Clark?
The old Kent was interrupted when he saw Kon-El walk to his side, with a coffee mug with the symbol of The House of El on it. He took a drink, stopping beside his "cousin", looking out the window.
“I heard about the confusion that happened between you and Terry. I mean, the whole house heard the noises.”
“I'm not in the best time for arguments right now, Conner.” Clark warned, with his head full.
“You're always expecting the worst of me, aren't you?” He laughed and sipped his coffee “I didn't come to argue with you. No, no. I already know this whole story by heart.”
“You know?” Clark asked, turning to the other man, who was still looking at the view.
“Yeah. I don't know if you remember, Clark, but your kid is my godchild, and he told me that you were against them being a vigilante because you wanted to protect them from the world” Conner stared at him “They always told me that with a certain annoyance, because you don't trust them and think they’re still a little kid...”
“And you agree with them?”
“Kinda. You know, when Tim first told me about Terry, I was kind of scared. Not because of this cloning thing, but because I feared you would reject him as you reject me... He was just a baby, he had a mother and a father and could not even meet them. He didn’t deserve anything that CADMUS had done to them, but he really didn’t deserve being rejected by you, and I feared this would happen again.”
“Look, Conner, I understand that our relationship didn’t start well, but-“
“I’m not saying this to accuse you, Clark, not in the way I used to do years ago…” He took a deep breath “I get you now. You were young as I am now, and a random teenager appeared in front of you asking you to parent him. You did right on letting me live with your parents, because Jonathan and Martha loved me as a son, just like Lois did when I went to live with her, and I know you couldn’t do this to me. You can’t do this me” Conner turned again, facing the window and crossing his arms “And I must say I was relieved when Tim told me that you wanted to adopt Terry, even before Mister Wayne had his decision. I was relieved because that little baby didn’t deserve to feel the rejection by an own parent, but I guess they’re feeling it now for not being that little baby anymore.”
“Conner, what are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say that you must review your actions, Clark. You choose to be Terry’s father and that kid loves you, okay? He is a punk, but they love you with their whole heart” Conner turned to face Clark once more “And you are risking losing all the love and admiration your kid has on you because of this stupid behavior of yours, of thinking your clones should be exactly like you, but we are not. We are humans, we have our own feelings and I know this vigilante thing is shit, but your kid wants this, and you know they are so capable of doing this as their brothers and sisters did. Terry is just asking you to trust them, Clark, is it too much for you?”
“I just want to keep them safe, Conner. I know I failed with him today, but as a father, I have the right to want to keep my child safe.”
“As a father, you should teach your kids how to fly by themselves, like you did with Jonathan and Lara, and not cut their wings like you did to me and is doing right now with Terry” Conner finalized, wanting to leave, but he looked at Clark one more time “I spent a long time of my life thinking what I’ve done wrong for you being like this to me, but when you adopted Terry as your son, I think I got it. When you look at him, you see the best of you and of the man you love, but when you look at me, you see the worst of you and of the man you most hated. I guess I was never meant to be loved by you, Clark, but please, love the kid you choose to love.”
Conner finished, leaving the living room and leaving Clark alone with his thoughts. He knew he had messed up things with his first clone, things he also felt bad for doing but that he knew he couldn’t fix anymore. He didn’t want to be like this to Terry, he didn’t want to be the villain of their story like he was of Conner’s. He had to do something, for the good of his relationship with his child. At least, of one of them.
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