Superboy AU where the suit is actually a part of Kon. (TW/CW for brief mention of self harm near the end, marked with three ***)
He doesn’t notice it when he’s still in CADMUS, where he’s in a state that’s not really conscious but too alert to labeled asleep- a dissociative in between. He hears the scientists talking, hears the mention of “the suit responds as expected” or “how does he react to this…”
He can’t focus on it when after weeks of experiments and tests and “Look here, Project 13” he’s being rescued (what was there to be rescued from, what’s going on-)
But when things calm down, and he’s brought to the Watchtower’s medbay and someone goes to remove the suit so they can perform a checkup, he flinches away because that hurt*.
All too suddenly he’s aware of being able to feel the suit. It doesn’t feel like a coat, doesn’t feel like a blanket, it feels like him.
He becomes aware of how it aches, how he can feel the AC on him even though he should be covered.
A quick examination just confirms it: his suit is like a second skin.
It’s full of nerves, veins, even a few thin layers of muscle. There’s no bone, but it’s too soft and flexible to be cartilage. It seems weaker than the rest of him, somehow, old bruises able to be seen if you’re looking for them.
***When he’s left alone for the night, legs still strapped to the medical bed because (he’s dangerous and untrustworthy and was made by Luthor) he thrashed around in a panic earlier, he finds a scalpel left on a try at his bedside and runs it across his chest (hard, because even though he’s not Superman he’s damn well close).
He doesn’t know if he cries when blood rises and trails after the scalpel.
He doesn’t know how he feels when weeks later, there’s still a faint scar.
*I’m not 100% sure how it works in the comics, but to me just because you’re near indestructible/invulnerable, that doesn’t mean you can’t feel pain. I’m sure there’d be a higher tolerance to it, but considering Kon would only be a few weeks old/out of the tube at this point, he hasn’t built up that resistance yet.
Also I am well aware that a scalpel would not work on Kon, let alone Clark, but maybe it’s a kryptonite infused scalpel for emergencies.
