Hey guys!

Turns out that this chapter didn't need as much editing as I remembered, so y'all get it early!

I hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter Two

Clark looked up at the grandfather clock in the living room, then sighed.

Jon was late. Again. He thought he had talked to him about that the other night after he had walked Candice home without permission. At this point, he was wondering if his son was being defiant just to be defiant.

He shook his head before standing up and walking to the stairs. "Jordan!" He called.

"What?" Jordan called back.

Neither one of them had to yell. Both of them had enhanced hearing, yet they both shouted to each other.

"Is your brother in there with you?" Clark asked. Maybe Jon had just walked inside without him realizing it? Jon had the tendency to be extremely quiet when he wanted to be, especially if he was in any sort of trouble.

"No?" Jordan replied. "I don't think he came back from the store."

Clark sighed. That boy was going to be in so much trouble when he got home.

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Lois.

Jon isn't home yet.

Lois's reply came in a few minutes later.

Candice?

Clark sighed. He really hoped that wasn't the case. He loved his son and he would allow Jon to explore relationships as he got older, but that girl was trouble. Maybe Jon knew that. Maybe that was the reason he had chosen her.

I hope not.

Me too.

Clark sighed, then shut off his phone and sat back down on the sofa. If Jon wasn't back in an hour, then he would go find him himself. He was already an hour late though.

He had better not be at any parties. His son would be in for it if he was at a party.

After a while though, he started to get worried. While Jon had been late a few nights prior, that had been because of a misunderstanding. He had been walking his girlfriend home, it wasn't like he had been partying or purposefully staying out to defy his parents.

But at the same time, he had broken their trust. He had lied to them. If he had almost gotten away with drugs, then how could Clark be certain that he hadn't gotten away with other things that he shouldn't have?

So he waited. After two hours, if Jon wasn't home, then he would go get him. And if he did get home during that second hour, Clark could skip the finding and just get to the explanations and scolding.

He wished he knew what was going on inside his kid's brain. Jon had never been like this. He had always been the easy one, a little ball of sunshine. And now he was doing drugs? Where had his son gone?

Finally, the hour was over. There was a pit in Clark's stomach now. Ten minutes late was more like Jon, he had never been two hours late. Ever.

Clark walked back over to the stairs. "Jordan?" He called.

"What?" Jon yelled back. Once again, Clark had no idea why they did this. They could have whispered to each other and they both would have heard and understood each word.

"I'm going to go find Jon," he said. "Stay inside, okay?"

Clark expected Jordan to shout back a regular old reply, but instead, he ran to the stairs.

"Jon isn't back yet?" He asked. Clark didn't miss the look of worry that was written all over his son's face.

Clark shook his head. "Any idea why?" He asked. Jordan tended to know this about Jon that he and Lois didn't.

Jordan shook his head, but Clark could tell that his worry was growing. "No," he said.

Clark smiled encouragingly at his son. "Hey, I'm sure he's okay," he told him.

Jon nodded, but it was definitely forced. "Yeah…" He said.

Clark sent one more small smile at Jordan, then walked out of the house. He was gonna find Jon.

He took off into the air and sped towards Smallville. The cold air slammed into his cheeks as he rushed through main street and the rest of the town.

Smallville was basically empty, which made sense for this time of day. The people who weren't off work yet, would be out soon, but everyone else was in their houses.

He shook his head. Jon was going to be in so much trouble when he found him. He loved the kid, but this new attitude needed to be stopped.

When He didn't find Jon in Smallville, he began to freak out a bit. He began to listen for him.

He had promised Jon that he wouldn't listen in on him anymore, but at this point… Jon was asking for it.

He tried to focus on his son. On his son's voice. If he had to guess, he would probably find him talking with Candice. Hopefully, he wouldn't find him hooking up with her…

After a few minutes though, the panic in Clark bubbled over. He couldn't hear Jon.

He did hear something though.

"Won't somebody find Jon and suspect us?"

Clark knew this voice. It was one of the boys from the football team, and they were talking about his son. He focused in on the conversation.

"Nobody goes by Riley's Field anymore. We'll go get him in the morning."

A chill ran through Clark. He remembered what the football team would do to kids at Riley's field.

On the night of Homecoming, they would choose a freshman and tie him to a stake for the night. It was a stupid prank that had sent far too many kids to the hospital for hypothermia. It had been mostly stopped when anti-bullying measures hit the school, but it hadn't been completely eradicated. People still checked Riley's Field once a year, even if there wasn't anybody there.

But it wasn't the night of Homecoming. That had been weeks ago. It was much colder now.

Clark rushed towards the field he knew all too well. More than once, it had been the Kents who had found a half-frozen teen and taken them to the nearest hospital. His parents had only let Clark come with them once, it had been enough to scar him for life. The kid they had found had been one of the unlucky ones, they said it was a miracle that the cold hadn't damaged more.

There was a pit growing in his stomach with every second as he willed his body to go faster. Who knew how long Jon had been there? It was so cold…

When he got to the field, he stopped while he tried to locate the stake. Luckily, the field had been harvested the week before. It only took him a minute to find.

The pit in Clark's stomach got heavier though. There was definitely someone tied up. He didn't even have to guess with who it was either.

He flew towards the stupid stake as quickly as he could.

"Jon?" He said as he got up to it. He was facing from behind.

Jon's head was lowered. His body was limp and stripped of everything but his underwear. He didn't answer.

"Jon!" Clark said again, then moved so he was in front of Jon.

He almost screamed when he saw him.

His child was covered in scrapes, angry red marks covered his body.

And on his chest…

Clark wanted to throw up. He couldn't believe what had been done.

They had carved an S.

Clark pushed his shock and disgust to the back of his brain, something he had trained himself to do after years of fighting crime. He needed to get Jon down, he needed to get him to the hospital. Luckily, he could still hear Jon's heartbeat.

He took a step closer to his son, then gently lifted his head. His lip was busted and blood covered the bottom half of his face, there were also little crescent-shaped cuts in the skin on his jaw from what Clark assumed were fingernails.

"Hey," he said, but his voice shook as his eyes began to water. "Jon? Are you in there?"

Jon's eyes fluttered for a second, and Clark felt a wave of relief run through him. Jon was definitely not okay, but he was slightly more okay than Clark had originally guessed.

"Dad?"

Clark's heart broke. Jon's voice was so quiet, so weak… He wanted to wrap his arms around him tightly and protect him from the world.

"Hey," Clark said. "I'm here, Jon. I'm here."

Jon let out a small whimper. "It hurts…" He said. Clark could just barely make out the fresh tears in Jon's eyes through the tears that were forming in his own eyes.

"I know, I know." Clark tried to soothe. "I'm gonna get you down and take you to the hospital. Everything's gonna be okay. I promise."

Clark grabbed the rope and pulled on it until it snapped. It was an easy task, but his hands were shaking so much he was scared that he would hurt Jon if he wasn't careful.

As soon as the rope was loose enough, Jon fell forward and away from the stake.

"No, no, no!" Clark said, then rushed forward to grab his son before he fell to the ground.

Jon let out a gasp as Clark's arms wrapped around him. "I've got you," Clark told him. "I've got you. You're safe now."

Clark gently lifted Jon off the ground, then brought his long cape as far around his son as it could go. Jon's skin was so cold. Clark could feel his child's tremors like they were earthquakes.

As soon as he had Jon in his arms and wrapped in his cape, he took off and began to speed towards the hospital. Jon would only get worse the longer he was out here. He needed a doctor.

Jon's hand reached up and grabbed Clark's suit in it. Clark found his heart melting. It was something that Jon had always done. In fact, the first thing that Jon had done when Clark had held him for the first time was grab his shirt in his tiny little fist.

"I've got you," Clark reassured again as he moved the arm he wasn't using to keep Jon against him and laid his hand on Jon's.

"I'm scared," Jon whispered so quietly that Clark could hardly hear it.

Clark wanted to wrap his arms tighter around Jon and never let him go, but he couldn't. He had failed his son. He had promised to protect them no matter what, and yet, he didn't. Jon had been attacked by people that he used to call his friends. People who Clark used to help coach.

The tears in Clark's eyes began to blur his vision. Why hadn't Jon cried out to him or made any sound that could have alerted him? Why hadn't he been able to save his son until it was too late?

It took longer than Clark expected to reach the hospital. He hadn't realized how far away it was. Even with his super speed.

"Jon? We're here," he said, but Jon only shivered in his arms.

Clark ran in, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the hospital on him.

That's when he remembered.

He was in his suit.

The pit in his stomach grew deeper when he realized what this meant.

He couldn't stay with Jon until he was out of his disguise.

A doctor rushed over with a handful of nurses. They had a bed with them. That was when Clark realized what was about to happen.

They were going to take his son away from him.

He gave Jon a gentle squeeze and tried to keep his eyes from filling up with more tears. He didn't want to leave his son… He would be so scared.

Clark watched in agony as they took his little boy away, then he rushed out of the building.

So, Clark found Jon, but the injuries are bad... Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!

Thanks for reading!