Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Kon's JLA communicator went off in the middle of his sociology class. Kon colored and stammered an apology, racing out into the hall. His cellphone started ringing minutes later. “Hey, 'sup dude? You know I'm in class, right? What's going on?”
“Kon, you need to get to Metropolis now.”
“What? Why?”
“Lex Luthor is reviving your brother.”
“Match? But he's completely unstable! Did you call Kal yet? Where am I going?”
“Batman is getting Kal. I'll meet you there; sending co-ordinates now.”
“On my way.” Kon supersped to the main office, where he left one of his JLA excuse pass with the front desk. Tim paid obscene amounts of money for the school to have someone on call who would take down all the material Kon missed, tutor him, and administer any quizzes or tests he missed at his next availability. They wanted Kon to have as normal a college experience as possible, but when a crisis brewed, he had to be able to leave.
And Match being revived was definitely a crisis. His older brother was wildly unstable – one of the only things Kon and Lex had agreed on was the need to keep him in cryo. It had only been four years since Lex had claimed there was no cure for Match's madness. He had no idea what Luthor had planned now, but it couldn't be good.
Tim, Bruce and Kal were waiting for him outside the rendezvous point. They were all standing on the roof of a Tractor Supply Store, which, as far as Kon knew, wasn't connected to Lexcorp in any way. It seemed normal enough; Kon did a quick sweep with his X-ray vision, and everything appeared to be legitimate, except that it was apparently a front for a clone lab. Clark looked pissed for some reason, though Kon had no idea why.
“Is this the place?” he asked doubtfully when he landed. If anyone else had given him the info he would have suspected it to be wrong...but it was Tim, and Tim was never wrong.
“Excuse me.” A voice from the stairwell had all four heroes on the defensive. Any doubts Kon had vanished immediately when he saw that the person was Mercy – Lex's right hand woman.
“Mr. Luthor has been expecting you. If you would be so kind as to follow me, we can avoid causing any distress to the civilians inside.”
Robin and Batman shared a look. Tim shrugged minutely, and Bruce's eyes narrowed as he considered the likelihood that this was a trap. Apparently they decided it was worth it, because they both headed towards the stairwell, and Mercy.
Mercy led them down several flights of stairs, heading underground. “I must warn you, there is Kryptonite present in the room with project Match. Batman and Red Robin may come inside the experiment chamber, but it would be best if Superman and Superboy remain in the observation area.”
“You're using Kryptonite on him?” Clark said, with righteous wrath.
Mercy just gave him a withering look. “How else would you suggest we give him stabilizing injections? Magic?”
Clark didn't say anything else, but he crossed his arms and glowered. Tim was clearly fighting back a sigh. Kon just stuck behind him, keeping his opinions to himself. If anything really terrible was going on, Kryptonite wouldn't stop Tim or Bruce. And he was the last one to see Match, so he would know if his twin was more stable than he had been before.
The whole place gave him the chills. It reminded him all too clearly of the lab Tim had rescued him from. The color of the walls, the overhead lights, even the smell was the same. Tim subtly brushed against Kon's back, as close to a hug of comfort as he was going to get while in uniform. Kon gave him a grateful smile.
Mercy led them into a lead lined observation room and over to a glass window, where they could look in at what was going on in the main experimental chamber. Kon shivered; Match was strapped to a table, electrodes and wires all over him. There were two different IV bags feeding fluid into him. One was a bag of what looked like blood, while the other was a mostly clear liquid that was glowing a sinister green that matched the color of the needles in Match's arm.
“Are you injecting him with Kryptonite?” Kon gasped.
“It's the only way to keep him sedated. It's a .05% Kryptonite solution – it activates the sedatives in a Kryptonian body, without poisoning him.”
Kon whipped around at the sound of Lex Luthor's voice. Just hearing that voice sent a shiver through his entire body.
“Luthor. Why are you unfreezing Match? I thought he was unstable?” Clark asked darkly. Kon knew that Kal didn't like to have cloned versions of himself in cryo, but having one alive and awake and in Luthor's clutches really didn't bear thinking about.
“He was.” Luthor had an easy smile on his face, probably having something to do with how uncomfortable Clark was. “But after your other clone became such a smashing success,” Luthor turned to Kon with a dark glint in his eye that made him want to go and hide behind Batman. “I started thinking about the differences in your two...sons.” Luthor flashed the word deliberately, and enjoyed the slight grimace that Clark just didn't quite suppress.
“The most obvious difference is, well, me. After a few years of study I've been able to isolate the stabilizing factor in my blood, and with steady injections, I think Match could quite possibly live a normal life.”
“By staying with you and doing your dirty work, you mean?” Tim asked coolly.
Luthor smiled icily, but spoke directly to Clark, “I had assumed you would want to take him home with you. He is your clone,after all. But if you'd like me to keep him, well, I have been thinking it's about time to start looking for an heir...”
“He'll come with us,” Clark said through gritted teeth. The quickest way to get Clark to do something was for Luthor to offer to do it, and Lex was clearly aware of that face.
“Excellent! He'll need to come back to the lab for bi-weekly injections and tests, of course.”
“What makes you think we'll bring him back to you?” Batman asked, in his quiet, menacing voice.
“Oh, I think you will, I can provide you with lab results and formulas if your Robin hasn't managed to hack into our systems and download them yet. I think you'll agree that you want him to continue the injections. Unless, of course, you want him to go insane.”
“And what if we just put him back on ice?”
“I doubt Superboy will agree with that. Especially not if there is a cure for his madness ready and available.”
Kon hated to agree with Luthor, but he did. He'd only agreed to refreeze Match last time after getting the shit beaten out of him, and irrefutable proof of his brother's madness. If a cure would allow Match out of the lab and into the world, even if it was Lex's blood, Kon would make sure that would happen. Regardless of how he'd been created, no one deserved to be stuck in a lab for their whole life or put in cryo just so someone wouldn't have to deal with him.
“When will he be ready to go?”
“It will take several hours for the sedative to wear off. You are welcome to wait. And since I know you will just break in later, please, come inspect the examination room.”
The next few hours were...uncomfortable. Tim and Bruce followed Luthor into the next room and spent the time examining every square inch of the place, asking questions like they were business partners and not enemies. Luthor actually answered most of the questions, too, which was weird. Waiting in the room with Clark was nearly unbearable. He just stood there, with his arms folded angrily, following Lex with his eyes. His expression was...complex. On one hand he looked angry, and hurt. On the other, he almost looked...longing. There was some serious unresolved tension there, and as much as Kon knew it wouldn’t' happen, he wished his dads could just work through their issues without dragging everyone else into it. Clark was with Lois, and Kon liked Lois, but sometimes he wondered if Clark and Lex just like, fucked or something, everything would be a lot easier.
He tried to ignore Clark and focus on Match instead. His brother looked...older than the last time Kon had seen him. Kon himself had aged since they'd fought last, but he was surprised to see how much older Match looked than him. He was a fully grown clone now – just as big as Clark, and he looked somewhere in his 20's. Kon wondered how much Match had degenerated before they'd perfected the stabilizing formula. He scowled. Since his own escape from Cadmus, all cloning projects had been shut down. It'd better stay that way, too. No one deserved to be raised in a tube.
Four hours later, Match's breathing started to change. He was coming out of the sedation. Luthor kicked Batman and Robin out, along with all the scientists, and went to stand by the bed himself. Which Kon had to actually give him props for. If the cure hadn't worked, and Match was as pissed and insane as he'd been before, he'd likely kill Lex in seconds.
Match's eyes blinked open, and Kon saw that he still had the strange black sclera around ice blue irises that he'd had before. Kon had thought that it was a physical manifestation of his instability, but apparently it was normal for him. Maybe it was a recessive Kryptonian thing that neither Clark or Kon had.
“Match. You're awake,” Lex said smoothly.
Match's eyes snapped up and over to Luthor, watching his hands, and not his face. Was he afraid of Lex or something? That seemed...unlikely. His eyes narrowed at Lex's words, and his mouth was set in a thin line of displeasure, but he didn't respond.
“How do you feel?”
“I have two Kryptonite needles in my arm. How do you think I feel?”
“Easily fixed.” Lex removed the needles himself and put them in a lead lined box, snapping it shut. “How about now? Feeling stable? No inherent homicidal rages?”
“I still want to kill you.”
“I have been assured that this is normal. We need to run some stability tests, but if everything checks out, you'll be able to leave the lab.”
“Leave?” Match didn't sound convinced. “With who?”
“Your father.”
“My what?! I'm not going anywhere with any of you!” Match's expression was venomous.
“Perhaps I should specify – your genetic source.”
“You're sending me home with Superman?”
“Yes. Why? Do you want to stay here?”
“No.” His response was immediate. “But he's...”
“Superboy is here as well.”
“Oh great.” Match glared at the two way glass. Kon knew he couldn't see through it, because of the lead shielding, but he looked like he was glaring at them. “Whatever. Can we just get these tests done so I can go?”
Oh yeah. Match was gonna be a real joy to spend time with.