Chapter Text
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you back? Your motels on the other side of town."
"Thank you, Mr. Kent. But, I think we both just need to take a walk right now." Bernard answered.
Conner stood a few feet away from the both of them, glaring at the grass like he was trying to light it on fire with his gaze.
"Okay. Just, wait here for a second. Please." Clark jogged up the porch to the front door and pulled it open.
A second later, he returned, glad to see the boys hadn't left.
"Here." He held out a folded scrap of paper, having grabbed the first blank page he'd found. "I know… that wasn't what you were hoping for. The flash drive. And I understand if you decide you'd rather not see me again. But you said you wanted to know about your biological family. So, this is the contact information for my cousin, Kara. She's… she's my only other living relative."
Conner raised his head and half glared at Clark, like he was trying to read the other man. After a prolonged minute, he silently snatched the paper and shoved it in his pocket.
"It's up to you. Be safe on your way back." Clark waved at them as they left, Conner back to glaring at the ground and Bernard holding his arm, subtly guiding him so he didn't walk into anything.
Yyyyy
"How are you feeling after all that?" Bruce asked softly, a sound asleep Damian draped across him as he floated.
It was past his bedtime, but neither parent was too concerned, given the circumstances.
"It's a lot to process. I'm… I'm angry, for one. Lex knew I always wanted to be a father. And to put Conner through all that? *Our* son? His own flesh and blood? I can't understand how I ever used to love him."
"You were young."
"Yeah. And dumb. I'm a journalist. It's my job to be able to tell when people are lying to me." Clark sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm… I'm sorry you're getting dragged through this."
Bruce, with a slow wave of his tailfin, moved closer to the dock. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't have known he'd do something like this. I don't think anyone could have."
Clark didn't say anything, but reached his hand down to hold Bruce's.
"I just… I still can't wrap my mind around it. I've had a son this whole time. I could have been raising him. He could have grown up here. With our boys. With us. But… Lex couldn't even give him that."
Clark's phone rang just then.
A bit annoyed, he pulled it out to silence it, but instead answered it when he saw who was calling.
"Bernard?"
*Mr. Kent. Hi. By any chance, did Conner go back to your place?*
"Conner? Hang on. I'm down at the lagoon right now. Let me check up at the house."
He stood and retrieved the walkie talkie kept on the boat and pressed the button.
"Hey, is Conner with you guys?"
There was silence on the other side for a moment, and then Ma answered.
*No. Why?*
"Bernard's looking for him. Could you let me know if you see him? I've got to go."
*Of course.*
Clark put the walkie talkie back and picked his phone back up. "He's not here. What happened?"
*We were both pretty fried when we got back to the motel, so I laid down to take a nap, but Conner said he wanted to walk around some more. He was still gone when I woke up, and his phone's going right to voicemail.*
Clark frowned and hopped back down to the dock. "Do you know where he could be?"
*No. I'm heading out to look for him, though.*
"Okay. I'll help look. Call me if you find him."
*Same. Thank you, sir.*
"Conner's missing?" Bruce asked worriedly, shifting Damian as the pup stirred.
"Yeah. He's upset, and he doesn't know the area well, so I'm going to give Bernard a hand finding him."
Yyyyy
The sun hadn't fully set yet, which helped as Clark drove back towards town.
Smallville wasn't very big, population-wise, but due to how much of it was farmland there were back roads that went everywhere.
Conner could have easily gotten lost.
Clark tapped the brakes when he saw a figure up ahead, but quickly realized it was just a scarecrow.
In fact, it was the third scarecrow he had nearly stopped for.
He had been driving around for nearly forty-five minutes, mentally switching back and forth between cursing Lex, and hoping Conner hadn't wandered too far away.
There were wild animals in the area-
Wait.
Clark stopped his truck and backed it up until he was able to get a better look at what he'd seen.
Under a tree, several feet from the road, was a person.
He sat with his back against the trunk, knees pulled up to his chest, head bowed.
Clark pulled the truck off the road and hopped out.
"Conner." He called, approaching.
Conner ignored him turning his head away.
"Are you okay?"
"'M fine." Conner managed, voice thick.
"Bernard's worried about you. Why aren't you answering your phone?"
Conner closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, visably letting out some of the tension in his posture.
"The battery died." He admitted quietly.
Clark nodded and got down on one of his knees, giving Conner his space, but still talking to him on his level.
"Do you want to use mine?"
Conner didn't respond, and the two just sat in silence for a while, the only sound being the wind.
"I grew up with a sealed file." He finally whispered. "That means that whoever gave me up didn't want me knowing who they were. Contacting them. But I thought… I thought I was the product of an affair or something. That, maybe since it's been so long, it would be okay to find you guys."
"I'm sorry, Conner."
"I should have just stayed in Metropolis. Or actually stomped on that… that stupid flash drive."
He shifted a bit and Clark was able to see blood.
"Conner-,"
But as soon as he saw what Clark was looking at, he quickly shoved his hand in his pocket, wincing as the material hurt his raw knuckles.
"I tripped, okay? I fucking tripped."
"Okay." Clark said softly. It was obvious that he hadn't, that he'd punched something, but now wasn't the time to push. "Okay. Can I at least take a look at it?"
"No."
Clark frowned and looked back towards his truck. "What about Bernard? Will you let Bernard take a look at it?"
Conner glared at a bush, eyes fixed on it.
But he closed his eyes and exhaled again.
"Fine."