Everything Lois got to hear let her doubt if there was anything she did right. If she was a good mother? If she should have noticed earlier that Clark and her father openly preferred Jordan? If she would have noticed it, would Jonathan not have taken the X-K?
Lois stormed out of her office to confront Clark, whom she knows was in the barn, where he always goes to brood when he was moody…
Hearing all these things from Jonathan let Clark be shocked, too…
Before Jordan's powers showed up, he always feared that Jordan's possible powerlessness could let him become depressed and devastated. Jon was always stronger in the past. Not only mentally but also physically. Before Clark could think further about Jon and how he might have been responsible for Jordan's issues in the past, or Sam's decisions, Lois suddenly stomped into the barn. Her face full of fury and disgust…
"Clark… I have no idea, how you want to make amends with Jonathan! But you better come up with a good apology! Our son believes he is not worth enough to be our son just because he has no powers!"
"I know… And I am sorry, Lois!"
"It's not done with a simple 'sorry', Clark!" Lois ranted. "You showed our son that he is worthless and if you don't manage to give him his spirit back, I will be the next one who moves out!"
That threat was clear and plain. With big eyes, Clark wondered if Lois heard everything Jonathan said, too. But how?
"And now we go to Jordan and prohibit him to use his powers anymore! At least until his brother is not suffering under them anymore!" Lois ranted and turned around to storm to Jordan's room now.
Clark meanwhile realized that something was wrong… he turned his hearing away from Jonathan, who was now putting off his clothes and was feeling well in the Tanner's modern bathroom, when he suddenly realized that Jordan's heartbeat was gone…
"Lois, wait! Jordan is not in his room!"
Jordan was crying waterfalls when he flew as fast as he could to the badlands. The location of Tal-Rho's fortress and the only place where he could talk to Lara…
There were two things in his brother's (censored) story to their friend Timmy Tanner that bothered him most: First, the statement that his father and his grandfather only love him and like to spend time with him because he has powers!
He knew the powers brought him and his father together. They let them grow closer. And with his powers and their training, he grew closer with their grandfather, too. But was it possible that they only like him because of his powers? He often wondered what would have happened if Jon got the powers? Would he be the one who never met Jor-El? Would their grandfather still prefer to spend time with Jon?
The way Sam was always talking about the DOD and the army in general always sound as if he tried to make advertising for it! Was he might really just nothing more than a weapon for Sam? And their dad… for years he felt as if their father doesn't care about him. All these times when he missed their therapy sessions and other occasions… Jordan felt the urge to vomit…
And the second thing that bothered him was Jon's statement that he believes that Lara doesn't even know about his existence!
Lara was so kind and friendly! Nothing compared to the cold and rather unfriendly Jor-El, who was rather dismissingly and only started to respect him more when his powers got stronger. Jordan couldn't remember that he ever heard his father talking to her about Jon or even mentioning him. If he ever did that, he was either not there or distracted. If he would figure out that they don't even tell them about his existence, he would more than just freak out!
After hearing his brother saying that he 'gives up', all alarms rang in Jordan's head. As the one with the mayor psychological issues in the family, he knew that this was a dangerous alert signal. He wanted to fly to Metropolis, grab his brother and fly him over to Lara immediately to introduce him to her by himself. But he didn't know how Lara will react. Not to forget that he had no clue if his brother could survive a flight. Jon's powerlessness made him vulnerable. And Jordan's landings were awful! He would kill Jon…
Telling Lara about Jon's existence was the best option in his eyes. At least he could figure out if she wants to see him or not! And if yes, she might be able to tell him how to do that? Since every other option that got into Jordan's mind had to do with his powers. And his powers were the reason why Jon feels so bad.
Without thinking, he sneaked out of his room, left the house through the rear door, hid in the fields and departed there with his new learned skills of today and flew as fast as possible to Tal-Rho's fortress. He was by far not as fast or as skilled as his father. The flight took a while. He hoped that the fight between his parents that he noticed takes long enough for him to get there, activate her crystal and tell her everything before his father comes.
With a loud thud, Jordan left a long and deep crater in the ground in front of the entrance and ignored the pain in his whole body. He landed as bad as expected and his body got some bruises, but he ignored them when he used his superspeed to storm into the bright fortress, grab his grandmother's crystal and insert it to let the fortress come to life with her holograph appearing.
"Jordan my dear grandson, hello!" Lara said as polite as always.
"Lara, I need to tell you something!" Jordan said with tears in his eyes. "You have another grandson. His name is Jonathan!"
"I know that, Jordan! Your father has told me about him!"
"He did!" Jordan cried up relieved. "Oh… gosh… at least that was not true!"
"What was not true, Jordan?" Lara asked now worried about Jordan's upset mood. "What hap…"
"Is he allowed to come here and meet you?" Jordan cut her off.
"Of course, Jonathan is allowed to come here! Why should he not?"
"Awww… I fucked up… I…"
Before Jordan could continue suddenly his father appeared in a blur right next to him. In civilian clothes and with glasses. But his face and his posing as Superman…
"Jordan, what are you doing here?"
"WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" Jordan yelled angrily. "I TRY TO FIGURE OUT IF IT IS TRUE AND IF I SHOULD NOT KNOW HER, TOO IF I DON'T HAVE POWERS!"
"Jordan, calm down! We discuss this at home!" Clark tried to calm Jordan down, but his son slapped his hand away.
"Jon hates me and my powers, and that all just because you never wanted us to know who you really are."
Lara became curious. Clark tried to calm down the situation…
"That is not true, Jordan. I love you and your brother both e…"
"And why the fuck Jon ran away and does not talk to me anymore?"
"What?" now Lara was worried.
But before she could ask, she watched father and son continuing yelling at each other…
"This is not..."
"Spare me with that bullshit…"
"I had good intention…
"Fuck you…"
"SILENCE!" now it was Lara who yelled.
Clark and Jordan stopped yelling immediately and turned to Lara, who noticed that something terrible was going on, or recently happened.
"You hide something!" she said. "I demand to know what is going on! Jordan, what happened with your brother?"
Jordan began to cry again when he told Lara about his fight with Jonathan after their return from their flying-lesson. How Jon left the house after that to flee to a friend and how Jon feels left out and unloved because he has no superpowers. Revealing this way that he listened to Jon's story the whole time, too. He told her what Jon told Timmy and filled the cabs, revealing more shocking facts. With each new information, Lara was more and more shocked and hurt. Especially when Jordan revealed that Jonathan thinks that Lara doesn't even know about him…
"So, the true reason you never bring Jonathan to the fortress is that you don't see him as Kryptonian? You tell him to deny his heritage, just because he has no powers and you demoted him to be your house staff?" Lara concluded shocked.
"Mother, that was not on purpose!" Clark tried to defend himself. "When Jordan's powers…"
"Jordan's powers don't make him Kryptonian! Just as much as your powers don't make you Kryptonian, Kal!" Lara ranted what let Clark shudder. He was not aware that her A.I. was able to rant. "For me it sounds like purpose!"
The lights in the room changed from the natural sunlight to a weird mix of red sunlight, blue lights, green lights and some pinkish beams mixed in. Lara obviously did something. And Clark didn't like it…
"I understand why Jonathan feels left out and denies his heritage! You told him to do so, with your decisions and in the way you treat him. I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you, Kal! And in you, too, Jordan!"
"I… I never meant to hurt him!" Jordan wailed.
"You abused your powers to outshine your brother, to hurt him and to prevent him from developing. And you used them to be superior to the humans of Earth! But in that thing, I blame your father, since he seems to have no clue what being Kryptonian really means! Being Kryptonian does not mean to have powers! It never did!"
"Mother, I… I want to make amends for it!" Clark wailed.
"For that, it is too late! Jonathan will never meet his grandfather! He believes that Kryptonians are a tyrannical and selfish race that believes that they are superior to other races because of rudimentary powers that have nothing to do with our culture or our lifestyle. Nobody on Krypton ever had powers. Not me, not your father, or anyone else from our family! According to your view on Krypton, I shouldn't be here either!"
Lara's words made everything worse. But they were justified. Clark knew that the 'living' Lara would have reacted the same way. If not even worse…
"You should have told the boys earlier about their heritage. You should have taken both your sons to your father! And not only Jordan because he developed powers. And you should have taken both your sons to me! Your father was not a geneticist, so he was wrong about Jordan! We don't know if Jonathan's powerlessness is because he adjusted to the Earth better, or if there is a serious reason that needs to be treated. Like a sickness, or a genetic defect! And I can find the reason for his powerlessness, if this is what bothers you!"
"Mother, I…"
"I don't want to hear any excuses, Kal! Jonathan is Kryptonian, too! Just like you and Jordan! And I don't accept his powerlessness as an excuse for you to not to introduce him to me or your father. As someone who never had powers, I can't and won't do this! Jonathan's powerlessness makes him even more Kryptonian! Because he is more like our people than both of you! And there are so many things he could learn here. Our language, our history, our technology. All those things, you seem to be not interested in."
Clark and Jordan became pale. Lara's words were hard to bear. Especially for Jordan who start to feel as if his powers, that let him feel special, were more a curse than a gift, like his father told him after their flying-lesson today. All these years in which Jordan felt out of place and like being in the wrong world were suddenly gone when his powers got stronger. But now, all this was suddenly obsolete. But Lara was also right… as their son and brother, Jonathan was Kryptonian, too.
"I want to scan Jonathan!" Lara said harshly. "Not only to prove that he is Kryptonian, but also to check if his X-Kryptonite consume has not caused any damage. One more occasion when you should have brought him to me without hesitation! If you had brought him to me and your father earlier, I think he wouldn't have ever taken it, because he would be aware that it could cause damage in his cells. Jonathan's powerlessness proves that it is possible for Kryptonians to have a normal live on this planet! I could figure out how to activate Jonathan's powers or find a way to deactivate yours and Jordan's!"
"Not my powers!" Jordan said shocked and turned pale. He even shied a step back. "I just learned to fly!"
Clark lowered his head in shame. This was not the reaction they needed now. It only worsened Lara's mood…
"On Krypton, you would never be able to fly!" Lara said harshly. "And after everything I heard about you and what you have done, I think that taking your powers is the best option for everyone! Since you and your father have made it clear that Jonathan is not allowed to call himself Kryptonian for unacceptable reasons, you two have no right to call yourself Kryptonian! For that you two have brought too much shame on our name and our people!"
Lara put her hands on the crest on her chest, that the whole world only knew as the Superman-S…
"This symbol… means hope! And not superpowers!" Lara said. "What do you tell the people on Earth what this symbol means, Kal?"
"Ehm…" Clark blushed now.
"Answer, Kal!"
Clark lowered his head and confessed it. "Nothing, mother! I tell the world… not more than I tell Jonathan!"
Clark wondered why that confession came out of him so clearly. Maybe because he couldn't talk himself out of this. He excluded Jonathan, he demoted Jonathan to a farmworker, he never showed Jonathan that X-K could hurt him… because he never tried to. He focused on Jordan because of his powers, and he ignored the fact that Jor-El and Lara were Jonathan's grandparents, too. He ignored the fact that Jonathan felt left out. He failed as parent. To both of his boys… and all of this he said loudly, giving Lara more reason to be mad on him.
"Leave!" Lara ordered as harsh as never before. "Go and get Jonathan and bring him to me! As soon as possible! And before you haven't brought him here, I don't want to see you here anymore!"
The last sentence let Jordan burst out in tears and he turned around ashamed and walk away like a scared little child that just got terribly scolded. And Clark never ever felt so small and scared, too. This was not a holograph talking to them. It was an angry grandmother who just learned that she was lied to about her other grandson and who had no understanding for Clark's and Jordan's superpowers. Since she was like Jonathan: a powerless Kryptonian!
"The fortress was predestined to be a school for you and your sons! A school where you learn about the history of Krypton. It was never meant to be a training-facility for superpowers, that let you feel superior to those who have raised you! And now get out!" Lara ordered before suddenly the red lights became more intense…
Clark rushed out of the weakening red sunlight to find Jordan kneeling and crying outside the entrance. Lara was right… she was right with everything… and there was a lot of Clark had to do to get things right. Not only with Jonathan, but with everyone else in his life, too! Clark took his crying son in his arms and flew them home. Not only the red sunlight weakened Jordan so much that he couldn't fly anymore, but the boy was also too upset to fly by himself now…
In Metropolis…
Jonathan was not aware that his getaway from the farm caused everyone in his family to face their mistakes and realize how much they screwed up. Whenever he closed his eyes, he had these stupid smiles on his father's and his brother's faces in his mind. And he could feel his brother's hands around his neck again…
The last time he saw Jordan flying… his brother tried to kill him! Even if it was Zeta-Rho, who possessed him. Jonathan had to think about this day, when a Kryptonian, a man his father called one of his and Jordan's people, tried to strangle him because he was an unworthy creature. Unworthy because he had no powers. This certain event… burned itself into Jon's memory. And seeing his brother flying, remembered him how weak and useless he was.
When Jonathan stood under the shower, he could finally relax at least a little bit. Because he was in Metropolis. He was in his home city again. He was in a modern, white tiled bathroom in a modern overhead rain-shower under hot water, that was thousand times better than the bathroom he shared with Jordan at the farm. The water was softer, there was no wailing water-heater hanging on the wall that made sounds as if it begs to stop working, and the room itself was more inviting.
Jonathan enjoyed every single drop of water raining down on him. This was clean and pure Metropolis water. Not the hard and stinking stuff in Smallville, that seemed to smell more like fertilizer than fertilizer itself. At least for him! Jonathan enjoyed it when he used the pure Metropolis water, to wash away all the Smallville dirt with the shampoo, the shower gel and the conditioner Timmy uses every day. It let him feel that at least that could let him help to get rid of one problem…
Downstairs, Timmy and his parents noticed that Jonathan was pretty long under the shower. But they knew that Jonathan had a very bad day and probably needed it. So, they let him…
"Aww… I have a terrible feeling!" Timmy confessed to his parents while looking through a bag with old clothes the Tanners originally wanted to donate. But Jonathan needed something clean to change and Timmy's mom put Jon's clothes already into the washer because they were stinking like dung.
"Is there anything you figured out? Are the Kents really abusive?" his father, who remembered the Kent's as friendly but very 'busy' people, asked.
"I would rather say, they are neglectful, selfish, and pretty assholes!" Timmy wailed.
"Watch your language, young man!" his mother warned.
"Sorry, mom! It's just… Jon… he is talking like someone who wants to kill himself!" the boy whispered scared, shocking his parents. "And after he told me how his parents treat him; I fear that this is exactly what his parents want! And that only because of the thing!"
"What thing?" his mother asked.
"I don't know… but it must be something serious! Something… prohibited! Something illegal!" Timmy said, before suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Oh, that must be Mary! I asked her to come over." his mother said and went to the front door.
Hearing the doorbell, let Jon instinctively turn of the water and shriek up. Who could that be? At this time? Here at the Tanner's house! Jon left the shower and carefully opened the bathroom door to eavesdrop. Guessing his parents came again, or his grandfather comes to threat the Tanner's with the military-police or Jordan making a scene!
"Mary, thank you for coming!" he heard Mrs. Tanner saying. "Sorry about the late call!"
"Hey, I live just two houses away, this is no problem!"
Just a neighbor, Jon realized and closed the door again to dry up and make his hair…
Jon had no idea that Mary Parker, a good friend of Mrs. Tanner, was not only married to a police-detective, but was also working for the child-protection-service at the local youth-welfare-office. And she was here to talk to Jon if he needed help…
In Smallville…
Lois walked up and down on the porch, with her arms crossed and her face full of disgust, anger, hate and sorrow…
She was mad on her husband for giving their son the feeling that he is not a family member just because he has no powers. She was mad on Jordan for abusing his powers and for letting his brother feel inferior. She was mad on her father for taking advantage of the situation and doing what he always did, since figuring out that Clark is Superman: trying to turn him into a DOD-recruit! But mostly she was mad on herself…
She was supposed to be the best journalist in the world. She was always praised for her ability to find the truth and every lead quicker than everyone else. She was always praised for her integrity and her quick-witted work. Her stubbornness and her relentlessness (two more things Lois was sure Jon got from her) taken aside, there was a lot she could have done to realize earlier how much Jonathan was struggling. How much it was bothering him to be the son of Superman and not having powers himself. What burden it must be to have a twin-brother with all these impressive powers, while he barely manages to keep up with cheaters!
Cheaters… gosh why she didn't investigate his team? She could have figured out about Candice by herself. She could have figured out about Gaines' abusive behavior and his bullying and let him get fired. Maybe the new coach would have noticed the X-K? She was more worried about getting Lucy out of that cult to see that she turned Jonathan and Jordan into the next versions of her and Lucy! Jordan was the successful Lois and Jon was the struggling Lucy! She was not better than her own father…
Speaking of the devil, Sam put his head out of the open door and looked on Lois worried.
"Pumpkin, I…"
"Don't 'pumpkin' me! I told you to leave!" Lois ranted and turned away again to continue walking up and down and looking up ever and ever again to check if Clark and/ or Jordan came back. Shaking her head, since she was mad. She prohibited Jordan to use his powers and he disobeyed her. Again! But she also still wondered if she was not a bit too mean to him, too.
"Please let me explain…"
"What? That you really tried to turn my son into your recruit and that Jonathan seems to be just an ordinary civilian to you?" Lois ranted.
Suddenly she had to think about how she promised to show Jonathan how to be an extraordinary human. She said that, because she saw how he felt left out. Because she knew what it meant to feel powerless next to a superpowered.
"Please, Lois. I know, what Jonathan said might sound bad. But I only had good intensions when I trained his brother."
"And why does it sound as if you only want to turn my son into a private weapon?" Lois ranted. "If you had good intensions, you would have spent time with Jonathan, too. I think I understand now better why he took the X-Kryptonite… AGGHHH…"
Lois thought now back to the evening Jonathan got caught with the inhalers. He told it to her: Everyone except him is something special. Jonathan wanted only a chance to prove himself. And she ignored it. Because she only heard what she wanted to hear!
"…you… you just want Superman to be your weapon?! Yes, you want Kryptonian-weapons!"
"This is not true! I try to protect this country!" Sam said shocked.
"And why you need Superman for that? As I know you have a whole unit of well-trained soldiers under your command, or did I miss something?"
"You once told me the secret to convince me to stop hunting Superman! And I did so!"
"Yeah… but for that you still try to use him as a weapon. Hell even at the day of his mother's funeral you couldn't stop talking about work. You didn't even want to give him time to mourn his mother!" Lois ranted before suddenly the familiar sonic boom echoed through the air, announcing Clark's return…
In Metropolis…
Jonathan used the hairdryer to get his hair back in shape. After that he watched himself in the mirror and was satisfied…
He was smiling. Maybe it was the fact that he was in Metropolis? Maybe the clean Metropolis water? Maybe the strong-smelling soap he used to wash away the Smallville-dirt off his body and that his parents not allowed him to use due to his father's super-smell? Or maybe because Timmy had an open ear for him and truly listened? Jon guessed it was a mix of all of it…
"Jonathan …" Mrs. Tanner said after knocking on the door. "…when you are ready, could you come downstairs, please. There is someone who would like to talk to you."
Jonathan wondered who it could be. The only people who knew that he is here were his parents and his brother. He was sure that Sam only cared about Jordan's new power.
"Who?"
"She is a friend of me. She would like to talk to you about what happened today."
Jonathan's good mood went worse again. But it felt good that there seemed to be people, who were caring about him. Jon reluctantly took the ELT again (since he still had to be careful) and went downstairs…
In Smallville, the people who cared for him, but never showed it enough in the past, gathered on the porch again when Clark landed with the crying Jordan in his arms in front of the house and placed him down.
"And where the heck have you been?" Lois ranted when Jordan stood in front of her. "I thought I told you that you are grounded!"
"I told Lara about Jon and she got mad that she was not allowed to meet him just because his powers never activated, and she called me a shame for Krypton because I believe that being Kryptonian is only about having powers!" Jordan cried with tears flowing down his cheeks.
Seeing Jordan so upset and so full of shame and guilt, let Lois immediately see that the boy really regretted what happened. And hearing that Lara was on Jonathan's side, too (even if she never met him) was a relieve for Lois. Jon would love to hear that.
"Anything else?" Lois asked now calmer and more careful, fearing to escalate the situation.
"She wants to scan Jon, to figure out why he has no powers and then do the same with me, so that that idiot over there can't use me as a weapon anymore!" Jordan ranted angrily and pointed with his index-finger on Sam who shuddered in fear. Jordan turned to him to face him now. "I thought we could finally get closer and have some relationship with each other, like you had with Jon before we moved to Smallville. Jon was right: I was too stupid to not to see that you just wanted me to be in your army. But you can forget that! You are fired as my trainer! And I don't want to have anything to do with the DOD!"
Jordan passed the stunned Sam and went into the house…
"Where is it?" the boy ranted.
"Where is what?" Lois asked.
"That thing you use to spy out Jon, too?" Jordan ranted and walked through the door.
In Metropolis…
Jonathan was now sitting in the Tanner's kitchen at the table with this woman who introduced herself as Mary Parker, a neighbor and friend of Mrs. Tanner who works for the youth-welfare and the CPS.
Jon felt a bit unpleasant. His parents never actively beat or endangered him. Everything bad that happened to him was more or less Krypton's fault! And maybe his own, because he didn't draw the line earlier and left…
They were alone in the kitchen. The Tanners were sent upstairs. Too many people listening would make it for the questioned child more difficult to be open. Years of experience of talking to abused and mistreated children, have taught Mrs. Parker that many kids, no matter how bad things are, still stand behind their bad parents. Either out of fear, or because they simply don't know any different, or because they still love them.
Hearing some basic facts from Timmy, Mrs. Parker was sure that it was a classic case of neglect that was slowly developing into emotional abuse, which was, together with the hate the boy received from other people in that town, slowly destroying Jonathan as a person. There were different types of child abuse: physical, verbal and emotional. And each of these forms was terrible. Because each of these forms cause severe emotional damage, that require help for the victim. She knew exactly the possible consequences.
"I am not here to make assumptions or force you to talk. I just want to chat with you!" the woman told.
In Smallville, Jordan heard the foreign female voice in Lois' office and found Sam's reconfigured ELT on his mother desk…
"I am honestly not sure. I don't think this is a case for the CPS. Sure, I am not feeling well in Smallville, but…"
"OH MY GOD… JON IS TALKING WITH THE CPS. WELL DONE, DAD!" Jordan yelled, unaware of the fact that his brother could hear him.
"What was that?" Mrs. Parker asked shocked when she noticed the angry voice that came from Jon's pocket.
"Jordan, stop yelling. I know that I made a mistake, okay. Where should I know that the Tanners call the CPS?"
"AND SINCE WHEN THE ELT WORKS LIKE A BUG? DO YOU THINK JON IS BUYING X-K THERE, OR WHAT?"
"I WANTED TO KNOW IF YOUR BROTHER IS OKAY. NOT MORE! THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WANT TO KILL HIM!" now Lois' voice yelled. "Anyway, I would have never known how bad he feels if I hadn't listened. You and your father spied him out, too!"
"I was worried!" Clark defended himself.
"If you would have been worried earlier, we would have noticed what is going on!"
"Lois, I don't want to fight with you now. Yes, we all heard what he said. And yes, we should have dealt with his problems earlier. But now we just have to focus on getting him back to Smallville…"
"Silence! Stop screaming, or we miss something!" Sam interfered now.
In shock and disgust, Jonathan looked on the ELT in his hand and realized that his family fooled him once again…
"It is suddenly so silent over there! Can he hear us, too?" Jordan asked.