Chapter Text
“They’re gone?!”
Clark was home, he’s been home for days now, but he and the rest of the Kents were still adjusting. They thought they had lost him, they did lose him (and they lost Sam, and Sam wasn’t coming back). They mourned him, and nearly accepted the fact that they now had to face life without him. They were still adjusting, still attempting to pick up the pieces, but now they could face it all as a family, like they always do.
“Gone- maybe? I don’t know.” Jon dragged a hand down his face, and he totally was not about to cry (or break something, or both). “I woke up, and they’re just-”
Lois, the ever observant, noticed his spiral and distress. Being the one who carried them for nine months, went through hours of labor to bring them into the world, and raised them nearly single-handedly for years, she had a knack for picking up on their quirks and tells, better than Clark could. She didn’t reach out for him, Jon wasn’t as comforted by physical touch as Jordan was, instead she gave him a look and spoke out his name, a silent request to start at the beginning.
So that’s what he did.
It left them with more questions than answers.
When Clark caught wind of Jonathan’s new problem, he grumbled and suggested seeing his mother. The rest of the family didn’t seem too thrilled about it, either, their reactions ranging from pouts to strained smiles. They respected Lara, loved her as much as they could love a distant hologram, but only paying her visit when something was amiss was not exactly the image of a cozy family get together.
“Hey.” Jordan nudged Jonathan’s shoulder, but Jon was too distracted by bundling up in a thick winter coat and nervously biting the inside of his cheek. “Hey.” He narrowed his eyes. “Hey, hey-”
“What?!”
Jordan had to muster up all his will not to snicker, now wasn’t the time to celebrate over the fact that he had successfully been annoying enough to pull Jon out of his trance. “I just wanted to say…” Jordan paused, maybe he should’ve planned out this big pep talk in his head before he actually went for it? Jordan could see that Jonathan was about to turn away, about to return to shaking and cheek biting and playing it cool, so he gave up on trying to sound like a motivational speaker. “Whatever Grandma says, whatever crazy shit is going on, you’re still my brother.”
Now it is Jon’s turn to pause, and he tightened his lips into a thin smile. “Yeah.” Jon guessed he could agree with that one, it was really hard to completely change DNA, after all.
“Fraternals?” Jordan offers.
Jon wasn’t sure about his future. Without his powers, he wasn’t sure if he had a future anymore, he wasn’t sure who he was anymore, where his place in the world was. His powers, from his freeze breath to his flight, came suddenly and by surprise, and Jon only got to know them for a few weeks before they were ripped from him. He wasn’t sure why, wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve this, but he did know one thing.
“Fraternals.”
He could always rely on Jordan to help him touch the sky.