Chapter Text
The sunlight streamed through the window in Jon’s bedroom. The morning rays had an immediate effect on the sleeping teenage boy. From the moment Jon began to feel the sunlight, he started to shift and move around uncomfortably.
Shortly after, his eyes fluttered open and Jon knew from experience that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.
It was just one of those Kryptonian things that he had gotten used to over the past few weeks. But funny enough, despite the early hour, he wasn’t irritable or tired.
As long as the sun came out in the morning, Jon woke up satisfied and refreshed. So as lame as it was that he was incapable of sleeping past six AM these days, the good news was that he always felt good in the mornings.
Being at the lab with Dr. Hamilton left a lot to be desired, but one good thing was the big window on the back wall. Jon had gotten a decent view of the sunrise every morning and had grown accustomed to witnessing the gorgeous showing of colors when he woke up.
As he peeked out his bedroom window, Jon realized that day was no exception, as the sky was a bright array of pinks, oranges, and golden yellows.
Jonathan sighed. He didn’t know what the day would bring. Some awkwardness probably, since he hadn’t been home in a while, and plenty of hovering from his parents was also to be expected.
When he had returned to the farm, everyone was so relieved to have him back that they didn’t push him into talking about his time in the lab or how he was feeling. But now, a day later, the reality of their situation would have to be confronted and dealt with.
Jon had been through a major health scare that had permanently altered him in more ways than one. But more than that, his family would need to know the details of how his body has changed, and what that meant going forward.
Jon was quite nervous for that conversation.
Realizing he wasn’t going to solve all his problems right then, Jon decided he should just get up and take the day one hour at a time.
Jon sat up on his bed and draped his feet over the side. He was about to get up, and walk across the room. But then he saw a strange figure by his bed and jumped back in surprise. Jon took a closer look and let out a sigh of relief.
It was just Jordan, curled up on the floor in a sleeping bag next to Jon’s bed.
Taking in the sleeping form of his twin brother, Jon chuckled softly. After talking for a little while the night before, Jordan had allowed his brother to get some sleep, even though it was clear he didn’t really want to leave. Jon however, meant what he had said, was exhausted and quickly fell asleep. Apparently, sometime after that, Jordan had snuck back in and camped out on the floor by Jon’s bed.
The fair haired twin rolled his eyes. It was such a Jordan thing to do. He probably thought that he could be in and out before Jon woke up so he would never know how overprotective Jordan had been.
Jon’s smile faltered. If Jordan thought Jon would be sleeping in, that meant that he didn’t suspect that anything suspicious was going on with his twin.
The day before they had briefly talked about the Fortress and how Lara couldn’t predict his future, but they really didn’t go into specifics of what that meant.
After she had made that unsettling announcement, she offered to run more scans to see if she could get a more accurate answer. But Clark had declined, saying they needed to get home but would be back in the next day or so.
Jon remembered the panicked look on his dad’s face. It was like Clark didn’t want to know the truth, as if he was in denial. Jon could relate to that feeling, as he too had been experiencing quite a lot of denial about the whole thing.
But he had finally accepted that things were different now. Jon knew if he kept acting they weren’t, he would end up right back at Dr. Miller's house or Dr. Hamilton’s lab; neither of which sounded particularly appealing.
What his family didn’t know: Jon didn’t need scans to tell him that he was becoming more like his dad. There was no telling whether or not he would ever develop powers. But one thing was undeniable, he was no longer acting like a normal human.
Because quite simply, normal humans didn’t get up with the sun without an alarm, as Jon had been doing for the past few weeks.
Which led him back to the conclusion that the time was rapidly approaching where he would need to have a conversation with his family about his changes.
A conversation he had absolutely no idea how to have.
Well, one thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to figure it out sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the form of his sleeping twin brother.
Cautiously, Jon stepped around his sleeping brother, being careful not to wake him. Surprisingly, neither of his parents were awake either. They both tended to be early risers as well, so the still, quiet house had an eerie feel to it.
Jon finally made it out to the front porch and was greeted by another gorgeous sunrise. Even though he had seen several in a row, the view was always breathtaking, especially here on the farm with nothing to obstruct the sky.
All in all, it was a great place to think.
Jon chuckled to himself. He had been spending a lot of time thinking outside lately. Apparently the sun didn’t just give him energy, it made his brain work better too. Man, was he Kryptonian or what?
At the thought, Jon’s smile faltered. Even after everything that had happened, he still had trouble completely thinking of himself as Kryptonian. It had been easy to ignore when he didn’t have any powers or weird quirks that set him apart from regular people. But now after everything that had happened, Jon couldn’t even pretend to be normal.
But he still had the same problem as before: how was he going to tell his family?
~~~~~
After ten days away from Lois, Clark had thoroughly enjoyed waking up with his arms around his beautiful wife. Luckily, there were no disasters that required his attention and could enjoy some much needed alone time with Lois.
Overall, they both felt the welcome home party had been a resounding success. Jon looked at ease and happy to be home. The only downside was that for most of the afternoon, there seemed to be a bit of distance between the twins. But later that night, Lois had heard the boys having a conversation in Jon’s room. She didn’t listen in, knowing they deserved their privacy. The fact that they were finally talking was more than enough to ease Lois’ worrying mind.
When she told Clark that the boys were talking, he too had been relieved. Back at the lab, Clark had tried to get Jon to reach out to his brother, but Jon had stubbornly refused, insisting that the separation was easier. Given that he was already going through so much, Clark didn’t push him very hard. Even though secretly, Clark didn’t see how communicating with his brother could make things worse. If anything, it would make them better.
It didn’t matter now, thought Clark with a smile on his face, snuggling closer to Lois. The boys had reconciled, Jon was home, and Clark finally got to wake up next to his beautiful wife.
The day ahead would be interesting and settling into their new normal would not be boring. There would be many questions and concerns and most likely a little bit of tension. A lot of things had changed, but Jon’s tendency to keep things inside had not changed. After spending ten days in a small space with his son, Clark knew this for sure. And it would certainly take some time for Jon to allow his family to help him, but they would still be there and were not giving up.
~~~~~
Even though his skin was much more resilient than it had been, Jordan Kent was still human enough to accept that sleeping on a hardwood floor in a sleeping bag sucked. He had realized a few minutes ago that he was no longer asleep, but didn’t want to actually open his eyes.
Because as uncomfortable as it was, Jordan wouldn’t have changed the decision for anything.
Jon had been so distant from him lately that Jordan was willing to do whatever it took to feel close to his twin and make sure he was okay. Their talk the night before had gone well, once Jon decided to stop being stubborn and actually admit to Jordan how he was feeling.
But even after he left Jon alone to get some sleep, Jordan was a little unsettled. They had a great talk, sure, but Jordan still felt like Jon wasn’t telling him the whole truth. That feeling of unease was the main reason that Jordan had snuck back into his twin’s room later that night.
The idea that his brother was still lying to him was a little concerning, so even though he felt like a tattle tale, he brought up his thoughts to his parents. Luckily, because they were just as concerned about Jon and his tendency to keep secrets, Lois and Clark took Jordan’s observations seriously.
They briefly discussed the boys’ conversation (though Jordan didn’t say everything they had talked about, since he didn’t want to totally betray his brother’s trust) and ultimately came to the conclusion that they needed to keep an eye on Jon, but also give him space. After all, he had only been home for a few hours at that point.
Both Lois and Clark were concerned about Jon, the same way Jordan was, that much was evident. But they had also been parents long enough to know that if they pushed him too hard, Jon would just retreat further into himself.
So the Kent’s came to a decision: the next day, they would follow Jon’s lead. If he wanted to open up the conversation right away, they would join in. If he wanted to hang back and take a bit easier of a day, that was okay too. The important thing was to give Jon what he needed.
Of course, they couldn’t give him too much space, because if they did that, there’s a good chance Jon would never come forward and ask for help. Which is why they agreed to give him a day to get used to being at home again before inquiring further about the things he was keeping to himself.
As Jordan’s eyes finally fluttered all the way open, he couldn’t help but worry how the day was going to go. He really wished that since Jon was finally home, things would just go back to normal. But after learning his dad’s secret, Jordan couldn’t believe that things would actually be that simple, and instead resigned himself to accept that they had a challenge ahead.
Jordan sat up, knowing he needed to get out of his brother’s room before he got caught. He and Jon may have had a good chat the night before, but Jordan knew his twin well enough that there would be no way that he would be cool with a late night visitor, especially once he realized Jordan was just being overprotective.
Moving quietly, Jordan grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow. He stood up and took a few steps toward the door. Before leaving, Jordan turned back, just to check one more time that Jon was really okay. But when he looked at the bed, much to his surprise, Jon was missing!
How could Jon be missing? He had just gotten home!
Wondering where his twin could possibly be, Jordan rushed around the room, looking for signs that Jon had packed a bag. Nothing.
He used his superspeed to rush all through the house, desperately hoping to find some sign of his twin brother. Nothing.
Jordan ended up in the kitchen, pacing back and forth, his anxiety levels rising by the second. Fortunately, Lois and Clark had heard all the commotion and came rushing downstairs, wearing their old bathrobes.
“What’s going on, Jordan,” Lois asked, immediately taking charge of the situation. She had helped her son through many panic attacks over the years and knew just what to do. “Look at me sweetie.” She placed her hands on Jordan’s arms, stopping him from pacing. “It’s going to be okay. Now what’s going on?”
“Jon’s missing.”
Lois’ face went instantly pale. Much like Jordan, she had been so relieved that Jon was finally home that she didn’t imagine anything else going wrong. “What do you mean?”
“He wasn’t in his bed this morning and I used superspeed to run all over the house but I couldn’t find him. His missing, don’t you get it,” Jordan yelled. He shook off his mom’s hands and began pacing again, unable to comprehend that his worst nightmare was coming true.
This time, Clark gave it a try. “Don’t worry, Jordan. We will find him, everything’s going to be fine.”
“It won’t be fine until somebody tells me where the hell Jon is.”
“Um, hey guys,” came the hesitant voice from by the front door.
“Jonathan!” At that moment, nobody could stop Jordan from sprinting over to his brother and pulling him in for the world’s biggest hug. “Where were you, are you okay?”
“I was just sitting on the porch. Dude calm down,” Jon instructed gently, pushing his brother back.
“Sorry, I just…I just…” Jordan had to work to calm himself down. He took a couple of deep breaths and then was able to answer his brother. “I was worried that you were gone again,” he admitted sheepishly.
Jonathan shook his head in disbelief. “Where would I go? I just got home.”
“Yeah, you're right, obviously. I just saw that you were gone and I just kind of freaked out without thinking. Sorry.”
“No big deal,” Jon replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“You said you were on the porch, right,” Jordan asked, giving Jon a strange look.
“Yeah.”
“Well, what the hell are you doing on the porch at 6:15 in the morning?”