by pebble/scifipony
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters: Kon-El, Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent Sr
Words: 817
Tags: Missing Scene, Light Angst, Family, Fluff
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Original Author's Note on Dreamwidth (Feb 25th, 2023): The release of his new solo series in April may make this fic no longer fit into canon continuity, in which case I guess treat this as an AU. But the idea for now is that this takes place shortly before Action Comics #1051.
“Okay, I think that’s everything,” Kon said, swinging his lone backpack over his shoulder.
Being erased from the timeline certainly had a lot of downsides, but one that he hadn’t even thought about until moving in with the Kents was that he no longer had any personal possessions. He’d picked up a few things while living on the farm, but it was still a pitifully small collection.
“Almost,” Martha said, stepping up beside her husband, hands hidden behind her back. “We have one more thing for you take along.”
Kon almost rolled his eyes — resisting the urge thanks to his years of having lived with the painfully polite couple. “You already gave me enough food to last ten Supermen a lifetime,” he laughed. “I don’t think I need any more.”
“It’s not food,” Jonathan said. “This is more of a practical item.”
He nodded to his wife, who pulled the small package out from behind her back. She smiled brightly as she dropped it into Kon’s hand.
The teen opened the little box. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the small black device sitting inside. He glanced up at them in confusion.
“A phone?”
“A cell phone,” Martha clarified, as if that was the part that was puzzling him. “It’s so you can call us if you ever need to. Or we can call you.”
Kon huffed in amusement. “I mean, I appreciate it, but… you know you guys literally only have to whistle to get my attention, right? I do have superhearing and superspeed. I can be back in seconds any time you need.”
“Of course,” Jonathan agreed. “And if there’s ever an emergency, we promise to do exactly that. This isn’t for emergencies, son. We were hoping you could use it to keep in touch. Between the emergencies.”
“We’re not trying to restrict you,” Martha hurried to add. “We told you we support this decision to move out, and we meant it. But a call every week or so would be nice.”
Kon looked between the two, trying to figure out what they were not saying here. He could see the obvious worry in both sets of eyes. It was touching, but he also felt the need to ease some of that concern.
“Look, I promise I’m going to okay,” he said. “And you don’t need to worry about me not keeping in touch. I’m only moving to Metropolis. I don’t intend to just disappear on you.”
The moment the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Of course. He should have realized sooner. That was exactly the problem. Because he had left them twice before, and he had simply disappeared on them both times. First with the Crisis event and then getting sucked into Gemworld. That second time, he’d quite literally vanished for them — erased from existence and thought. He may have lost his old life when the timeline reset, but they’d lost a son, and been left without even the memories to hold onto.
He felt a stab of guilt at not even thinking about it from that perspective before. Of course they were worried about him leaving again.
“Hey, look,” he said, grabbing their shoulders reassuringly. “I’ve got some things I need to sort out with my own life right now, but I promise I’m not going to just leave you guys behind. I’ll be back. And I’ll visit as often as you want me to.”
“I appreciate that,” Jonathan said, tears welling up behind his glasses.
“But you’ll take the phone anyway?” Martha asked, latching onto Kon’s hand nervously.
He glanced at Jonathan, who offered an encouraging nod.
“Humor us,” the older man said gently.
Realizing that he wasn’t going to calm them down with mere words, Kon finally relented.
“Of course I’ll take it.” He knew it wasn’t really about the phone at all, but they wanted to know that line of contact existed. And if it helped them feel a little better about saying goodbye, he wasn’t going to refuse it. “But please tell me you went with an unlimited plan on it, because you know I’m going to be bugging the life out of Cassie and Tim with this thing.”
Jonathan laughed, visibly relaxing as he accepted the concession. “As long as you don’t let them lay the blame on us, have fun.”
“And stay safe,” Martha added, pulling him into one last hug.
Kon returned it, holding her tight as he used the action to reassure her — and himself, if he was being honest — that he would indeed be back.
Pulling away, he stuffed the phone into his pocket and tossed them a casual salute on his way to the door. “Bye, and thanks for everything. I’ll talk to you soon.”
The couple smiled, offering a wave of their own. “We look forward to it.”