Chapter Text
When they were all together on the boat, Clark had said that building the new fortress was just the beginning, that they could all be there together. It was a nice sentiment and a good moment for their family. But Jonathan Kent knew it wouldn’t last long.
He was right.
With both his parents working at the Gazette now, they were quickly sucked into the next big story. Some Intergang thing? Jon didn’t know much about it.
His dad made good on his promise, Jon and Lois had gotten to meet Lara a couple of times at the new Fortress. It was a pretty cool place and Jon wished they got to spend more time there.
Lara was…interesting. She spoke in the traditional, more formal Kryptonian style but had a warmness about her as well. The biggest reason Jon was a little uncomfortable was because he just didn’t know her; but he wanted to.
Unfortunately, after the initial introduction, he’d only been up there a couple of times.
Clark left the crystal in the Fortress so the boys could go visit their grandmother if their parents were busy. So Jordan and Jon had gone…once.
Jon would have liked to go more often, but Jordan had begun spending all his time as a superhero in training. He was going on secret rescues, honing his powers and even working with their grandfather at the DOD, which didn’t leave much time for his brother.
The Kent family had always been fast moving, career driven and looking forward to what was next.
Unfortunately for Jonathan, he didn’t know what was next. He had hoped they would go to the Fortress more. It would have been something to do and he was genuinely curious about that side of his heritage. Of course Jon was always welcome at the Fortress, but having no way to get there kind of put a damper on the plans. So he looked for other outlets.
Football had been his entire life, the one thing he was really good at, and now he couldn’t have anything to do with it. Which meant that at fifteen he had to redefine his life and find a new purpose.
But he was an athlete. He always had been. Without sports Jon didn’t even know where to begin defining himself.
Logically, Jon knew he should confide in his family about his doubts and ask for some guidance. But they were all so confident, so sure , about their places in the world.
Even Jordan.
It was still a little strange for Jon to see his awkward, anxious and major dork of a brother flying around and saving people from burning buildings. He was happy for Jordan, sure, and after all the challenges the guy had gone through he deserved it.
But whenever Jon imagined things finally turning around for Jordan, he never pictured himself getting the shaft.
If he had learned anything in the last year, it was that there was no point pining away or wishing for their old lives in Metropolis. Things were different now, and they would never go back to the way they were. He couldn’t just unlearn his dad was Superman and Jordan couldn’t stop using his powers, which left adapting to the new reality. Again.
Even though Jon wanted nothing more than to lay in bed every day and block everything else out, he knew that wasn’t an option. His parents wouldn’t allow it, for one, and Jon had never really been that person. So instead he began to plan and evaluate the things that he did have and try to move forward.
A constant fixture of his life was Candice. They were still dating, though his parents were a lot more cautious about giving them too much freedom. Jon and Candice hung out a lot before and at school, which was nice. They even managed a date once in a while. But being the cheer captain was a big commitment and she couldn’t ignore her duties, which included practice every day and cheering at basketball games and wrestling meets.
Jon refused to go to any sort of sporting event. It was too painful of a reminder of everything he had lost, which Candice understood, thankfully. But she still had to go to the games, which kept her busy a lot of the time.
Jordan was another obvious choice as a person to kill time with. But after the defeat of Ally, Jordan had become almost obsessed with learning how to be a superhero like their dad. At first Jon had tried to be really supportive, asking questions and acting excited when his twin had something cool to share. Eventually Jon realized how fake he felt during their interactions. Of course he was excited for Jordan, but Jon couldn’t live vicariously through his twin. He needed something of his own.
Working at the store was a good way to pass the time. It gave Jon something to do, and he was good at the job. But it didn’t excite him. There was nothing overly challenging or thrilling about working at Brit and Dunn’s, not the way that football had been.
Jon was so desperate that he even tried getting involved with different clubs at school. But he quickly learned that none of them, not the mathematics club, the robotics club, or any of the other groups that he tried really wanted him there. People tolerated him because they had to, but nobody actually liked him.
He was running out of options but had one more idea that had a chance of working. Earlier that day, Jon had visited Natalie and her dad in their workshop. He had been there a few times before, but this time he had a mission. He had been interested in some of the tech stuff before, and who better to learn from than the people who literally built their own war suits?
At first it was okay. John Henry was fairly patient in answering Jonathan’s questions. But he and Natalie really had to get some work done on the blasters on their suits, so there wasn’t a lot of time for explanations along the way. Things had been okay for a little while. They allowed Jon to do odd jobs and hand them tools, but that had gotten boring. Jon had been watching closely and thought he could handle something a little more complex. But the minute he tried, some wires broke and sparks flew. He hadn’t meant to undo hours of work, but that’s what happened.
John Henry apologized for yelling and Natalie said that he could stay for dinner, but Jon knew he had overstayed his welcome. So a few hours later, here he was, doing the one thing he promised himself he wouldn’t do. He was sixteen years old, laying in bed, alone on a Friday night. His family and girlfriend were all busy and he didn’t really have any friends to turn to. The only thing he was good at, he wasn’t allowed to do, and with anything he tried to be good at, he was shunned and not welcomed.
He had no prospects, no future, and no hope. More importantly he had no purpose. When the tears came, Jon wasn’t surprised, he just hoped he could stop before anyone in his family came home.
Jonathan Kent had been trying for weeks to find a way to move forward, but the truth had finally become clear, he wasn’t moving forward. Hell, he wasn’t even going backwards or standing still. He was useless.
Utterly, and completely useless.