Jon was in his bedroom, lazing away on a Saturday afternoon like he used to at his desk. Cluttered and messy with several pieces of homework and other useless things, Jon was unable to think of what to do as his punishment was yet to see any real end. He swivelled around in his chair and stopped when he saw himself in the mirror on the other side of the room, seeing his bored reflection lazily stare back. Was he already addicted to the thrill? The adrenaline of speeding faster than a bullet towards his head, being more powerful than those old trains and leaping all the way up to a tall building like the Daily Planet in a single bound? Well, not all the way up — Dick had to catch him just a little. Speaking of, Jon hadn't heard from him since the whole Riddler thing either. Makes you wonder…

He just couldn't take it anymore — he was going to go mad if he couldn't touch the air outside without there being a problem. Surely his parents had to let up one day? He couldn't be trapped in his room forever —

Three knocks came from the door, followed by Lois's voice on the other side saying, "Jonny, I'm off to work, okay? Ms Beagle is on her way downstairs, so make sure you let her in — don't you think about sneaking out again either."

"Not Ms Beagle again," groaned Jon, slamming his head on his desk. "She's so… boring and old, Mom! Anyone else, please! I'm on my hands and knees here!"

"You little drama queen…" Lois then opened the door to enter and crossed her arms, her work suit prim and proper as always. "Ms Beagle loves babysitting you; it's one of her favourite pastimes. Plus, she could use some company as well — saves me a lot of small talk in hallway, that's for sure," she whispered at the end.

"Mom, she comes in here, talks for ten minutes and sleeps in Dad's favourite chair — she drools, Mom. Drools!"

Lois scrunched her face. "Ooo, your dad won't like that at all. He loves that chair probably more than me. Should've gotten rid of it years ago when we were dating the first time." Jon perked up and eagerly asked if he could tag along to work, earning a sincere belly laugh from his mother that was met with a frown. "Oh sweetie, don't ever say you didn't get your humour from your mom. You probably want to see Lombard's daughter that works there, huh? Ellie, was it?"

Jon could feel his cheeks become a little flushed as he span right around in his chair and pouted, muttering, "I have no idea what you're talking about." What a lie that was.

"It's okay to have a little crush, Jonny," Lois reassured when she went over to ruffle Jon's hair and kiss him on the cheek. "Don't tell your dad but I had my eyes on him the very second he stepped into the building in his first day, even though I never showed it. His goofy glasses, and big, big muscles —"

"TMI, Mom."

"The point is: Ellie is a nice girl, even if she's too old for you. Thank goodness she didn't inherit anything from her father except his eye colour." Lois then clapped before fixing Jon's hair to his mild annoyance as she continued, "On second thought, I'll take you with me. At least this way, I can work better knowing exactly where you are. C'mon, let's go."

Jon excitedly fist pumped repeatedly until the raised eyebrow from Lois made him whistle and bustle to fit his shoes and jacket on. This wasn't fighting crime or honing his powers but it was infinitely better than being stuck at the apartment all day — and he got to see Ellie again. Awesome, cool and pretty Ellie.

Once he managed to get himself ready, Jon rushed to the front door where Lois was explaining to Ms Beagle that she could go back home, rather loudly at that. A few seconds of honing his super-hearing could Jon hear nothing whirring in Ms Beagle's hearing aids, prompting him to gently switch them on for her.

"Oh, you sweet little thing," she cooed whilst pinching Jon's cheeks. "When you come back from work, I've got a lovely apple pie waiting for you, your favourite."

"With custard?!" Ms Beagle nodded as Jon could feel his mouth water. While he still thought that she was a bit stale, there was no doubt in his mind that Jon still adored her. And her apple pies were just top notch as well.

Jon then followed his mother into the elevator where they descended, just as Lois briefly mentioned that Jon started to fly.

"All I need is more practice, you know. I could probably fly us both to the —"

"Nice try, junior, but I'm going live today and not a single hair is going out of place."

"Dammit…"

The two then exited the apartment complex and headed over to the nearest subway car station with Jon getting waves from some of his old schoolmates. Even though he was somewhat settled in Gotham Academy with Dick and Barbara, he'd be lying by saying he didn't miss Metropolis High — he wasn't even there for a week before he transferred.

Waiting for the next subway car didn't take long as they boarded the usual one towards downtown where the Daily Planet was — and boy, was Jon always enamoured by the sight of his home city, taking in just how beautiful it was. His dad, the actual Superman, was this city's beacon and guardian and it showed, evidently with the newly repaired giant golden statue at Centennial Park. One day it would be him, Jon thought to himself. One day…

"Mom?" Jon absentmindedly said as he continued to stare out the window, his mother rapidly tapping away at her phone. "Why don't you like Mr Lombard — like what about him specifically?"

"Mr Lombard is too 'nice' to married women and should act more respectable when his daughter's around."

Jon merely nodded his head at his mother's casual response and went back to staring out the window, right after frowning at a sleazy man leering at an unsuspecting Lois. For someone as high-profile as her in the country let alone Metropolis, Lois was always humble in her journey to work. Guess she had enough speedy flights on someone's back to last her a lifetime.

Finally did they reach downtown, still busy as ever in this hour. Truly the heartbeat of Metropolis. Jon was still tagging along behind Lois, gazing up at the giant golden globe like he always did before skipping across the road and heading into the Daily Planet. It was hard to even turn a head with how cramped the elevator was but Jon persevered when they finally reached the main office — and was it a sight to behold.

People running around with papers and tools to fix the photocopier; others stress-shouting on the phone in the cubicles on the other side of the office and Mr Perry White, the big boss, blowing fume out of his ears as he rabidly pointed directions to the trembling interns until he saw Lois and Jon.

"Ayyy, Jonny boy, how ya doin'?" did Perry greet enthusiastically, sticking out his giant hand for Jon to shake. "Always gotta say that you look more like ya mother than ya old man — but you got his strength, that's for sure. Jesus..."

"Hey, Mr White," Jon politely greeted.

"He actually gets it from me, which I got from my daddy, Commander Samuel Lane," Lois haughtily smiled, flicking her hair luxuriously. "Remember him?"

"Yer late," Perry flatly stated when he released Jon's hand and gently rubbed his own. "And of course I remember him — we roughed and tumbled since we were kids, yet you always wanna bring that up for some reason, Lois. I've always told you that yer the best of the best, even though ya husband is freakishly consistent. Where is Clark anyway?"

"He's… working on something with other colleagues," Lois quickly answered, strutting over to her desk area. "You know Clark, always one to branch out. Hey, Jimmy."

Jon walked over to see an average height man with fiery-red hair and an abundance of freckles pinch his nose so hard that it could break off. Jimmy Olsen, one of Jon's favourite people in the world and the one who bought him his very first camera. How about that for inspiration to become a photographer?

"Lois, was you this neurotic when you were getting married to Clark?" Jimmy droned, flopping his body defeatedly across his own desk. "Bailey has me retreading so many lists that I'm gonna go crazy! She even wants a specific platter of sausage rolls from England in a specific store in the south — I mean, what?! Argh…"

Lois patted him on the back before sitting down at her seat and said, "Listen, Jimmy, you knew the type of woman you were getting when you got down on one knee. Besides, it's sweet that you're getting married now — never would I have thought that the dorky kid I met years ago would be married to such a babe!"

"I am a lucky guy, huh," grinned Jimmy, sighing happily. "Long time, no see, Jonny. Gee whiz, you're shooting up like a weed plant!"

"Eh, I don't feel like it. Dad said I'll reach a growth spurt soon but he was a giant since… I don't know, eight? I just hope I won't be stuck like this."

Jimmy leapt up from his seat and gathered folders and his coffee mug whilst replying, "Trust me, your genes are gonna kick in real soon — I'd expect nothing less from the kid of Clark and Lois Kent."

"Lois Lane, Jimmy. In the office, it's still Lois Lane."

"My bad, Lois. Permission to steal Jon for a minute?" Lois gave Jimmy a thumbs up as he led the way over to the computer section of the busy office where Jimmy was now in charge of the website of the news firm. Of course, every time that Jon visited did Jimmy ask for help to comb through any mistakes he made before he'd publish the final edit but Jon enjoyed his company so much that he didn't care if he wasn't getting anything out of it. Especially when it came to who regularly worked in that area as well.

A pretty girl who was around eighteen years old, dirty blonde hair that was in a pixie cut with two noses rings and a rather punk vibe appeared from the corner, smacking her gum lazily as she handed over a towering stack of paper in Jimmy's unsuspecting hands. Ellie Lombard, a girl who Jon couldn't help having on his mind a little more often than usual. She'd never look at a kid like him but Jon was allowed to dream, right?

"I've done what you asked me so can I get a break now?" she drawled, staring at Jimmy fighting for his life to maintain his balance. After a spectacular fall, Jimmy nodded before shaking his head at the flying papers while Ellie lounged on her seat to lay her boots on her station. Man, was she cool. "You gonna keep on staring at me with your mouth open, or are you gonna start a conversation, Kent?"

"I-I, err…" Jon blubbered, scratching the back of his head as Ellie raised her eyebrow, watching Jon direct his eyes away from hers but lower down. "H-hey, Ellie…"

Ellie rolled her eyes and blew a bubble before saying nonchalantly, "I know you're a kid that probably hasn't had a girlfriend yet, but it's a bit rude to stare at a girl's boobs, even if they're big like mine."

"What?! No, I-I was just —"

"Relax, Kent, I was just kidding around," she snickered as she reached into her plaid skirt pocket to take out her phone and a packet of cigarettes. "But you were staring just a little bit, dude."

"Sorry," Jon quietly apologised as he took the closest seat. "I didn't mean to."

Ellie smirked then stood up with her arms crossed, almost seeming like she was waiting for him to stand up as well. "Well c'mon — I'm gonna go for a smoke break and I need a 'big, strong man' to stop the perverts here from making a move. Let's go."

It didn't even take a second for the awkwardness to disappear as Jon grinned before standing up to accompany Ellie, feeling more than happy to be at the Daily Planet. Sure, following your older work crush like a puppy wasn't comparable to fighting bad guys, but it was still something. Nothing wrong with a bit of something.