Ability to Hope

Title: Ability to Hope
Ratings: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandom(s): Superman & Lois
Category: F/M
Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane
Characters: Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent, Jordan Kent
Tags: Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Angst
Summary: Clark turned his head to where he wasn’t looking at Lois anymore but the two boys standing at the edge of the room, eyes wide, taking in Superman laying on the couch with his head in their mother’s lap, just like their father did all the time.
Word Count: 6,405
Year: August 2014 Forward
Spoilers: Everything Currently Aired
Notes: Written for the Quarter 1 2022 Big Moxie
Beta: ScarsLikeVelvet

Clark landed on the roof, well out of sight of anyone, and then floated down once he was sure he was safe to do so. He landed softly on the balcony off his bedroom and frowned when he didn’t find Lois there. He focused on the brownstone and found that the boys were asleep in their beds, hearts thumping softly with sleep. Lois was in the living room.

Without thinking anything of it, he headed down to the ground floor. The windows in most rooms were covered ninety percent of the time for things like this. Clark liked not worrying about changing or making sure no one saw him take off if needed. If the boys were awake, sometimes more curtains were open, but at night, they were closed cause even as a normal human, no one needed to see that much into the house.

Lois was on the couch with a glass of wine on the stand beside her, and her feet tucked up beside her. She had a notepad on her leg, and she was looking at something on her phone. It was the picture of happy for Clark, watching her do what she loved, digging into something with all she had. She had to have started to do it after getting the boys into bed.

“Hey,” Lois said.

Clark looked at her face, and he saw the look of worry there. He looked down at the blood on his suit, not that noticeable unless someone really looked.

“How was everything?” Lois asked.

“It was not a good day.”

“I saw a bit on the news but then turned it off cause it was pissing me off. No one was listening to you.”

“There were too many men, and I couldn’t promise to move fast enough.”

“I assume that means things didn’t go well?”

“No, not at all, really. We lost half of them. They kept me back.” Clark started to pace, turning on his heel at the last second on each turn in the room. “I hate it when I’m not allowed to save them.”

“They are still learning you, Clark. They are still trying to figure out where you fall in everything. The world loves you, from the small rescues that you do everywhere to the big ones when the world is looking. So, don’t let this get you down for long.”

Clark nodded his head. He still paced back and forth. He was keyed up again just talking about it. He didn’t want to be. He was home, and he wanted to shed the persona of Superman, and he might have been able to if Lois had been up in the bedroom, but it was still pretty early in the evening. It was a Friday, and barring something happening, there was going to be no work for either of them the next day. Jonathan had a pick-up football game at the park, and Clark would take Jordan to the library to pick up some new books before heading over to watch Jonathan play.

“Hey, Clark, come here,” Lois said.

Clark shook his head. He wasn’t ready for that. He needed to do a lot, but he didn’t want to risk it. He wanted to be moving around the world, but he didn’t trust himself right now. He knew that Lois would tell him to go if he needed it. He would hang out in the upper reaches of the exosphere and wait for someone to need him. Before he and Lois had gotten serious, it was how he spent a lot of his time. He didn’t need nearly as much sleep as humans and therefore had more idle time on his hands, especially at night.

“Clark,” Lois said.

Clark stopped in his pacing, and he looked at Lois. She had laid her phone to the side, the wine glass was in her hand, and she was taking a sip. The notepad was long gone. Lois patted her thigh as she dropped her feet to the floor. It was like a switch had been flipped in him, and Clark felt so bone-weary. All of the feelings of pent-up anger and the need to do something were gone, and he was just left with the want to be with his wife.

He moved with care as he sat down on the edge of the couch. There were times when he was in the suit that he forgot himself. He had to make sure he didn’t do anything like break the couch. Again.

“See,” Lois said as she started to card her fingers through Clark’s hair.

“Yes, I know. You know best, but you know that sometimes I just need to move.”

Lois laughed, and she tugged on his hair.

A sound drew Clark’s attention away from her. He turned his head to where he wasn’t looking at Lois anymore but the two boys standing at the edge of the room, eyes wide, taking in Superman laying on the couch with his head in their mother’s lap, just like their father did all the time. Clark sat up, and he was about to say something when Jordan’s face screwed up, and he took off running away, his feet sounding like bombs to Clark’s ears as he ran up the stairs to his room. The door slammed shut before Clark could even think of moving.

“Mom?” Jonathan asked.

“Honey, I can explain,” Lois said.

Jon looked at Clark again, his face showing that he really didn’t understand what had Jordan so upset, and then he did. His face turned angry, just like last week when a thunderstorm had ended the football game in the park. There had been a chance it might have turned to a tornado, so Clark hadn’t even thought of playing that game. Jon turned around, and he headed up the stairs as well, his feet landing on the stairs softer but no less like bombs to Clark’s ears. The slamming of the bedroom door was as well. It was Jordan’s door, not Jon’s. Even though they had graduated to two different rooms on their birthday last year, there were still times they stayed in the same room at night.

“What are you going to do?” Lois asked.

Clark shrugged. They had been fighting about it for weeks, telling the boys, ever since their eighth birthday. Clark didn’t want to do that. He was afraid that Jordan would be normal and Jon would get his legacy, and there were already so many issues with Jordan.

“I’ll go talk to them. If only I had been paying attention.”

“Or if you had changed.”

Clark looked at Lois, and he was tempted to stick his tongue out, but he felt like that might be too much levity for this. He stood up from the couch and headed up the stairs. He hesitated over knocking or just going in, but since they were in there and upset. He thought that maybe he should ask first. He knocked.

“Who is it?” Jon asked.

“It’s Dad,” Clark said.

The door jerked open, and Jon gave Clark a look that said he didn’t like the words that had just come out. “Where is Dad?”

“Jon,” Clark said. He looked past Jon and into the bedroom, where Jordan was curled on the bed crying. Due to a fight six months ago with the married couple in the brownstone next door, the twins knew what cheating on a spouse was. Clark hated that even for a few minutes, either of his kids thought Lois would cheat on him. He knew what a few thought with how Lois was with Superman that Lois was in love with him and settling with Clark.

“You…” Jon said. He backed up to sit on the bed, his hand going to Jordan’s hip. He shook his brother.

“Leave,” Jordan said.

“I can’t do that.” Clark didn’t want them to ever doubt either of their parents like they were right now.

“Here are some clothes,” Lois said.

Clark jumped as her voice scared him. He looked back to see that she had not only his sleep clothes but a sheet there on top.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Jon asked.

Jordan wasn’t crying as hard as he had been, and he looked like he was settling down enough to understand what was coming next. Clark took the clothes, but he handed over the sheet. He could change quickly enough that the boys wouldn’t see anything they shouldn’t and make sure they understood that this wasn’t Superman swapping places with their father. It was the work of seconds, but by the time Clark focused on them again, Jon looked like he was freaked out, and Jordan looked like he was done crying.

Clark stepped across the room, and he knelt at the edge of the bed, reaching out to both boys.

“You have something,” Jon reached out, and he touched something on Clark’s cheek.

Clark reached up and scratched at what was there. It flaked, dried blood. Clark made sure that no blood was on Jon’s finger before holding onto that hand tightly. He looked at Jordan, who was tucking his legs up and moving to sit with his legs crossed beside Jon.

“I’m sorry that we scared you like that. I am normally much better at hearing you guys wake up.”

“You are really Superman?” Jordan asked.

“I am.” The words felt so strange in his mouth. He told very few people about that.

“Grandpa works with Superman. Does he know?”

“Yes, he knows who I am.”

“Why don’t we all get ready for bed, and we can all sleep in our bed?” Lois asked.

Jordan nodded his head, and he moved to cling to Clark. Clark hefted him up and then changed the side to do the same thing for Jon. Jon laughed a little and clung to Clark’s neck as tightly as he could while Jordan was safe in the knowledge that Clark wasn’t going to drop him. Jordan always trusted that, but Jon liked to hold on. Clark had never seen it as anything other than their personalities. Jordan took after him more and Jonathan after Lois, who was the epitome of trust but verify or however that anecdote went.

“You two stay right there,” Clark said as he tipped them onto the bed. He looked at Lois and then followed her into the bathroom. Before bed, his nightly ritual was simple, while Lois did a few more things. When he was done, he just watched her in the mirror. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’m glad it’s the weekend. We will have enough time to make sure they understand everything before we turn them loose into the world of school.”

Clark nodded his head, and he looked at Lois in the mirror. He gave her a smile before tugging her in when she was done putting on the last cream for her face. Lois laughed and slapped at his arm.

“I know you are worried, but it’ll work out. We might go through the wars for this, but I’m glad they found out like this. It takes the stress out of things. We just have to worry about them saying something to their friends.”

“You mean Jon. Jordan’s only going to confide in Jon.”

Lois’ lips pursed like they did when she was upset about Jordan. They were learning how to deal with the outbursts and anger that was inside of him. Clark had no basis for helping him, but Google was a good help in helping him learn how to help and learn to cope with his own issues around Jordan’s issues.

“I wish he had better friends.” Clark really just wished he had friends who were not Jon’s. He didn’t mind him sharing with his brother, but he wished Jordan had friends.

“Any friends that he trusted. He doesn’t like most of Jon’s friends, but there are a few that they are sharing that I find aren’t the worst.”

“Let’s go, or they are going to wreck the bed. Again.”

Lois pulled Clark in when he tried to back out of the bathroom. Clark let her put him where she wanted him to give him a kiss. “They will adjust to life like this. You will as well. Everything will be fine. We will have to tell my father, though. I know he’s against it, but it’s not like you can lie to them about you not being Superman when they catch you as him.”

“I know. I’m not looking forward to that.”

“No, I doubt you are, but we will do it. He’ll live with it because he wants to keep me happy.” Lois gave Clark a smile before she rubbed their noses together.

Clark pulled Lois with him out of the bathroom to find the boys asleep in the middle of the bed, the blankets a horrible mess, like they always were when the boys were in bed. Clark tugged, and the boys let go and rolled with the blankets. It made Clark’s heart jump into his throat. The boys trusted him so much, and it showed in how they allowed themselves to move without waking up.

Lois got in on the other side of the bed, and Clark got in on that side. As soon as he was settled, Jordan turned toward him. Clark smiled and pressed a kiss to Jordan’s head.

Sleep came easy, without an ounce of regret and worry for the first time in a while.

—

“Dad,” Jon said.

Clark opened his eyes to see that Jon was sitting on his thighs while Jordan was sitting beside him. Lois wasn’t in bed. It was well past when Clark would normally wake up.

“Yes, Jonathan?”

“When can you take me flying?”

“Just you?”

“Well, no. Us. Both of us. When can we go?”

“Well, we have to talk about a lot of things before we can do any of that.”

“Jor and I were talking, and we know we have to keep it a secret.”

“It’s really important. Do you remember you were hearing about the people who were taken away and hurt?”

“The Holocaust, yes. You said that we would learn about it in school.”

“Yes, and you will. I wouldn’t be treated like them, but no one would be safe. You and your brother could be taken away, your mother would be in danger. No one can know. We have few people in our lives that know that aren’t already superheroes.”

“Do you know Batman?”

“I know him, yes, but you will not be meeting him. Do you really want to go flying with me?” Clark asked. He sat up, leaving Jon on his thighs. Jon laughed as he was moved in a way that Clark had never done with him before. He had always played the weakling, even when it came to his children. He didn’t want to forget himself and not act the same around them that he did everyone else.

“Yes, Dad,” Jordan said. He scooted closer and looked at Jon before huffing and just dropping over Clark to lay on him over his stomach at an angle for how Clark was kind of sitting up but not all the way.

Clark started to rub up and down his back.

“Do you really have super smell?” Jon asked.

“Yes, but I don’t use it often. People are stinky. Do you remember that woman at the library that made your mother sneeze for an hour? It would be even worse for me.”

“Do you get too much and just have to stop?” Jordan asked.

“Hey,” Clark asked as he made Jordan look at him. “Why do you ask that?”

“I don’t know. I just sometimes get so overwhelmed.”

“Yes, I can if I’m not careful. If we have some time this weekend, we can head out and do some things. Your mother will have some ideas on what she would like to show you first. Where is she?”

“Cooking breakfast.”

“Oh, no. That’s never a good idea. We will end up with weird eggs.”

“Smells like waffles,” Jon said.

“She is good at those. Did you boys want to head down in our pajamas?” Clark asked.

“Yeah, I like eating breakfast in my pajamas,” Jordan said.

“Good.” Clark snagged them both as he moved, getting one under each arm. He raced down into the kitchen, stopping just as Lois turned around.

“That was cool,” Jon said as Clark let him get down.

Clark kept hold of Jordan and held him close for a few seconds before setting him down.

“MOM! Dad wants to take us flying,” Jon said.

“Well, we can see about maybe doing a visit to your father’s hideaway. I guess it depends if you want to do football today or not,” Lois said.

“No, no football. I want to hang with dad and see what he can do. Can we please?” Jon asked.

“Jordan?”

“Can we still go to the library and the craft store?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, we can,” Clark answered. He looked at Lois and saw the smile on her face.

The waffle iron beeped, and Lois turned around to get it off there. So Clark quickly zoomed around the room and got the rest of breakfast put together. He checked on the boys, who were both looking at him like he was something really special. He wasn’t sure that he would keep that look from them for long, but he was hoping that it would help him connect with Jordan a little more.

“We can also maybe pop over for a visit, your mother. We can stay the night there?” Lois asked.

“Sure,” Clark said as he settled in at the table. The fruit salad was resting on the table; the macerated strawberries in very light sugar syrup were waiting to go on the waffles. It was something that Lois was into at the moment, making breakfast a little healthier when they were having their sugar ones.

Breakfast was full of the boys asking for Clark to do things between bites of food. Clark indulged them as much as he felt safe doing. Jordan was asking more and more detailed questions.

“Can I go get dressed?”

“Yes, wear thicker pants, please, something like what you wear during winter, please.”

“Why?” Jordan asked.

“Because that’s what is going to be needed when we go to where your father goes when he’s sick of us.”

“Hey, I do not get sick of you guys!” Clark said. He looked at Lois to see her laughing at him. He stuck his tongue out at her and then shook his head when she stuck hers back out at him.

“Well, I get sick of you,” Jon said.

“That’s not very nice.”

“Don’t worry, Dad, I still love you,” Jordan said.

“Suck up,” Jon said, but he was laughing as he said it, and he jerked.

Normally Clark would say something about Jordan kicking Jon, but both boys were laughing, and it wasn’t meant to hurt. Jordan could kick with the intent to hurt if he wanted to. The guy who had touched him without asking got to know that a few weeks ago. The man hadn’t got very far in making Jordan feel upset. Especially not after Lois got to him first instead of Clark. The man would hopefully never touch another kid without permission again. Lois had only not had her father look into him because the man didn’t seem like a predator to either one of them.

“So, where is this place?” Jordan asked.

“Sorry, I haven’t even told your mother the exact location. She doesn’t even take her cell phone with her there when we go.”

“How do you hide it away from people finding it?” Jon asked.

“You’ll see. I promise that you’ll have fun with it. It’s just a little cold. So how soon do you boys want to leave?”

“Now?” Jon asked.

“How about after you both get dressed? I’ll pack up something for lunch for all four of us while you three get ready,” Clark said.

The boys took off running, and for once, Clark didn’t tell them to slow down.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Clark asked as soon as they were out of the way.

“Look, they are kids. They want the fantastical. This will help them see the part of your life you can show them because there is a lot they cannot know. Not at this age. We can also use going to the Fortress as a lure into something better for them. I’ll call your mother while I am getting dressed and let her know to expect all of us tonight. It’ll be nice to be able to have you take us all there and then back. We will get to see her more; you can sometimes take the boys when I am working, and you are not. We can make this work for us, Clark.”

“I just fear them talking about it.”

“Look, it won’t take much at all to make people think that this place the kids talk about if they slip up is your man cave. It’s not like anyone will be listening that close to what they say. Jordan told Dad a twenty-minute story the other day about the pair of ants he saw fighting on the sidewalk.”

“This is true.” Clark had loved listening in on that. Despite not being as close to Sam as Jon, Jordan liked to tell stories about things to the man. It was just as good as anything else they did, and one of these days, Sam would get Jordan out fishing like he did with Jon.

“Look, let’s just have the weekend, and you can keep a closer eye on them on Monday to make sure. I know that I don’t like you listening in when it’s not needed, but I think it’s needed in this case. Just don’t make a habit of it.”

“I won’t.” Clark wasn’t above admitting when he was wrong, and he was just glad that Lois was more than willing to forgive him for his lapse in judgment that was invading her privacy. “Go before the boys are done before you, and I have to leave you behind.”

“You had better not, Clark Kent, or I will make sure you regret it. You hate sleeping on the couch.”

Clark gave Lois a pout. She pressed a kiss to his lips before she left the kitchen to get ready to face the day. Clark sped through cleaning up the kitchen so he could get ready himself.

By the time Clark came out of the bathroom, the boys were dressed and ready to go and sitting on the box at the foot of the bed. Clark smiled at them both. He looked at Lois and raised an eyebrow.

“So how are we going to do this? I can take two of you safely. So Jordan first, and then I’ll come back and get you and Jon?”

“I think that works. You can have your father watching Jordan.”

“But grandpa is dead,” Jordan said.

“Grandpa Kent is,” Lois said.

Clark held out his hand, and Jordan jumped up to take it. Clark lifted him up and cradled him close. He took off, flying out the open balcony doors and up in the sky before anyone could lock onto him. Sam made sure that no one could trace him back to his home; it was the only reason he even lived in Metropolis. Sam also checked to make sure that nothing was released to the world at large from lucky bystanders.

Landing at the Fortress was just like it always was. Jordan looked like he wanted to have another go at flying with him, and he might just do that with the boy up higher once Jon and Lois were here, or maybe wait until they had lunch and were in Smallville.

“This is so cool,” Jordan said. He looked around with his eyes wide in wonder.

“Kal-El,” Jor-El said.

Jordan spun around, and he gasped as he took in the hologram looking at him. He took a step forward before looking back at Clark.

“Father.” Clark waved for Jordan to move closer if he wanted. There was nothing in the caves that the boys could access that would hurt them. The former things he had on display were already gone from the area and locked into a room where no one but he or Kara could access them.

“You bring your son to me,” Jor-El said.

“I do. I will be going back and getting Jon and Lois as well. The boys stumbled upon me last night and know the truth of my identity. I had hoped you could show them a little about Krypton and our legacy. I couldn’t safely bring them all to you at the same time. So you get to watch Jordan while I go back and get Jonathan and Lois.”

“This one is the one you trust the most not to do something crazy?”

“Yes,” Jordan and Clark said at the same time.

Jor-El laughed, and he waved him to go. Clark launched himself up in the air.

“I will wait until your brother and mother are here to give more information, but I am happy to meet you. I have not seen you since you were a baby.”

Clark let their chatter fall from his ears as he headed home to Metropolis. Lois was waiting with Jon just inside of the doors. Clark turned and crouched to where Lois could get on his back and wrap her legs around him. Clark stood up, scooping Jon into his arms, and he took off, shutting the doors as he left. He would return to set the alarm and get the food that was packed and ready for them to eat after dropping Lois and Jon off.

Jordan was sitting on the floor in front of Jor-El’s hologram.

“Jon, gramps is showing me some of the stuff from Dad training and messing up! Come on!” Jordan patted the ground beside him.

Jon wiggled until Clark set him down. Jon ran right over to his brother.

“He looks entertained.”

“Yes. I’m going to head back to lock up and get the food. I’ll pick up a few other things as well, run them to mom’s for us for the night, and make sure our phones are there. I’ll keep an ear out for them going off as well.”

Lois kissed Clark’s cheek.

It was a little longer than Clark would have liked before returning to the Fortress. His mother wanted to talk to just him for a few minutes, and he hadn’t been able to tell her no. Even if he was going to be staying the night with the boys there. Landing with the food and looking at where Lois was sitting with her back to the stand in the middle, the boys on either side of her, he wondered why he had pushed this away for so long. Why he had really wanted to not tell them.

“Kal-El, you have returned,” Jor-El said.

“Why do you call him that?” Jon asked.

“It was my name on Krypton. My parents here on Earth didn’t know it, and they named me Clark. I like being called Kal-El when it’s my father doing it.”

“It would be an issue?” Jor-El asked.

“We’ve talked to the boys about calling people what they want or like to be called. We had a teacher who refused to call Jon anything but Jonathan. Since then, they have been pretty strong on making sure they are calling people the name they like.”

“There are times that someone might like two different names,” Clark said. He walked over, sitting down on the pillow that was on the ground beside Lois. There was a stash of things for them to live here if they needed. The living area had been expanded to include places for the boys as well and even some guests.

“Like pet names?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, I would never ask Grandma to call me anything but Clark, but I like hearing my original name from my father’s lips. It makes me feel closer to him even though he was dead before I landed on Earth.”

“He’s cool,” Jon said.

“Yes, he is.” Jordan moved over to settle into Clark’s lap as he looked up at him. “He told me to ask you if I was named after him.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I always wanted to know who I was named after.” Jordan picked at a bit of fluff, and Clark wrapped his arms around Jordan’s middle to hold him close to him.

“I’m sorry,” Clark said.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not. But we will be working on making it okay. I don’t want to make you think you are less than your brother. I just never figured out a way to tell you a story about how you were named for a man that the world doesn’t know exists. I spread the story long before Metropolis is that we never found out who my birth parents were. There was an investigation done. The Kents were upstanding, and they needed to make sure they did it all correctly. Back then, before I had fully started to get the rays of the sun into my cells, they were able to take blood. A close friend did it and tested it. I seemed human enough for that kind of thing, as long as no one looked too deep. It was when I got older that things changed, and I started to have to figure out a way to get around various things.”

“I like Gramps,” Jordan said.

“Yeah, Gramps is cool,” Jon said.

Clark pressed a kiss to Jordan’s forehead as Lois pulled Jon closer to her.

—

“So which one of us has powers?” Jon asked.

“Neither of you. There is not enough yellow sun energy absorption in your body,” Clark said. He looked at Jon and Jordan behind him. They were both standing at the edge of where they were allowed when it came to the barn. The place was full of stuff that could kill them. He didn’t want to test that part of their biology at all.

“Why?”

“Well, we aren’t sure how well my biology would pass on. It’s nothing big, though, I promise. I don’t need either of you to be like me. I love you both just as you are.”

“Even with my issues?” Jordan asked.

“Yes. I don’t want you to be different at all.” Clark looked up from the tractor he was working on, and he found his mother standing there. “Grandma never cared about my powers. I bet that part of her wished I never got them, as a lot of fear came with them.”

“I wouldn’t change it for the world, Clark.”

Martha came into the area of the barn and stayed back with the boys.

“Why not, Grandma?” Jon asked.

“Well, honey, he is who he is, and I love him for that. I wouldn’t ask that he be anyone other than who he is. He came here to be someone special, and he’s changed the world in a million different ways. You don’t need to worry about me loving you less if you are human, either. I love your mother a great deal, and she’s human.”

“Why did you keep him?” Jordan asked.

“He was a baby. He couldn’t help that he landed here. Someone loved him enough to send him away and to protect him. We took him in, and we feared that someone would come for him one day. When he confirmed that his entire family was dead, I understood why no one had shown up for him.”

“Dad’s great,” Jon said.

“Clark, go and play with the boys. Have some fun. Lois and I are starting on dinner.”

“Okay. Boys, do you want to go play in the cornfields?”

“Are you going to use your powers?” Jon asked.

“No, not unless one of you screams for help,” Clark said. He took off at a normal, human pace and then headed into the cornfields. “Come and find me!”

Clark entertained the kids for an hour until Jordan was tired and didn’t want to do it anymore. Jon was more than willing to do more, but he said he would just throw footballs at the tire swing.

After a few minutes of being on the porch, Lois came out and joined him.

“Dinner ready?”

“No, it’s got about twenty minutes in the oven left. Jordan get bored of playing?”

“I think he was just done. He’s not as active as Jon is.”

Clark gasped when Jon threw the football hard enough to snap the rope on the tire swing. He looked at Lois, who was also looking at where Jon had done that. Clark looked to Jordan as well, who was up and running.

“You replaced that two months ago,” Lois said.

“I did.”

Clark watched as Jordan and Jon looked at him in tandem with grins on their faces.

“We will have to deal with this now.”

“I know.” Clark wanted his boys to be the same, but Jon was too good at sports. There was something there. Now he had seen it. He wasn’t sure that either boy was normal, though. Jordan looked happy at the moment, but he was sure that it would change if Jon got something more overt.

“DAD, DID YOU SEE!” Jordan yelled.

Clark waited for the boys to make it to him and Lois for him to crouch down.

“Jon, what did you feel?” Clark asked.

“Nothing. It just…went like every other football I’ve thrown.”

“Let’s do it again. Dad, tie up the tire, and he can do it again,” Jordan said.

“DINNER!” Martha yelled.

“Maybe after dinner; looks like food is done early,” Lois said.

Dinner passed in a blur. Clark felt as if everything in his life had changed in under twenty-four hours. He had kept the idea of Jon’s sports prowess to himself, but now he felt like maybe he should have said something to Lois. The boys forgot about the tire swing in favor of looking at pictures of Clark growing up with Martha.

“Clark?” Lois asked as she sat down in his lap on the front porch.

“I can’t…this is what I didn’t want. Right now, Jordan seems okay with Jon being something a little more than human, but what if he’s not? What if he starts to have even more issues because of that?”

“We can’t know, and borrowing trouble now is just going to make it all worse.”

“We will cross the bridge when we come to it,” Clark said.

“Yes, we will.”

There were times that Lois was more hopeful than him. He hoped that it all held out in the end.

—

Clark dropped to his knees; he was prepared to beg. He was prepared to do anything to save his family. He looked at Jordan, who was in a heap on the ground, but he wasn’t done. Nothing was done when it came to his kids.

“I’ll do whatever you ask. Just leave my family alone.”

Jon stiffened up, and a smirk came over his lips. He moved faster than the speed of light and punched up, sending Tal-Rho into the air. Jordan was there in seconds, going up on a jump and knocking Tal-Rho back down to the ground. A blitz attack came from nowhere as the boys made a mess of Tal-Rho.

By the time that Sam showed up with things to keep Tal-Rho in custody, Clark was recovering enough that he was pretty sure that he would be good to go. Right up to the point that John Henry Irons landed on the ground after Sam left. Clark stepped in front of the boys as Irons opened his helmet.

“I come in peace,” Irons said. His eyes were darting over behind Clark to the boys.

“How did you get out?”

“General Lane and I had a lot of conversions, and I saw a lot of things.” John’s eyes moved to Lois. “I might not trust you fully, but I can see how much you love your family.”

Clark relaxed, but he also knew that the boys were prepared for anything.

“I’ve seen the light a little bit. I’m not ready to trust you all the way, but with Edge in custody and everything going on there, I’m willing to give it a wait and see.”

“Good.”

“Your sons can pack a punch,” Irons said.

“They can. They are still training, though now the training will be slower since the crystal of Jor-El was destroyed.”

“I can help,” Irons said.

“Maybe,” Lois answered.

Clark let Lois deal with Irons while he turned to check out the boys. He stumbled when he turned, and Jon caught him.

Despite everything, things had been wonderful over the years. While Jordan’s anxiety was still there, and he had issues with his powers when it came to his anxiety, just getting settled in his skin had helped a lot.

Jon still excelled at football, and he was a big fish in the small pond that was Smallville but moving out here years ago had helped the boys really come to terms with their heritage.

“Need a place to stay?” Clark asked when Lois was done talking to Irons.

“Why?”

“Well, there is room in the barn for your RV. We can work on some things,” Clark said.

“Clark,” Lois said.

“We can make this work.” Clark looked at the twins, and he saw the faint smiles on their faces. They were willing. Clark just had to get Lois on his side, and things would be good.

“You three will just gang up on me, won’t you?” Lois asked.

Jordan nodded his head.

“You know one of these days, we are going to run out of your ability to hope, you know that, right?” Lois asked.

“I know, but not yet. I hope that day never comes, but even if it does, you’ll be right there.”

Lois laughed and pulled Clark in for a kiss, despite the twins’ fake gagging at the kissing. Hope it was all that Clark had.

The End

I write fanfiction for fun. It’s a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!