Chapter Text
Jonathan Samuel Kent was born with a gift.
A sign was engraved on his right shoulder, visible in dark etching from when Lois first held the baby in her arms. Kal-El recognized it as a soulmate mark, a symbol for a special kind of power—a Kryptonian ability to link to another’s soul.
But not just any soul. One soul that had been chosen by the stars to always intertwine with the bearer of the mark from the moment they met until one of them died. The distance between these two souls could span even across galaxies, so not all bearers ended up actually meeting their soulmates. At least, that was what Kal-El had learned from some of the old writings and crystals left on the ship that brought him to Earth.
Some Kryptonians were gifted with soulmate marks, but many didn’t. Those who didn’t simply did not have an assigned soulmate, but it never meant they couldn’t find their own. It didn’t take away their ability to love.
Kal-El did not receive one upon his birth, and he could attest with confidence that even without an assigned soulmate from the stars, he found one on his own. He couldn’t love anyone more than he loved Lois.
Still, it worried him because Jonathan would have to go through something that both Lois and Kal-El themselves had no experience in, even though it was supposed to be as natural as growing up.
“It’ll be okay,” Lois reassured him. She was exhausted and sweaty, but Kal-El—Clark saw that rare, immense joy twinkling in her eyes. At that moment, her beauty just increased tenfold. Clark fell in love with her all over again.
“I love you, Lois.”
“And I you. Forever and always.”
“Let’s aim for that ‘Parents of the Year’ award,” Clark said with a chuckle, picking up baby Jonathan in his arms. He planted a kiss on the baby’s forehead. “Welcome to the world, Jon.”
——————
“Mom, why is my tattoo changing?”
Jonathan, who had recently turned ten, tugged at his mother’s jeans one rainy morning, his thick dark curls still disheveled after waking up.
“It’s not a tattoo, Jon. It’s a mark,” said Lois as she put a plate of sunny-side eggs on the table.
“But a tattoo sounds cooler.”
“Oh, is it?” Lois chuckled in amusement. “Okay, why don’t you tell me how it’s changed?”
This wasn’t the first time Jonathan’s mark had shifted and changed. The most recent shift happened when Jonathan was nine. Clark had looked up the new symbol and found out that it meant Jonathan’s soulmate—wherever they were—was currently undergoing a big change in their life. Clark convinced his son that it was nothing to worry about.
“A big change can mean anything, like moving to a different city,” Clark had told Jonathan last year. “Maybe your soulmate is actually happier with the change.”
“Okay!” Jonathan replied with a big smile full of relief.
But today, Jonathan had come to Lois again with a bigger frown on his forehead, his milk teeth biting nervously on his lips. He scrunched up his nose, looking like he was enduring pain on top of that anxiety.
“Jon?”
“My tattoo… doesn’t look very good now.” The boy’s blue eyes shifted to the side.
“Will you show me your mark?” Lois asked gently. “I mean, ‘tattoo’.”
“Fine…” Jonathan unbuttoned his pajama top. As the fabric slid off the boy’s shoulder, Lois’ eyes widened in surprise. She, too, had studied everything she could about Kryptonian powers, including signs and symbols on those with soulmate marks. A quick glance at the sign was enough to send a sharp pang in her heart.
Oh my God.
“Mom, what does it mean?” Jonathan’s hand tugged harder on her pants, forcing her out of her shock. Lois looked down at her son, seeing the mist forming on those big blue eyes. Her lips trembled, her tongue still struggling to form words when Clark came in from the front door.
“Wet morning we have,” Clark said casually, entering the house with a damp shirt. “I shouldn’t have worn this shirt before I left to look after that newborn chick.” He looked up, immediately getting a cue from Lois’ expression that something was very wrong. “What’s up?”
“Clark,” Lois began. “Jon’s mark… it’s changing again.”
“Show it to me, son.” Clark approached his child, crouching in front of the boy. Jonathan pulled at the neck of his pajama top again.
Clark remained quiet as he stared. Lois knew he already recognized the mark. Her husband finally looked up at Lois. There was deep regret and sadness springing from behind those thick glasses.
Lois nodded.
“Jonathan,” Clark began carefully. “I’m sorry, son.”
“Dad? What does it mean?” Jonathan looked like he was about to cry. “It’s something bad, isn’t it? Mom?” He turned to her. Lois fought the urge to look the other way.
“Your soulmate—we don’t know the truth, but this mark shows that your soulmate has passed away.”
The atmosphere fell, weighing down on the entire house heavier than the rain.
“No,” Jonathan said, scrunching his face like he was enduring intense physical pain. “No.”
“I’m so sorry, Jonathan.”
“It’s unfair.” Tears pooled in their son’s eyes.
“It is. It is unfair, Jonathan,” Clark said, quickly gathering his child in a tight embrace.
“We haven’t even met,” Jonathan cried, tears falling rapidly on his father’s shirt. “How could a-anyone,” he sobbed, his throat tightening. It was hard to speak or even breathe, but he pushed on. “—How could anything in this world t-take my soulmate a-away from me when w-we h-haven’t even met? It’s unfair.”
“It’s unfair, Jon.” Clark’s body shook. “And I’m broken just as you are—”
“No, you don’t understand!” Jonathan wailed, digging his fingers forcefully into the distorted mark on his shoulder. His teeth ground against each other so intensely that Lois worried they might bleed. “It hurts, Dad. It hurts so much, I feel like I’m being ripped apart!” His blue eyes began to glow red.
Lois tensed up. “Clark, he looks like—”
“Jon?” Clark swiftly pulled away. He stared anxiously at his son, his grip strong on Jonathan’s shoulders. “Jon, listen to me. I know it hurts, it’s unfair, but—”
Jonathan screamed. Heat vision unleashed from his eyes. Clark winced when the solar heat blasted into his face and shot toward the ceiling. His heat vision fried and shattered their light bulbs, filling the entire room with darkness and a burning odor. A hole formed above them from the burnt ceiling.
“Son!” Clark exclaimed, pulling Jonathan into his arms. After the heat vision, the super strength was triggered for the first time. Clark coughed as his son thrashed against him, an extreme force was slammed on his torso. He got knocked back, hitting the wall and leaving it cracked, but he hadn’t let go of Jonathan. “Jon, calm down!”
Lois knelt behind Jonathan with her arms stretched. She caught the boy in her arms and pressed him to her chest.
“Lois, careful! Jon’s powers are—”
“He is our child, Clark!” Lois snarled viciously, holding the boy tight. “I will hold him no matter what.”
Jonathan continued to scream and wailed, his tears kept flowing out as hot steam. Lois didn’t know how long they held their child, didn’t know how long Clark endured getting scorched and beaten by the heat vision and the super-strength that went out of Jonathan’s control.
But they kept holding him until Jonathan passed out.
——————
The writings said losing a soulmate, even before these two souls intertwined, would permanently damage the other soul that remained. The damage was excruciatingly painful, and the soul would live with constant emptiness after that. Some Kryptonians suffered from loss and were in such distress that they called having the soulmate mark a ‘curse’.
Everything made sense when Jonathan said that he felt like he was being ripped apart. The pain went deeper than physical and mental pain. It originated from his core—his very soul that had been torn.
Jonathan turned lethargic since that day. He didn’t even enjoy sports and physical activities he previously loved. He spent most of his time locked in his bedroom. He lost a significant amount of weight and muscles. Even when Lois allowed him more access to the ice cream bucket in the freezer, the boy didn’t even bother reaching out for it on his own.
It was heartbreaking.
One of the few times that Jonathan’s eyes seemed to light up was when he discovered more of his powers and used them for good. It turned out that Clark’s precious son might just love being a hero. At least the world couldn’t take that away from Jonathan.
As their son grew in power, Clark and Lois put everything good into Jonathan to lead him to become the good, kind-hearted hero he was destined to be. In part, Clark and Lois just wanted Jonathan to be ‘normal’ again, to return to his usual cheeriness, and to eventually start enjoying life again.
And that moment finally came.
Jonathan ran down the stairs one morning, giddy and joyful like nothing he had ever displayed since the death of his soulmate. “Mom, Dad, my soulmate mark’s changed!”
But that couldn’t be. The grim, distorted symbol on Jonathan’s shoulder was supposed to be permanent. Clark and Lois couldn’t believe it at first, but they soon witnessed with their own eyes that Jonathan’s mark had indeed changed.
It was now a symbol of rebirth.
——————
Three Years Later, Metropolis
“Thank you, Superboy. You’re a true hero.”
“My pleasure, Mrs. Collins,” Superboy said with a grin, arms stretched up to lift a huge stack of grocery bags. Mrs. Collins had made several runs around the block to serve the community, and it was Jonathan’s honor to be able to offer help.
Two of the woman’s children giggled and climbed on the gigantic stacks of groceries that Superboy was holding with great balance. Superboy smiled playfully, then he dashed forward with a touch of super speed. “Hold on tight and enjoy the ride!” he shouted.
“Whee!” the children laughed with pleasure.
Superboy stopped as soon as they reached Mrs. Collins’ apartment, lowering the grocery bags and the children on them. Mrs. Collins thanked him and patted him gently on the head. She insisted on paying for his assistance, but Superboy made every effort to refuse. In the end, he finally accepted a single bag of ice cream from Mrs. Collins’ fridge.
Another job well done.
He had stopped a mugging and saved a cat stuck on a tree today, too. Awesome!
“How was your superhero night, Jon?” Superman asked as soon as Superboy returned. They were both floating above one of the buildings in the city.
“Code name, Superman!” Superboy complained, unwrapping the ice cream and happily gobbling it up.
“I’m sorry,” his dad chuckled, “Superboy.”
“It was pretty awesome,” Superboy replied, finishing his sweet treat. “No big-name supervillains or anything, which is nice on occasion.”
“You’d have found me stepping in if there was anything like that.”
“Thanks for watching over me, Superman, but you can’t do this forever, right? Someday you’ll have to let me go on patrol on my own.”
“Yes, someday, but not today.” Superman smiled. “Actually, your mom and I have been thinking that you can benefit from having a friend who knows what you’re going through in this job. We’re considering introducing you to—” his sentence got cut off by a noise coming from his costume. “Sorry, son. We’ll have to chat later. JL business.”
It was always cool to recognize, over and over again, that his father was Superman, and that he was a core member of the Justice League. It never stopped making Jonathan extremely proud. He smiled widely. “Okay, Dad. Take care!”
“It’s almost eight P.M. Time for you to go home. Your mom won’t compromise even a minute late.”
Oh, Dad didn’t need to warn him about that.
He energetically waved goodbye as Superman shot higher and higher than any plane could ever reach, far above the stars.
Superboy blew out a satisfied sigh, soon distracted by the sight of Metropolis stretched out below him. The city was adorned with bright lights. He perched alone at the edge of the building.
The sight was mesmerizing, but he felt a little lonely.
“Wish you were here,” Superboy began softly, his palm resting on the soulmate mark on his right shoulder, hidden behind the sleeve of his costume. “The city looks very beautiful up here. I want to carry you in my arms and we can fly to watch the city together from above. That would be…” he paused, blushing and probably grinning like an idiot. “Anyway, you’re my soulmate. You died and were reborn. I can’t even comprehend how something like that was made possible, but I’m happy it happened. I can’t wait for our paths to finally cross, so I can finally get to know you.”
Nobody replied, of course, except the wind whistling back in his ears.
“It’s unfair though. Dad said only Kryptonians have this mark, so maybe you don’t even realize that you have a soulmate, or that I exist at all.” Superboy pursed his lips.
This time, something replied. Not the whispering of the wind, not the bustling noises of the city.
It was the rhythm of a heartbeat. Vivid. Distinct. Not his own. Impossibly far away, drowning out all other noises around him. It was like Jonathan’s hearing was greatly enhanced, but only to listen to this particular sound.
Jonathan trembled, shaking from his very soul. Not out of fear, but out of realization. His soul had just sensed his mate. Of all powers, Jonathan had been waiting for this one to awaken.
This was it. The first sign.
He began to hear his soulmate’s heartbeat.
Before he knew what he was doing, Superboy leaped across the sky. His red cape fluttered as Jonathan sped up in the air. His other senses gradually went dull while his hearing was being magnified. Heartbeat—one particular heartbeat vibrated in his ears, dancing in tandem with Jonathan’s own. All the other noises went quiet, muffled as if he was wearing a pair of noise-canceling earphones.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
There, the heartbeat seemed to whisper in Superboy’s head. I’m here, to the left, to your right. I’m hidden behind those trees. In between those buildings.
Superboy mindlessly flew, following the heartbeat like a charmed sailor being lured by a siren song.
Thump. Thump.
I’m here, you’re close. You’re close.
You’re close—
Then the soul link was suddenly broken.
“Hey!” a loud voice shouted out of nowhere. “Get out of there!”
A deafening honk of a car barged in, startling his ears along with all other noises of the street that crashed down on him like a waterfall.
“Whoa!” Superboy’s eyes widened. He snapped out like he was rudely awakened from a dream. A flash of light blasted on him before Superboy realized that a big truck was speeding in his direction. The driver had stepped on the brake and smashed the horn in panic. The people around them froze as they watched the near accident unfolding before their eyes.
Superboy braced himself. The impact of stopping a truck altogether at that speed could be lethal for the driver, so he held back his super-strength and lifted his palms. He caught the front of the truck with his bare hands, helping it reduce speed while allowing the impact to push him back until it was safe for the truck to stop.
“Superboy!” The driver jumped off the truck, pointing angrily at him. “You just landed in front of me out of nowhere! What is wrong with you? It’s dangerous!”
“I’m sorry, I—” Superboy tried to come up with an explanation, but really, what just happened? He didn’t even know how he got here or what he was doing. He was just following… the sound of a heartbeat. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“Tch.” The driver climbed on his truck again. “I knew it. You’re way too young and reckless for this kind of work.”
Ouch.
Superboy held his head low as the truck left him alone.
Well, that was embarrassing. He just had to wrap up his superhero night by unnecessarily causing a public scare. What just happened, anyway? There was a heartbeat, and Jonathan just knew deep within his soul that it belonged to his soulmate.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate and find the heartbeat again, but there was nothing now.
Superboy groaned in disappointment. As much as he wanted to spend the rest of the night searching for his soulmate, Mom would ground him from being Superboy for an entire month if he was late for more than half an hour. He had to go home.
He turned his back against a skyscraper. It was standing elegantly over the city with a huge ‘W’ glowing in the high middle of the tower.
——————
“Interesting turn of events,” Damian Wayne commented, standing behind the tall glass window of Wayne Tower of Metropolis, hands clasped behind his back. He had been stuck here, alone in Bruce Wayne’s office, waiting for the man to close his meeting somewhere on the lower floor. As expected, Father was late again.
Boredom was his greatest enemy, so he was glad to be entertained by the unexpected scene of Metropolis’ own Superboy being pathetically scolded by a truck driver. His mouth twitched to form an arrogant little smile as he watched them from way up in the tower.
It was surprising, though.
Moments before, Damian accidentally caught a glimpse of a flying Superboy heading in the direction of the tower. In fact, considering how close he already was to Damian’s glass window, it almost looked like he was actually coming for Damian.
And then Superboy fell.
It was like he was losing his power or momentum, but he didn’t panic. He just fell freely in the air. Damian had run to the window, eyes widened in concern, and watched Superboy land quite gracefully in the middle of the street. That was when a speeding truck was caught off-guard.
Damian wondered what Superboy was doing with that strange antic.
The door behind him clicked open. “Sorry, Damian,” Father’s voice immediately followed. “The meeting was longer than expected.”
“Then you need to fix your expectations. I already knew it would take longer than what you told me,” said Damian, still hadn’t turned around to face his father.
He heard a sigh. “Shall we go home?”
“Yes, Father,” said Damian, turning his head with a smile.
“Having fun with something?” Bruce asked, loosening his tie.
“I just had a thought…” Damian approached his father, retrieved his green school backpack, and slung it against the West-Reeve High School uniform he was wearing. “Metropolis is a big city. I guess it’s bound to have at least one or two incompetent ‘heroes’ in it.”
“Who are you talking about?” Bruce put a hand on Damian’s shoulder.
“Maybe you can ask the people on the street once we’re out of this building,” Damian said, his smile turning a tiny bit playful.
——————
Thank Rao that Jonathan was grounded for only a week for coming home twenty minutes late. It could’ve gotten worse.
While he couldn’t be Superboy for a full week, he still had to attend school. No problem. This new private high school called West-Reeve that Mom and Dad had put him in could be fun, especially when Jonathan dedicated himself to the sports team. There was a time when Jonathan completely lost his passion, so it was good to be able to love the activities again, even when he had to start over as the ‘new kid’.
“See you at the field, Kent!” his friend said in the hall, waving at him. Jonathan pulled off a bright smile as he waved back, still in the middle of rummaging through his locker while figuring out the things to stuff in the sports bag. Sometimes, these glasses Dad gave him for disguise really made it harder to see. Why did they have to be so thick?
Jonathan just slammed his locker close when a distinct, vivid sound of a heartbeat suddenly filled his eardrums.
Thump. Thump.
He dropped his bag by the locker.
Just like last night, the entire hallway went quiet. Jonathan looked around in confusion, seeing children laughing and talking all around him, but all that he could hear was the heartbeat. The rhythm was tugging at his soul, calling out to him.
So he walked—down the hall, to the right and left, to any direction the heartbeat was leading him. The sound was getting louder with each step he took.
Thump.
He stood in front of a set of double doors. Jonathan pushed them open.
Thump.
“Hear my soul speak,” a voice spoke over the heartbeat, vibrating like the purest sound of a bell.
And the sound of the heartbeat quieted down.
A boy stood before him, illuminated under a single light in complete darkness. His hand gently stretched out, offered with grace to Jonathan. The color of his eyes was the most beautiful shade of green Jonathan had ever seen. Those eyes pierced through Jonathan’s thick glasses and probed deep within his soul. For a moment, Jonathan felt like he was in a dream, staring at a gorgeous apparition.
“Of the very instant that I saw you,” the boy’s delicate lips moved as he continued, eyes still gazing deep into Jonathan’s. That was his voice—the only voice that could penetrate the holding power of the heartbeat like a spell breaker. “...did my heart fly to your service.”
Jonathan stood there, utterly stunned and blushing from his neck. “Wha…?”
Then, the clapping of hands flowed in like a gentle wave. The lights were turned back on, and Jonathan realized that he was standing in a theater hall. All the other noises had come back.
“Marvelous performance, Mr. Wayne!” A teacher stood from the front seat, merrily clapping her hands. “Oh, I see so much potential in you! Are you ready to take on the role of Ferdinand?”
“Tt.” The boy pulled a smug smile. “I’m always ready. Call me when the others are done remembering their lines.”
“Bleh,” one of the students in the front row sneered. “Show-off.”
The boy seemed unfazed by the unkind remark, still maintaining his smug smile.
“And who do we have here?” The teacher suddenly turned to Jonathan, smiling amiably. “I don’t remember getting a note that we would have a new student in the theater club today. Can I see your permission slip?”
“Oh, no.” Jonathan waved his hands awkwardly before him. “I don’t have one. I just… wandered in. Got a little lost. I’ll… uh…” He looked at the boy on the stage, his own heart banging in his chest when their eyes met. He didn’t just imagine it. Those eyes were pretty.
“Mrs. Smith,” the green-eyed boy on the stage said, “since you have witnessed for yourself how ‘prepared’ I am, may I leave early?”
The teacher nodded. “I see no reason to hold you here, Mr. Wayne. Don’t forget to practice the rest of the scenes at home, and get well soon!”
‘Get well soon’?
Jonathan frowned with worry. Was the boy sick or anything?
The boy jumped off the stage. He grabbed a green backpack from one of the seats before making his way past the rows of audience seats. Toward Jonathan. As he was getting closer, Jonathan realized how small and lean the boy was. He was shorter than Jonathan, too, but he sensed something fierce hidden inside that small figure.
Jonathan panicked. Oh no, he thought. What should I say? ‘Hey, I think you’re my soulmate. How about we go and grab a burger together?’ No, no. He’ll think you’re a weirdo—
Of course, all those occasions when Jonathan believed the boy was looking into his eyes were all only in his head, because the boy walked past him too, straight to the exit door.
Jonathan clenched his fists. No way he would keep his head low—not after years of waiting to finally meet his soulmate, and not after that one horrible experience of seeing the sign of his soulmate’s death on his own shoulder. He turned around. “Hey, wait!”
The boy stopped. He slowly turned to face Jonathan.
“You look wonderful,” Jonathan began, immediately wanting to smack his own head. “O-on stage, I mean,” he awkwardly added.
“And you should expect nothing less,” the boy said. He didn’t even look flattered.
“I’m Jonathan Kent.” Jonathan stretched out and offered his hand.
“Damian Wayne,” the boy replied, not taking the handshake.
“Uh… okay.” Jonathan lowered his hand, maintaining his best smile that he hoped didn’t look too awkward. So far, Damian hadn’t returned the smile. “See you around, Damian.”
There was a gap in the momentum, because Damian didn’t immediately reply. Then, the other boy opened his mouth. “Sure, Kent.”
He turned around again, walking away with his back against Jonathan.
His soulmate. Damian Wayne. Ripped away from his soul and by miracle, returned again.
Their paths finally crossed. The stars were aligned. A joyful smile threatened to burst out of Jonathan’s mouth.
But he wouldn’t rest easy. He had lost Damian before. Jonathan would make sure it wouldn’t happen again. Not on his watch.
This time, he would protect Damian Wayne with everything he got. He wasn’t Superboy for nothing.