Chapter Text
“I promise it’s worse than it looks,” Jordan said, giving his girlfriend a small smile as he gestured to his bruised face.
“Yeah, right,” Melissa said, though there was no malice in her tone, only concern. She slowly approached Jordan and gingerly placed her fingers on his face. Despite her soft touch, Jordan winced, causing Melissa to quickly pull her hand back, since she didn’t want to cause her boyfriend any more pain. “How did this even happen anyway? I thought you were Superboy?”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“Well, I’ve got nothing but time,” Melissa said, taking Jordan’s hand in hers. “Please talk to me.”
“Alright, just let me get an ice pack for my ribs and we can talk on the couch.”
Melissa nodded, though a flash of concern crossed her face at Jordan’s words. His skin and bones were supposed to be impenetrable, and yet suddenly he needed an ice pack?
One thing was for sure. Melissa needed answers, and she needed them now. “Okay, so what’s going on,” she asked the moment they were seated together on the couch, not being able to wait a second longer.
Her boyfriend took a deep breath and adjusted the ice pack before answering. “So you know how my dad is weakened by Kryptonite,” Jordan said, deciding to begin the story in a roundabout way.
“Well, yeah, but I thought you said that it doesn’t affect you in the same way.”
“It doesn’t, but like my dad I am weakened by solar flares or what my family sometimes calls red sunlight. It’s a direct simulation of the red sun that was once on Krypton and it’s the reason Kryptonians didn’t have powers on their home planet.”
“Okay, I think I’m with you so far.”
“Anyway, when I was handling what I assumed would be a normal bank robbery, a bunch of thugs came out from nowhere shining red solar flashlights, which left me weak and powerless. They beat me up pretty bad, and since I basically didn’t have any powers or form of strength I was totally defenseless.”
“Which explains all the bruises,” Melissa said softly, rubbing her thumb across the top of Jordan’s hand.
“Yeah. I called my dad for help, but when he arrived, basically the same thing happened and he was weakened by the red solar lights as well. Luckily, he wasn’t taken quite as off guard so the bad guys weren’t able to totally ambush him like they did with me. He’s not in super bad shape, thankfully, but he’s still recovering too, since the red sun is super draining.”
“So, how did you guys get out of there,” Melissa asked, doing her best to keep a calm, brave face. Apart from all the traveling and sightseeing together, one of the best changes in her relationship with Jordan was how honest he had been with her lately about the Kryptonian part of his life.
And Melissa did not want to lose that new honesty, so she had no intention of showing Jordan just how freaked out she was by the attack. Melissa was worried that if Jordan thought she couldn’t handle the truth about the superhero part of his life, that he would go back to keeping things from her. And even though everything Jordan was telling her was super scary…she would rather know the truth than be in the dark.
“Well, after a close call a few years ago, my dad and I realized that our enemies are pretty good at getting their hands on various forms of Kryptonite and incapacitating us, which means we may not always be able to call for help.”
Melissa briefly tightened her grip on Jordan’s hand, hating the thought of her sweet, sensitive boyfriend ever being in a situation like that, but she nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“So, we worked with Lara at the Fortress and she helped us put a special device in our belts that allows us to call John Henry or Natalie for help in an emergency. Sometimes it takes them a minute to arrive, but that tiny device has saved our asses multiple times already.”
“So that’s what happened yesterday?”
“Yep, John Henry and Nat showed up, got rid of the solar flares and got us the heck out of there. As soon as we were safe, they came back to deal with the robbers…and that’s when…”
“When what?”
“They realized that this probably wasn’t an isolated incident,” Jordan admitted. His parents would be pissed if they knew he had told Melissa about his superpowers. But they would be even more upset when they learned Jordan was opening up to her about the latest heinous plot his family had discovered.
Most of those details were confidential and potentially dangerous to anyone who was in the know. Plus, if any of the information got leaked, the villains could potentially change their plans so they got away with more crimes, or the Kent family could be in even more danger.
Either way, as rewarding as it was flying around saving people, Jordan and his family faced real threats every day from evil people and creatures who wanted nothing more than to see Superman and his family totally eradicated.
So, as much as their insistence on secrecy felt archaic at times, as Jordan had gotten older, he understood why his parents were so persistent. Opening up to someone outside of his family about these issues could pose a real risk to his family’s safety.
But Jordan trusted Melissa.
Plus, it had been so difficult lying to the woman he loved. Though it was scary to come clean about his real identity, Jordan had no regrets. Their relationship was better than it had ever been and if he was being honest, Jordan felt like it had made their love and respect for each other grow even deeper.
For the first time, Jordan truly felt like he had a partner, someone he could rely on and trust implicitly. Melissa wasn’t the kind of person who would spread this gossip to her friends or post what Jordan revealed on social media.
She wanted to know what was going on with Jordan because she cared about him and wanted to make sure that he was okay. So really, how could he lie to her?
“So, you guys don’t think the attack was random,” Melissa asked, referring to Jordan’s previous statement.
“No, we really don’t. By the time Nat and John Henry arrived, a group of robbers had managed to successfully and efficiently clean out one of the bank vaults. They had a plan, and it was good,” Jordan admitted grudgingly.
“So that’s enough to convince you it wasn’t an isolated incident,” asked Melissa, still very new to the way this superhero world worked.
“No, that was enough to make us suspicious. After some quick thinking, my dad managed to use his super hearing to listen in on the robbers as they were leaving the bank. And that’s where we got the confirmation.”
“What did they say,” Melissa asked, leaning in, totally invested in the story.
“Well, he couldn’t make out the name of the next building they were targeting, unfortunately, but they kept repeating one phrase over and over again: when we hit the next one.”
“Which confirms it wasn’t a one time thing,” Melissa said, her heart dropping. Even though Jordan had just added some more details to what he had already shared, Melissa hated the idea of Jordan and his family dealing with such major issues.
No, it wasn’t new to them; in fact dealing with issues like this was just a part of everyday life for the Kent family. But despite all the superpowers and fame, they were just a genuinely good group of people and Melissa hated the thought of anything happening to them.
Especially Jordan.
Things were just starting to be really good between them and she didn’t want some crazy bank robbers ruining the best relationship she had ever had.
Melissa had dated some decent guys in the past, but no one was as smart, kind, sensitive or as brave as Jordan. No one else had ever made her pulse race like Jordan. And she’d never had a boyfriend that she thought about night and day…like Jordan.
Of course, if she was being fair…no one was quite as complicated as Jordan either.
There were the secrets, the double life, the quick exits, the threats from enemies…oh yeah, and the super powers.
But none of those complicating factors meant anything compared to how completely and totally Melissa’s love for Jordan was.
“Exactly,” Jordan said, agreeing with Melissa’s previous statement. “They’re going to strike again and when they do we need to be ready.”
“But they had red solar weapons,” she protested, hating the thought of Jordan putting himself in danger like that again. “How can you possibly fight something that can incapacitate you?”
Though Melissa had been doing a good job of staying strong and stoic, Jordan noticed the terror on her face. It was obvious that while she wanted to be ‘in the know’, the whole thing was still a bit overwhelming for her.
Jordan set aside the ice pack and gently took Melissa’s hand. “Babe, relax, okay, everything is going to be fine. We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”
“But I want to talk about it,” Melissa insisted, squeezing Jordan’s hand. “If this kind of stuff is going to be happening then I need to know.”
“Well, I don’t want you to worry.”
“Of course, I’m going to worry,” Melissa exclaimed, tossing her hands into the air. “My boyfriend was beaten within an inch of his life and will probably be attacked again. Until these guys are caught all I’m going to do is worry.”
Melissa paused, realizing for the first time how dramatic she sounded and instantly regretted her behavior. Jordan had been through so much lately, so getting yelled at by his girlfriend was the last thing he needed right now. So she ran her fingers through his messy, short curls and pulled him close, giving him a soft, gentle kiss.
“I only worry because I love you and I want you to come home safely,” she whispered. “Sorry for freaking out.”
“Aww, babe, it’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry,” Jordan said, his voice kind and tender as he pulled her in for a hug, having already forgiven his girlfriend. “I’m not mad that you’re worried, I just wish you didn’t have to be,” he said, trying to comfort her by rubbing her shoulder,
No matter what kind of condition he was in, Jordan was always going to be there for his girlfriend, meaning he didn’t even give a second thought to the idea of pulling her in for a hug. But at that moment, he was thankful that she couldn’t see his face.
Because due to the pressure on his ribs, Jordan was definitely wincing.
He didn’t blame his girlfriend of course, he wanted to hug her. Plus, he was normally indestructible, meaning worrying about getting a tight hug from his girlfriend wasn’t something he was usually concerned about. But after the solar flares…Jordan was definitely a lot more fragile than usual.
But since she was still new to the superhero world, Jordan didn’t want to put any extra stress on his girlfriend. So by the time he had pulled back from the hug, Jordan had a smile firmly in place, giving Melissa a sign that everything would be okay.
“So what happens now,” Melissa asked, returning the ice pack to Jordan. Even though he had a smile on his face and was acting like he was fine, Melissa knew he still had to be in pain.
“Now my dad and I be a lot more careful when we go on patrol and we take Jon Henry or Natalie with us. We might not be able to avoid the solar flares completely, but if Nat and John Henry can deactivate them before my dad and I get too weak, then we might stand a better chance against our attackers.”
Melissa furrowed her brows. “That’s it? That’s the plan? It doesn’t sound very concrete.”
“No, it’s not,” Jordan admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, once again trying to hide another wince. “But since we don’t know a lot about the robbers yet, it’s hard to really plan much more right now.”
Since Jordan was hardly new to the superhero game, he was used to the fact that sometimes they didn’t have all of the information about a villain right away. Sometimes it took time to gather information and make a plan.
It could be frustrating not being able to take action, sure, but that’s just the way the things worked in the superhero world–it wasn’t always about flying in and saving the day.
“I guess that makes sense,” Melissa said, weaving her fingers through Jordan’s. “I guess I just hate the idea of you facing off against those guys completely defenseless again.”
“Well, we won’t be completely defenseless. Every time something like this happens my parents go into overdrive doing research, learning more about the attackers, potential weakness, aliases…all kinds of stuff.”
“Wait, they do?”
“Well, when your parents are reporters that’s kind of part of the gig,” Jordan said, giving Melissa what he hoped was his most charming smile. “Trust me, even though we don’t have all the answers yet, no one is going to work harder than my parents, especially my mom, to make sure that the next time we face off against those robbers, it goes differently.”
“Okay,” Melissa said with a nod.
“Okay,” Jordan echoed, raising a single eyebrow. “Really? You’re okay with all this?”
“No, I’m not exactly okay with it,” admitted Melissa. “But I think I am starting to understand. It’s not easy, is it…this life you live.”
“Nope,” Jordan agreed. “It’s been complicated basically since the first day I got powers. But I’ve grown used to it. I just hope that maybe over time it gets easier for you too.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Melissa said, not committing one way or another. She loved Jordan, more than she ever thought it was possible to love another person. But he was right, his life was complicated. And since Melissa had never been through anything like this before, she had no idea if she could actually handle it long term.
But one thing was for sure: she was determined to try.
“In the meantime,” Melissa said softly, pushing Jordan down on the couch so he was laying in a horizontal position. “I think what you need right now is some rest.” Melissa grabbed a blanket, laid down next to Jordan and pulled the blanket over the both of them. “How does that sound?”
“If you’re next to me, I think it sounds perfect,” Jordan whispered, before kissing Melissa’s cheek.
Jordan had no idea how he and Clark were going to stop his latest attackers and their impressive arsenal of solar weapons. Something big was coming…he could feel it. But there was no need to worry Melissa until they knew something for sure.
So for the moment, Jordan elected to hold his girlfriend close and pretend for just a little while that he wasn’t in pain and that everything would be okay.