Chapter Text
Kansas is always peaceful.
It is the opposite of bustling Metropolis with its quiet fields and warm people. There are no skyscrapers and loud voices in his ears. Clark can just exist. It’s just him and his family.
Clark always sits on the roof when he needs time to just breathe, to sit in the quietness of home and his family are more than happy to give him time. He enjoys basking in the movement below him even if he isn’t in it. Being superman is amazing and he would never give it up but sometimes it gets to be too much.
The sun is orange on the horizon painting everything soft in its glow.
Clark basks in the sun.
A voice breaks him out of his meditative state. It is far away so the voice is muffled but Clark can hear it if he strains his ears. The voice sounds so broken and beaten down.
“-I thought that you would kill him because-” The voice falters slightly, “-because he took me away from you.”
“It’s not that easy Jason.” The all too familiar voice of Batman responds.
It takes a minute for the name to register in his mind. Jason, Jason Todd the second robin, the one Bruce had been too late to save. The death that almost broke Bruce for good.
Clark remembers the little boy whose laughter lit up Bruce’s whole world. The boy who was so fearless that even Bruce was terrified for him. The boy that claimed that robin was magic.
Clark had always loved the robins that Bruce has had over the years, Dick Grayson was the first and found a safe space with Clark. Tim Drake was more standoff-ish but has found a friend in Kon and hopefully will come to view Clark in the same light as Dick. But Jason didn’t have enough time for Clark to build that relationship with him. His light went out too soon for that.
He shouldn’t be listening to this, he should stop but it is like a train wreck that you can’t help but watch.
He wants to stop Bruce from being Batman for this conversation. Jason doesn’t need Batman right now, he needs Bruce. But that doesn’t happen and so Clark listens to the ultimatum, to Jason’s pure desperation, to Batman’s morality being challenged by his son.
Then Clark hears a sick slicing noise, a gasp of pain and a gun dropping to the floor.
There is a mad cackle as the Joker begins to speak. Even after years of knowing Bruce and by extension his rogues he still feels a shiver of disgust run down his spine.
“You found a way so that everyone loses!” He says with the glee of a madman.
Clark doesn’t even think before he is flying to Gotham. A sonic boom echoing in the quiet Kansas air. He can’t see what is happening. He doesn’t know what Bruce did but it can’t be good.
Clark barrels through the thick smog of Gotham just in time to see the bomb go off.
The grey sky is painted red with the light of the explosion. He is too late but he still needs to try. Clark can see Bruce digging through the rubble of the apartment, the joker still laughing at his attempts to find his son.
He can’t see Jason, if he was dead then he would see a body somewhere in the rubble.
Could Jason have gotten out before the explosion or dragged himself out of it and is bleeding out somewhere?
Clark listens to the heart beats in the surrounding area. He couldn’t have gotten far in his state but if he can’t find him then Clark will expand his search perimeter.
The heart beats around him are a little fast because of the explosion but nothing that could indicate pain or injury. Clark almost jumps when he hears the faint heartbeat coming from an alley two streets over.
Jason is fast, he shouldn’t be surprised since he was raised by Bruce, the boy has already gotten far enough away that Bruce won’t be searching for him yet. Clark flies over to where he hears the heartbeat slowing down.
He touches down in the alley to see a figure hunched over and using the wall to inch forward. His own heart stutters at the sight of the boy he once knew now a broken teenager.
“Jason.” Clark says and walks over to him.
“Don’t touch me!” He growls but doesn’t turn to look at him.
“Jason, you are bleeding out from your wounds.” Clark stands his ground and puts a hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“What’s it to you? I could die in this alley and it wouldn’t affect your life, Supes.” Jason says, then turns his head so Clark can see his eyes, which are now a bright shade of green. “Tell Bruce I died- he probably prefers it that way.”
“I am going to get you to a hospital for your injuries.” Clark tells him, ignoring his later comment, and picks Jason up in his arms.
Jason struggles and protests against this but he has gotten too weak from his injuries to really put up a fight.
Eventually as they float up above the Gotham skyline Jason speaks again, “Not Gotham, he will look for me.”
Clark wants to protest that Bruce would not disrespect his privacy and that he wants Jason back more then anything. He stays silent despite his wants, this is for Jason’s comfort not his.
So Clark flies away from Gotham.
𖤓
He takes off all identifiable items of clothing that the both for them have on before he flies them to Metropolis General Hospital. The nurses take one look at Jason and wave them through for immediate care.
The nurse who first saw them directs Clark to set Jason down on the hospital bed and begin to work on his injuries. Clark watches with his heart in his throat as the boy he once knew lays passed out on the bed, nurses checking his vitals.
A nurse in bright blue scrubs and a clipboard in hand leads him out of the room.
“They will need room to work and I need information from you.” She says and takes his arm to steer him out of the room into the hallway.
Clark goes without a fight but glances over his shoulder with concern at Jason.
“Let’s start with the basics-” She takes out one of the pens in her front pockets and clicks it. “-what is the patient’s name and your relationship?”
Clark can’t tell the truth, Jason is legally dead and he can’t tell them that. So Clark tells them a convenient lie.
“His name is Jason Kent and I am his uncle.” He tells her and she scribbled down some notes.
“What caused his injuries?” She asks him, her grey eyes are sharp as they study his body language for a hint of anything he could be hiding.
“I don’t know-” Not exactly the truth and not exactly a lie, he doesn’t know what really happened. Then the rest of his statement is anything but the truth. “-my sister asked me to check on him since she hadn’t heard from him in a couple days and when I got to his apartment he was on the floor like this.”
The nurse doesn’t say anything but her shoulders aren’t as tense so she must believe his story enough to not fight him on it. She leaves him soon after to enter the information into their system.
Clark finds a chair outside the room and waits for one of the nurses to talk to him with his head in his hands.
It feels like hours before the door to the room Jason is in is opened. His head snaps up and he is to his feet in an instant. A different nurse from before, this one in light lavender scrubs, smiles kindly at him.
“He is stable now, Mr. Kent. He is sleeping now but he will be okay to leave in the morning. We just want to monitor him a little more before we turn him loose.” She says with an upbeat tone to her voice that is surprising for an emergency room nurse. “Jason is quite the fighter. He will be fully healed in a couple weeks.”
Clark lets out the breath he has been holding, “Can I see him?”
“Of course.” The nurse smiles.
He creeps into the room so he doesn’t wake Jason who is passed out still. Clark has been monitoring his heartbeat since he found him but his hand goes to Jason’s wrist anyway. He slumps into a chair next to the hospital bed when he feels it thumps softly, all the tension leaving him instantly.
“What happened to you Jason? How are you here?” Clark asks the air.
Jason looks both the same and so different. Scars litter his body, from small nicks to long jagged ones. The most prominent scars are the ones on his face. A white streak is now in his hair and Clark wonders if he dyed it or if that is just natural for him now. He watches the rise and fall of Jason’s chest and wonders what to do now.
His phone begins to ring. Lois’s contact on his screen as he accepts the call. He holds it up to his ear and waits for Lois to speak.
“Where are you? Are you okay?” She asks with a hint of anxiety but her voice remains familiarly firm.
Clark loves how well she can hold herself together even when he can’t.
“I am at the hospital with-” His voice fails him a bit before he continues. “-with someone who needed my help, I will be staying here until he gets out in the morning then bringing him home.”
“Is he one of your colleagues?” Lois says discreetly and they both know what she means by that.
“Not exactly, he is Bruce’s kid.” Clark admits to her.
“Is he alright and is Bruce on his way?” She questions him.
“They said that he will fully recover in a few weeks but they are letting him go in the morning. And he asked to not see Bruce, it is complicated, far too complicated to talk about over the phone right now.” Clark explains but his voice is strained with emotion.
Lois is quiet for a moment, he can almost see the crease that has formed in between her eyebrows as she tries to figure out what is going on.
“Alright, just keep me updated. Also Kon says that he is heading back to the tower, he says bye.” She says softly.
“I will have to make this up to him later, he was excited for movie night.” Clark tells her and feels like a terrible father.
When Kon had first come into Clark’s life he didn’t know what to do. He felt a mix of violated and confused. It made him want to push the boy away and he did exactly that for months.
That changed when Ma and Lois finally got through to him that this kid had no one else. Lex certainly isn’t a father figure to him so Clark picked up that mantle. It had been scary at first because he thought that he would mess it all up but after hearing Kon’s excitement at having a kryptonian name Clark knew he could do it.
Kon had recently moved into Titian’s tower with Robin, Impluse, and Wondergirl. They have gotten Kon out of his bubble of the Kent family. He finally had a group of friends which meant that he wasn’t around as often. So now movie night has become a sacred thing and he bailed on it.
“I know that he will forgive you when he knows what happened.” Lois reassures him.
“I hope so.” Clark says in return.
They say their goodbyes and the room falls into silence again.
𖤓
When Jason wakes up all he feels is pain. That isn’t abnormal, he is used to pain, but all he can remember is the explosion and Bruce’s rejection. There are just flashes of memory of what happened after but nothing fully coherent yet.
He doesn’t want to be awake (or alive really) it would be so much better to slip back into sweet nothingness. Unconsciousness has always been kind to him. Against his own wishes his eyes open to see a hospital room. It is a sterile white color that makes Jason feel uncomfortable.
Jason hasn’t been in a hospital in years, so why is he in one now?
How did he even get here?
“Are you awake?”
Jason practically jumps out of his skin when he hears the horribly familiar voice of Superman. He tries to sit up but that messes with his ribs and he grunts as they send a shock of pain through his side.
“I thought I hallucinated you.” Jason says because that is the first thing that comes to mind.
Superman- Clark Kent- gives him a soft smile, “Good thing I wasn’t, you probably wouldn’t have made it very far.”
Jason is now tense on the bed because he knows that if Superman is here then Batman will be close behind him. They will lock him in Arkham next to that clown and Jason will probably deserve it.
“Are you waiting for me to recover to arrest me?” He asks wearily and makes note of the ways of escape he could manage in this state, which is not many but he has to at least try.
Superman’s blue eyes widen in surprise at the question.
“Why would I arrest you?” He asks.
“Do you not know what I did?” Jason answers his question with one of his own.
Does he truly not know what Jason has been doing in Gotham? Superman should be slapping the cuffs on him right now… but he isn’t?
“I know a little,” Jason swears that the man looks almost nervous as he speaks. “Bruce told me about the red hood and then I found you in the red hood’s gear so I put two and two together.”
So why is he not in jail yet?
Superman knows that he has killed people but isn’t acting like Jason is the criminal that he obviously is. What is his game here? What does Superman want from him?
“Why aren’t you arresting me? I have killed people, Superman.” Jason tells him in an agitated plea for him to see reason.
This gives Superman pause and Jason thinks that he finally got through to him.
“Were they innocent?” He says hesitation on his face as he rings his hands together.
“Of course not, I am a criminal not a monster Supes.” Jason feels himself bristling at the question.
“Then you were doing what you thought was right. Vigilantes break the law to help others, you were trying to help the people of Gotham right?” Superman asks and stares at him expectantly.
“Always, Batman is too soft with his rogues and Arkham is a revolving door.” Jason explains to him.
Superman seems to brighten at that, “I don’t agree with violence for violence sake and have the same view that Bruce does but if you were doing it to help then I can’t fault you. That would be pure hypocrisy on my part Jason.”
He doesn’t know how to respond to that. Superman was the epitome of goodness and hope so him saying that he accepts that Jason murders people is insane.
He must be dreaming or hallucinating or concussed.
“I must have a concussion.” Jason mutters and puts a hand to his head.
The door opens before Superman can say anything. A woman in yellow scrubs with a clipboard in hand walks in.
She looks cheerfully at him as he tries to sit up to look at her. “Please don’t sit up on my account, I want you to be comfortable.”
She walks over and begins to check his vitals, her brown hair slipping out of her ponytail and getting into her eyes as she works. When she is done she looks satisfied with his level of recovery.
“You are going to be recovering for a few weeks because of your neck wound and the broken ribs but you should make a full recovery Mr. Kent.” She says and scribbles down a few things on her clipboard.
Jason subtly looks over at Superman who nods. He doesn’t even want to know why Superman used his last name for Jason.
“Thank you.” Jason mumbles.
“I am going to keep you until nine then your Uncle can take you home to recover.” She says and exits the room.
He looks over at his supposed uncle with an eyebrow raised, Superman has the self awareness to look sheepish.
“I needed to be family to stay with you so I lied.” He explains and Jason feels a little bit of surprise.
“I didn’t know you were capable of lying.” Jason remarks sarcastically. Superman doesn’t acknowledge his statement except for his smile growing wider.
“Do you have someone I can call or a place you can go?” He asks Jason, looking into his eyes and letting his smile drop a bit.
Jason could go back to Nanda Parbat but he doesn’t want to see Talia’s disappointment. She had told him that his idea was reckless and wouldn’t work but Jason did it anyway. The welcome back wouldn’t be warm or inviting and Jason would rather die again than go back to Bruce so he shakes his head.
“Then would you like to come home with me to recover? We have an extra room at the farm.” Superman offers like it is no big deal but Jason can see the hint of desperation in his voice.
Jason has never really got to know Superman like Dick did. His time as robin was cut short so he never formed a relationship with the other heroes except the titans who only viewed him as Dick’s annoying younger brother which didn’t really count.
He narrows his eyes at his suggestion, “What do you get out of this?”
Jason grew up on the streets and learned that kindness always comes with conditions. Superman must get something out of being nice to him or maybe this is pity? Pity would be worse than fake kindness.
“Nothing.” Superman says quickly as he holds his hands up. “I just want to help you.”
Jason doesn’t trust him one bit.
“What if I don’t want your help?”
“Then I drop you off at the nearest safe location and not tell anyone I saw you.” He says and sits back in his seat.
That is… unexpected.
“Not even Batman?” Jason presses him for confirmation.
“Not even Batman, unless you want me to.” Superman reassures him which, to Jason’s surprise, works a little.
“Where do you live?” He asks and stares up at the hospital’s white ceiling with frustration.
“Smallville, Kansas.” Pride seeps into his voice as he tells Jason.
“Who do you live with?” Jason continues. Superman gives him a grin,
“My parents, Lois and our kids.”
Superman spawned- more then once? Jason has been gone for too long.
“Do they know about me?” He asks but it is more quiet this time.
They probably won’t approve of him bringing home a murderer. Jason knows that Bruce certainly doesn’t want Jason in his house so Supes' family probably will not want him there.
“Lois knows a little but this is complicated to explain over the phone. Can I tell them what I know? If not I won’t.” Superman asks him gently.
Jason wants to recoil from the gentleness or push him away but he feels just so tired from everything so he just gives him a weak nod.
“Just don’t tell Batman.” It sounds so raw that it makes Jason cringe.
“Not unless you want me too.” Superman promises.
He lets sleep pull him into soft nothingness with that promise in mind.
𖤓
It’s nine in the morning when the nurse who questioned Clark comes back with a packet of information on how to handle broken ribs.
She also leads them out of the hospital room and out into the lobby. Jason walks with a little bit of a limp that Clark didn’t notice until now. He stands tall as he can but keeps a steadying hand on his ribs.
“You are all good to go Mr. Kent.” She says to Jason with a neutral expression on her face. “If you need anything else please come back.”
“Thank you.” He says and lets Clark lead him out of the hospital into the sunlight of Metropolis.
They walk down the street for a few minutes so the hospital is out of sight. Clark can’t risk anyone seeing him fly away. The two of them walk into an alley and get ready to make the journey to Kansas.
“What position would be more comfortable for me to carry you Jason?” Clark asks as he changes into his suit.
“There is no position that won’t be a blow to my ego so it doesn’t matter.” Jason says with a grumpy expression that Clark struggles not to laugh at.
He scoops the teen up and secures his arms under his legs and behind his back. This hopefully won’t be too hard on his broken ribs. Jason makes no protest but Clark did see him grow tense when he got too close.
Clark doesn’t know what Jason has been through since he came back to life so his skittishness makes Clark think it wasn’t good. He wants to tell Bruce about Jason or at least tell him that he is okay but Jason wouldn’t be comfortable with that so Clark doesn’t.
The flight to Kansas takes about an hour and a half because Clark wants to make sure that he doesn’t disturb Jason’s ribs. He touches down just outside of the porch.
Jason gets out of his hold as soon as possible, his pride and fear probably telling him to go in on his feet. Clark walks beside Jason up to the door.
Ma opens the door and begins to say hello but her voice falters when she sees Jason.
“Who is this Clark?” She asks in that voice she uses for the kids.
Clark smiles, “This Jason, he needs a place to recover from an injury and I suggested bringing him here since he has nowhere else to go.”
He hopes his eyes can convey that he will explain everything soon. Ma gives him a look that means that they will be talking about this once she has Jason settled.
“Let’s get you inside dear, when was the last time you had a hot meal?” She says and directs him inside with a hand on his arm.
Jason gives Clark a tense look but goes when he gives him a nod of encouragement.
Ma makes him a plate of food and settles him down at the table. Clark watches with a fond look as she fusses over a slightly uncomfortable Jason as he looks at Clark for help.
Clark just gives him a shrug and walks to the living room where Lois and Pa are waiting for him. Lois raises an eyebrow at him while Pa gives him a smile.
“I will explain when Ma gets in here.” He says softly.
Lois gets up to hug him and kiss his check, “As long as you talk Clark, it is good to see that you are okay.”
Clark is surprised when he relaxes a bit because he couldn’t tell that he was tense at all. They both take a seat on the couch then wait for Ma to walk into the living room. She walks in with a semi trouble look on her face and sits on the arm chair next to Pa.
“Poor dear is skittish like a stray cat.” She comments sadly.
“He has been through a lot, much more than someone his age should.” He agrees with a solemn expression.
“What happened, Clark?” Lois asks with concern.
And he tells them everything he knows, he tells them about Jason being adopted by Bruce, him being robin and his death, then he recounts the last twelve hours.
By the end of his story Ma has a hand over her mouth, Pa’s mouth is in a hard line and Lois looks like she is ready to go to war.
“-he has nowhere else to go, I can’t turn him away.” Clark finishes with a pleading look on his face. His parents exchange a conversation only through their eyes.
After a beat of silence Pa turns to him with a soft expression.
“We would be happy to have him here, he obviously needs a soft place to land and we can give that to him.” He says and grabs Ma’s hand gently.
Clark lets his shoulders slump in relief, “Thank you.”
“You would never turn someone away who needs it and we are the same way Clark.” Lois says and lays her head on his shoulder.
The room is bathed in soft silence before Jason enters, his posture screaming how uncomfortable he is.
“Um- can I lay down for a while? If it’s not too much trouble?” Jason tries to make himself small and Clark feels his heart twist in his chest.
“Let me show you to the guest room Jason.” Clark stands and leads him out of the room.
They climb up the stairs and he shows him the rooms and where the bathroom is if he wants to shower. Jason just nods with a tired and defeated expression.
Clark opens the door to the guest room they have. It is pretty bare except for the essentials like a bed, a dresser, a closet and a bed side table. The red flannel covers on the bed and black curtains are the only pops of color in the room.
Jason wastes no time in laying down, even though he has grown considerably since he last saw him he looks small and fragile like this. He wants to reassure him that Bruce still wants him back but at this point of time he is sure Jason won’t believe him.
“We will be down stairs if you need anything.” He tells him and gets a weak nod in reply.
𖤓
Jason lays in bed until the sun sets.
Sometimes he sleeps but most of the time he just stares at the ceiling. He wants to hate it here, to throw things and scream. He wants to make such a mess so they can’t hurt him first. His mind drifts to the Kents and their kindness. There is something in him that is restraining him from pushing them away.
It is later on when there is a soft knock on the door. He doesn’t move his head but he looks over to see Mrs. Kent standing there with a soft expression.
“I made you a plate of food dear, if you want it.” She tells him and her eyes ask him to get up.
Jason struggles to pull himself from the bed. He just wants to waste away in that bed. It is a comfortable place to fade away. Still, Mrs. Kent’s gaze is piercing in a way that makes him feel like he is more of a terrible person for not saying yes. So he gets up and follows behind her into the kitchen.
The whole family is there, including a kid about seven, he has on a superman tee shirt and a grin that matches Superman’s to a T. This must be one of the kids he mentioned before. He blinks over at Jason with wide blue eyes and a surprised expression.
“Jon-” Lois puts a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “-this is Jason, he will be staying with us for a while.”
Jason gives him a little wave and sits down in the chair next to him.
“Hi Jason!” He says cheerfully. He is definitely related to Supes.
“Hi.” Jason tries to muster up some energy but it falls a little flat.
The Kent’s are a cheerful bunch, Lois is a bit of an exception to that but she is smiling more often than not, they all talk about their days and anything else that comes to mind.
Jason is zoned out most of the time, his mind far away from Kansas and dangerously close to Gotham. He tries to not think about Batman and the sting of rejection. His mind is quick to bypass his wishes.
“Is the bed comfortable?” Superman asks him with an encouraging look. He is trying to drag him into conversation and Jason wants to be swallowed up by the floor.
“It is very comfortable, thanks.” Jason tells him.
Superman looks awkward but nods at him and continues eating.
Then he zones out again.
This cycle repeats until the man stops trying.