Chapter Text
Kon was utterly, undoubtedly, entirely fucked.
It wasn’t even his fault. How was he supposed to know the gang he had been tracking had managed to get their hands on what was essentially a kryptonite rocket-launcher? Kon wasn’t even the intended target—he was covering the case for Kal, who had gotten wrapped up in some off-planet Justice League business. He was just supposed to be gathering intel, not engaging,
God, Kal would bench him for months if he found out he followed the lead alone. When he found out. Fuck. Kon lost all chances at subterfuge when he took an explosive chunk of kryptonite to the chest. Which lead him to his current predicament; crash-landed in the woods, six feet deep in a crater of his own making. His comm had busted during his landing and the kryptonite lodged in his chest was keeping his powers at bay. Thank god for his meta-gene existing separately from his biology.
With the last of his remaining energy, he pushed himself upright against the wall of the crater so he could get at least a somewhat better look at the damage he had sustained. His suit was in tatters, the House of El symbol mutilated beyond recognition and soaked in his own blood. Each breath he took ached and black spots danced across his vision. He took a moment to take stock of everything he could. He would pass out from exhaustion and blood loss soon. The kryptonite in his chest was rendering him more human than he had ever been. Gotham was on the horizon as he went down, and he was likely in the woods at the outskirts of the city—Bristol, maybe. His Gotham geography was shaky at best.
All in all, things could be worse. Kon was fairly certain the gang wouldn’t find him. Hopefully.
Above him, the woods were quiet. It wasn’t something you noticed unless you were really paying attention, but there was no tell-tale sound of animals rustling through foliage or birds singing. Even the wind seemed to shy away from the trees, leaving the air eerily still. It felt like the entire forest was holding its breath. Maybe he had disturbed whatever balance this place had with his landing. Out here, he could almost convince himself he was the last person left on earth, which was equal parts comforting and horrifying given his current situation.
Kon’s vision danced, and he took another deep breath to steady himself. The kryptonite lodged in his chest continued to glow a sickly green, and he knew that the only way out of this situation was to remove as much of it as possible and get the shards as far away from himself as he could so his super healing could kick in. Easier said than done, but Kon-El was not a quitter and he wasn’t about to loose to some green space rock. This whole ordeal would have been a lot easier if Gotham’s signature gloom would let up for even a minute to allow the yellow sun to touch his skin. But, Gotham is as Gotham does, and Kon knew it was only a matter of time before the gang caught up with him, even in the dense woods.
It was moments like these where Kon was eternally grateful for the blessing that was Tactile Telekinesis. CADMUS may have given him lifelong trauma and a crippling fear of needles and shadowy men in lab coats, but boy did they know what they were doing by giving him a meta-gene. He was even more grateful for his foresight in taking classes with an activist group in Metropolis on field medicine. He wasn’t an expert by any means, but he had begun working to learn how to use TTK for emergency surgery and shrapnel removal in the field. No time like the present for practical application, he supposed.
In the distance, a branch snapped. The sound was harsh against the quiet of the woods. With a renewed sense of urgency, Kon focused his aura on the pulsing green crystal lodged just centimeters from his heart, starting with the largest chunk, a piece just smaller than his fist and protruding from the center of the S-Shield. It came out easily, but released a fresh flow of blood trickling sluggishly down his torso. Distantly, Kon realized he really should pack the wound, but in doing so he might shove the smaller shards deeper. Choosing between bleeding out and kryptonite poisoning was not something they covered in his field medic classes. Ultimately, he chose to push forward with removing the rest of the shards. He could be quick, then he could pack the wound and get out of the crater. No big deal; he was Supernova, he could handle this.
The stabbing pain in his chest and his fading vision disagreed.
Another branch snapped and leaves rustled, much closer now. With any luck, it was just an animal coming to investigate his disturbance of their territory, but Kon had never been that lucky. He moved with renewed vigor, wrapping his TTK around each tiny shard and launching them as far away as he could. He’d have to come back later to retrieve them later to ensure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands, but first eh and to get out of there, and fast. Even as he finally extracted the last shard of kryptonite, his powers felt distant, as if locked behind a glass wall. His vision swam as he shoved himself up and tried to fly out of the crater. Gravity kept him firmly tethered to the earth.
Fuck. He was so fucked.
In the distance, someone screamed, ear piercing and terrified. A chorus rose up with the first, and soon, shrieks were filling the air. Kon tried to look over the edge to see what was happening, but the crater was too deep and the source of the screaming was too far. It should have been terrifying, hearing the horrified screams, but Kon was too far gone of blood loss and kryptonite poisoning to feel the bone-deep terror that would have been appropriate. Something about the sound was almost comforting. Kon shook his head to clear the thought as soon as it arrived.
At that moment, his legs decided to go on strike. White and black spots danced together as he hit the ground again, a harsh groan tearing its way out of his chest. When his vision cleared, he realized the screams had stopped, and the eerie silence from before was back. What had once been comforting was cloying and oppressive. The air felt like it was closing in on him and stuffing his lungs with cotton until he was struggling for breath.
Something moved in the trees, far closer now than before. Futilely, Kon pressed his finger to his communicator. Still nothing. And Kal wouldn’t be able to hear him even if he shouted. Fuck.
Kon’s eyes were fluttering shut now, no matter how hard he tried to force them open. He tucked himself into a ball and tried to press as far as he could into the earth. Maybe whatever is out there wouldn’t notice him? Fat chance, but there wasn’t much else he could do. The last thing Kon registered before the darkness took him was something large and dark peeking over the edge of the crater, then, moments later, cool arms wrapping around his shoulders.