Chapter Text
Jon groaned as something jostled his shoulder.
“Five more minutes, mom,” he slurred, shoving his face deeper into his pillow and trying to ignore a feint hissing noise. The jostling didn't stop, much to Jon’s annoyance. If anything, it was getting more insistent. The noise was getting louder too, sounding less like a hiss and more like his brother whisper-shouting.
“-ake up. Jon? Jon, you’re okay, c’mon, just please wake up. Jon!”
Jon’s eyes snapped open to find his vision obscured by white. A brief battle with his pillow—which ended up being a deployed airbag—left him dizzy but upright and able to take stock of his surroundings.
They were still in the truck, or at least what was left of it. Between the shattered windshield and the airbags, he couldn’t see enough of the front to tell how bad the damage was. He glanced over at Jordan. There was a nasty looking cut spanning the bridge of his nose, but all things considered, he looked alert and okay. Jon twisted around to check on Natalie, only to find the backseat completely empty.
He turned back to his brother in a panic. “Where’s—“
Jordan lunged over, clapping a hand over his mouth before he could finish his question.
Jon narrowed his eyes, but stayed silent.
Jordan pointed to his ears, then to front windshield.
Jon shoved his hand away but nodded his understanding. They had to assume that someone was listening. He jabbed his finger behind him and widened his eyes. Where’s Natalie?
Jordan shrugged, shaking his head. No clue. He stuck up his pointer finger and his thumb in the universal motion for ‘gun,’ and pointed again to the backseat.
A quick glance back confirmed that Jordan was right, and that Natalie’s massive gun was missing too. Had she somehow managed to escape?
“You can come out, boys,” a familiar accented voice broke the silence. “We know you’re awake.”
They traded resigned looks. Busted.
Jordan pushed open his door and stepped out. Jon gave his door a half-hearted shove, but if it hadn’t opened after they had side-swiped Natalie’s van it definitely wasn’t going to open now. He heaved a sigh and slid across the cab, stepping out of the truck and into a huge cavern.
Morgan Edge—well, Tal Rho—was shaking his head with a grin. “Well, well, look at what we have here,” Tal said. “The last four sons of Krypton, all in one place.”
Jon’s attention locked on a figure lurking in the shadows. “Dad!” he shouted, ignoring Tal entirely. But before he could take more than a step, Jordan grabbed his arm and jerked him back.
Dark laughter echoed around them as not-dad stepped into the light. “There is only Zod now,” he said, eyes flashing red. A cold sneer twisted the familiar features until the face was barely recognizable. “Your pathetic father is gone.”
Jon normally prided himself on being cool in a crisis. It’s what made him a great quarterback. But right now? Jon’s blood ran cold. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly, unable to do anything but stare numbly at the, the thing that had replaced his dad.
Jordan, however, had tilted his head in concentration. After a moment, he took a deep breath and firmed his jaw. Jon knew that face. It was the same expression Jordan had worn when he decided to go out for the football team, to play the piano for Sarah in front of all those people, to come to terms with the next alien superpower that wrecked havoc on his life.
It was the face that said ‘this is crazy, and I’m completely terrified, but I have to try this.’
So Jon watched, frozen, as Jordan strode directly up to Zod, grabbed his hand, and placed it directly over his heart. “Dad, I know you can hear me,” he said, voice shaky but determined. “You taught me to use your heartbeat to learn control. Now use mine, and fight back. Fight back!”
And somehow, it worked.
The nasty sneer fell from Zod’s face. His eyes slammed shut as he shook his head hard once, twice. When they snapped back open they were clear and blue, shining with a combination of concern and shock that was purely Clark Kent. “Jordan?” he gasped, stumbling several steps backwards.
Of course, it was at that moment that a metallic blur came out of nowhere and rammed him from the side, propelling both of them into the far wall.
In an instant, their dad’s countenance was replaced by a red-eyed, enraged glare that was directed at John Irons. The next minute they were in the air, grappling and rebounding from wall to ceiling as each tried to gain the upper hand.
Jordan quickly scrambled back to where Jon was standing, eyes fixed on the fight happening above them. “That guy has the worst timing,” he muttered, wincing as Zod’s heat vision shot wide and took a chunk out of the ceiling.
Jon grabbed him by the shoulders as soon as he was close enough, shaking him in excitement. “Did you see that though? You got through to him! All we need to do is—“
Before he could finish, a sudden impact sent him flying across the cavern. He landed hard on his back, momentum sending him skidding into the wall. He watched though blurred vision as Tal-Rho took his place in front of Jordan.
“How interesting,” Tal commented, appraising Jordan cooly.
Jon struggled to get up, using the rough rock wall to help regain his footing
"You give him hope, the strength to keep resisting." A malicious grin spread on Tal’s face. “It is time to remedy that weakness.”
And without another word, Tal’s eyes blazed red.
Time slowed down. Jon screamed his brother’s name, sprinting desperately across the cavern even while knowing he couldn’t get there in time, he wouldn’t make it, that in less than a second Jordan would be burned to a crisp and there was nothing he could do about it, he was too far away, and, and—
—and then suddenly he was there, then he was halfway across the valley with his brother gripped tight in his arms.
They both stumbled, disoriented by the abrupt change in scenery. Jon immediately scanned the sky, looking for any sign of his dad, but there was nothing but a few clouds illuminated by the rising sun.
So, Jordan then. Jon turned to give him a congratulatory slap on the back, mind racing as he tried to figure out the right way to combine a quip about Sonic the Hedgehog with Jordan’s current haircut.
But Jordan was shaking his head, brow furrowing as he stared at him. “Jon,” he said slowly, “that wasn’t me.”
Jon paused mid-slap, blinking in confusion. “Hold up. If it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t dad, then who…?”
Time had felt like it was slowing down as he was running towards his brother, sprinting faster than he ever had in his life.
Oh.
Oh.
He met Jordan’s gaze, dumbstruck. “…dude.”