Chapter Text
["...The most likely users for X-K are athletes, blue collar workers, and first responders. However the highest number of users come from high school students. Students at Smallville High School, Metropolis High School, and Gotham Tech are at an especially high risk due to the number of trafficking rings and suppliers targeting the teenagers…"]
["...The D.O.D strongly recommends that users of X-K quit using the substance immediately, without any need for weaning off. This means that many users will experience withdrawal symptoms that should be heavily monitored…"]
["There are six potential stages to X-K withdrawal, but most users only experience one or two of them. However, as a user gets further through the stages, the more likely they will be to experience the next stage. The more often a person partook in X-K, the more likely they are to experience all six stages. A person who used X-K once a week would conceivably only experience stage one. A person who used X-K daily has the possibility of going through all six stages."]
["...The first of the six symptoms that will appear during withdrawal are cravings. The user will feel the urge to take another dose of X-K and (when unable to do so) will experience shaking, tremors, and shaking."]
- Excerpt from The Daily Planet
Jonathan was sure that the worst part about getting caught taking X-K would be the disappointment his parents were very clearly showing towards him. And it was true the yelling and punishments that went along with that disappointment were incredibly soul crushing. Getting reprimanded by Superman was scary but getting in trouble by Lois Lane was terrifying .
Don’t get him wrong - it incredibly sucks getting kicked out of school, forcing Smallville High to forfeit the season, and being majorly grounded. Not to mention, Jonathan couldn’t even walk around town without getting dirty looks and nasty comments pointed towards him. After all of this, it should’ve been easy to admit defeat and never even think about taking X-K again.
But - but -
Getting grounded gave Jonathan a lot of time to sit around. And sitting around gave him a lot of time to sit and stew. And sitting and stewing gave him a lot of time to feel the loss of X-K.
For the last few months, X-K was a near constant in his day to day. It wasn’t supposed to be - that wasn’t his plan at first. Using it was only supposed to be for football games. After all, Timmy Ryan was using X-K to level up. It was only fair for Jonathan to do the same. It didn’t matter that X-K made Jon feel more powerful than he ever had. No - that wasn’t the reason he used it. It was for football. Every successful throw he managed due to his X-K enhanced sight was for the team. Every time he ran just a little bit faster than his opponent was for the school. Every call he made in the huddle due to over hearing the team halfway down the field was for the town.
And just like every other skill in football, using X-K during the game needed to be practiced. He needed to perfect using the skills in a non-obvious - but still effective - manner. So Jonathan started taking a puff of X-K before each football practice. It wasn’t for the feeling of pure strength and power that came from it. No - it was for the team, for the school, and for the town.
Even on days without practice, X-K was still needed. Jordan and Clark often disappeared for hours at a time, heading to the fortress to work on one skill or another - often during the allotted farm chores “bonding” time. That left Jonathan doing the work of three people (two of which are superpowered) by himself. So Jonathan allowed himself a puff or two those days to give himself an advantage that would help him finish faster. Those puffs weren’t for him - sure, it let Jon feel a bit more like he imagined Clark and Jordan must feel all the time. It wasn’t for the rush that started in his lungs before trailing throughout his body like a burst of energy. No - it was for Clark, for Jordan, and for the farm.
Football practice and doing chores on the farm was pretty much a daily task. That meant Jonathan practically had to use some X-K every day.
And now he was grounded, sitting at his desk in the middle of what was supposed to be the school day. Jon had his computer in front of him loaded on the page that had the assignments he had to complete, as part of the deal his Dad worked out with the school. However, everytime Jon went to go type, he found his hands were shaking too much for him to write out a coherent sentence. Everything around him felt wrong.
He had no more access to X-K and Jon could practically feel the regular oxygen moving sluggishly within his lungs. He could feel his heart pump twice as slow as it usually does. He could feel his arms follow his brain’s orders a second too late. It was like his body was moving in slow motion and there was nothing he could do to fix it.
Except - except -
X-K.
If he could just leave the house for a half hour, he could run to the school and find Candace. Maybe his girlfriend still had some spare inhalers she managed to hide from the school-
No!
Jonathan forced that thought away. He didn’t want to lead anyone to the real supplier of Smallville High. He covered for her and would stick by his promise not to tell anyone.
Jon stood, taking his sweatshirt off with haste as the room had gotten too hot too quickly for his taste. He didn’t need X-K. He just needed some water. He was probably just dehydrated. Jon strode across his bedroom and opened his door (having to wipe his sweaty hands off on his jeans first).
Before he could start the walk down the stairs, he could hear his parents arguing in the living room. Jon considered heading back to his room before hearing his name.
“We need to keep an eye on Jon - this might be something we have to worry about,” Lois said - in her matter-of-fact, journalist tone.
“I read that article too, Lois. But I’ve also been around people who’ve been using X-K. No one’s experienced the symptoms the article is talking about. This might just be in Metropolis.” His father sounded short and to the point. “Your father says the D.O.D thinks there are different strands of X-K out there.”
“Clark, addiction is serious-”
He could hear his father’s heavy steps cross the living room and for a second, Jonathan thought he had been caught and was about to be told to go back to his room. Clark did have superhearing (stupid, natural superhearing - Jon wished for the X-K. With that hearing, he’d be able to tell what was happening). Instead, Clark continued talking. “I agree. But right now Jon isn’t showing any symptoms.”
“The first symptom the article says is cravings. If he’s feeling that, he’ll head right towards whoever gave him the inhalers in the first place. I know we want to know who that dealer is but I don’t want him sneaking around behind our backs anymore and getting into potentially dangerous situations!”
Jon could feel his (slow motioned, non-cooperative) hands shake. What he was feeling wasn’t cravings. It wasn’t . Sure, he wouldn’t mind getting one more chance for a puff of X-K. Just so he could know it was the last time. But it wasn’t like he was thinking of it all the time (only a little bit). It’s not cravings. It’s not.
Before he could hear his father’s response, Jon rushed back into his room, his (shaky, sweaty, treacherous) hands struggling with the handle and accidentally slammed the door shut behind him. He opened a new tab on his computer and had to force himself to calm down so his hands would finally stop shaking.
It didn’t work much but he eventually managed to search ‘X0K WOTJDRRARW; SUMPTOMD’, which luckily autocorrected to ‘X-K WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS’. The first link available was to a recently published article from the Daily Planet.
So. Your Child Got Addicted to X-K
Jon skimmed through the article before finding the section his parents must’ve been talking about. His annoyingly, slow beating heart seemed to miss a beat as he read through the section. Some of the symptoms weren’t so bad but others…
Jon slammed the laptop shut. He wouldn’t let it get that bad. He didn’t have cravings - and even if he did, he could handle it. Jon wouldn’t allow himself to even consider the possibility of any of those symptoms.
And even if he did have cravings (which he didn’t!), the article stated that most people only experienced - at most - two stages of withdrawal. Cravings was stage one. And he wasn’t having any cravings whatsoever. Jon tried to ignore the loud voice in his head that told him ‘ you wouldn’t have any withdrawal symptoms if you just take one more puff ’.
Jon heard a soft knock come from his door and hurriedly reopened his computer and exited off the Daily Planet website so it would appear as if he’d been on his school page. “Come in!”
Clark came into the room and shut the door behind him, keeping his eyes on his son the entire time. Jon wanted to squirm out of his father’s heavy gaze but kept quiet, unsure if Clark had heard Jon sneaking around and eavesdropping.
“So. You heard me and your mother talking.” Oh. He was just going to say it point blank. Jon guessed that there was no point in beating around the bush when he had pretty much let any person with normal hearing in a mile radiance know with his door slamming.
Deciding to play it safe with the truth, Jon just said a simple, “Yeah…”
Clark sighed and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. “Listen, it’s really important that if you feel any of these side-effects, you tell someone. I’m going to talk to your grandfather to see if he can send an accurate list of-”
“It’s fine, Dad. I found the article you two were talking about.” Jon squeezed his hands tight in his lap, hoping the pressure would stop the ever-present trembling. “I only took it for games. That’s less than once a week. I don’t even have anything they wrote there.”
It was a lie. Only the part about taking it for games. Not the symptoms part. He didn’t have symptoms - he didn’t.
Clark came closer to his son and Jon wondered if he was planning on using his x-ray vision. Would he see his aching lungs? Would he use his super hearing to listen to his slow heart?
“Jonathan,” Clark went to put his hand on Jon’s shoulder but he flinched away from it. He couldn’t let his Dad feel his shakiness. Jon almost regretted it when he saw a flash of hurt on his Dad’s face. “Promise me you’ll tell your mother or I if you start to feel any bit of craving at all. We won’t get mad at you for that.”
“You are mad at me.”
“We’re upset with you for taking an illegal substance, having large amounts of it at school, and for not telling us which drug dealer you’re covering for. We’re not going to get mad at you for losing an addiction to X-K.” Clark ignored the second flinch Jon attempted to put his hand on Jon’s cheek. “You’re a bit sweaty. And your hands are shaking.”
Jon stood up and walked away from the warmth of Clark’s hand. “It’s hot in here and I’ll admit, I got nervous when you walked in here. I didn’t know if you were going to yell at me again.”
It almost looked like Clark was going to chase him down to the other side of the room but decided against it. Instead, he glanced at the computer. “I’ll let you get back to your work. You promise you’ll talk to someone if you get any cravings or any other symptoms?”
“I promise.” The euphoric feeling of inhaling the X-K, the rush through his veins, spreading through his entire body. He could feel the strength pulsing through his limbs, his eyesight improving exponentially, and a tingling beneath his feet. He could feel it again if he just left here and found more -
“Good. The more we’re ahead of this the better.” Clark gave one last look to his son before walking out, purposefully leaving the door opened a few inches.
-he missed that feeling - the way the world would slow down and let him get a better grip on things. Jon would feel a piece of his chest coming back to him. It would push away that awful gnawing feeling he had in his heart right now. All he would have to do is find Candace-
It’s not a craving. It’s not a craving. It’s not a craving. This is manageable. Jon won’t allow himself to get to the sixth stage of withdrawal.