Superman landed without a sound on the front yard of a very familiar house. He was dressed in his standard uniform, so he had come to think of his costume. Being raised as Clark Kent, he preferred that name to his birth name of Kal-El, preferred normal clothes to his kryptonian suits. But flying required speed and silence. So he came to see his old friend dressed in full superman regalia. Before he'd even gotten to the front door, Jeremiah and his wife Eliza walked out of the house to greet him.
“It's been way, way too long my friend.” Jeremiah said with a warmth familiar to both of them.
“Jeremiah, can I talk with you a minute?”
“Kal-el of Krypton when have I ever, not wanted to talk with you?”
“Well to be perfectly frank this conversation will end with me asking you to come back to the DEO.” In an instant Jeremiah's warmth hardened.“And what exactly makes you think I'll go with you? I left that place for a reason and they think I'm dead. Which, in case you didn't realize it is the only reason I can stay gone.” It was a sign of the tremendous respect and friendship the two shared that Jeremiah's voice remained calm and firm.
“ 'They think you're dead'. Superman repeated, his tone ringing with a thoughtfulness that surprised his friend. “An ironically appropriate choice of words.”
“Okay, you have my attention.”
“I'm not here for the DEO, or even because of them. As an entity I don't understand them. I'm here because the new director of the DEO and one of their former alien prisoners seriously need to hear from you. They are the only people I wasn't raised with that know who I am and they know you. I'm finding myself feeling a little stupid about her. I have been listening to her talk about her hero, a former agent of the DEO for almost six months and I never figured out it was you she was talking about. Until Mon-El of Daxam showed up and I saw the depth of her feelings about the place...and overheard her reminisce about the good-bad old days.” Kal-el took Jeremiah by the arm in an embrace, holding him in place, enthralled to his next words. Jeremiah sensed the urgency, the need behind his action and did not resist. “I'm here because J'onn J'onzz and Nikita think you're dead.”
“Eliza, take care of the girls...I have an old friend to visit.”
“You can get me to track them, you cannot get me to hurt them.” Nikita stated firmly, planting her feet solidly in place. “Director, I couldn't tell you if my people are pacifists but I AM one. In case you've forgotten there is no-thing you can do to get me to not be true to myself.”
“Have you any idea what we're facing here, what we're here for.”
“We are here to make contact and meet for the first time an alien you see as a threat.” Jeremiah Danvers said shortly. “Her role here is to find the man and talk to him, and help us know how to deal with him. Fighting him is not in her job description.”
“True enough, but this creature is the farthest thing from being a man you can imagine. He's a martian, a monster from your worst nightmare.”
'I've heard that one before'. Jeremiah thought to himself,though he said nothing of the kind.
“Actually, I never thought I'd say this, but...you might have a point. Even so, if I never knowingly hurt YOU Hank, what makes you think I'll sit by while you hurt a complete stranger?”
“you don't have to watch. But you do have to find him that is you're role here after all.”
“And I'm doing it!” Nikita cried out with a passion she did not usually display. “I am here to do a job and to help you guys succeed. Efficiency is better than its opposite and you need someone like me when you meet the people you refer to as 'creeps'. The fact that I haven't moved from this spot in tracking an alien fugitive should tell you something.”
Jeremiah smiled slightly as he watched realization spread over his director's face. A moment later the quarry they had been hunting came out of the brush and tackled the man named Hank Henshaw. The director lay stunned on the ground. The alien was only slightly taller than Jeremiah himself with lime-green skin and black body armor. Jeremiah watched the stranger carefully, keeping his hands visible and still.
The alien walked up to Jeremiah, silently and steadily. “Please wait.” Nikita whispered urgently. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I can sense you are a warrior, not a solider. The code of honor you live by is exactly that; something you live by. You understand, I think, being a solider under orders of a superior. I am... My name is Nikita, my people are low-level empaths, that is how I tracked you here. I am in Henshaw's custody, Jeremiah is under his command. But he is not a threat and no more a willing part of this than I am. Please don't hurt him.”
“Is this true?” The alien spoke, in a gravelly voice, his eyes focused on the man in front of him.
Jeremiah looked steadily into the man's eyes as he answered. “I work for an agency called the DEO. Our job is to protect Earth from alien threats. Hank Henshaw was my immediate superior...and a blind fool. I swear I would not hurt a man, woman or child who was no threat, who wasn't trying to hurt others. And the DEO honestly believed you were a threat.”
“Get out of here.” The alien said, speaking to Nikita. “You have no reason to stay. Be safe, be free.”
“Not without Jeremiah.” The young woman said with a kind of forceful calm. “He and I have each-other's backs. Hank brought the two of us out here with him because he saw that we unswervingly, almost recklessly defend each-other. I was not assigned to protect him, I do so freely. It's important that people out on a mission together have each-others backs, simply for tactical safety and success of the mission. But it's fiercer, stronger, harder to break if we actually care, if it's by choice, rather than requirement. I made my choice 7 months ago: I will not leave his side.”
“Nikita I...”
“I AM a low level empath. And that is em-path not tele-path. I can't read his mind to know what he thinks of us, but we are safe with him, he's a good man...like you. Although I must admit...” She blushed deeply. “You do sort of surprise me.”
At that moment they heard a rustling in the leaves. “there is a second team here, sent more to provide safety and cover for our team than to do anything about you.” Nikita said as thought her mouth moved on its own. “we should Really get out of here.”
“Higher ground?” Jeremiah suggested.
“Deeper cover.” Nikita answered. “But introductions first, yes?”
“Nikita trusts you and so do I.” Placing his left hand over his heart the DEO agent identified himself. “I'm Jeremiah Danvers. You can consider me a friend.”
“...I am...J'onn J'onzz.”
Jeremiah rested comfortably in the arms of superman. Clark was holding him loosely but firmly as they moved through the air toward DEO headquarters. “Are you alright?” Clark asked him.
“I never thought I'd be back here again. I'm not sure what to expect.”
“I wish we could take things slow, and look around but that's not going to happen. There's nothing I could say that could sufficiently prepare you.” Kal replied. “I should tell you though, J'onn will probably be the first person you see, he's director now.”
“Okay an alien in charge of the DEO since when?”
“Martians are shape-shifters...he looks human now.”
“That would explain it.”
They touched down on the balcony on the next to highest floor. And they were clearly not expected. A young agent, the equivalent in experience to a Air Force lieutenant walked up with his hand on his gun. A dark haired, pale-faced young man standing beside him simply smiled and waved with his left hand. “Superman, good to see you again. Who's your friend?”
“Winn, find director J'onzz have him meet us in the conference room.”
“That won't be necessary.” Came the smooth calm voice that resonated from a man known to most as Director J'onn J'onzz. “I think I...” His gaze met that of Jeremiah Danvers. J'onn did not say anything more for several seconds; neither did anyone else.
“J'onn, is that you?” Jeremiah finally breathed.
“I think we need to go up to the conference room. We have A-Lot to talk about.”
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