Chapter Text
With a sigh, Jon thumped down the stairs, rounded the banister, and made his way into the kitchen. He was tired.
Yeah, he shouldn’t have stayed up that late last night working through the string of Kryptonian code he had taken from the fortress. He didn’t need a ton of sleep, sure, but he still needed some. Plus, the last three days had been completely overcast and he had been stuck inside for most of it: first at school and then with his shifts at the store.
All put together, it made sense that he was dragging his feet this morning. The disguising hologram felt like too much of a drain on him to bother with, and his left side especially felt heavy. He did his best to pull a friendly smile onto his face as he greeted his family who were already sitting around the breakfast table.
“You okay, honey?” his mom asked, eyes roaming over his profile.
He hunched his shoulders. Yeah, he usually kept his hologram up even when they were just hanging around the house, but everyone had made a ton of very pointed hints that he didn’t have to do it all the time and that he should just be comfortable with who he was. So now that he wasn’t hiding his true nature, it was a big deal?
“I’ll be okay, Mom” Having to explain the problem also felt like too much effort. He could see the sun peeking through the windows already; he’d be fine as soon as he got a solid hit of direct light.
Thankfully, Jordan spoke up and took the attention away from Jon.
“So, Dad, I was talking to Wellnitz and he says that the chaperones never actually check the tents at night. So, if there was an emergency—”
“Jordan, you’re not skipping out on your senior year camping trip to go be Superboy,” their dad cut in. “I promise the world’s going to get along fine without you for a weekend.”
They had been debating back and forth about the upcoming trip for weeks now. Their parents were keen for them to take the weekend as a chance to live as ‘normal’ teenagers, and Jordan especially was digging his heels in about it. He sighed heavily as their dad slid the tray of bacon onto the table and then sat down.
Automatically, Jon filled his plate. But as the mound of breakfast food grew, his stomach weighed heavier. He didn’t need food like regular people anymore. All the energy he used came from the sun, and to have to digest his usual breakfast while he was already dragging was just going to put more stress on his system.
Jordan was still focused on making his point. “Okay, but Dad, you’re not gonna not call us if something really big happens, right?”
Their mom shot him a look. “What exactly do you think is going to happen?”
“I don’t know. But that’s the point! We never know, but if there’s really something then we should be there, right, Jon?”
Slowly, Jon blinked and lifted his head. “Huh?”
“Okay, honey, seriously. You have me worried.”
He grimaced. “Mom, I promise I’m fine it’s just…” Her gaze bored into him. “I just have a low battery, okay?”
“Oh.” Her expression cleared. “Well, you should have said.”
With a shrug, Jon turned back to his plate. His family knew all the little quirks of his existence, but that didn’t mean he loved drawing attention to it. Although maybe he should have known. The reminders of who he was popped up in tiny ways throughout every single day, and he had learned he’d never have a completely normal life ever again.
“Okay,” his dad announced. “This breakfast has just been changed to an outdoor one.”
“What? Dad, we don’t—”
“You’re dad’s right, honey. Here, grab the fruit?” Together, they collected their plates and cups and then went outside to the picnic table.
As soon as the unfiltered light hit Jonathan’s face, he felt the difference. A surge of energy pulsed into him, banishing the last of the fog and sending a pleasant zing through his bones.
“Better?” his dad asked as they all settled into place.
“Yeah. Thanks.” The unease in his stomach dissipated.
It made a big difference that he had a family who genuinely didn’t mind all the little oddities Jon lived with. Sure, it may suck to have to admit things from time to time, but at least he knew he’d have support. He could sit here under the sun with his artificial limbs on full display and not worry about a thing.
“I bet you can get totally charged up if we fly to school,” Jordan said as he crammed toast into his mouth. “Sun’s always better higher up.”
“You two are driving just like always,” their mom said sternly.
Jon held back an eyeroll. There was a lot that had changed for him in the last year, and the driving was definitely one of them. It felt like a painfully slow way to get around now that he had other options, and it had never been the same after losing his beloved truck in his car accident. The beat-up Toyota he shared with his brother did the job when they needed to keep up appearances but that’s basically all it was good for.
“C’mon, guys, the drive’s beautiful,” their dad cajoled. “And if you roll the windows down then Jon will get plenty of sun.”
“Dad, I’m not a friggen dog.”
His dad blinked, a sudden guilty look on his face. “No, bud, I was just saying… I’m sorry, but—”
Jon snorted. “It’s fine.” He really wasn’t offended. It was just kind of fun to tease his dad like this, especially after all the gut-churning worry he had gone through over all of the changes in his life.
But finally, after over a year of this existence, he felt settled. Things weren’t normal, but they were good.
And he knew exactly who he was.
With her boyfriend’s hand in hers, Denise filed through the door of the gym and found seats for the both of them on the bleachers. Every other member of the senior class was with them, and her ear caught enthusiastic snippets of conversation as they weaved through the crowd.
Just before they sat down, Jon switched places with her, putting his left side towards her. It was the side with most of his cybernetic parts, and Denise knew that’s exactly why he had performed the subtle maneuver. With everyone squished together for the assembly, there was too much of a chance that someone would brush up against him and realize something wasn’t right.
It was okay for her too, though, so she took hold of his left hand, hologram-hidden metal pressing against her warm skin as they sat together.
“How long do you think this is gonna take?” she asked. “If it’s over an hour then we won’t have to do anything in Calc.”
“Oh, that would be awesome. That class is always so boring.”
She nudged against his shoulder. “Uh, try hopelessly confusing. It’s totally— Oh, hey, Jordan.”
With a wave, Jordan shrugged off his backpack and plopped into the spot beside Jon. “What are we talking about?”
“Calc.”
“Oh.” He blew out a sigh. “Yeah, totally boring. We don’t need to go over every single detail the whole time, you know?”
“Okay, you two need to quit it with all that smugness. Not all of us are naturally gifted.” She raised an eyebrow, making it perfectly clear what she was hinting at even though she couldn’t say anything more specific.
Jordan laughed, and then Principal Balcombe got on the mic.
“Welcome, seniors,” she greeted with a smile. “I’m sure you’re all excited to learn more details about our annual camping trip. Before I let Coach Gaines tell you more, I just want to remind you all that the trip is a privilege, not a right. You need to have passing grades and no suspensions leading up to it, which I’m sure you all will. Coach, would you like to tell everyone where we’re going?”
Denise felt her excitement grow as she watched the grumpy coach get up to the mic. As a Smallville native, she’d heard of countless senior class trips in the years before and now it would finally be her turn. Sure, it maybe wasn’t the most glamorous to be sleeping in a tent with three other girls her age, but it was going to be fun and that’s what really mattered.
“This year, we’re avoiding the termite problem and heading to a site just off Kanopolis Lake.”
There was a buzz of excitement at that. Getting to an actual lake could be really fun, way better than the random site in the woods the school had used for the last couple years.
Jonathan nudged his brother. “Underwater swimming contest once everyone’s asleep?”
With a snort, Jordan opened his mouth to respond, but Coach Gaines cleared his throat and brought the gym to silence once more.
“You’ll all need to bring your own sleeping bags and pillows, but we’re all using the school tents. I’ve got a list of things to pack posted online so make sure you check that out with your families.” His eyes skimmed over the paper he held in his hand. “And one more thing this year: insurance says all students need to pass a basic medical screening. Nothing too crazy, but to make things easy we’re bringing Dr. Fry in next week to get through you all at once.”
There was more he was saying, but Denise was distracted by Jon freezing at her side.
She ducked her head low. “What is it?”
“Just…” Jon turned to his brother. “What do you think she’s gonna check? Blood pressure? Temperature?”
Jordan’s grim expression matched Jon’s. “Yeah, probably. Crap, you think she’s gonna do a finger poke?”
“No, she wouldn’t need to— Well, what do they even use those for, anyway?”
“Iron levels sometimes,” Denise said. “To see if you’re, like, anemic.”
“Shit.” The tight expression on Jon’s face was weird, but Denise had a suspicion that now wasn’t the time to dig into it.
Instead, she kept her mouth shut for the rest of the assembly, through the painful twenty minutes remaining of their calculus class, and then finally burst out with a question once they were all piled into the boys’ car and were heading to the diner.
“Okay, so what’s the big deal with the medical?” she asked.
Jon shifted in his seat but didn’t say anything right away. Jordan glanced towards her, dropped his eyes, and then finally spoke.
“Well, neither of us will be able to pass it.”
“Oh. Wait, really?” She felt stupid for not realizing, especially with Jon. He may look totally average on the outside, but it didn’t take much digging before the differences started to show up.
“Yeah, I don’t really have, like, a heartbeat,” Jon shared.
“No, you do, bro, it’s just… well, not like anything Dr. Fry’s heard before.”
With a snort, Jon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s for sure. And then there’s all the other internal stuff. Plus, the instant she puts a stethoscope on me, she’ll feel the difference. Holograms only do so much.”
“Oh.” Denise swallowed. “Well, wait, what about you, Jordan?”
“Uh, well, let’s see. I run hotter than any human would be healthy doing, my blood pressure would be off the charts, and if she does try to fingerpoke me then it’s over.”
“And the vaccines,” Jon added.
“Oh, yeah. Haven’t been able to get those updated for, like, three years. Shit, you think we’re gonna need records of that, too?”
“I dunno.” He scrubbed a rough hand through his hair and then sighed as he leaned against the window.
“But… you guys can’t not go,” Denise said. “It’s not fair.”
The brothers shared a look.
“We’ll figure it out,” Jon said.
“Yeah,” Jordan agreed. “We’ll just— I dunno, fake some paperwork or get an exemption or… or something.”
They wore matching bright smiles on their faces, ones that made them look a heck of a lot like their dad. But even though she really wanted to, Denise couldn’t bring herself to believe them.