The days passed, without any call from Jon!
Jon got his phone back from the police quickly, but he didn't dare to call his family. Instead, he made a lot of screenshots of the death-treats he received from some still incorrigible Smallvillians for ruining even the next season, and sent them to the police, too. On Monday morning he began at least texting Jordan a little bit. Saying that he needed time… Jordan was sad that he couldn't talk to his brother in person, but glad that he was at least safe.
Jon had a lot of luck to be able to move in with Coach Patterson and his family. Knowing that it was too dangerous for him in a foster-family in or near Smallville. Also, Coach Patterson and Timmy knew that it was better if Jon stays with someone who knows about his heritage and doesn't risk exposing it…
Clark felt so helpless…
After he got kicked out of the fortress again, he went home to meet the woman from the local CPS branch, who was there to get some clothes and personal things for Jonathan! Clark was not even allowed to help her choosing some things but could remind her to take Jon's laptop and the photo of Martha, the boy kept in his room. At least he could say that Jon was safe. Coach Patterson seemed to be a good person. Unlike the other Coach he met…
Luckily, the DOD was in such a big trouble now, they wouldn't dare to let the boy vanish again. Also, his doppelganger seemed to have given up on the merge and just wanted to get home to his own world to apologize to his own brother and his mother for getting the powers and not appreciating his family for being there for him when their father didn't. Also, Clark cut ties with the DOD. For arresting and for scaring Jonathan. But it won't be easy anyway.
Lois still needed some space, but by Monday morning she called Clark. She was willing to meet him for lunch in Metropolis. Jordan complained when he thought that he must go to school. But luckily for him (and many others) the mold was found in the wall which forced the school to close until everything was removed. Giving Jordan some time to think and to calm down again. To consider his future, the relationship to his father, his grandfather, to his mother and his brother.
In Smallville things changed rapidly, too. The recent revelations, the arrests and the sudden truth about those they thought were innocent but who in truth were the main reasons for everything bad that happened, and that things were about to get even worse were reason enough for the people to look on their own mistakes instead of blaming others. Especially since the press and the social media spread it all over and Smallville's reputation (that was already really bad before) was now restlessly ruined.
In a town meeting in the school's auditorium, the full truth got revealed by the investigating FBI, the DEA and the Metropolis Police Department. Thanks to the full confession of Candice, Jonathan's statement, Lois Lane's statement and all other proves that were found in Smallville…
After the Morgan Edge disaster the DOD tried to keep the X-K a secret from the wide public, but several criminal organizations learned about it. With the help of several Smallvillians (who have already been arrested) a network was established. Coach Gaines, Mayor Dean and even the Sheriff were part of this network. Gaines watched the "test" in his team, the Sheriff kept sure that no charges were pressed and Mayor Dean laundered the money over the town for a bigger organization…
The DOD never warned the public to prevent such incidents, but the DOD's plans failed. This was why there were no laws yet that prohibited the usage or the possession of X-K which made it easier for the criminals…
"Is this why Jonathan Kent was not sent to prison?" a cranky man yelled.
"Jonathan Kent, was a pawn sacrifice in this mess!" the man from the FBI yelled back, telling the town the full story…
Candice Pergrande was forced to sell it in school by her violent father, who was part of the criminal-organization. She sold it to at least 25 members of the team. Gaines was well aware of this and let it happen to win the championship. Also, he had a grudge against Jonathan Kent, only for being from the big city. Since he didn't accept him from the first day, Gaines planned to use Jonathan Kent as a scapegoat in case the X-K gets discovered.
After Timmy Ryan got caught with X-K by his mother, the police-raid the next day was planned. Jonathan Kent took it only because he felt left out and tried to get his parents approval and the teams approval. He also tried to protect his girlfriend, which was why he tried to dispose her stack but got caught with it. Gaines used the opportunity and used Jonathan Kent's hero-complex and the fact that his own father prefers his brother to get him out of the team…
"You mean, it was all staged?" a woman yelled shocked.
"Yes, it was! According to the records and the confession of Miss Pergrande, the secret notes of Coach Gaines and the statements of Jonathan Kent, and several other players, Jonathan Kent was indeed the one who was least responsible for the cancellation. The season would have been cancelled anyway!"
After this statement there was a huge shock.
"And since X-Kryptonite was officially not a prohibited substance yet, even Jonathan's expulsion from school was illegal. Gaines spread lies about Jonathan Kent even before the X-K and tried to disgust him out of the team. He openly took advantage of the fact that the boy was emotionally neglected by his parents and the hostility the boy received from the people in this town ever since his move. The full blame for the X-K can be seen in Mister Gaines!" the FBI man continued. "Very shabby, considering that many of you, including Mister Gaines, accepted financial help from the grandmother of this boy? You should be all ashamed!"
This statement let most present people become pensive. It was really embarrassing.
"How… how did it got exposed in the end? And why not… right after it happened?" a man asked.
"Because everyone who knew the truth was only about to safe himself!" a police-detective told. "Including all cheating players, their parents, the Sheriff, the former mayor and those they were working for. Except Jonathan Kent… he tried to safe the only person in this town who was treating him like a human!"
The man continued with the story about how Jonathan tried to open to his father but was once again pushed away and his father openly showed him that he prefers his brother. Enraged and disappointed, Jonathan Kent fled to an old friend in Metropolis, whom he told the full story. After figuring out that he was bugged by his parents, there was an accident that brought Jonathan Kent into a hospital. After that, the police of Metropolis didn't take long to figure out the full range of this and the DOD kidnapped Jonathan Kent to hush up the fact that they were using X-Kryptonite for research and for experiments which will end soon, too.
"And what does it mean for us here in Smallville?" another woman asked.
"For you… I mean that you all better come up with a good apology for Jonathan Kent! After all, he tried to prevent even bigger trouble for your town! And if you had treated him with at least a little bit respect after moving here, he wouldn't have such a bad picture of you like we do now! We came to this town and can openly say, that you are xenophobic, arrogant, and selfish…"
That offence caused many people to be shocked…
"After the economic downfall of your town, you did nothing to improve your situation. Instead, you only let out your frustration on people from outside. Smallville has lost. Accept it! And since Jonathan Kent's lawyer has officially announced that the town and Coach Gaines will be sued, you should thank him that he stops Gaines from poisoning your kids with space-drugs, that turns them into Mini-Morgan-Edges…"
Once again there was a loud uproar in the crowd…
"Where are the Kents?" someone yelled…
Indeed, Jordan sat with noise-cancelling headphones in his room and was brooding. He texted with Sarah, who told him that her parents were behaving oddly since Jon left…
Jon walked with Timmy, Jay and Cody over the campus of his former High-School and was welcomed warmly by many of his old friends, now that he was back where he belonged…
And Lois and Clark sat in a diner in the outskirts of Metropolis, where Clark used his superhearing to tell Lois what was talked on that town-meeting about them, about Jonathan and about the DOD…
Clark was grateful that Lois was willing to meet him to talk about their situation. And Lois really wanted to talk. They needed to find a proper way to resolve this mess. She cried, that was obvious. And Clark felt bad, because he knew that most of it was his fault. But Lois also blamed herself.
"Jordan is at the farm?" Lois asked.
"Yes! My mother still insists on deactivating his powers!" Clark told.
"Why haven't we thought about this by ourselves?"
"Because we thought the powers would help Jordan to grow! But I think Jonathan was right: We wanted a Superboy!"
"Yes, a Superboy at the cost of another child!" Lois cried and lowered her head. "Anything new from the DOD?"
"No! But I think they suffer too much under the scandal. They don't need another scandal! But I can imagine that they will find a way to make our lives more difficult."
"And Jonathan? He has now a chance to get his life back on track! What if they try to ruin it?"
"Looks like… we have to accept that Jonathan needs a break from us! And especially from Smallville!"
"Everyone knew it, Clark!" Lois shacked her head. "Everyone knew the truth… and they just used Jonathan because he was not born in Smallville! Remember how we feared that Jonathan has powers and Jordan doesn't?"
"Yes! We swore to never let Jordan feel left out and inferior!"
"What happened with it? What happened to our swear?"
"The other child got powers! And we expected our always easy son to be like always!"
"Yes, just that we ignored that he has feelings like everyone else. And what burden it must be for him!" Lois wailed before she flinched briefly and put her hand on her chest out of instinct.
"Are you okay?"
"Agh… For a few days I have this odd pain in my chest!"
"Have you seen a doctor?" Clark was worried now.
"I just come from the doctor!" Lois revealed and showed Clark a little strip on her arm where she got blood taken from. "He guesses it comes from the stress. Like a stomach ulcer that is too far up. But he took some blood for a test! I expect the results later! I don't have fever or anything like that. I am fine! I really guess it comes from the stress!"
"This is my fault… If I hadn't taken Jordan to practice flying…"
"Jonathan would have sooner or later run away anyway! Because we exploited his patience too much!" Lois interfered. "We expected too much from him! He is 15, Clark! He needs us as much as Jordan does. If you hadn't taken Jordan on that flying lesson, something else would have caused his breakdown! Sometimes, Jordan needed us more! He understood that! But sometimes Jonathan needed us more. But we let him down… gosh… Extraordinary human… I could have been worse… I am a worse mother than my own!"
"That's not true, Lois!"
"Clark… I left Smallville and moved into a motel! I lashed out on Jonathan every time. After the barn-scene I lashed out on Jordan… before my mother left us… there were moments I saw she was not fine. She was stressed, emotionally upset, whenever my father decided to be home, I heard them fighting… I wonder if she left to force my father to be a better father to us! Which he wasn't really… aww… Clark, how could we miss that he only spends time with Jordan to recruit him?"
"We made mistakes, Lois! Maybe it is time that we do something!"
"And what do you suggest?"
"No, DOD support anymore!"
"The DOD is not going to allow you that?"
"They have so much trouble now, I doubt Hardcastle is going to keep her job now that everyone knows that the DOD hushed up the Smallville-X-Kryptonite mess to cover up their own projects."
"Okay… what else?"
"We learn to treat the boys equally! Which means no exceptions and advantages for Jordan anymore! And we don't use his powers as an excuse to treat them differently!"
"That's an idea! And if he really loses them? What if Jonathan develops powers? Then we could face the same trouble?"
"We consult my mother in the fortress! It's time to involve her more in Jonathan's life, too! She wants him now more than ever in the fortress! But Jonathan needs time to think about it! He still believes it is a trick to safe Jordan's powers!"
"Gosh… You know… I have seen such scenes in movies, and I never dared to think that something like this could happen to me one day. But it is really hard… to know that your own child does not trust you anymore and believes you don't love it! Lois told, a tear running down her face. And I knew… one day… would the day come; the boys move out… go to college in another city maybe… live their own lives… But that a judge decides one day that Jonathan shouldn't live under the same roof as us… That's even worse!"
Clark nodded.
"I want Gaines in prison!" Lois continued. "He knew all the time that his players took X-Kryptonite. He is a danger for others."
"There is no way he can get out of it with a suspended sentence or even a parole. No matter how many lawyers Luthor sends him!" Clark told.
"Aww… Luthor!" Lois ranted. "Of course he had to read it in the newspaper and think, 'Oh the enemy of my enemy's son is my friend!'. Which lawyer… the sneaky one, or the one without a pinch of humanity, or the pervert?"
"You won't believe it… Jimmy Cutter's father!" Clark moaned.
"Aghh… The sneaky one! Remember when we complained to the school to get Jimmy Cutter punished for the bullying and he threat us to sue us and get Jordan into a home for difficult-to-educate children?"
"His own son belongs into such a home! I guess that's his revenge for the evening that led to the expelling of his son!" Clark moaned again and rubbed his temples. He got headache when he thought about it. "What an irony: In Metropolis Jordan felt left out and unloved. And in Smallville does Jonathan!"
"We never found the balance, didn't we?"
"No!"
"And what now, Clark? How it continues?"
"We need to show Jonathan that we support him! That we are on his side!"
"And Smallville? The farm? We can be officially told the most hated people there, now!"
"Then… maybe we should really consider moving back…" Clark told.
Lois looked on Clark with big eyes. She couldn't believe what she got to hear…
More days passed…
More time in which Jonathan reconnected with his old life in Metropolis…
More time in which more and more bad things about Smallville got exposed…
More time in which the people of Smallville realized that the cancellation of the football-season was partly their fault, too…
More time, Clark thought about if it was not better to do what he read in Martha's notes and rent out the land around the farmhouse, use the money to pay the mortgage and move back to Metropolis…
More time in which Jonathan got the feeling that he has a life outside the shadow of his brother's powers…
Time… Lois used to calm down, too… But something was wrong!
The day, she wanted to leave the motel and return to the farm, the doctor called and told her about some 'alarming' anomalies in her blood that require more examination. And so, they made a biopsy… And it revealed even worse…
"Inflammatory breast cancer?" Lois repeated the doctor's diagnosis in shock.
"Yes, Miss Lane! It looks like that!" the doctor told her.
"Is it… strong?"
"I guess you are stage two!"
"Stage two? What… is that meaning?"
The next few minutes the doctor explained it to her and told her that it was good that it was detected so early, which means she has good chances of healing. Stage two was a lot better than stage three, but it was important that Lois starts with the treatment as soon as possible. When everything goes well, she could go into remission as soon as the tumor got removed. But the chances were good.
When Lois droves back to Smallville, she knew that this would make everything more difficult. Just a few days ago, she thought about divorce and now she was facing a dangerous illness…
She ignored everything around her. She ignored that she was driving a bit too slow over the freeway and forced other cars to honk when they passed her or had to break because of her. She ignored the warning signal for the fuel that should normally told her to stop at the next gas-station. But she just drove…
The one and only time during her ride, when she noticed another person was when she stopped briefly in front of the Smallville firehouse and Kyle passed her car. The moment the man saw that Lois saw him, he turned his head away and as if he was scared to talk to her. It was not the shame-on-you-glare, she received from everyone else, but more a this-is-too-awkward-for-me-glare. Lois shuddered at that: The same kind of glare came from Chrissy after she told her the truth. Does Kyle know the secret? Did Lana tell him, so he helps her to keep their daughters away from them?
This brief moment of distraction was over when Lois arrived back on the farm with the last rest of fuel. The white Honda Civic sedan in their yard had to belong to the woman from the CPS that wanted to come today. Lois left her car, left her luggage behind and only took the envelop with the diagnosis with her before entering the house.
The house was a mess. With Jonathan's departure their chore-handler was gone. Jordan was too depressive to do anything, and Clark had to deal with other things.
"Nice that you have decided to join us, Miss Lane!" the woman from the local CPS office said accusingly.
Lois knew that her delay let her look as if she was not interested in getting back Jonathan, but she had a reason.
"I am sorry for the delay. I just come from the doctor!" Lois told and sat down at the dining-table, too.
Clark was pale and looked sick. Jordan's eyes were red as if he just cried. And Lois tried to not look too upset after figuring out what was growing inside of her.
"Now that you are here, I hope you are a bit more cooperative!" the CPS woman said and looked on her documents again.
"I would do everything to get Jonathan's trust back! And I am willing to fight for him! I am sorry that I am late, but I can't change it anymore!" Lois cried.
"Your husband has already confessed that your son Jonathan was denied meeting his biological grandparents and that his biological grandmother has now finally met him at least over a video call!" the woman told. "But what I still don't understand is why someone is denied meeting his own grandparents, while the brother is? According to the statement of Timothy Tanner, it has to do with a certain 'thing' they have in common? What is the thing, Miss Lane?"
Lois became pale… they knew it, Jonathan knew it, the DOD, Lana, Kyle (probably), Chrissy… Lois looked on her husband who looked on her with big eyes, too. Wondering if one person more will make any difference anyway or if it just worse anything and she decides to take Jonathan away from them forever. An unpowered teen in a super-family that treats him like a third-class person and his broken arms and the constant danger he was in would be reason enough for the CPS to say: No, Jon is better in a human-foster-family…
"If we… tell you… would you keep it for yourself?" Clark asked.
"I need to add it into my records and the judge needs to know! Your son is suing Smallville, so it will be revealed anyway! All is lost, Mr. Kent! You can only help yourself by telling the truth!"
Clark lowered his head in shame. He already lifts his left hand to pull away his glasses when Jordan burst out in tears and start to yell…
"I have superpowers!"
"What?" the woman was confused.
"Jordan?!" Lois and Clark both exclaimed shocked.
"He is Superman! I have inherited his powers, but Jonathan's powers don't develop. That's why he is preferring me! He only took me to his fortress to meet the A.I.s of our late grandparents from Krypton. He spent only time with me, because of my powers. He let down Jon and gave him into the hands of this asshole Gaines! And my grandfather went only fishing with him in the past because he thought that he will be the supersoldier he wants. I abused my powers, I cheated myself into the team, I even tried to kill another teen one time. And every time I was excused because I have powers, while no matter how hard my brother worked, nobody wanted to give him a chance to prove that he has potential, and I made everything he reached in his life useless. I am the reason why he took the drugs! I don't want my powers anymore!"
After the rant Jordan cried and used his superspeed to vanish out of the room. Proving the shocked woman that everything he said was true…
"Wha… ah… ah…" the woman was totally pale and in shock when she looked on Lois and Clark and realized that the face behind those thick glasses was indeed the face of the man, so many kids she helped idolized.
Clark and Lois meanwhile were too stunned and too shocked to say anything. They just smiled. The woman meanwhile could feel the whole world fainting away, while her left arm became numb, and she grabbed her heart with the other hand before falling off the chair…
Luckily for her, Clark could fly her to the hospital, where her life was saved. But it was a huge shock for everyone anyway…
"Will they send me to prison for it?" Jordan asked when he and his parents sat in the waiting area one hour later.
"That was not your fault! You couldn't know that she has heart-issues!" Lois said, pushing her anger about her son's outburst and his behavior towards Jonathan aside.
"But… when she dies… the judge will think we did it on purpose to get Jon back, or not?" the boy asked scared.
"Jordan… they take your brother away from us anyway. As hard as it sounds, worse than before it couldn't get anyway." Clark told. "Please, don't bother yourself with it. Who knows, she might have gotten the heart-attack just a few hours later?"
Clark knew that his speech was not helpful. The judge will use this incident against them anyway…
A few seconds later a doctor approached them…
"Hello! You are here for Mrs. Gregson? The woman who was brought in here by Superman?"
"Yes, how is she?" Clark asked.
"She is stable! But still unconscious! We have already informed her husband. He should be here soon! But it looks like is going to recover completely!"
"Thank you, doctor!" Lois said and the man left again. "Jordan…"
"How many years do you think I get for trying to kill Jimmy Cutter?" the boy asked worried.
"Stop brooding, Jordan! All we can do is wait!" his father said.
But Jordan realized that it was maybe really not a bad idea to lose his powers permanently.
But a blessing in disguise, when the woman woke up from coma two days later, she had no memory on her visit at the Kent-farm anymore. The last thing she remembered was having breakfast with her husband that morning…
The days passed…
Lois feared to tell anyone about the diagnosis. Deciding to wait for the moment, the family is allowed to meet Jonathan again. He should hear it from her in person…
And indeed…
"Thank you for meeting us!" Lois said when Jon arrived at the diner in Metropolis, where she talked with Clark earlier this week.
"Well… You seem to know now what it means to wait." Jonathan said when he sat down at the table.
The family noticed of course that he brought Timmy with him. The other teen sat down at the counter at a place where he could watch them. Clark noticed immediately that the way Timmy looked on him had changed…
"Ehm… Jonathan… is it possible that Timmy… that he… suspects something!"
"He knows!" the boy confessed. His parents and his brother's shocked faces gave him a little bit joy. "I didn't tell him! He figured out by himself!"
"Oh…" Clark said and looked over to the other teen to smile awkwardly. Timmy just buried his head behind a menu-card embarrassed. "…I guess the poster is gone!"
"Not only the poster!" Jon confessed.
"Jonathan…I need to tell you… well… I need to tell you all something really important!" Lois said.
"Oh, my god… you are divorcing dad?" Jordan guessed shocked.
"What… no… not that… I mean… ehm… I… I went to the doctor a few days ago! I had… pain in my chest… And… I was diagnosed with Stage two inflammatory breast cancer! I need to…"
The rest of Lois' speech felt more like blur. Jon forgot all the anger he had on his family while his mother told him about the diagnosis and the following therapy. Jordan, who already knew that his powers couldn't solve every problem, felt even worse than before. And Clark, who noticed that Lois was behaving odd lately, suddenly realized that it was even worse than he thought.
For now… all problems of the family seemed at least temporarily forgotten. For now they just all hugged and allowed themselves to show their feelings openly…