Chapter Text
Hey, so, dying really wasn’t that fun.
There was like, nothing there. No farm, no friends, no team, no family. Pretty boring, if you asked Kon. So he ditched it.
How? Well he had no idea. One second there was nothing and the next there was everything, which was pretty wack in his opinion. And yeah, someone was offering him and Bart explanations, but he wasn’t listening to a damn thing. No, Kon was focusing his hearing on checking everyone’s heartbeats. Making sure they were all alive.
When he couldn’t hear Tim’s, he forced himself not to panic. After all, there were a million possible reasons why Kon couldn’t hear his heartbeat. Maybe it was Kon’s ears, maybe Tim was hiding his heartbeat from Clark or something. Whatever the reason was, he knew Tim was alive and perfectly fine.
Hearing the confirmation from Ma that Tim was, in fact, alive, relieved Kon more than it should have. He knew his best friend was alive, after all.
The farm was the first place he went, practically zooming off the second Superman gave the go ahead. Don’t get it twisted; Kon loves Clark. He’s still not exactly sure what they are, but he loves him. He loves Lois and Jon’s his little brother and he loves Ma and Pa more than the world itself. Clark’s just…a weird subject. He doesn’t really know. Tries not to think about it, even.
Anyway.
Ma cried when she saw him. Kon maybe cried a little bit too; but he’d deny it if asked. Eating pie made him feel better as always though, and after an unnecessary twenty four hour resting period, he was ready to get back to saving lives.
Did he really want to get into danger so soon after dying? It doesn’t really matter; he had to be out there. Ma didn’t like it much, but she respected his decision. And while a part of Kon felt bad for worrying her all the time, sitting still was not something he could do. So danger it was.
A small-time supervillain leading him right outside of Gotham seemed like a coincidence at the time, but looking back on it, it may have been fate. What caught his attention wasn't a sight, or even a sound. It was a smell.
Tim’s smell.
That might have been a weird thing to notice, but Kryptonian genes meant strong senses, and smell was something Kon was particularly sensitive to. Everyone had a unique smell to them Kon instinctively memorized, Tim and the rest of Young Just Us especially. Mount Justice and the farm are his favorite places to be because they’re full of everyone he loves’ scents. So when he smelled Tim’s scent, a lot of it, in some random place outside of Gotham, of course he had to follow it
What he found was… not what he expected. Like, if you gave him a hundred guesses on what he thought he’d find, he wouldn’t have even gotten close.
“The hell…?” He muttered into the silence. He was in some sort of lab. Which, why would Tim be using some random lab underground instead of the one in the Batcave? Or at the mountain? Or literally anywhere else?
Because Tim was doing something he didn’t want anyone else to know about, Kon knew. But what?
The answer came in familiar, anxiety inducing tubes. Identical to the one he came out of. The one that created his claustrophobia. The one he hated. What the hell??
When he saw the only active tube, green liquid filling it and making him uneasy, what he saw inside made his heart drop. A baby. A baby!
Tim, what the hell!
There was something about seeing a baby in a tube though that made him unable to control himself. He wanted to murder whoever put it in there.
“Oh.”
Kon stared at the baby in the test tube of green goo. The baby that had Tim’s little face but said very clearly on the screen was made of his DNA.
“ Oh .” He repeated, and hesitated and all of thirty more seconds before punching the glass. He wasn’t thinking about the consequences. That was a baby in a test tube. A baby that would not be staying in a test tube any longer. His TTK wrapped around the baby, keeping it nice and safe as it was transferred into his arms.
The second the little thing was safe in his hold, Kon honestly thought it had given him some sort of disease. His pulse was racing, his heart was full, and he felt so light he was actually floating. He knew if anything touched the baby in his arms to cause it harm he’d absolutely destroy them.
“Hi there.” He cooed, and seriously, cooed? That wasn’t a thing he normally did. He loved kids, loved them a lot, but even he didn’t normally coo at them. But there was something about this baby that made Kon feel something he’d never felt before. A kind of love so deep rooted and impossible to ignore it kind of hurt. “What’s your name?”
Like a normal baby, it— he. The baby was a boy. He was a he. Not an it. He didn’t respond to Kon’s question. Which, fair. He was so freaking tiny!
He didn’t need to know his name. Kon was already convinced this kid was his.
"Wowza." Kon giggled, actually giggled , which was wack because first he was cooing and now he was giggling. There had to be like, kryptonite in this baby or something. "Hi kiddo."
Kon looked around the lab to find, well, not much. It was clean, mostly, with the occasional food or energy drink trash stuffed into a corner and a few papers scattered around. In fact, if it weren't for the baby in Kon's arms, he would be convinced there was nothing out of the ordinary in the lab. Well, and the test tube that clearly said 'KON-EL' in big bold letters above it. Fantastic.
"You're so small ." Kon whispered. He wasn't an expert on kids or babies or anything, but were they supposed to be this small? Were they supposed to be the cutest thing Kon had ever laid eyes on? He didn't think anything could be cuter than Krypto, but here he was. "How old are you, anyway?"
No response from tube-baby, yet again. Which made sense, seeing as he was, well, a baby. But tube-baby did open his eyes to look at Kon and oh . Oh, oh, oh, he was doomed .
Tube-baby had the bluest eyes in the whole universe, identical to his and Clark's. They were big and reminded Kon of an owl, curious and maybe a hint judgmental. Adorable .
"You're a cutie pie, you know that?" Kon cooed, tapping tube-baby on his teeny tiny nose, then pinching it just barely because he couldn't help it. It caused the baby to sneeze, and he was getting close to a heart attack, probably.
He shrugged his jacket off and managed to create a kind of swaddle with it to keep tube-baby warm in the freezing cold Gotham air.
They weren't even outside and Kon could feel it, even with his high tolerance to temperature."When Tim gets back, he is going to love you."
“You want me to what now?” Barbra the Oracle Gordon asked, and just her gaze already made Kon feel smaller.
“Do a DNA test on a possibly alien baby that came from a tube in a lab?” Kon repeated, a sheepish grin on his face. He held out tube-baby, lion king style, hoping his adorableness would win her over. The tired sigh he got in return seemed promising.
“You think…he’s yours?” She seemed unsure, and gently pulled his baby into her arms. Despite her secure hold, Kon had the irrational urge to snarl. “He looks more like Tim to me.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of…both of us.” Kon chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He instinctively reached his TTK out to wrap around tube-baby and keep him safe. Barbara raised an eyebrow and held him up, seemingly comparing the two, then hummed thoughtfully.
“Alright. I’ll DNA test him. I’m guessing you didn’t find any information on him at this lab?” She asked, handing him back. Immediately, he felt better, nuzzling the soft tuft of hair on the baby’s head.
“You know who we’re talking about here, right?”
She laughed and nodded, before wheeling back over to her fancy computer and typing faster than even Tim. It was almost satisfying to watch. “I’ll hack into his files to see what I can find. In the meantime, what’s his name?”
Oh. Right.
Kon looked down at tube-baby and–yeah. That wasn’t really a name. Kon was an idiot.
“I hadn’t actually thought about it,” He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He felt bad about it now, but before it hadn’t even occurred to him. Stars, he had to give him a name? He was terrible with names!
Of course he had to name him, damn it! Tube-baby is not a name!
“Well, I sort of need one if you want me to forge his documents.” Barbara reminded him. Right, right. Birth certificate. Social security number. All that jazz. His kid was gonna need that stuff to, like, be a member of society. Details.
“Okay, um…” Kon hesitated, thinking about it. What if he picked out a name Tim didn’t like? Or one his kid didn’t like? Or one his family didn’t like? What if everyone got mad at him and called him stupid?! Gah!
Okay Superboy. Breathe.
He looked back down at his baby and sighed softly. He already felt better.
There were too many Jonathans already. And not to give into gender construct or anything, but Martha was a bit too much of a girl name for him to decide on for his son. Clark didn’t fit him. He didn’t really know enough of Tim’s extended family to look there for name idea, unfortunately. But…
His middle name was Jackson, Kon knew that. And Tim never seemed bothered by the name, used it sometimes during covert missions. Never had any hesitation telling people, at least in Kon’s eyes. And Tim was something Kon was good at observing.
The name was normal. Timeless, even. Kon liked it, and Tim must have already liked it, and really, who else mattered?
Besides the kid himself, anyway.
“Jackson.” He said firmly, decisively. He liked the way it sounded. It seemed more official, stating it out loud. “Jackson Kent.”
They could hyphenate later, if Tim really wanted. But for now he liked Kent. Jackson Kent. His son.
“Middle name?”
“I’m not going through all that right now.” He grumbled without missing a beat, making Barbara chuckle. He looked back down to tube-baby. Jackson. “Hi there, Jackie-baby.” He cooed, earning a halfhearted coo back. He nearly died on the spot. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I don’t actually care if you have my DNA. You’re mine now, you hear?”
Jackson, as Kon was getting used to, did not respond. But his large owl eyes were so cute and perfect he dissolved into adoring coos and smothering his baby in kisses.
“According to Tim’s files, Jackson is about three months old. He ages naturally, clearly, since Tim said he didn’t activate any accelerated aging.” Barbara says, reading from her laptop. Kon honestly shouldn’t be surprised she hacked into Tim’s private files that fast, but he still somehow is.
“Well happy late birthday, kiddo.” He chirped, holding Jackson up to his face. “You’re pretty darn old, ain’tcha?”
Not as old as Kon when he came out into the world, but he pushed that thought to the side. Not what he wanted to think about. And not important regardless, especially not now.
Barbara pricked his arm with a tiny piece of Kryptonite he kept far away from Jackson, then did the same to him with a regular needle. The sharp cries he let out made Kon want to either cry to go ballistic on Barbara; maybe both. But he kept his cool and managed to calm Jackie back down with some rocking and talking. A lot of talking. His kid seemed calmer listening to Kon’s voice, more comfortable with everything else going on around them.
It was a stupid though. But Kon almost felt, well, like Jackson felt safe with him. That he trusted Kon to take care of him and protect him. Which of course, Kon would. With everything he had, in fact.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing else useful in Tim’s files other than the cloning process.” Barbara commented, souring Kon’s mood slightly. “But the DNA test came back as a match. You’re the father, congratulations. And so is Tim.”
Despite not actually caring if Jackson had his DNA or not, Kon still felt his heart rate pick up at the news. He cooed at the baby and bounced him gently, complimenting his amazing DNA.
“And hey–listen for a second.” Oracle’s voice was soft, and her hand was warm when it was placed on his arm. “I’m not gonna lecture you or anything like that. You know what you’re getting into having a kid. Partially, anyway. At least I hope you know; it’s not all gonna be sunshine and rainbows. And that’s okay. We’re all here, if you need anything.”
“Please don’t tell anyone.” He found himself whispering, clutching Jackson tighter to his chest. The baby made a confused noise but snuggled closer anyway. “I understand I’m being selfish by saying this. By asking you to hide this. But I don’t want any other bats to know. I don’t want any risk of someone coming for him. Not until Tim comes home, at least.”
Barbara was quiet for a few moments, clearly weighing her options. “I know how good detectives you all are. But Tim was one too. And he’s given everyone on the team a way to hide should they ever need it. From everyone. Even you guys. If I have to hide Jackson and I–to keep us together, to keep him safe, I’ll find a way.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. But I understand.” She sighed. Kon relaxed slightly, but his hold on Jackson didn’t loosen. “I know things are rocky right now. I know Jackson isn’t going anywhere without you. I won’t tell anyone else about him. But we are here if things go wrong, if you need anything. I promise.”
She rolled back over to her desk, and handed him freakishly professional documents for Jackson Kent. Among the items though was a card that made Kon frown up at her, eyebrows raised skeptically.
“It was one of Bruce’s throwaway cards. He kept them for undercover missions and other things–it's nothing any of us need.”
Damn. Bruce Wayne really was rich rich, huh? “I can’t accept this.”
“Please do. Baby stuff is expensive. It won’t hurt to have all of that taken care of, would it? Besides, if Tim was here he’d be paying for anything either of you needed without missing a beat. Think of it as Tim’s card, or something. It kind of is.
“That doesn’t make me feel much better.” He grumbled, but pocketed the card. She was right, though; baby stuff costs a lot. And you need a lot of it. He didn’t exactly have a ton of cash lying around, living and working on the farm with Ma. Usually if he needed anything else he asked Tim for it.
Stars, he missed Tim.
But he’d take the hit on his pride by using Bruce Wayne’s money, because it was for Jackson. So Jackson could have formula, and furniture, and toys, and nice clothes. He deserved all those things. Speaking of the little angel, his son was looking up at him with an innocent expression that solidified his decision.
“Only for you, Jackie-baby.” He sighed fondly. “Now c’mon. Let’s go get you introduced to your uh…Grandma. I have no idea what she’ll want you to call her–Jon just calls her Grandma, so…”
He continues to ramble as he leaves the apartment, leaves the dullness of Gotham, and heads home with Jackson looking up at him like he was the most important thing in the world.