Chapter Text
As Jonathan Kent opened his eyes on that bright, sunny morning, his first coherent thought was a simple one: Ally Allston was defeated.
Jon chuckled softly to himself. His dad had really done it, kept the worlds from merging, saved everyone, and even managed to get his own powers back.
Even though she hadn’t been in power very long, it was hard for Jon to remember what daily life was like before Ally and the Bizzaro world occupied every conversation in their house. Apart from the family connection, the situation was even more personal for Jon. Several times a week he faced painful, pulsing migraines that had begun after Jon- El had arrived on their earth.
Fully awake now, Jon sat up and felt the warm rays of sun that shone through the windows. Of course, it wasn’t the same feeling that his dad and Jordan got from the sun, but it felt nice all the same. He stretched his arms above his head and let his mind wander back to how his whole migraine journey had started a few weeks ago.
When the headaches first began, he had tried to ignore the severity, only taking over the counter medicines and trying to keep busy. But a few nights of intense headaches showed Jon normal pain meds would not do the trick, much to his dismay.
So reluctantly, he let Candice in on the secret and she drove him to a doctor’s appointment a few towns over in Bristol, so his parents wouldn’t find out. Initially, he was uneasy around the doctor and disliked his cold, blunt, demeanor. But eventually, Jon grew more comfortable and felt okay about the prescribed medications he was given. Part of the problem was he didn’t want to have to be vulnerable and trusting of someone new, considering everything that happened to him.
But the headaches were too bad. He didn’t have a choice.
Figuring out just the right medication proved to be a bit of a challenge though, since the first prescription Dr. Miller had given him turned out to be useless and incompatible with his body for some reason. Even though he dutifully took the medication every day, it never seemed to work. So with Candice’s encouragement, they went back to the doctor. At the next visit, Dr. Miller realized that the medicines were ineffective because Jon needed something that would get into his bloodstream faster; so he suggested injections.
Jon had been against it, of course. The idea of giving himself a shot was pretty freaky and kind of gross. But after further discussion with Dr. Miller, he realized there was no other choice. Both Jon and Candice learned how to properly measure out the medicine and give an injection, which actually turned out to be pretty handy.
The first time he needed one, Candice had given it to him, in front of his parents no less. When Jon finally remembered what happened he was mortified.
Jon had been trying to keep the secret from his parents because he didn’t want them to think of him as weak. He also knew they had more important things to do.
Well, that’s what he told himself.
Secretly, Jon wished that somebody else could solve the world’s problems and that his parents could be there for him for once in his life. But that was just a foolish dream. As much as Jon believed in the power of positivity, he also had to be a realist.
His parents loved him, obviously, but saving the world would always come first.
“Hey Jon, you up,” Jordan asked, knocking softly on the bedroom door.
“Yeah.”
“How’s it going?” Knowing that his brother wasn’t much of a morning person, Jon wasn’t surprised to see his twin still wearing pajamas. What was a bit odd, however, was the overly alert, anxious look on Jordan’s face. That was the look he usually reserved for giving speeches in front of the class of having to meet new people, not a normal morning in the comfort of their own home.
“I’m good, man, how about you,” Jon asked, turning the question back to his brother.
“I’m fine,” Jordan said quickly, looking down at the floor, avoiding Jonathan. “Mom and Dad want us to come down for breakfast. Apparently Dad is actually home for once, so he cooked.”
“You mean it will actually be edible,” Jon said, hoping the joke would get Jordan to lighten up.
“Yeah, exactly,” he answered, not taking the bait. Jon was further surprised when his brother practically ran out of the room. It used to be that they enjoyed walking downstairs together. They took the time, just the two of them before they met whatever craziness the world would offer them each day.
Something was definitely wrong.
Screw that.
Jonathan threw back his blanket and rushed out of the room and down the hall. “Jordan,” he whispered, catching his brother on the stairs. Looking into his twin’s eyes, Jon knew he had made the right call. Upon hearing his voice, Jordan’s eyes got really wide, like a cornered animal, or a kid that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “What’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jordan answered, trying to continue down the steps.
“Yes, you do,” hissed Jonathan, grabbing his brother’s shoulder and turning him around. “You’re being really weird. Come on, man. It’s me,” Jon said, softening his tone. Sometimes with Jordan, sensitivity was the way to go.
“I’m not being weird. I just want breakfast,” Jordan insisted, scooting past Jon and running down the stairs.
“Jordan! Come back here. Jordan!”
Apparently, Jordan was no longer interested in listening to his brother, because he kept walking. Jon rolled his eyes. Apparently, he was dealing with moody Jordan today.
Great.
Jon strolled into the kitchen to find the rest of his family preparing their breakfast.
“Morning Jonathan,” Clark said. He was by the stove, dishing up the eggs into one of his favorite ceramic bowls from Grandma Kent. He turned to greet Jonathan with his classic, upbeat voice and perky smile. Lois was running around, moving the other dishes to the table. She gave him a quick wave and continued with her task. Jordan was already at the table, still avoiding eye contact with Jonathan.
Yep, something was definitely wrong with him.
When the rest of his family sat down at the table, Jon realized it wasn’t just Jordan that was acting weird. Clark was overly peppy and his smile never left his face. His Dad was a happy guy, sure, but it was almost like he was overcompensating for something, like he was afraid to let his guard down. Much like his twin, Jon noticed that Lois wasn’t making eye contact with him either. But before Jon could figure out what was going on, perky Clark spoke up, once again.
“So, you guys. I have an exciting announcement,” he said, his eyes bright with excitement. “In a few weeks, we are going to take a family trip.
“We are,” Lois asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband. “And you didn’t think to discuss it with me first?”
“We’re talking about it now,” Clark said, nonchalantly. “I know we’ve all been through a lot lately, and I thought it would be a fun surprise.”
“Where are we going,” Jordan asked, between bites, focused on his dad.
“Like I said, it’s a surprise. There will be more details to come in a few days,” he responded with a wink.
“Who are you and what have you done with my husband,” Lois said with a giggle, glancing sideways at Clark.
“I’m still me. I just think we all deserve a bit of a vacation after everything that happened these past couple months,” Clark said, reaching across to hold Lois’ hand. “You know, get away for a little while.”
“Sounds great, babe.” Lois smiled, and leaned over to give a quick kiss. “What do you think, boys?”
“A little concerned about the fact that just Dad is planning the trip,” Jordan muttered, giving his honest opinion.
“I’m sure, it will be fine,” Lois said, rolling her eyes. Jordan sure could be dramatic sometimes. “Jon? What do you think?”
“What? Uhh, yeah, sounds great,” he said. The truth is, he really hadn’t been listening to much of the conversation. Instead, he was focusing on all the food that was on the table. He hadn’t had a migraine recently, so he should have been hungry. But the moment he sat down and saw the food, nothing looked appealing. So he had spent the last few minutes trying to figure out how to get out of the meal.
None of his usual excuses would work. He didn’t have to go to school because they had the rest of the week off. Mr. Olowe had closed the store for a few days, so he didn’t have work. Plus, since Clark had done the cooking he couldn’t even say that it didn’t taste good; the way he definitely did when his mom had cooked. He was stumped.
“I’m glad you think so,” Clark said. “There’s actually something else I wanted to talk to you about.” As if on command, both Lois and Jordan looked over at Jon expectantly.
“Wait, why is everyone looking at me like that,” Jonathan said, getting apprehensive. “Does everyone know what's going on but me?”
Jon made the comment as a joke, trying to lighten the serious tone the conversation had taken. But when no one answered him, it was clear Jon was right on target.
“Are you kidding? You all know what’s going on and I don’t? Were you all talking about me?”
Silence. Jon ran his fingers through his hair. He was now two for two at correctly guessing the reasons behind his family’s weird behavior.
“Okay seriously, somebody better tell me what’s going on right now or-”
“Jonathan, just relax,” said Lois. “We just want to talk to you about a few things.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Jordan told us that he’s been trying to talk to you recently but you just keep blowing him off.”
Jon glared at his brother, who at least had the good sense to look away. “I wasn’t blowing him off,” Jon explained, trying to keep his voice controlled. “I just thought there were more important things to worry about.”
“That’s admirable Jon,” Clark acknowledged. “If that’s really what you were doing.”
“What?”
“When Jordan came to talk to us last night, he told us how he tried to talk to you several times a day,” Clark stated, a slightly accusatory tone in his voice. “Apparently you never gave him a real answer, never actually looked at him, and always rushed away when he tried to start a conversation. Would you like to explain that,” Clark raised his eyebrows at Jon, as if daring him to refute the story.
Crap. Jon wracked his brain trying to come up with anything that would seem like a valid excuse. The truth, of course, was that he had no desire to talk about his health with any of his family members. But nothing good would happen if he gave that answer. So Jon settled on a partial truth.
“I just didn’t feel like talking about it,” Jon admitted, trying to look sincere. And because he was really pissed about being bombarded at breakfast, Jon went for a remark that would really sting. “Also, Jordan was hounding me so much that it kind of just felt overwhelming,” he said softly, as if it was hard to talk about.
Jon sneaked a glance over at his brother. The hurt expression on Jordan’s face proved his words had hit the mark.
Jon tried not to feel pleased, but he was. Whenever they had a problem with each other they talked and figured it out themselves, rarely involving their parents. So, Jordan going to their parents was a low blow and a major deviation from their unspoken brother code.
Jon didn’t even feel bad about his harsh words. Not that much anyway.
“I wasn’t trying to…I didn’t want to go to them…I just…I didn’t know what to do,” Jordan finally exploded, throwing his hands in the air. “You weren’t talking to me, you clearly aren’t okay. I mean you’re my twin brother, what the hell was I supposed to do,” Jordan threw out, looks of pain and concern filling his face.
Okay, now Jon felt like a jerk.
He needed to apologize. Jordan hadn’t actually meant any harm, he was really just looking out for his brother the only way he knew how.
But before Jon could muster an apology, Clark stepped in again. “You did the right thing by coming to us, Jordan,” he assured his emotional son and put a hand on his shoulder. And of course, Clark was siding with Jordan, the way he always did these days. “We’ve been concerned about some things too. And our talk with you helped solidify some decisions we made.”
Great. More things being decided without Jon’s knowledge. What else was new? “What kind of decisions,” Jon asked. He could feel the anger returning.
“Well, because of how crazy things got, we realized we haven’t actually talked to your doctor yet,” Clark said, looking seriously at Jon.
“So, what, you finally called him,” Jon asked, wringing his hands under the table. He could feel his heart beginning to beat faster and faster with each word his dad said.
“Yes, we did. And he agreed to come over to the house and talk with us.”
“What? He’s coming here,” Jon shouted. This was worse than anything he could have imagined. “Why?”
“Well, since things seem to be going okay, he didn’t think we needed to make an official appointment,” Clark said, standing up to put his plate in the sink. He had successfully polished off his meal. Lois and Jordan were almost done as well. Jon hadn’t even touched his meager pile of eggs or the two sausage links.
“Plus, this will give us time to really talk with him and get some questions answered. And your mom agreed to write a few stories about his office,” Clark said with a smile. “He seemed a lot more willing to make the drive after Lois threw that offer on the table.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me about this?”
“We just did,” Lois retorted, putting her plate in the sink as well. “If we would have tried to ask you about it, you never would have agreed.”
“But I-”
“And, if you would have just been more honest in the first place we wouldn’t have had to go behind your back to get the information.” Lois’ firm voice showed she didn’t really care what Jon thought. The decision was already made.
“It is going to be nice to have someone who will answer all of our questions for once. Don’t you think Lois,” Clark asked, opening his arms for a hug.
“Couldn’t agree more, babe,” Lois said, happily moving into Clark’s arms for the hug. “Boys, hurry up and finish your breakfast. Dr. Miller will be here soon.”
“What?”
“Yes, Jonathan. He’s stopping by this morning. We didn’t want to wait any longer to get our answers. Then we will talk about what this means for all of us going forward.”
Jonathan was numb.
He barely registered that his parents left the room or that Jordan had finished as well.
“You haven’t eaten anything yet, Jon,” his brother noted, from by the sink. He felt bad about ratting out Jon, but he was really getting worried and couldn’t just stand by anymore.
“Leave me alone, Jordan,” the blonde twin answered bitterly.
“I just really think you should eat something and-”
“Fine,” Jon exclaimed, grabbing a bite of one of the sausage links. “There! Happy,” Jon asked, glaring over at his brother.
“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
Hearing the sincerity in Jordan’s voice made Jonathan feel bad again. His brother wasn’t the one he was mad at. Not really.
Jordan at least had a reason to be worried and upset. But his parents had barely talked to him about his migraines and suddenly they were just taking over?
So not cool.
Jon looked down at his plate. The food had gotten cold and looked totally unappetizing. So he moved quickly and dumped the plate in the garbage can before anyone could ask why he hadn’t eaten more.
He put his plate in the sink and went back to the table. Twenty minutes ago he had woken up, feeling good, and now things were a total disaster. Jon knew his parents and what kinds of questions they would ask. Dr. Miller would tell them everything.
They were nosy journalists. That's how they worked.
Jon put his face in his hands, unable to hold back the tears. He didn’t want their help, damn it. While they were out saving the world Jon had managed just fine on his own. And now, they would stick their noses in Jon’s business and ruin everything.
And just when Jon thought things couldn’t get any worse…
Knock-knock.