Chapter Text
All things considered, Jon was a very nice little boy. He was always smiling and talking, and was very smart for his age. Kon liked him, though he didn't see Jon often. The boy didn't know about the whole superhero thing yet, so Kon wasn't around him much. Though, it was a little saddening that they had to keep the secret, given that when Kon was around Jon, the boy would make sad little remarks about how much he wished his father was around more. Kon could relate, in a way.
Clark, who Kon couldn't decide if he was a father figure or mentor or maybe both, came to Kon one day after a small mission in Metropolis. "Kon, can I ask you a favor?"
Kon raises his brow. It's not often that Clark asks things of him. "Sure?"
Clark sighs and brushes his hair back. "Lois is going to be out of the country for a little while, and I have a mission off planet at the same time," Oh, no, no, Kon does not do babysitting. "We have a babysitter scheduled for Jon, but I was hoping you'd keep an ear out for him?" Oh, thank god, he’s not being asked to watch a kid.
Obviously, "Yeah, no problem," Kon said yes. He always had an ear out for his name from the boy anyway. Though they may not be close, Jon was family – perhaps even a little brother – and Kon looked out for his family; and all those similar. "You know you didn't even have to ask," Clark laughs sheepishly.
It was three days after Lois and Clark left that Kon heard something. He was in the middle of a fight, punching at robots with Tim and Bart. His side is winning, obviously, the robots falling in heaps and metal and oil. The banter between the heroes is light and fun, though Tim makes some mildly concerning remarks about his sleep schedule.
Then, a little faint and all the way in Kansas, "Stop, stop, stop it!" In Jon's small little voice, full of fear. It wasn't like a child when they didn't want to share of didn't want to eat dinner, no that was full of the fear of a child who couldn't fight back.
"Fuck, how fast can we finish this?" Kon calls out to his partners, just as Tim slams his staff into one of the robot's faces.
"Given we have a speedster on the team," a grunt and a swing, then the clang of metal, "and you also have super speed, this should be pretty quick!" Bart kicks off a wall and kicks a bot, and Kon rips the head off another. Kon can hear Jon crying in his ears, and huffs in anger.
Kon smashes in the final robot's face, and then, it's over. "Okay, I'd love to stay and chat but I got shit to do," he motions to his ears, and both understand, not complaining when Kon shoots into the air and heads for Kansas. He flies fast, but not quite as fast as Superman. While he flies, he changes into a civilian outfit, pulling a pair of jeans over his suit and slipping a shirt on over the top and under his jacket.
He lands right in front of the porch, and can't help but freeze at the sounds he hears. His brow furrows and he grimaces, but he rushes inside and braces for what's inside. He sees it in only a second before he does something, but the scene he sees is forever engraved into his mind.
Jon is pinned down to the floor, his face red and puffy and covered in tears. The babysitter – some random from Smallville that Kon didn't bother to know the name of – has Jon's wrists held in one hand over his head. The babysitters pale face is pressed against Jon's stomach, but the young woman moves away when Kon busts open the door. When she moves, Kon can see Jon a little better: his pants pulled down around his ankles and his thick flannel shirt unbuttoned till only the top two were left.
The woman is young, only early twenties, with dyed pink and brown hair with pale skin and brown eyes. Her hands immediately fly away from Jon, raising into the air in a surrendering motion.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Kon growls as he stalks over to the scene, pushing the woman away from Jon harshly with his boot. She falls back with a yelp, and looks up at Kon with fear in her eyes. And Kon was glad.
He can hear Jon continuing to cry and sniffle behind him, hearing the boy stuffy across the floor now that he's free. Kon pulls his intimidation, pushing his boot against the woman's chest and pulling his sunglasses down with one hand. "Get the fuck out of here and never come back. You're only getting mercy because there's a kid here," he, gently as to not use his super strength, kicks his foot upwards hitting the woman's chin. She's been stammering and panicked the entire time. Kon's not an idiot, letting the woman go. He knows she can't hide from him, and she will get the beating of a life time, once Lois and Clark get wind of this.
He turns away, turning to Jon, who has his pants hanging loosely around his hips and his shirt is still unbuttoned. Jonathan's crying has calmed, but he's still teary and breathing hard. His big purple eyes wander behind Kon, presumably at the woman pushing herself off the floor and running to the door.
"K-Kon-" he chokes on the words, gulping and gasping for air. Kon finds himself falling to his knees, taking Jon's hands gently in his own. "Kon, that was so scary," is voice is a whisper. "I didn't know you were coming home..." his thin and lanky body shakes as a small sob forces itself from Jon's mouth.
Kon shushes him, "You're okay now, you're okay," he lets go of Jon's hands, wrapping his arms around Jon's shoulders. He pulls the boy close, who digs his fingers into Kon's jacket. "Come on, let's get you a bath and a change of clothes," Jon gives a small nod, and allows Kon to pick him up off the floor and carry him upstairs.
He holds Jon easily as he sifts through the boys closet, asking him what he wanted to wear. "The dog shirt," Jon tells him, pointing to a shirt with little white dogs on it. It was bought because it looked like Krypto. So, he sets Jon down in the bathroom with an almost scalding tub of water (because that's how Jon likes it, apparently,) and a cup of orange juice from the fridge sitting on the ledge of the tub.
After Kon leaves the bathroom, he throws a few towels in the dryer to warm them, and orders a small pizza. It's only around eight pm, and the boy is probably hungry after something like that. Shivers shoot up Kon's spine as he stands at the foot of the stairs and looks at the room. The blankets and pillows usually on the couch are strewn on the floor. The front door is left ajar – Kon closes it quickly – and most saddening, is the comic book left open on the coffee table and the one fallen on the floor, edges folded.
The dryer beeps, and Kon takes the towel upstairs to Jon. The boy has been silent the entire time, the only sounds Kon was able to hear was the sound of the water gently splashing. "Jon, I got you a towel," he leans against the door, knocking with the back of his hand. "Can I come in?"
Hesitant, then, small and tiny, "Yeah," Kon opens the door with a gentle smile, and puts the towel down on a stool next to the tub. Jon has his knees pulled up to his chest, face squashed in between his knees.
"You gonna be okay bud?" Kon sits on the floor in front of the tub, holding the towel tightly to keep it warm. "That was really scary, I'm sure,"
"Rachel touched my privates," Jon says in a quiet voice, one that Kon never hears from the boy. Jon isn't a quiet kid, he's loud and expressive and lights up ever room he's in, but now, the room is dark. It's almost as though Jon's gloom brings darkness into the room.
"I'm sorry," Kon knew what it was like to be groomed; his relationships with Tana Moon and Knockout coming to mind when he thinks about the scene he saw with this Rachel woman and Jon. "That's happened to me before too," he says, not looking at his brother with his back turned. "You're going to be okay, even if it's scary," he's not sure how to talk to an eight year old about this, how to help them cope and stuff. If he's ever come across victims, they were always older, at least teenagers; Jon was so small, in the tub. Kon turns to look at Jon a little, his face mostly obscured by his curly black hair. His fingers, cupping the front of his legs, are flushed and pruning with the hot water. From what he can see of Jon's face, it's red with his crying.
"I want my mom," and Kon's heart breaks. He doesn't know what to do. For Lois, it's probably two or three AM.
After a breath of silence, Kon stands. "I ordered a pizza, here's a warm towel, why don't you get dressed while I go fetch the pizza. We can sit in bed and eat pizza and watch a movie together, does that sound fun?" A distraction will help, hopefully.
"Mom says I can't eat in my room," Jon says, though he's peeked up at Kon and his eyes have a glint of happiness.
"Mom doesn't have to know," Kon smiles and ruffles Kon's damp hair before turning to the hallway, hurrying down the steps as he hears a car pull into the drive way.
He takes the pizza (and a non caffeinated soda) to Jon's room, setting them on the edge of his bed and looking over a selection of VHS tapes near and old fashioned TV. Clark has always liked old tech. There are little steps in the hallway, and then Jon opens his bedroom door with a creak. His pajama bottoms, Batman themed ironically, ate loose around his waist, and Jon holds one side up on his hip as to not let them fall. He crawls onto the bed, a small smile on his face when he sees the pizza and soda.
"So, do you want to watch Treasure Planet or The Swan Princess?" Kon holds up the plastic VHS cases, flipping them to the back to look at the descriptions. Jon opens the pizza box and pulls a slice, the cheese dripping onto the cardboard as Jon leans over the box to eat the slice. He smiles a bit as he chews.
Through his bite, he says "Treasure Planet," and Kon starts the movie. The snuggle up in the bed, Kon laying a blanket over the top of them and pulling the pizza close. They drink the soda straight out of the bottle, and soon, Jon is getting drifty and tired. His head is leaned against Kon and his body sags, so Kon lays him down on the pillows.
"Don' leave," Jon mutters as Kon begins to stand from the bed, and Kon freezes. Jon holds the edge of his jacket firmly (probably super strength starting to develop) and looks at Kon with lidded sad eyes. "Don' wan' nigh'mares," Jon yawns.
"I'll stay," Kon says, pulling his jacket off and tossing it to the end of the bed. His shoes had been kicked off a while ago. Kon grabs the remote and pauses the movie, then reaches to Jon's bedside table and turns off the light.
"She'll ge' me if I'm alone," Jon slurs, nestling his head against Kon's side when he lays down. Kon silently stares at the ceiling, at little glowing stars and painted clouds. His hand runs through Jon's hair, through his sweet little curls. The boy begins to snore in only a few minutes, and Kon's eyes begin to get heavy as well. He closes his eyes and doesn't remember falling asleep.
He wakes up though, to a ping from his 'hero' phone. Groggily, he turns the screen on to read the message.
Superman (Dad #2)
Looks like I'm coming back home early! I'll be back on Earth tomorrow afternoon. I hope you join the family for dinner this weekend when Lois is home. See you soon.
Kon grunts. How is he going to tell Clark he kicked the babysitter out without humiliating Jon? For boys especially, getting assaulted like that his hard to talk about. Would it be harder because Jon is so young?
He leaves that for the morning when he hears Jon huff in his sleep. His little fingers grip Kon's shirt and his face finds itself shoved deeper into the blankets. Kon closes his eyes and falls back asleep.