Chapter Text
“Jordan, turn that off. I don’t want to hear another word out of that asshole’s mouth.”
Jon flopped onto the couch beside him, a deep scowl set on his face.
Jordan understood completely. He hated the situation too. But a combination of morbid curiosity and a desire to stay on top of current events, no matter how terrible, made him want to stay tuned.
He glanced at the TV.
Red, white and blue confetti was streaming down onto the stage. The crowd cheered, many waving flags and wearing their red hats, as the newly declared president-elect made his way onto the stage.
Jordan’s stomach twisted at the sight of him.
“Bro, seriously,” Jon snarled, shooting Jordan a look. He didn’t miss the glimmer of red within it and, with a sigh, he decided he’d watch this grim affair online later.
Jon had been having a rough time with everything lately and didn’t need be triggered by this. And maybe it would be best for him to take a moment to breathe and process too.
He picked up the remote, flicking it off and allowing the dim glow to fade from the room.
The only illumination in the small living room of their apartment now came from the streetlamp outside. He glanced at it, listening to the sound of honking horns and joyful cheers in the distance.
Even in a relatively progressive city like Metropolis, some were clearly excited at the prospect of a Luthor presidency.
He despised the entire thing, but he’d been watching the campaigns closely for months. He’d been hoping for the best, but this wasn’t exactly a shock.
Lex Luthor had managed to play on people’s worst fears with his hateful rhetoric and had rallied enough to his side to carry him to victory. He’d pulled the disaffected together with promises of a new America. And a very big part of that promise, unsurprisingly, had been ridding the country of “dangerous outsiders.”
Apparently, he’d convinced 51.2% of the electorate that the biggest threat they faced came from extraterrestrials who had taken up residence amongst them.
Despite the fact that even the highest estimates put this population at 0.001% of the total, Luthor had managed to make his case.
Jordan had been doing his best to stay positive throughout, listening to his parents’ reassurances that everything would be okay. But it had undoubtedly put a huge damper on his second year at MetU and it was impossible not to feel a personal sense of guilt about it all.
He’d made a public debut as Superboy a few months after his high school graduation. At the time, he hadn’t expected Luthor to run for office, nor had he anticipated becoming a rallying cry for his supporters. Sure, the man had been ranting about “alien invaders” for years, and occasionally sent out a wave of LuthorCorp drones in an attempt to track them down.
But people loved Superman and, naively, he’d expected to still find acceptance at his side. Luthor was on the radical fringes, his mom had reassured him. There was no reason to let fear hold him back.
Then, suddenly, Luthor hadn’t been on the fringes anymore. And everything had changed.
He’d managed to weasel his way into the presidential election, surprising all the pundits with his rapid rise.
Now, he’d won.
And one of his favourite things to do was use Superman and his “dangerous offspring” as a prime example of America’s hidden threat. Superman lording his power over them was bad enough, he’d argued in numerous stump speeches— and now there was proof that the world’s most famous alien was propagating his kind. He was no better than Morgan Edge, Luthor shouted to anyone who would listen— he was slowly priming the world for a Kryptonian takeover while smiling deceptively at the cameras.
It was nonsense, of course. Yet while some had quickly dismissed the slander against the hero, enough had bought it.
And they were abruptly facing at least four years of a Luthor presidency and whatever paranoid policies that would entail.
Another horn echoed in the distanced, followed by more rambunctious cheers.
Beside him, Jon let out a bitter scoff, slumping further into the old couch.
“Idiots,” he muttered, glaring towards the window.
Jordan didn’t disagree, but he was still doing his best to stay calm. He was Superboy now, he reminded himself— Superboy was supposed to help everyone, no matter what. He couldn’t let politics dampen his view of the people he had sworn to protect.
Even if he’d received a few more wary looks when out as his alter ego nowadays, he had to stay optimistic.
At least, that’s what his dad always said. It was getting harder and harder as all of this ramped up.
Jon, however, hadn’t chosen that role yet and he’d been loudly venting throughout. Jordan had never seen his brother as pessimistic and deftest as he had in the past few months.
“Now what?” Jon continued, the dark look still set deeply across his face. “Are Luthor’s alien detectors going to become a daily occurrence?” he shook his head. “Is everyone going to be subjected to a medical exam to prove that they’re human?”
Jordan swallowed nervously. There was no doubt that they’d both fail that.
“I hope not.”
“We can’t just hope anymore, Jordan,” his bother replied tersely, “this is it. We’re about to be living in a police state that is out to get us. We can’t just let it happen.”
Jordan squirmed uncomfortably. Of course he didn’t want that. He hated what was happening, and he hated that people like him had become targets simply for existing. But he also didn’t know what could be done.
The voters had spoken. As far as he was concerned, all he could do now was keep representing Krypton in the best possible light while he lived his private life with extra vigilance.
“We have the signal blockers,” he pointed out, raising his wrist.
He’d been wearing the thick silver band Jon had invented for over three years. Ever since LuthorCorp had sent out its first round of drones.
That had been a terrifying experience, and they probably would have been exposed if it hadn’t been for his girlfriend and her grandfather. That was the day he’d discovered that he’d unwittingly been dating an alien for four months— it had come as a shock, at first, but ultimately it had been a revelation that had brought them together. Kathy and Cobb Branden, both refugees from a planet called Yaro, had remained fixtures in all their lives ever since. Jordan had been thrilled when she’d decided to join them at MetU.
He glanced down at his phone at the thought, unsurprised to see that he had three missed messages from Kathy. She was undoubtedly watching the election results too, and just as wary and heartbroken.
“Those blockers probably only on work on LuthorCorp tech,” Jon pointed out, snapping him back to the grim conversation. “After January, that jerkwad is going to have the might of the entire US army at his disposal. Who knows what he’s concocting next. But, whatever he does, we can be pretty sure he won’t rest until he hunts down Superman and his entire family.”
Jordan felt the tight knot within him tighten. He knew that was probably true, and it was impossible not to feel wary.
“What do you suggest we do then?” he asked, letting out a heavy sigh. “Hide in the Fortress for the next four years?”
It was a poor attempt at a joke, but Jon simply scowled.
“I’m not hiding anywhere,” he said stubbornly, channeling his inner Lois Lane.
She’d been resolutely fighting against this rising tide the entire time too, of course. Though Luthor supporters dismissed her as part of the ‘alien conspiracy.’ As Superman’s closest known friend, their mom had been held up as a traitor to her country and her species. The online slander had been horrific. And that was all without the world knowing that she’d actually married him and carried his children. He could only image how much worse it would have been if they did.
“We need to get out there and make our voices heard,” Jon declared, “starting with the anti-Luthor rally on campus this weekend,” he looked at Jordan, “you should come.”
Big crowds had never really been his thing, and it weirdly felt like he’d be exposing himself if he jumped into something like that. Jon had been increasingly active on campus lately but Jordan had quietly sat it out. Though things were starting to feel different now that a new reality looked menacingly ahead.
“Jon, I—“
“You’d be there as Jordan Kent, not Superboy,” his brother cut him off, knowing how firmly he was holding to his apolitical stance while in costume.
He nodded slowly, relenting. “Sure, I’m there,” he decided.
“Bring Kathy too,” his brother added. “We all need to stick together, now more than ever. We can’t stand by and let the humans hunt us down.”
Jordan felt another ripple of discomfort at his brother’s statement. He understood the fear and frustration. But this new, combative Jon wasn’t what he was used to. And he didn’t like the distance he was putting between them am everyone else.
It had been slow at first but, as this progressed, the twin who’d once been reluctant to embrace his powers and identity was now clinging to it tightly.
Jordan was proud to be himself too, though he still held on to the nuances.
“It’s not all humans,” he pointed out. Even though he’d known the truth about his family for six years now, it still seemed weird to talk like that. He’d spent most of his life thinking he was human, and (no matter what Luthor did), he never wanted to get into an ‘us vs. them’ mentality. That didn’t seem productive, and was merely a reversal of what the red-hatted MAHA supporters had been saying.
“And we’re half-human,” he added. If anyone should be able to bridge the growing divide, surely it was them.
He was disheartened to hear Jon scoff again.
“Not in Luthor’s America,” his brother pointed out bluntly. “It doesn’t matter where we were born or who our mom is. We’re Kryptonians. Which means we’re right at the top of his target list and he’s going to try to strip us of every right we have. There is no use kidding yourself, Jordan.”
Jordan sighed. Unfortunately, he knew Jon wasn’t wrong. Luthor didn’t know about them specifically, but he’d theorized about hybrids and made it quite clear that they wouldn’t be given special treatment.
His goal was to get rid of anyone who was different. And he and Jon certainly fit the bill.
“I need to keep getting the signal blockers distributed. They might not block everything that comes our way, but they’ll help,” Jon continued, face set with determination. He’d been churning the bracelets out at the Fortress for months, and their mom had helped facilitate anonymous pickups for those in need. The tech they contained was able to scramble biometric scanners, allowing the wearer to pass for human. “As soon as Luthor comes into office, we need to start monitoring for his attacks. And we need to be ready with safe houses to protect anyone he targets.”
Even though the results had just been announced, his brother had clearly been thinking all this through for a while.
It was admirable in a lot of ways, and Jordan wondered if he should have been doing more too.
He’d been so wrapped up in school, and super duties, and his girlfriend. Plus, he hadn’t really allowed himself to accept this result as an actual reality.
Suddenly, they were only two months away from having a psychopath in charge of the country. A psychopath who hated their parents and was determined to root out anyone like them.
“I can’t believe this is really happening,” he whispered aloud, the anxiety coursing through him as it truly began to sink in.
“Well, it is,” Jon replied with a frown, “and we need to be ready. He’s going to try something big, I know it.”
It was harder than ever to hold on to hope.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Babe, who was that?”
Clark looked at his wife as he rounded the corner into the living room, sliding his phone back into his pocket.
It had rung while he was in the kitchen getting her a glass of water and his return had been delayed.
“Cobb Branden,” he replied, passing her the drink before slipping back into his spot on the couch.
It was nearly one am, but he was pretty sure neither of them would really be sleeping that night. Luthor’s election victory hung heavily in the air, and the last few hours had been a flurry of activity as Lois had put her next game plan in place.
She was going to keep fighting against the bigotry and fear, of course. And she’d wasted no time contacting some of the constitutional scholars she’d been working with. They hadn’t managed to keep Luthor out of office but, at the very least, she was going to be ready to expose every attempt to trample on peoples rights.
As a journalist, it had always been her duty. And as a wife and mother, this was extremely personal.
“How’s Cobb holding up?” Lois asked, grasping his arm for support after she placed her glass on the table.
It had been a surprise to find out that his mother’s old friend and former neighbour was, in fact, a fellow extraterrestrial refugee from a war-torn planet. But he’d been grateful for the revelation over the last three years, especially once Luthor ramped up his rallying cries.
“He’s upset, of course,” Clark shared with a heavy sigh, “I said I’d pop by tomorrow around noon. I think he needs someone to talk to.”
It was hard, feeling like a target even though you’d simply been living your life. It was something that (unfortunately) they shared.
Lois nodded before looking down at her own phone.
“The boys still haven’t called me back,” she noted, biting her lip. “Maybe we should head over to their apartment. Just to see if they’re okay.”
Frankly, Clark was tempted too. He knew they probably weren’t taking it well— especially Jon, who had become angrier and angrier with each passing month. He released a heavy sigh.
“We agreed we’d never arrive unannounced,” he said, reminding her of what they’d agreed to when the boys had first moved out on their own. They were young adults, trying to gain independence. Even though their parents could pop in in three seconds or less didn’t mean that they should.
Although he did allow himself to break one of their other rules for half a second. Just long enough to locate the location of their heartbeats.
“They’re home, and they’re safe,” he reported, “they probably just need some time.”
“They shouldn’t have to face this,” Lois replied softly, nestling against his shoulder. “That hateful, bigoted man should never have gotten this far. If we hadn’t—“
“Lois, we can’t change the past,” he cut her off, knowing where she was headed. “We just have to get through this, and stay one step ahead of him at all times.”
His wife nodded against him, but he could tell from her expression that her worry was deep.
Frankly, his was too. Having his greatest enemy in power was a nightmare, and he knew what the man would do to him and his family if he ever managed to track them down.
It was terrifying.
But, as always, they had to keep moving forward.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, lacing a hand through the ends of her hair as they both stared ahead, lost in the thought of what loomed ahead.
Little did they know, what Luthor had in store was even worse than what they’d imagined on that fateful night.
It truly was the beginning of the end.