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EVIL AUTHOR DAY DISCLAIMER: Read at your own risk - especially since I have a contrary muse: the more other people want something written, the more said muse mule-sits (i.e., sits down like a mule that doesn't want to be led anywhere. Good luck getting it to move once it's made up its mind…). That said, I never say never, so any of these might be completed. I just don't know when/if.
Further to that, if anyone should be inspired to continue any of these, or write your own with a similar concept, or take any other inspiration from them, please do! Just drop a comment so I can go read it. *grin*
CONTINUITY NOTE: This story takes place after "Superman and Lois" 1x02 and could in some ways be considered a tag for that episode. Which means, of course, it goes completely AU after that episode.
It also takes place about ten years after "Reflections on Two Worlds," the most recent story in my "Of Two Worlds" series. You don't have to read the series to follow this story, but you do need to know that Supergirl has moved to Oliver Queen's Earth and married him.
As always, all rights in this story are given to DC/CW and any other copyright owners of Superman, Supergirl, Green Arrow, and related characters.
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A knock on his bedroom door made Jon Kent turn from his algebra homework to see his father - who he'd only recently found out was Superman! - leaning in the doorway.
"Hey, Dad," he said.
"Done with your homework?" Dad asked, in a tone that implied that since it was Sunday morning, Jon should be.
Fortunately, Jon could reply, "Just some algebra left."
Dad grinned. "Okay. Then grab your winter gear."
Jon glanced out the window, where late spring sun shone brightly, and looked back dubiously. Then he realized what Dad was suggesting. "You're taking me…where you took Jordan those times?"
"It's your heritage, too," Dad said.
Jon jumped to his feet, feeling the grin stretching his mouth. "Cool! Just let me get my coat."
Dad grinned again and turned to head downstairs. Jon dove for his closet, swearing under his breath because he hadn't made time to fully unpack his winter gear since their surprising move to Smallville.
It took longer than he would've liked to find his coat, beanie, and gloves, but finally he shrugged into the coat and started downstairs, pulling his beanie on as he did.
Dad, Mom, and Jordan were in the kitchen. Jordan grinned at him.
"It's so cool, bro," he said.
Mom looked … not happy, exactly, but accepting. "Be back in time for dinner."
"Of course," Dad said, and bent to kiss her briefly.
Most kids would be uncomfortable watching their parents display affection like that, but Jon had long ago accepted that from his parents. They were openly demonstrative, though never vulgar - brief kisses, intertwining fingers, just a general closeness that suggested they were in this together, whatever this turned out to be.
Jon hoped he'd have that kind of relationship, someday.
Then he and Dad were outside, and Dad gripped his shoulders.
"Hang on, okay?" Dad said, just as he had a few days before when he'd taken Jordan … somewhere.
Jon gripped Dad's wrists, and then they were airborne.
Jon turned his head, trying to see the world as it flew by beneath them. Dad turned them both, so that the Earth was to Jon's right, Dad's left, and Jon grinned. Not even the high-altitude chill could spoil this moment.
The ground whizzed by too quickly for Jon to make out much detail, but they passed over farmland and plains, then more mountainous country, and sooner than he thought, they were flying over snow-covered Arctic ground.
Too soon, Dad brought them down in front of a … cave? Jon frowned at it and looked at Dad curiously.
"Ready to meet your biological grandfather?" Dad asked. "Or, well, an AI hologram of him, anyway?"
For the first time, uncertainty washed through Jon. He'd been so envious of Jordan going flying with Dad a few days ago, and of what Jordan had learned. Now, faced with the same thing, he hesitated.
"C'mon," Dad said gently. "He's a hologram. He can't bite you."
Jon laughed. "Even if he tried, you'd protect me, right?"
"Of course." There was no hesitation in the answer, and Jon felt momentarily ashamed for asking the question. Dad was Superman, after all.
"Let's go, then." Resolute, Jon turned and started toward the cave entrance, boots crunching the snow beneath his feet. Dad caught up with him in a few steps, and as they reached the opening, Jon couldn't help asking, "What is this place?"
"Your grandpa - the one you were named for - called it a fortress of solitude," Dad replied. "He said I needed someplace to retreat, sometimes, when being Clark or Superman, usually Superman, got to be too much."
The cavern wasn't nearly as dark as Jon expected it to be. Rather, a soft glow seemed to emanate from the very walls surrounding them. Ahead of them, he could barely make out some kind of … dais? Podium?
Dad approached it confidently and did something to activate it, because a three-dimensional holographic city skyline suddenly appeared on top of it. Jon circled the display, studying it, as a recorded voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time explained this was Krypton's second-largest city, Kryptonopolis, and then continued with a brief history of the planet's destruction, and ending when the city exploded and a single dot of light shot away from it, between him and Dad, and disappeared with the rest of the hologram.
"Was that-?" he began.
Dad nodded. "The craft that brought me to Earth. The one you and Jordan found in the barn."
"Cool." And it was. Even if it was a lot to take in, it was cool. Oh, not that Dad's planet had exploded, but that someone, anyone, had survived it.
"You have brought another son to me, Kal-El. Why, when you know what the result will be?"
The same voice that had narrated Krypton's mini-history sounded again, this time from Dad's left, and Jon turned - only to stare at the hologram of a bearded man in strange clothes with Dad's S symbol on his chest.
"Whether or not either of my sons ever develop powers like mine," Dad said, "they are still half-Kryptonian and deserve to know the truth of their origin. Jonathan, your biological grandfather, Jor-El."
"Sir," Jon said, because it seemed the polite thing to do, even if it wasn't really his grandfather.
"I fail to see how knowing their origin is of any benefit to them, when their human DNA limits them," Jor-El said. "Krypton's heritage ends with you, Kal-El."
Racist old bastard. The words ran through Jon's mind, but thankfully he kept them to himself. Arguing with a hologram was only slightly stupider than arguing on the Internet, and Jon didn't do that, either.
"That's a narrow-minded view, even for you, Uncle Jor."
This new voice was female, and Jon was pleased that Dad, too, whirled to face the newcomer - who turned out to be a blonde woman close to his own height, who wore a red-and-blue costume … that also had Dad's S symbol on it.
"Kara," Dad said, smiling and opening his arms. "I wasn't expecting you to come here."
The newcomer - Kara - flew, literally, into Dad's embrace. "Lois told us where you'd gone, and why, and I thought you might want a little moral support."
Us? That was another thought that didn't leave Jon's lips. But Dad and Kara were already pulling apart, and she turned to Jon.
"Hi, Jonathan. You won't remember me, because the last time I saw you, you were only a few months old."
"Jon, this is your second cousin, Kara," Dad said. "Her father and mine were brothers."
"It has been a long time since you visited, Kara," Jor-El said. "But it is good that you have come now. You and Kal-El can carry on the heritage of Krypton."
"Ew," Kara said, making a disgusted face. "No. Don't you know the dangers of inbreeding? We need to get you some information on the Hapsburgs. Besides, Kal and I are already married - to other people."
"More besides," Jon said, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Recessive genetics mean that even if Jordan and I never develop powers like Dad's, maybe our children or grandchildren will. At the least, we need to know the truth so we can pass it on."
"He's right," Dad said when Jor-El - Jon couldn't think of him as Grandfather, much less Grandpa - looked like he would have said something else. "You claim his Terran DNA is too limiting and because of that, neither of the boys will develop powers. And maybe that's true. But maybe it's not. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it as a family."
With that, Dad reached out and deactivated the projection, pocketing the sunstone crystal Jon and Jordan had found in the craft in the barn, the crystal Dad had used to activate the dais.
"Sometimes," Dad said so quietly Jon almost missed it, "I'm glad I didn't know him."
"He wasn't a bad man," Kara replied. "Just - a product of his culture, like we all are. Some of us grow up and figure out what parts of our culture aren't as good as they could be. Some of us don't, and some of us never get the chance."
A smile ghosted across Dad's face. "When did you get so smart?"
Kara grinned back. "I'm not sure fortune-cookie philosophy is smart, exactly."
Dad chuckled. "Smarter than me, sometimes." Then he turned to Jon. "Do you want to look around?"
"That depends," Jon replied. "Is there anything to see other than a giant ice cave?"
== == ==
Jon enjoyed the flight home even more than the flight to the Arctic, thanks to holding hands with both Dad and Kara so that he flew between them. They made this trip a little more slowly than they had the trip out, which meant that Jon had the chance to see what they flew over.
He was disappointed but not surprised that they took a route over sparsely-populated areas. That route reduced the likelihood that anyone would see them, even if they were flying high enough that they shouldn't be distinct to a human's naked eye.
They landed near the barn, and Jon followed Dad toward the house. Kara lingered behind them, and when Jon would've looked back, Dad just gripped his shoulder and urged him forward.
A whoosh of air and a rustling of fabric later, Kara caught up to them, now dressed in a pullover sweater and jeans, and Jon understood why Dad had kept them moving forward. Though, he mused, if she'd been moving at super-speed, he would've seen only a blur of motion.
Still, Dad, Mom, and especially Grandma had driven manners into him as far back as he could remember, so he could only agree that eliminating the chance to see anything, even a blur, made sense.
Then Dad was opening the door for them. Jon gestured for Kara to go first. She offered him a smile in thanks and she barely crossed the threshold before a cry of "Mom!" rang out, followed by the sound of feet thudding on a wooden floor.
"Tommy," a male voice called from somewhere deeper in the house - the kitchen, probably. "Apologize to Ms. Lane. If you run in her house again, you'll be grounded for a week."
"Sorry, Ms. Lane." The apology sounded weak and boyish, and then there were slower, quieter footsteps, and Kara knelt to receive a hug. "I missed you, Mama."
"I missed you too, sweetie." Kara eased her way out of the hug and stood. "But you know sometimes Mama or Daddy have to go away and do things."
"Super secret things," the boy - Tommy - replied. "I know. But I don't like it."
"Neither do we," Kara said. "Where's your sister?"
"Upstairs playing a game with Cousin Jordan."
By now, Jon had come into the house and saw the boy Kara was talking to. Tommy looked to be ten or eleven years old with startlingly blue eyes and blonde hair a shade or two darker than Kara's.
Behind him came a man an inch or so taller than Dad, with close-cropped brown hair that was just starting to show hints of gray, who was obviously the source of Tommy's eye color.
The man handed Kara a glass of wine and offered his hand to Dad. "Clark."
"Oliver," Dad responded, taking his hand. "Good to see you. My other son, Jonathan. Jon, Oliver Queen and his son, Tommy."
"Thomas Martin," the man called Oliver replied, his attention on Jon. "Our daughter, Laura Alexandra, is upstairs playing some video game with Jordan." He took a step forward and offered Jon his hand.
Jon shook it, somewhat surprised at the callouses he felt on the other man's hand. "Pleasure, Mr. Queen."
He tried to pay attention to the small talk that followed as they made their way into the kitchen and took seats at the table, but his thoughts were tumbling over and over in his mind, the adults weren't talking to him anyway, and Tommy seemed quite happy with a book.
Tilting his head to one side, Jon could just make out the title: David Copperfield.
He wasn't sure what was more surprising - that a ten-year-old was reading such a long book, or that he himself hadn't had to read it yet.
Before he could ask Tommy about it, Mom went to the foot of the stairs and called, "Jordan, Laura - time for dinner!"
As Mom returned to the kitchen and she and Dad started piling food on the table, Jon turned to the stairs, curious to meet his other cousin of whatever flavor - second once removed, he thought, but wasn't certain. Not that it mattered much, anyway; they were family, and the only family he had that might possibly have a clue what he and Jordan were going through.
The girl who came through the door with Jordan was about Tommy's size, maybe a bit shorter, with darker hair and the same blue eyes their father had. But where Tommy was content to sit quietly with his book - or even without it, Jon suspected - Laura almost crackled with energy.
"That was fun, Jor," she said. "We don't have games like that on our Earth."
"Yes, we do," Tommy said. "Dad and Mom just don't let us play them."
Laura whirled on her parents. "Why not?"
"Because you should be outside, playing with other kids," Kara responded. "The sunlight's good for you."
Jon felt as much as saw his parents' response to that.
Mom took a bit of roast chicken before passing the plate to Oliver, who sat next to her, before saying, "Good how?"
"Lots of ways," Oliver said. He barely glanced at the platter of chicken and his plate as he served himself, instead focusing his gaze on Mom. "Any particular one you're asking about?"
Mom scowled at him. "You know."
Oliver passed the chicken on to Jordan. "If you're talking about charging their cells with solar energy, of course that's a primary way."
"But," Jordan protested, "Grandfather Jor-El said our human DNA is too limiting."
"I'm not going to say my initial response to that," Oliver said, sliding an amused glance toward Kara. "Kara doesn't like that kind of language in front of the kids."
"I don't like it at all," Kara countered, but she was smiling. "But I pick my battles."
Oliver chuckled briefly before focusing on Jordan again. "I don't know anything about your grandfather and what practical knowledge he has in that regard. I do know Caitlin Snow, a geneticist and bio-engineer who specializes in meta-humans."
"Meta-humans?" Jon asked.
"People with powers," Kara said. "However they got them."
"What does Caitlin say?" Dad asked, looking interested.
"That with fifty percent Kryptonian DNA, there's almost zero chance our children won't have powers."
Oliver's declaration fell into silence only broken by the clink of flatware as they continued eating.
Finally, Jordan broke it. "But - half Kryptonian is also half human, like Grandfather Jor-El said."
"Which Caitlin thinks will only slow the development of your powers," Kara said. "Kal - how long did it take you to manifest powers?"
Dad blinked, then pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I was a toddler when I arrived - maybe fifteen months? I had sporadic incidents until my teens before everything settled around the time I graduated high school."
"I was older when I got to Earth, already almost a teen," Kara said. "And because my pod got knocked off course, I think I was exposed to a bit more solar energy during the trip than you were. I started manifesting within a year. Like Kal, I was fully powered by the time I was in college."
"So Jor-El was right," Jon said.
"Caitlin thinks it's just taking longer," Oliver said. "In theory, it should take twice as long, given that you only have half Kryptonian DNA. But theory and reality aren't usually the same thing, and you two, and Tommy and Laura, are the test cases."
"So - what?" Mom asked. "This Caitlin person thinks all four of them will develop powers at some point?"
"More that she'd be amazed if they don't," Kara said. "Maybe not exactly like mine and Kal's, but similar. And likely at a fairly high level."
"But-" Jordan protested, "I don't have a hundredth of Dad's strength. Jor-El said."
"Not yet," Oliver said. "How much time do you spend in the sun?"
Jon couldn't help laughing. "Jordan prefers video games to football games."
"Just like I prefer books, " Tommy put in.
"And that's fine," Oliver assured them both. "But we've noticed that the more Tommy and Laura spend time in the sunlight, the more of Kara's powers they're displaying."