open the ship to let Kal-El inside, to notice that Kal-El's lack of understanding was due to the translation program only working one way rather than just shock at something unfamiliar, he knew that he would never lose that feeling of loss and regret that consumed him when he realized that he had scared his son away for what could be forever.
Using the positioning system of the ship, Jor-El could tell that the planet made fifteen revolutions before Kal-El returned again. Using the time measurement capabilities of the ship, Jor-El knew that he had missed his son's entire adolescence. When Kal-El touched down on the ship's surface, Jor-El didn't bother trying to speak first, opting to summon him directly into the ship instead.
He wasn't going to lose his chance again.
There was a bolt of light as Kal-El was brought into the ship, and Jor-El quickly activated the ship's lights and holotech. Without it, the ship's interior would be dark unless Brainiac's drones became active (which Jor-El was hoping to avoid), and not only would the darkness likely unnerve Kal-El, but it would leave Jor-El unable to truly see as well. And oh how desperately he wanted to see for this.
The holograms glowed to life and Jor-El's metaphorical heart skipped a beat as he looked towards the figure now visible in the white-space. Just as before, even though the man standing on the platform was facing away from him, Jor-El felt that instinctive recognition. Even if he hadn't been keeping track of time, it was clear that his son's childhood was behind him, and though it hurt to know he had missed so much of Kal-El's life, Jor-El still felt a wave of parental pride and affection as he looked down at his son. Standing tall as he examined his surroundings, Kal-El looked just as strong and healthy as Jor-El and Lara had dreamed he could be on this alien planet, and relief flowed alongside the grief and joy Jor-El felt.
As did trepidation.
Even if Jor-El would be able to understand Kal-El, without more exposure to his language, Jor-El wouldn't be able to actually speak it back to him. While he hoped he and Kal-El would be able to learn from each other, Jor-El had scared him away once. He would need to be careful not to scare him again.
"Okay, this is…new."
The sound of Kal-El's voice as he stepped away from the edge of the platform snapped Jor-El out of his thoughts. Right. No more stalling.
Jor-El flew down, and put his hand on Kal-El's shoulder, the power of the holodeck allowing manifestations that were more than just illusion. "Son."
Kal-El's head turned at the touch, and a moment later he was staring up at Jor-El, an almost-perfect, older mirror of the little boy from fifteen years ago.
"Are you…" Kal-El started, before his tone suddenly shifted to quiet awe and his eyes widened further. "You're responding to me."
"Yes, Kal-El," Jor-El's voice wavered with relief as he fought to maintain his composure. "Yes."
Unfortunately, Kal-El still could not understand him, and Jor-El's grasp on the language without the translator's assistance was nowhere near what it would need to be to actually speak yet. No matter how Jor-El tried to explain things or how many times Kal-El reiterated that he didn't understand, nothing changed other than both of them getting increasingly frustrated.
Finally, Kal-El turned away. "Oh, what am I doing here? I don't even know who you are."
"Son." Jor-El felt the despair that had arisen after he'd realized he may have lost his son forever rise up and claw at him with talons of ice. He couldn't lose him now. There had to be some way…
Of course! Turning to the side, Jor-El changed the holodeck to show the vast expanses of space.
"What's happening?" Kal-El asked quietly, though when Jor-El turned to look at him, he could see that Kal-El was still staring, shocked into the sea of stars.
Knowing words would be useless, Jor-El phased his own hologram to be directly in front of Kal-El, and with a determined expression placed his hands on the sides of Kal-El's head.
The typical use of a ship's holodeck included sharing mission reports through the use of memory. While it wasn't usually quite so direct as a mind to mind share as he would be doing now, being able to see what took place could always reveal details that mere words could not. As painful as it would be, if it would help Kal-El finally understand who Jor-El was, what he meant to him, and why he was here, Jor-El would gladly relive Krypton's destruction a thousand times over.
It wasn't nearly so long before Kal-El returned again. Jor-El had only waited about one-third of an Earth cycle before he was back. Jor-El's heart swelled with pride seeing his son, fully-grown and standing tall wearing the traditional colors, crest, and garb of the heir of the House of El.
"I know why you sent me here." Kal-El looked up at him, a cold determination on his face as he flew up to be face to face with Jor-El. "You tried to conquer this planet. My home. I won't let that happen. Ever."
Whatever happiness he'd felt at Kal-El's visit quickly turned to horror and confusion as he processed Kal-El's words. He thought he'd been sent here because Jor-El wanted the planet to be conquered? What in the world would have made him think that? Did he not realize the meaning of the memory Jor-El had shared?
Desperately, Jor-El reached towards him. "You don't understand-"
But Kal-El batted his hand aside as he leaned forward, fury overtaking his expression as he interrupted with words that pierced Jor-El's heart. "I'm not like you. I'll never be like you! And if you come to Earth again, I'll be here to stop you."
And in an instant, Kal-El disappeared towards the exit in a burst of speed.
"Wait!" Jor-El cried out. But it was too late. As he watched his son vanish, the horror and heart-break and despair that he'd thought was gone, thought was over, piling up and pooling together into sea of anguish that was worse than Krypton's destruction, than realizing he scared his son, than anything Jor-El had felt in his life or what came after it.
The white space was empty. Kal-El was gone. And Jor-El knew he was never coming back.
Alone, Jor El quietly spoke into the void, "I would never hurt you…my son."
Less than one Earth-day later, everything somehow went from bad to worse.
"Kryptonite?" Jor-El's eyes narrowed as the ship's systems glowed red due to the proximity. "The poison is here?"
That shouldn't be possible. The corrupting radiation that had been transforming Krypton's soil into the deadly mineral shouldn't have had any way to reach this planet, and if none of the Kryptonite itself had made itself known yet, none should have been brought through the portal either. Where could it have possibly come from?
But before he could start to consider what Kryptonite's presence here meant for Kal-El and his safety, the red light above him brightened. Jor-El looked up and his eyes widened as he saw the symbol forming above him. Dread started to well up in him, not helped by the fact that Jor-El could feel the ship lift into the air out of his control.
In spite of Jor-El's best efforts, his attempt to make Kal-El's escape pod safe had only done so much, and now the consequences were in full effect in the worst possible way. The Kryptonite triggered the ship's defense systems, sending out a distress signal. Brainiac had been alerted. The invasion Kal-El had accused Jor-El of would be picking up where it left off all those years ago after all.
With frantic determination, Jor-El tried to reach out and wrest control of the ship back, but no matter what ground he regained, he was powerless to stop the ship from rising further into the sky, or hold back the wave after wave of attack drones sent hurtling towards the planet's surface. All he could do was helplessly watch as the ship blasted open a portal to reveal one of the very warships Jor-El had sent Kal-El to this world to avoid.
Then, a massive thud shook the ship, and this time when it began to ascend, he knew it was not under the ship's own power. Jor-El quickly turned his attention to the outer sensors and felt the flickering hope within him strengthen, the beginnings of a sad smile pulling at his lips as he registered his son's palms against the ship's base. Of course. Kal-El had promised he would be here to stop the invasion. It didn't matter that he was wrong about the culprit, his son had made a vow to protect this world, and he was going to see it through.
And Jor-El was going to help him.
Jor-El felt when the ship's hull was breached and the drones in that portion of the ship descended from the walls. Resolve flooding him, Jor-El pushed back against the programs trying to block his access to manifesting there to help. Kal-El was strong, but Jor-El had enough control to see that he was weakened. The drones were capable of wearing down a Kryptonian when in high enough numbers, and Kal-El was certainly no exception.
That didn't stop him from throwing himself into the battle, untrained and inexperienced as Jor-El could see he was. He faced down the drones with a courage and determination that Jor-El couldn't help but feel proud to see. But as Kal-El was knocked to the ground by a hail of drone-fire, Jor-El was painfully reminded of the dire circumstance they were in.
Just as one of the drones prepared to fire a finishing blow on his son, Jor-El pushed through the systems and forced his hologram into being right behind the drone. With a rush of speed, Jor-El flew through the drone, merging his digital form with it just enough in the process to leave the robot's systems scrambled and useless.
The drone fell to the ground and once again, Kal-El stared up at him from the ground. This time, the expression on his face was a disheartening mix of anger and confusion, and Jor-El turned away. He couldn't be distracted right now; they didn't have much time. The warship was already coming through.
"Kal-El! Follow, to the heart," Jor-El called out to his son, hoping that even if he didn't understand the words he would at least understand the meaning. "Do what you must, quickly!"
Before he'd even finished speaking, Jor-El sped through one of the remaining drones, and then another, as he flew in the direction of the heart of the ship. As the sound of impacts and his son's grunts of effort followed close behind him, Jor-El's worry was momentarily drowned out by relief. In spite of the hatred he'd expressed earlier, Kal-El had still followed him. At this point, with Jor-El unable to gain control of the ship to stop it, their best chance was for Kal-El to destroy the ship's core. Without that, it would no longer be able to hold open the portal, and Kal-El and his home would be safe.
Finally, they reached the heart, and as Kal-El went in, Jor-El turned back to the hallway and sped toward the advancing drones. Kal-El was the only one who could stop the ship now, and Jor-El would make sure he wasn't interrupted. He could only hope that Kal-El would be able to stop it in time.
Seconds felt like an eternity as he flew through drone after drone, waiting for some sign of Kal-El's success, when suddenly, a shockwave rocked the ship and green light began to carve its way through the normally invisible internal power lines. Never would Jor-El have thought he'd be glad to see the effects of Kryptonite again, especially since that was what had caused this all in the first place, but that didn't stop the initial relief at knowing that the ship would not be able to maintain the portal.
And then the realization of what Kryptonite's presence on the ship meant hit in full force and Jor-El was by Kal-El's side, glowing green light from the dying heart casting his son's crystal-covered skin in a sickly shade as veins of neon green glowed from under the surface of the flesh Jor-El could see. Jor-El was unable to keep the worry off his face as he knelt at Kal-El's side and called up the holodeck one last time to help his son.
Kal-El's eyes slowly blinked open, then widened slightly as he recognized the figure in front of him.
"You brought the Kryptonite here," Jor-El said softly. It wasn't a question. There was no other way the Krytonite would have made it on board. But, if he brought it here, Kal-El had to have known just how dangerous exposure to it was. He had knowingly almost destroyed himself to destroy the ship.
"I had to stop your invasion," Kal-El responded, pain clear in his voice as he clenched his eyes shut. Tears flowed freely as he added, "I had to protect…my family."
The pain that lanced through Jor-El at Kal-El's statement was enough to briefly shake his control of the holodeck as he felt his heart break in two. It was almost as though the ship's pain was his own, Kryptonite lodged in its core, tearing it apart from the inside out. The emphasis on "my family" was so intentional and final in a way that, combined with Kal-El's confrontation with him earlier in the day, left Jor-El no room for denial. Kal-El didn't consider him family, and now, there was no time left. They were both dying of Kryptonite poisoning, and only one of them would be able to make it.
Jor-El closed his eyes, reached into the depths of himself for what remained of his willpower, and stood up. Holding out one hand, he called on the last of the ship's energy to lift Kal-El's body off of the ground and construct a temporary physical hologram of an escape pod around him. It struck Jor-El in that moment, seeing his son once again in that pod, that this was the second time he was sending his son away to avoid a death that, for Jor-El, was inescapable as the world collapsed around them.
But this time, there was no form that Jor-El would come back in.
Jor-El would never be able to have the bond with him that he had dreamed of when he had first held that baby boy in his arms so long ago, but with what little of Kal-El's language he knew, he could at least try to set something right, to help him truly understand exactly what Jor-El wanted for him.
Painfully aware of the precious seconds ticking away at what was left of their time together, Jor-El leaned forward and rested his hand against his son's face. "Kal-El. My son." Then, Jor-El reluctantly broke physical contact and stepped back to allow the pod to close, his gaze locked on his son's the entire time as he whispered, "Live."
The last thing Jor-El saw of his son was his eyes widening just before he was sealed away.
And then, the world was fire and Jor-El was gone.
