Thank you for the feedback! FoLCs have always been and continue to be a great, supportive, community! Thanks.
This is my first story with deliberate "what ifs?" in mind.
First, I think Jonathan has to be the most under-utilized character in the Superman universe. With Smallville as an exception, in the various iterations he's either dead or a secondary character that supports Martha. So, I wanted to move Martha off the stage and see what Jonathan would do. Second, I think Lex is a great character but there are few stories where he isn't a villain so I wanted to have a look at that. Put the two together and I got, "What would Lex be like if he was raised by Jonathan?"
The key points are in the spoiler below.
10 year-old Clark and Martha were in a severe car accident. Martha is severely injured but recovers. Clark is unconscious with a closed head injury and a shattered femur.
Lex is a 14 year-old orphan with leukemia and not doing well.
Lex's doctor discovers a match for bone marrow transplant in bone fragments removed from Clark's leg. Jonathan consents and Lex receives a transplant with cloned bone marrow from those pieces.
Martha and Jonathan end up adopting Lex, partly because of Clark's origins. Lex is probably a psychopath but Jonathan has his respect and teaches him people skills.
Clark recovers but has constant severe headaches. Eventually he finds kryptonite and manages the pain with nearly continuous, very controlled exposure.
Martha passes away suddenly. The aneurism could have been related to the accident but it isn't investigated.
Clark's globe activates, but only in the presence of the two boys.
Lex gradually becomes stronger and eventually debuts as Superman.
Clark is exposed to a massive amount of energy without the safety valve of kryptonite. He's essentially at full power and the pain in head is exponentially worse than anything he has experienced. For all intents and purposes he is feral.
I started the story
10 13 years ago. The whole thing is 30 pages, unfinished, and I'm not sure where to go with it--and also not sure when I can dedicate time to finishing it. I know there are unfinished stories on the site but there are holes in the middle that need to be written and make me uncomfortable with posting. If anyone is interested in reading what I have I'd be happy to send it. Adoption is an option.
