The kitchen was filled with the smell of toast and braised beef.
Night had fully settled in.
But dinner at the Kent house was anything but pleasant.
It was not because Jordan had already started carrying out some plan even more outrageous than outrageous itself. No, the real source of Lois's anger tonight went far beyond Clark's suspicious behavior and her second son's suspicious mind.
The main spark behind the family conflict came from Lois's father, the boys' grandfather, General Sam, a man who held real power in this country.
The warm yellow light spilled across the wooden dining table.
Clark, Lois, Jonathan, Jordan, and Ian were all seated around it, while at the head of the table sat Sam, his hair already gone gray, enduring the full force of his daughter's condemnation.
"So you've been studying him this whole time?" Lois's voice was low, but it cut like an ice pick. "Studying my husband? Like he's some kind of experiment?"
That question left Sam looking helpless. Clark sat beside him, outwardly calm, but his fingers unconsciously rubbed the rim of his glass, leaving a few tiny cracks along the surface.
He said nothing.
But it was obvious he was bothered too.
After all, with the level of control Superman had, he could catch a living mosquito, hold it between his fingers, and never damage a single hair on its body if he wanted to.
Seeing that, old Sam discreetly shifted his chair a little closer to his daughter.
"Lois, don't twist it like that. I'm not studying Clark." Sam sighed, set down his knife, and folded his hands on the table. His gaze was steady, but it carried the cold hardness unique to career military men. "Everything I've done has been to protect you and your husband. To protect your family, the most unusual family on this planet."
The words were heavy and deliberate, carrying a stern weight.
"Protect us? What kind of protection is that?" Lois let out a cold laugh. "Secretly collecting his DNA? Analyzing his weaknesses? Do you know what that sounds like?"
"It sounds like you're all preparing to kill my husband. And maybe my sons too."
The lady of the house was clearly furious, and the tension around the dinner table tightened instantly.
Seeing that, Jonathan tried to ease the atmosphere.
"So am I the only one here still stunned that Dad is actually Superman?" He looked at Ian and Jordan. "Looks like I'm the only one who was completely out of the loop until tonight."
That immediately prompted Jordan to jump in. Both brothers were clearly trying to cool things down.
"I only found out today too. If I hadn't awakened powers myself, I think they would've kept hiding it from me."
Jordan's face carried a strange mix of exasperation and disbelief.
"Trust me, Jonathan, knowing is way scarier than not knowing. I'm already starting to regret it."
He had just remembered the terrifying realization he reached earlier that night.
If their dad was Superman, then that meant Clark had probably known everything happening in this house all along.
Halfway through his usual private routine, Jordan's still-underdeveloped super brain had kicked in, and cold sweat had instantly broken out across his back. For one of the rare times in his life, he had ended things early.
"Well, if that's true, then I guess I'm the only normal one in the family," Jonathan said, picking at his food with a fork instead of eating it. "Honestly, I'll probably be too mad to sleep tonight."
Jonathan sounded lighthearted, but Clark still looked concerned.
Because Clark had seen this kind of thing before. Back in school, he had known plenty of classmates whose mental state had gone bad because they felt left behind.
If regular classmates could end up like that, then Jonathan, as the only apparently ordinary one in the family, was obviously at even greater risk.
"Maybe I should go see a therapist too?" Jonathan looked toward Ian with a joking expression. "Think you could recommend me yours?"
"I don't think that'd end well. Hannibal's a great doctor, but if you trigger the wrong thing in him, the only medicine he'll prescribe you is rosemary, lemongrass, cinnamon powder, and dried parsley," Ian replied.
He secretly glanced at Clark.
But Clark was still only paying attention to Sam.
He showed no reaction at all to what Ian had just said.
…
Ian frowned slightly.
By all rights, Dad should have known about Hannibal long ago.
Something about that felt off.
"Your sense of humor's pretty good too," Jonathan said, assuming Ian was just helping him lighten the mood. "I should actually thank you for letting it slip. Otherwise, I've got no idea how long it would've taken before anyone finally told me."
He looked at his mother with an expression full of accusation.
"Don't blame your mom. We were just worried because this is such a critical time for your football season," Clark hurried to smooth things over. He had temporarily pushed aside the whole Sam secretly researching him issue.
"Don't worry, Dad, my mentality isn't that fragile." Jonathan was not actually blaming anyone. If anything, he still sounded pretty upbeat. "I'm normal. At least that means I know my football talent is real, instead of just inherited Kryptonian super genetics."
To be fair, Jonathan's self-adjustment ability really was impressive.
"I'm so glad you can think like that, sweetheart," Lois immediately praised him. But since she was still angry, she turned right around and shot Ian a hard glare. "He'd better have really just let it slip."
No one knew Ian's little habits better than Lois.
Ian, however, simply buried his head in his food and pretended not to notice.
Sometimes, no matter how smart you were, survival still meant knowing when to keep your mouth shut.
"Your grandfather's right about one thing," Sam said, seizing the chance. He even gave Ian a thumbs-up. "Keeping secrets isn't protection. That's how you end up hurting people."
It had to be said, he really was an old fox.
He absolutely knew how to shift the situation before it exploded into a full family war.
"Shut up. I'm still not done with you." Lois was not remotely letting him off the hook. "Do you know what protection actually means? Stop researching my husband and my sons. That's what real protection would look like."
Since Sam had spoken again, her tone sharpened all over.
The conversation immediately swung back to where it started.
Jonathan suddenly had the expression of someone realizing his sacrifice had accomplished nothing.
"Grandpa really was wrong," Jordan chimed in.
No one could tell if he was helping or making things worse.
Ian just kept eating.
Silent.
"You're all too emotional about this." Sam sighed, then leaned forward. "Lois, think for a second. Even if I weren't involved, do you really think government agencies wouldn't want to study Clark?"
"At any point, in any country, in any organization, if people got the chance, they would all want to understand and control that kind of power. No one can resist temptation on that level."
"That's power on the level of a god. Whoever controls it could control the world."
He paused, then looked around the table.
"Which is exactly why I had to make sure I was in the middle of it."
"If I'm inside the process, I can monitor it. I can redirect it. I can interfere. That's how I protect you. That's how I protect this family."
"This isn't your mother pretending everything will stay fine forever. This is real protection for a family like yours."
His tone was serious and deliberate.
Jordan looked half confused, half convinced.
But Sam was not really saying it for the boys.
He was saying it for Clark and Lois.
And from the way Clark's expression eased slightly, it was obvious the message had landed where it was meant to.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Lois still looked deeply suspicious. "What if you've got your own agenda?"
That was the problem with growing up around a politician and a military man. You learned early not to trust a smooth answer.
"I'm not denying that I'm a practical man," Sam said calmly. "And I've always disliked aliens."
"But that doesn't mean I'd ever harm my daughter. Or her family."
He scanned the people at the table, including Ian.
After all, the official story said Ian had been born after Lois and Clark spent a year abroad together. The false paper trail Bruce had built was airtight. Even Sam had found no cracks in it.
"Really? Because I don't buy it," Lois shot back.
"Lois, when you get older, you'll understand that the greatest long-term interest in the world is bloodline. Legacy." Sam's voice grew heavier. "I may hate aliens. That doesn't mean I hate an alien who can put my descendants above everyone else on Earth."
There it was.
The twisted logic of someone who understood power all too well.
"Grandpa, you're not going to have us dragged off to a lab, right?" Jordan asked.
"As long as I'm around, no."
Sam answered with complete seriousness.
"You'd better remember that promise," Clark finally said.
He had wrestled with the matter long enough.
In the end, since he was the one being studied, only he could truly settle the issue.
"Don't betray the boys' trust."
That was, effectively, Clark saying he would not pursue the matter further.
Because he knew very well that the U.S. government was not the only one researching Kryptonian biology.
Back then, quite a few Kryptonian corpses had mysteriously disappeared.
"So," Sam said, seeing the tension ease a little, "if not for this kid here exposing it, I never would have wanted any of you to know about the project."
Then he pulled out a metal case.
Ian instantly recognized it.
The same type.
"You mean the serum?" Clark asked, his eyes narrowing.
"You mean the fake military super-soldier serum those people were selling?" Ian immediately raised his head.
"Yes." Sam set the case on the table and opened it. Inside was empty. "And that's the problem."
Clark and Ian both looked surprised.
"What do you mean?" Clark asked.
"Those men were claiming they worked for the military," Ian added. "I heard them myself."
The second those words came out, Ian's eyes widened.
He had never told Clark that.
Which meant Dad had just made something up on the spot.
So who, exactly, had "heard it himself"?
You lying super dad.
"This is where it gets complicated," Sam said, unaware of the silent accusation Ian was directing toward Clark. "Whoever sold that serum used the military as cover. The people moving it didn't even know they weren't actually working for us."
"Lex."
Clark said the name almost instantly.
And to be fair, his instincts were right.
Sam nodded.
"The serum traces back to Lex." He looked grave. "And the product we confiscated contained Kryptonian blood derivatives."
Clark's gaze sharpened.
"Mine?"
"We can't confirm whether the source was specifically you. But yes, Kryptonian material was definitely in it."
Ian was stunned.
The packaging had literally said no Kryptonian genes included.
What kind of scam label was that?
But in the next moment, everything clicked.
That was why the second place the Hellcat had taken him to was one of Lex's facilities.
The first place had been connected too.
"The scary part," Sam continued, "is that we're certain the serum was unstable."
Clark's expression changed.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning everyone who took it died almost immediately. It was a failed product."
Sam's tone was firm.
"Lex was throwing it into the market because he wanted scale. A large enough pool to eventually find a viable host."
That answer silenced the table for a moment.
Only then did Ian realize why Grandpa had immediately noticed the difference between ten and twelve vials.
He was not skimming off the top.
He actually had better intel.
Jonathan and Jordan had only just caught up to the bigger picture.
"You drank that stuff?" Jonathan blurted out.
"The serum that kills people?"
Jordan looked horrified too.
Then, before Ian could say anything, both brothers crowded around him to inspect him for signs of mutation.
"Is Ian okay?" Lois asked sharply, instantly anxious now that the family argument had shifted into direct danger.
"This…"
Clark stepped closer.
At that exact moment, his brain finally kicked into gear.
Cosmic flash.
Genius father mode engaged.
"Hard to say," Clark said, placing both hands on Ian's shoulders. "But I think this is exactly why his powers awakened so early."
He deliberately stressed the word powers.
Lois froze for a second.
Then she understood.
…
Ian said nothing.
Clark's hands were big and warm.
And the warning in them was obvious.
Do not say one word.
(End of Chapter)
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