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“Can you two just pick something so that we can go already?”
Jordan let out a soft huff as he watched Jon and Natalie move on to yet another display of tacky Halloween costumes.
They’d all been dragged along to Metropolis for the day while his mom met up with some old newspaper contacts. Lois had claimed that she wanted company for the drive and had threatened them with a long list of Saturday chores if they didn’t come (she said they’d all been spending too much time bumming around lately). But Jordan suspected that this was just a thinly veiled attempt to make them all bond.
Things with Natalie were okay, considering she was their inter-dimensional half sister who wasn’t overly fond of Kryptonians. She’d been there for nearly six months now, and they’d all reached a sustainable new normal. The days of silent glares and snippy remarks were mostly behind them.
They were definitely still getting to know each other, though, and all of the adults seemed keen to help that along.
It wasn’t the worst, but he’d have rather been back home hanging out with Sarah than wandering the streets of a loud city with Natalie and his brother.
Being in Smallville had made him realize that he was far more suited for small town life. Mainly for reasons that were out of his control.
Being here was a bit suffocating now. His control over his senses was really being tested and he felt trapped amongst the crowds and buildings. He’d always grappled with these feelings to some extent and now it all made sense. And it was considerably worse. His newly developed super speed often made his body twitch with pent up energy, and there was definitely no way to expend it here.
Four hours in, and he was already yearning for the vast expanse of the farm.
Jon and Natalie, however, seemed far less annoyed by the trip. They probably would have preferred a lazy day of texting and hanging out too, but they were undoubtedly both city people.
They’d happily reminisced about the place as they’d wandered the busy streets. And now they’d pulled him into a huge pop-up Halloween costume shop in hopes of finding something to wear next weekend.
Timmy was having a big party at his place, and he’d made it very clear that costumes were a must.
As much as Jordan did want to go, he wasn’t thrilled about that part. He hadn’t been into dressing up for the last few years and he desperately wanted to go in one of his regular black hoodies. He knew he’d get a good razzing if he did, though, so he defeatedly decided that he would grab some sort of lame accessory near the checkout once the other two had finally decided.
If they ever decided…
It had been nearly half an hour of browsing now and neither one seemed even remotely close to making a decision.
“Aw, come on, Jordan,” his brother replied as he examined a zombie mask before placing it back on the rack. “Lighten up and try to have a bit of fun.”
“You saw Timmy’s invite,” Natalie piped in, looking over towards him with a slight smirk, “no entry without a badass costume.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. That was true, and it kinda made him not want to go.
But he knew that Sarah wanted to, and he also knew that there would be absolutely nothing else to do next Saturday night. Putting on a stupid outfit to have a good time was probably better than moping on the couch.
“Yeah yeah,” he muttered back, pursing his lips at the thought. “But it doesn’t have to take hours to decide.”
“Hey, at least we’re trying,” Natalie shot back cheekily, “you just keep scowling and looking at your phone,” she paused, looking around to make sure there was no one within earshot before quietly adding, “what’s up with that? Do Kryptonians hate Halloween or something?”
Jon snorted and Jordan glared in response.
“That’s obviously not a thing,” he retorted pointedly, gesturing towards his brother as proof. Just because he knew it would annoy him.
As predicted, Jon instantly shot back a glare of his own and Jordan felt a somewhat satisfied smirk tug at his lips.
Jon’s continual state of denial was the biggest source of tension between them nowadays. Jordan never missed a chance to remind him that, powers or not, they had a (weird) shared heritage.
Having Natalie around had just amplified things lately. She’d initially been wary of both of them, because of who their father was, and his brother had been determined to prove that he was normal.
It seemed to work, to some extent. Natalie had definitely warmed to Jon first, and the two had a much easier relationship than her and Jordan. He had to wonder if it was because his twin had an easier time passing as normal.
That had annoyed him too, if he was being honest. And it was probably why he particularly liked pointing out his brother’s place in all of this when she was around.
“Nah,” Jon cut in, clearly trying to avert attention from himself, “Jordan just started thinking he was too aloof and emo for Halloween fun a few years ago. But now that he’s inexplicably popular he has no choice but to get back into it.”
There was a short pause but, before Jordan could think of a retort, Jon laughed and tossed a packaged costume towards him.
Thankfully, he caught it (with a little help from his enhanced reflexes). And as he turned it around he knew exactly why his brother had been so amused.
“There you go, big guy,” Jon quipped playfully, “that one won’t be much of a stretch for you.”
Jordan scowled down at the picture on the front of the package. It was a grinning man in a toga with cheap looking fake biceps strapped to his arms.
‘Hercules Costume,’ the label said in thick orange script.
“Hilarious,” he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. He tried not to think about the fact that he’s been lifting up the back of the combine harvester with his dad that morning before they’d left. He couldn’t deny that he was getting stronger at a rather alarming rate.
Natalie glanced over his shoulder to take a look before she and Jon shared another quiet laugh.
“Come on, Jordan,” the girl urged with a gentle nudge, “it’s perfect for you. You’ll finally be able to effortlessly scoop Sarah off her feet and attribute it to those rocking arm muscles,” she said, pointing at the image on the package.
He gave another huff as he hastily hooked it back onto the nearest rack, not caring that it was now out of place.
“Not happening,” he muttered as he stuffed his hands into the dark grey hoodie he was currently wearing.
He was probably being a bit too peevish at the moment, but he wasn’t in the mood for the joke. There was no way in hell he’d wear something like that.
It made his stomach twist to think that he’d barely even need the fake costume muscles to make that look believable nowadays.
The summer had brought on a somewhat unnerving growth spurt and he relied on his baggy clothes now more than ever to cover that up. He still had nothing on his dad, of course, but (with zero effort on his part) he was increasingly starting to look the part of Superman’s son.
So was Jon, for that matter. But his brother refused to believe that there was any explanation for his own growth spurt beyond his morning jogs.
He didn’t miss the fact that Jon and Natalie exchanged another annoying look before moving on to the next display area.
He shuffled behind them, silently wondering if he should just grab one of those stupid oversized animal onesies he could see across the large shop and be done with it. He had absolutely no desire to walk around town dressed as a zebra or a panda, but at least that would cover up his suspiciously strengthening form.
“Ugh, these are all so boring,” he heard Jon mutter as he flicked through various skeleton costumes. They seemed to be in the traditional Halloween costume section now.
“How about a werwolf?” Natalie suggested, holding one up from the rack she was perusing.
It was Jordan and Jonathan’s turn to exchange a look.
“No way,” Jon replied with a shake of his head, “that’s our dad’s go-to costume. He wore it every time he took us trick or treating.”
Despite his current mood, Jordan snorted amusedly at the memory. It was true, their dad loved his awful werewolf getup. And he could still remember him stumbling behind them with armfuls of candy as his glasses fogged up beneath the mask.
Sometimes, even now, it was hard to reconcile those classic dad images with the famous hero they knew him to be.
“Huh,” Natalie shrugged, clearly also finding that a hard thing to picture.
She no longer freaked out around their dad, like she had in those first few days, but there was still a slight hint of wariness there.
Hearing these sorts of things was probably good for her. Jordan just wanted her to see their father as the fairly regular person that he was.
He was glad when she smiled and casually put the costume back.
They continued to browse through the next couple of sections without much discussion. Jon had been slightly tempted by a pretty decent knight costume, but the price tag had put him off.
Their parents had given them each fifty dollars spending money for the day, and that meant that whatever they picked had to be pretty economical.
Jordan more or less zoned out as the other two kept up their painfully slow search. He checked his phone a few times, sent Sarah a quick message, and focused on keeping his hearing honed on the large ceiling fan inside the shop rather than the annoying buzz of traffic outside.
Briefly, he wondered how hard it would be to zip back to the farm himself and then reappear just in time to meet his mom after her meetings later.
He could probably do it.
But he would definitely get found out and be in for yet another lecture from both his mom and dad.
With a soft sigh, he reminded himself that he really did have to stick this out.
“Oh my god! Yes!”
Natalie’s excited exclamation distracted him from his thoughts of escape.
For a moment, he assumed that she’d found her perfect outfit. But, the next thing he knew, she was rushing towards him with a mischievous glint in her eye.
Before he even saw what she had in hand he knew he wouldn’t like it.
“The search is over. You’re both all set now,” she proclaimed with a short laugh as she flung two identical packages towards him and his brother, “I can’t believe this even exists!”
Jordan drew a breath and looked down at what she’d passed him. Beside him, Jon did the same.
As predicted, his stomach gave another uncomfortable flop at the sight.
It was a Superman costume.
A horrible, cheap-looking polyester version of their dad’s iconic suit, squished into thin plastic packaging. The front contained the standard picture of a random guy wearing the costume and, as he flipped the packet over, he could see a knock-off version of a very familiar symbol.
Jordan had to suppress a loud groan, but he couldn’t stop a slight flush from brushing across his cheeks.
He knew that Natalie was amused, and just trying to have fun, but he definitely felt weird holding this thing in his hands.
He couldn’t imagine ever wearing such a terrible knock-off (he couldn’t see why anyone would, frankly). It was so strange to think that random people might actually dress up as his dad. And picturing himself in such attire raised all sorts of feelings and implications.
His fingers brushed lightly against the symbol as he continued to stare down at the ridiculous thing.
If he ever did don that crest, it certainly wouldn’t be a version he’d found at a Halloween shop for twenty-nine ninety-nine. Part of him wondered if he should be insulted by its mere existence. This wasn’t just some random ‘S’ design to him anymore. It was his family symbol— his heritage— and something he was increasingly proud to be a part of.
It seemed strange to think that some factory in China had stamped it into this cheap fabric for drunk college students to wear at a party.
Finally, he managed to look up. As he caught his brother’s eye he could tell that Jon had been having many of the same thoughts— but, as always, his brother was far better at brushing things off and putting on a false bravado.
“Haha, Nat,” Jon said, shaking his head at their sort-of half-sister, “maybe when hell freezes over.”
He reached out his arm to quickly toss the package back on the shelf but Natalie managed to intercept, clearly not done with the uncomfortable jibes yet. She held up the folded costume to Jon’s chest and looked back and forth between the crest and his brother’s face.
“Come on, I think it suits you more than you think,” she joked with a wide grin. Her voice dropped again, even though it probably didn’t have to in the huge and nearly empty shop, “it brings out those Kryptonian blue eyes.”
Despite his best efforts to remain calm and casual about this stuff when Natalie was around, Jordan could see his brother’s expression falter. Yeah, he did have a rather unique eye colour (inherited from Lara Lor-Van, apparently) and Natalie had speculated on the reasons for that oddity a few days after arriving— much to Jon’s displeasure.
“Yeah, well, not happening,” Jon replied, failing to keep up that good natured facade for a moment. He grabbed the package back and managed to get it on the shelf this time before folding his arms across his chest, “it’s never happening.” He muttered under his breath.
Natalie shifted on her feet, probably able to tell that she’d crossed a bit of a line. But she was stubborn, and seemed to like pushing their buttons sometimes, so she still wasn’t quite ready to let it go.
“How about you, Superboy?” she asked, setting her sights on him, “you’re already a mini-doppelgänger— it would be easy to just lean into it, right?”
She looked at him expectantly, and he couldn’t help but wonder if there was more behind her question than it seemed. It felt like it wasn’t just about Halloween, for some reason. Like she was genuinely curious about his future plans.
There was no way in hell he was going to get into it here, obviously. And frankly, he still had no idea if he was ever going to ‘lean into it’ or not. For now, he was just doing his best to keep the growing powers under control and hold onto whatever normalcy he could.
And dressing up as a cheap knock-off of his father wasn’t how he envisioned spending a ‘normal’ Saturday night.
“Like Jon said,” Jordan replied tersely as he too tossed the package back onto the shelf, “it’s not happening.”
Natalie shook her head as she gave a lighthearted eye roll.
“You guys are no fun,” she said half-jokingly, turning back towards the rack and leafing through once more.
Jordan shot his brother a look that he hoped said ‘can we finally go now?’— but, frustratingly, the other teen just shrugged and put on that slightly forced smile once more.
Clearly, he wasn’t going to let Natalie know that she’d hit a nerve. Jordan wasn’t entirely sure why the other boy was so damn determined to keep everything so bottled up inside, but it wasn’t the time or place to discuss it now.
He was outnumbered two to one, and they’d promised to stick together. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to leave quite yet.
With another loud sigh, he flicked through the nearest rack. It seemed to be some sort of superhero section, because he went past a few other iconic costumes too. They were all cheap and crappy, but part of him did wonder what his dad would say if he came downstairs dressed as Batman or the Flash next Saturday. He definitely didn’t share Natalie’s amusement earlier, but the thought of his father’s shocked expression did bring a slight smirk to his face.
Still, there was no way in hell he was going to do it. He wanted to stay as distanced from that entire scene as possible until he (probably) had no choice but to pitch in.
(If he did end up falling into that life, would he have a costume of his own one day? It was weird to think that future teenagers might one day opt for that look on October 31st. He quickly tried to push the thought away).
With a short breath, he stepped towards the next display— occupational costumes— and started numbly looking through that instead.
He had no interest in dressing up as a doctor, or a police officer or a priest. But one costume near the back of the rack did bring on an amused smile.
“Jon, you could go as a reporter again,” he called out, glancing back at his brother as he waved that package in the air.
Although it was still following uncomfortably close to their parents’ footsteps, it was far easier to swallow than the other option.
And Jordan could still remember the rather amusing costume Jon had insisted on wearing for both career day and Halloween when they were seven.
“Again?” Natalie asked, giving his him the exact opening he needed.
It was time for a bit of revenge.
“Yep,” he said with a cheeky grin. He could see that Jon knew exactly where this was going and was already looking up towards the tall ceiling in slight embarrassment, “when we were kids he found mom’s old press badge and insisted on dressing up as Lois Lane on multiple occasions,” Jordan informed her with a quiet snort. “He wore one of her blazers and everything. She was thrilled.”
Natalie’s eyes widened and she looked back and forth between them for a moment. He’d expected a laugh, and was confused that she seemed more surprised than amused.
Then, he found out why.
“Weird,” she said, finally letting out a slightly nervous chuckle, “I, uh, I actually did pretty much the same thing when I was a kid too. I went as my mom two years in a row.”
She was right. It was weird to think about that and Jordan wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
This new family situation had required a bit of mental gymnastics on everyone’s part and he’d basically come to think of Natalie as a long-lost cousin more than anything else (and that was the story they told in public). She had some unmistakeable Lane quirks, and she was part of their very small inner-circle. But he needed to keep her mom and his mom separate in his mind. It was easiest to think of version of Lois as an aunt he’d never meet. His mom’s twin sister who had passed on identical genetics without actually being the same person.
Sometimes, however, he was reminded that they’d actually lived parallel lives.
Thankfully, Jon managed to break the somewhat weird silence that fell.
Not so thankfully, he did it by turning the attention back onto Jordan.
“Well, I think that still makes us both cooler than Jordan,” he quipped playfully, looking towards him, “he had a huge Star Trek phase and went as Spock for three years,” Jon paused, shaking his head at the thought, “in retrospect, I’m surprised mom and dad allowed it. Feels a little too close to the truth now.”
“Shut up.”
He let out an instant reply, narrowing his eyes at his brother from across the aisle.
He’d loved that costume, and that character, back in the day. And he’d never cared about being cool. But Jon did have a good point. It was pretty strange to think that he’d spent years dressing up as the famous half-alien character while being totally oblivious to the fact that they had way more in common than he’d thought.
Needless to say, he hadn’t watched a single episode of Star Trek since that fateful day last fall.
“Epic,” Natalie commented, eyes lighting up in amusement once more. “Speaking of…”
He noticed her glance around the shop and followed her gaze as she pointed towards a section on the opposite wall.
A section he hadn’t noticed yet.
“If you guys would rather go in that direction they seem to have a pretty big selection of alien costumes here too,” she noted, flashing him a smile.
Now that she’d drawn his attention to it Jordan couldn’t un-see it. There were green flashing lights and a cardboard UFO hanging over a rack of green alien masks and silver onesies with stars pasted on.
Every stereotype in the book was on full display.
His stomach instantly filled with an uncomfortable flutter. Apparently, her mission in life was to make him as uncomfortable as possible (were all sisters like this?)
“I know!” she declared. Jordan instantly knew he’d hate the coming suggestion, “I could be a mad scientist and you guys could be my alien test subjects. You could both rock those light up antennae over there.”
Jordan wasn’t sure if she was serious, but he answered anyway.
“No.”
He said forcefully, grateful that Jon had given the exact same answer at the exact same time. That was way too close to home, and something he’d had more than a few nightmares about recently.
It was almost as bad as going dressed as his dad.
She snorted and shook her head once more.
“Touchy touchy,” she tutted, clearly still amused by the whole thing.
“Can we just go already?” Jordan finally asked out loud, directing the question more to his brother than to Nat.
Jon looked like he was about to reply, but then something on the shelf distracted him and his eyes lit up in delight.
For a second, Jordan worried that there would be yet another joke at his expense. But he felt a slight relief as Jon stride towards Natalie this time and presented her with the rather large package that he’d just found.
“Here you go,” he declared smugly, looking at Jordan with a grin, “here’s our revenge.”
He still had no idea what I was, but Natalie looked mildly mortified and he took a few steps forward to look over her shoulder at Jon’s find.
‘Metallic Superman Sidekick,’ the package read. There was a photo of a man in a poorly made silver suit with a recognizable helmet under his arm.
This time, Jordan couldn’t hold back a laugh of his own.
Revenge really could be sweet.
“Sidekick!?” Natalie exclaimed, glaring down at what was clearly supposed to be a copy of her own father’s attire.
John Henry had been teaming up with their dad a lot recently, and the news coverage was growing. It wasn’t a shock to see that someone had thrown together this costume in time for Halloween.
The name chosen by the manufacturer was more of a surprise, though.
“I told him that he needed to go public with some sort of alias,” Natalie muttered, shaking her head in annoyance and disbelief, “my dad is an independent badass. He’s no ones sidekick.”
Frankly, Jordan did agree. He’d come to admire John’s bravery and technological prowess, and what their fathers had going on was definitely more of a partnership than a hero-sidekick situation.
But still, after all of her playful goading in the last little while he could not help but be amused.
“I think this could totally work,” Jon smirked, wanting to egg her on, “Jordan and I will go back and grab those Superman costumes you suggested and you can be our sidekick. That sounds fair, right?”
“Totally,” Jordan agreed with a grin.
“Urgh, fine, truce!” Natalie declared, giving the costume in her hand one final glare before sliding it hastily back onto the rack. “You’ve made your point.”
The boys shared an amused snort and Jordan nodded gratefully towards his brother.
For all their differences, it was good to know that they usually ended up on the same page. And that Jon always had his back.
Jordan let out a short breath.
“You guys clearly aren’t going to decide on anything,” he pointed out, glad that the slight tension has suddenly lifted, “and this stuff is all overpriced anyway.”
The other two exchanged a glance and he could tell that they were finally getting his point.
In a stroke of perfect timing, his phone gave a quiet ding and he glanced down towards it, reading his girlfriend’s reply to the text he’d sent a few minutes earlier.
“Sarah’s suggesting that we all meet up tomorrow and come up with a DIY group idea,” he added, liking that idea way more than spending money on the junk in this place. “Can we finally give up and go get lunch?”
Natalie and Jon finally conceded.
“Yeah.”
“Alright.”
He felt the relief was over him as they began to trudge towards the exit. Even the grating sounds of the mechanical witches and ghosts seemed less annoying all of a sudden. He was so glad that he’d finally torn them away from this place and he could see the sunlight beckoning from outside.
The end was in sight.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite over yet.
“You’re sure you don’t want to rock a pair of antennae, Jordan?” Natalie asked, unable to resist one last quip as they passed the terrible UFO display.
“Yeah,” he replied with one final roll of his eyes, “pretty damn sure.”
He was absolutely determined that whatever they finally settled on for next week would have nothing to do with strength, or heroes, or aliens of any kind.
Hopefully, they would find something amusing and fitting without being uncomfortably real.
Halloween was supposed to be about escapism, after all.
And after the year he’d just had, that was definitely an aspect that he could get on board with.
Maybe it didn’t have to be so bad.
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One Week Later
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“You look dashing, darrrrrrling,” Sarah quipped in an exaggerated tone as she grinned up towards him.
He pulled on the lapel of his suit, a little less convinced but hoping that she truly thought so.
After hours of debate, they’d finally settled on a reasonably simple and recognizable option that had only required rifling around in the attic and putting on a bit of face paint. Now, the foursome was standing on Timmy’s lawn, making the final costume adjustments before they went in.
“Just be careful not to rub off that handsome moustache,” his girlfriend added before popping up on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Ewww, our mom and dad are so gross,” Natalie joked from behind them, nudging Jon in the side. “I hate displays of affection!”
Jordan scowled playfully as Sarah shook her head.
In the end, they’d gone with a group Addams family costume— with Sarah and Jordan as the iconic couple Morticia and Gomez, and Jon and Natalie as their “children,” Wednesday and Pugsley.
“Get used to it,” the other girl shot back with a wicked smile, “he’s more precious to me than all the bats in all the caves in the world.”
“And you are the only cactus in my garden of life,” Jordan quickly quoted in return.
They’d been joking around in character ever since they’d left the farm. And quoting the movies as much as they could.
“If you don’t pipe down back there you’ll be spending the night in the dungeon,” he added before adjusting the plastic severed hand they’d attached to his shoulder for the occasion.
“Sounds like my kind of place,” Natalie instantly shot back, her black dress and dark makeup playing up a definite goth vibe. “How I wish something like that would lighten up this already tedious day,” she drawled in her best Wednesday impression.
“I say we get this weird little family inside,” Jon cut in, nodding towards the door where they could already see orange lights flashing and hear loud music playing.
That sounded good to him, and he linked his arm with Sarah’s as they made their way up the front step.
“Ready?” she asked, looking hauntingly beautiful in her long black garb.
He couldn’t hold back a smile.
This had never been his favourite holiday but, right now, with all of them, maybe a night of make-believe was exactly what he needed.
“When we are together, darling, every night is Halloween,” he replied as they crossed the threshold together.