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Chapter Four

Jon-El tried to hide his shaking hands as he sat down in one of the chairs in the office.

Lois and Clark also sat down, both of them facing Jon-El. Their expressions were serious, and Jon-El found little comfort in the fact that the two of them had seemed so nice during dinner. After all, even his father had been able to act the role of a loving parent if he wanted to.

"We want to talk to you about our expectations and rules for you," Lois began. There was something so professional about her voice that it instantly reminded Jon-El that he wasn't her child. And that he never would be. "Because if you're going to stay here, then there are some things we need to make clear."

Jon-El's eyes widened. He hadn't really realized that they were actually going to let him stay. The idea of not being in that cell any longer made his chest flutter with excitement.

After a moment though, he pulled himself together. "Okay."

"Curfew is at 10pm," Clark said, starting off the list. "We don't care if you stay up for a bit and read a book, but we expect you to be in your bed by 10."

Jon-El nodded. If he was being honest, he had never really had a bedtime before. His parents hadn't cared if he came in hours later than he had promised, unless he was using any of his powers…

But maybe that was a bad thing. Were they supposed to care about something as small as bedtime? Should they have put in these rules that Lois and Clark were putting in now?

Or were Lois and Clark being the bad ones? Were they being overly stern and controlling?

Jon-El wished he knew the answer…

"We also expect you to keep your room clean," Lois told him. "If you can't keep your own spaces clean, then you won't have the privilege of having your own room."

"Respect is very important here as well. We ask that you keep your language respectful and kind," Clark said. "We also don't appreciate lying. At all."

"You're also allowed to watch the tv, but we will be monitoring it. Dinners are also eaten together as a family if at all possible, and we expect you to be there," Clark continued. "Speaking of, we want you to stay on the farm at all times."

Jon-El nodded. So far, most of these things didn't seem too bad. Sure, not being allowed off of the farm kinda sucked, but at least he wasn't stuck in that cage. He was also allowed to watch TV if he wanted.

"Most importantly though, you're not allowed near the twins alone," Lois said. Her voice was cold, icy... Almost as dangerous as Jordan's heat vision. "If you even think about hurting them, we'll return you to the DoD cell before you can even blink. No exceptions."

For a second, Jon-El felt like he could hardly breathe. Of course they didn't trust him, he didn't expect them to. But he didn't want to go back to that cage. He didn't want to be stuck under those hot lights, or on that hard bed.

He couldn't go back.

"Do you understand, Jonathan?" Clark asked him.

Jon-El nodded, but fear gripped his heart like a vice. One wrong move, and he would end up back in that cage. There would be no second chances either. If he screwed up, it was game over.

He could feel his eyes burn as his heart thumped in his ears. He didn't want to hurt the twins, it wasn't even a thought that he had, but the threat of ending up back at the DoD prison scared him so badly…

"Yes, sir," he said. "I understand."

With the exception of a few incidents, Jordan Kent was getting really good at controlling his strength and temper.

But the second he found out that Jon-El would be staying with them, he wanted to punch something. Especially Jon-El's face.

So he went to the log that his father had shown him. The one that he always took his anger out on.

The first punch hurt. It had been sloppy, reckless. He hadn't been paying attention and now he was paying for it as his knuckles throbbed and ached.

He shook out his hand and sighed. This time, he used the advice his father had given him.

Right foot back, hand in a fist, thumb curled, hand back, then transfer the weight.

At the last second though, he envisioned Jon-El's face. His stupid smirk, his stupid hair, his stupid eyeliner.

And he punched.

As expected, it landed with a crack and his hand left a dent in the wood.

"Thought you'd be down here."

Jordan turned around at the sound of his twin's voice. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jon shook his head.

"You don't gotta explain yourself to me," Jon said as he walked over. He reached down and touched one of the imprints of a fist that was left by their father.

"The Jon-El thing is making you mad too?" Jordan asked. He still couldn't believe that his parents were letting his brother's doppelganger stay with them.

Jon-El was evil. He was on Ally's side. He was a murderer. Yet he somehow got to stay with them? It wasn't right.

Jon shrugged. "Not mad," he said as he shifted his weight and looked down at the ground.

Jordan knew his twin almost better than he knew himself. He was scared.

"I just can't believe that Mom and Dad are letting him stay here…" Jon sighed.

Jordan reached over and put his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "I'm not gonna let him hurt you," he said.

Jon looked up at Jordan. "What if he tries to merge or something?" he asked. "We don't know that he isn't still on Ally's side…"

Jordan nodded. "I know," he sighed. He was so glad that his brother was having the exact same thoughts that he was. "But I won't let that happen."

He was going to protect Jon, even if his parents wouldn't. If Jon-El even looked at Jon the wrong way, he would pay…

"Thanks," Jon said, then looked over at the log again. He pointed to the new dent. "You did that?"

Jordan nodded. "Yeah."

A grin broke out on Jon's face. "Dude, that's awesome!" he said. "You're getting good."

Jordan smiled. He wouldn't tell Jon that he had envisioned Jon-El's face when he had punched the log or that he had hardly been able to control himself when they were inside.

He didn't want to scare his brother. He didn't want Jon to think that he was a monster.

Jon-El was the real monster.

"Think you can do it again?" Jon asked, pulling Jordan out of his thoughts.

Jordan looked over at him. "Dent the log?" he asked.

Jon nodded. "Yeah!" he said. "I wanna see."

Jordan hesitated for a second. Ever since he had broken Jon's wrist, he had been hesitant to really unleash his strength around him. Then, an idea came to him.

"On one condition," he said.

Jon tilted his head. "What's that?" he asked.

"I'll show you what I can do, but then we work on your self-defense afterwards," Jordan told him.

Jon frowned. "Why?"

Jordan swallowed as thoughts of Jon-El filled his head. The way he had called him The Weak One, the way he had almost beat him in their showdown. The way that just being around Jon-El had made his twin so sick…

He couldn't, wouldn't, let Jon-El get that close to hurting his little brother ever again.

Jordan didn't want to tell Jon that though. He didn't want Jon to know how much this whole Jon-El thing was actually worrying him.

So he just shrugged and put on his best fake smile. "Just to make sure you're ready the next time the world is ending," Jordan lied.

Jon smiled back, and if he had any idea of the real reason why Jordan wanted to train him, then he didn't show it. "Deal."

So, Jon-El is there to stay, but the twins aren't very happy about that. Hope y'all enjoyed! Thanks for reading!