True North of Earth 21

“Mon'el are you alright?” Nikita asked her friend from across the room.

“I think so. Where are we?”

“I would guess somewhere near Taos New Mexico. Beyond that, I really couldn't tell you.”

“Who would bring us here?”

“That answer is forthcoming.” A vaguely female voice said from the shadows.

“Please, at least let us face our captor, or inquisitor whichever word fits better.”

“You have a strange understanding of the situation.” The woman said emerging from the shadows. She had light brown skin, jet black hair and an incredibly slim figure. She seemed to be dressed in black and green leather. “Or you have the tongue of a diplomat.”

“I've had many encounters with foreigners over the years. English is my first language but I know how to communicate with those who use it differently. That's how the current chapter of my life began.”

“I would be most interested to hear more about it.”

“Not to introduce yourself is considered extremely rude, even among enemies.” Nikita said blandly. “At the very least it's as good a place to start as any. My name is Nikita, I'm not as human as I look. My friends name is Mon'el.” She nodded to her companion.

“What species are you?” The woman said, crouching down with a knife unsheathed.

“Threats of violence are not only unneeded they are counter-productive. Unless I have a reason to lie I will never mislead anyone. If I am asked a question I will answer as truthfully as the truth I myself believe. That is who I am that is who my people are. Well, that is how it is for those who are actual like me. 'my people' you see, are those who resemble me...not those of my own species. And such a threat or intimidation gives me a reason to hide, stunning me into silence more than anything else. Scaring me is unto itself, counter-productive I'm Zavallen. Which means among other things that if you want me to talk you should not give me a reason to fear you. But rather give me a reason to trust you.” A shadow seemed to pass over the woman's face. “Something the original Hank Henshaw never understood.”

“How do you mean?” Mon'el and the woman asked almost at once.

“The current director of the Department of Extra-normal operations is himself an alien and he is my friend. He recruited me and I willingly follow him. The man whose place he took was a xenophobic, blind arrogant idiot. Our word Kreec-ta actually applies. I was an enemy alien under his directives. And reminding me of my time under his watchful eye is more likely to shut me down then allow me the freedom to speak without reserve. Just tell me what you want to know, and what you want from us, it truly IS as simple as that.”

“Well, you've done this before.” Mon'el murmured.

“Not really, but she is reminding me of J'onn in a way that is both soothingly familiar and hauntingly confusing.” Mon'el and the stranger both looked up sharply. “She is reminding me of the first time I met J'onn Jo'nzz. I am responding accordingly.”

“How is that freaking possible for someone like...She's no more human than you are.”

“She really isn't. The strange thing is either she's completely forgotten what it means to be a Green...Or she's different from any White I've even heard of. And I've met one!”

“You have? Under what circumstances?”

“He wanted to know what made someone like me different than the rest of my kind... apparently mistaking me for an Earth-human...More than understandable by the way. He took control of my mind and made me beat up an herbivoric kid. One of those white furry farm animals we have on this planet. I could see everything I was doing, and being a low level empath I FELT every blow I gave to that creature. He returned my sense of self to me just after he had me snap its neck. You gave me some sort of truth agent didn't you? Killing my resistance, my sense of restraint so everything just pours out of my mouth?”

“J'onn Jo'nzz...He is a Green Martian? “

“What he IS, is my direct superior and one of my two closest friends!” Nikita thundered. “Ask me any questions about myself and my life that you want. But I will not put my friends in danger. And yes I know you're a White Martian and yes that is why I will not betray him to you.”

The brown-skinned woman faded. Replaced by a petite green-skinned woman with a sloped head and bright eyes. “Personally I prefer this skin.” The woman said simply.

“Phobos and Demos. I know all about it...From J'onn. Oh please! You could probably walk among my memories as I would a cobbled street or the hallway of a castle. And frankly I would say go ahead. Except that Mon'el might actually be the better for hearing some of this. We'd both be the better for full disclosure and the utter transparency. But enough of this! What DO you intend to do with us?”

“You will not resist me?”

“I would submit myself to it. My mind and body would fight you, I cannot control that. Any living organism attempts to expel a foreign body and you would register as something other than myself. Any White Martian or Infernian would be detected instantly and would set off alarms of invasion in my mind.”

“That would explain how you knew I wasn't one.” Mon'el said mindlessly.

“What does he mean by that?”

“Four years ago an Infernian attacked an esteemed senator at a rally for her 'Human First'-esqe followers. I doubled over in pain, standing in the DEO bullpen one day. Mon'el was found the same day and it was assumed he was the culprit. That I was reacting to him, even if he wasn't the assailant. I knew I was sensing either a White Martian or an Infernian. But I stood 5 feet from him and felt nothing alarming whatsoever. Kryptonians detect things in a collective sonic frequency. My people, low-level empaths that we are detect the emotional frequency of a race. Most of which, the frequencies of most races are incredibly like each-other. But there are two that stand out far more erratic, essentially on a higher frequency than the others. Most races are various shades of greens blues and purples...I rely on what I sense about the individual to sense danger or fear or even to figure out what species they actually are. It is a physical impossibility for Infernians or White Martian to be mistaken by my kind as anything but their own species. In the case of Infernians the mere presence of such a being hurts us like hell. It is a fact of our biology... that you are painted red for me.”

“You are hiding something with selfless conviction. Are you protecting J'onn?”

“Take a cursory look over the last 7 years of my life and you'll find your answer. Believe me you'll have to. I have nothing to hide. But my friends are mine to protect.”

Nikita sat silently, staring at nothing. Small waves of energy pulsed over her skull but she said nothing against it. In fact she continued to talk as if nothing was wrong...until she clutched her head in pain.

“Why are you doing this?” Mon'el asked of their captor almost an hour later. “Literally, what makes you think she knows anything worth knowing?”

“She agreed to this, she submitted herself to the bond. If nothing else she is proving I can trust her and that she truly has nothing to hide...not a pointless act I might add.”

“You keep this up she'll crash completely. She won't remember what you were looking for...she won't remember me.” Mon'el was clearly saddened by the truth of what he'd said.

“You know her kind?”

“I know her.” Mon'el corrected absentmindedly. “She's my closest friend and my-sponsor I guess is the word. I don't know a damn thing about her race. But she is the dearest most innocent person I know. Please, stop this. I will tell you. It was my secret she was hiding anyway, not hers. What she was hiding was the simple fact that I'm an alien as well. My name is Mon'el; I'm the former prince of Daxam.”

“And that was worth going through torture? That's hardly a secret worth keeping.”

“Except it wasn't her secret to tell! She told you: She's an open book for herself, but she defends her friends to her last breath. To her it's my choice what I tell you about myself. And she didn't want to betray my trust. Please she's simply being loyal to a friend. And trusting a stranger in the wilderness as much as a stranger in a holding cell. That's how we first met. A Kryptonian known on Earth as Superman hated my guts and thought the worst of me when he first met me. Our planets did not get along and that was the only reason we didn't trust each-other. Nikita --who was a stranger and an agent of whatever organization arrested me -- showed me more compassion and kindness in 20 minutes than I had known from anyone in my entire life. She honestly fears betraying me. But she fears so out of love; not duty or obligation."

“You are the other 'closest friend' she mentioned?”

“We're joined.” Mon'el replied. “We're intended if not bonded. I don't know how I should say this. I'm not as good at English as she is. We are pledged to each-other but have yet to be married. She is my mate and I am hers. Please I will do anything, just let her go!” The field faded. The pulsing light diminished until only a vague ethereal glow was left.

“I am sorry.” The woman said to Mon'el. “I...I misunderstood.”

“You thought we were soldiers?”

“I thought the DEO had sent you here...to find me.”

“History repeating itself again...in a very different way.”

Three hours later

"Mon'el, she didn't torture me."

"She was crawling around inside your head, inside your memories!"

"No, she was walking among them as I would walk down a cobbled street or a hallway at the DEO. But that's just because her people are psychics. If I could look into the mind of another I would see the neuronal pathways of thier mind like literal pathways: streets or corridors or something. Green and White Martians both share that ability and they have the strong minds required to compartmentalize and sort what they see. But she stayed inside my mind for 3 solid hours and I couldn't take it. I'm an empath, not a telepath."

"You've had other people inside your head?" The woman asked me. I could tell Mon'el was thinking it too.

"Well, sort of. J'onn told me that you're people send thoughts and link minds, share emotions, dreams...memories. So occasionally he'd look into my mind to make sure he understood what I was trying to say. Or so he could SEE the memory rather than rely on the description of it. Especially when it was a memory so important to us both. Our first meeting around the campfire and the 11 weeks leading to it was such a time. But that only took a few minutes and he had specific rooms he was looking for. My body simply wasn't strong enough to handle another person's mind inside of it for such a prolonged length of time...opening THAT many doors. So many memories reawakening. But I'm a receiver not a transmitter. I can't send my own thoughts. Which means that unlike for most humans who experience this a door once opened can not be stepped through in either direction. I've actually shut down the part of my mind that would want to try."
"Then why did you..." Me'gann seemed at a loss for words.
"If I'd said 'look in any rooms but these' what would you have done? If I'd put any kind of a limit on where or how long to look...the point was to be open-minded and to show you that I didn't have secrets. Secrets profit strangers nothing. Lies even less so. But please, I ask you once more, and hopefully for the last time: What do you intend to do with us?"
"I saw enough to know you're not with Henshaw. I knew you were DEO agents and under the command of their director. I assumed you were here on a DEO mission...looking for me. Why ARE you out in the middle of nowhere?”
 "We were heading for a place in the SangreDeCristo mountains...a cabin." Mon'el responded. "We were taking a vacation." Some color crept into his cheeks as if he was being called out in front of an auditorium. "And I would have proposed by the fire. J'onn gave me his blessing."

"I imagine he was pleased when you asked his permission." Nikita said with a smile. "J'onn is the closest thing to a father I have here." She explained to her host. I'm 78 years old and he takes care of me." A look of realization passed over the Zavallen's face. "Hank Henshaw has been dead for nine years Ma'am. J'onn J'onzz assumed his identity after...Well after a mission very much like the one you thought we were on."

"Henshaw hunted him. J'onn defeated him." 

"Yeah. I was on that mission. I still shake my head at myself for assuming the Martian we were pursuing was...Phobos not Deimos."

"Then Mon'el is correct. This situation is incredibly similar. And my name is Me'gann M'orzz."

In front of Me'gann, Mon'el takes Nikita's hand and asks

'Will you take me as your husband?'

Nikita says I do. She then asks Mon'el 'will you take me as your wife?'

Mon'el says I do. It's a hand-fasting and a proposal of marriage all in one.

Danvers and J'onzz

 Nikita came to Earth, spent 11 months with Jeremiah and Hank Henshaw at the DEO. She was on a mission with them to terminate 'the most dangerous alien we have ever come across' J'onn J'onzz. She now works at the DEO with a disguised J'onn for whom Kal El of Krypton is a dedicated ally.

“Winn and Kal know how we met.” Nikita said in a forcibly calm voice. “And literally every one here knows I spent 11 months detained in this place prior to that mission. Yet none of you have asked why I was there that night on the precipice or even how willingly I played my role 'did my part'. Which this I can actually understand. It's not the sort of thing one would want to remember. But it is part of my life and so was he. Hank Henshaw would never have acted as you have, but because no one here had ever met him, you didn't have to act like him to play the part. But Henshaw wasn't the only human being I saw every single day when I was here. There was another. And if I hadn't gotten to know him so well, I would think your humanity, as we think of the word was betraying your otherworldly origins. I wouldn't have known there was anything or anyone like YOU, as you are now on this continent, if not for him.”

“You mean Jeremiah.” J'onn said blandly.

“Whatever the word is for 'willingly but not freely' we were that word at the DEO. It was an 'I'm here to help but I don't have to like it' for me. Jeremiah convinced me it was worth it. And was able to convince Henshaw to try a more thoughtful, intellectual approach with me. I don't my people don't do anything in our own individual best interest. You have to convince us it makes sense and is worth it. I followed where I was told to go. 'You can get me to track them you can't get me to hurt them' kind of a thing, because Jeremiah was right and they needed to see that. I wanted to give you guys a more excellent, effective less hare-brained way of trying to achieve your goals with 'those aliens' and we got that done, but it was way more than that, longer, deeper. I...he meant a great deal to me and showed ME a more excellent way just by being the kind of person he was. That's rare on any planet that's not inherently psychic or empathic.” Nikita turned and stared hard into J'onn's eyes. “What was the first thing out of my mouth when you met us that day? Not on the cliff by the fire that night, on the trail in the trees?”

“You put your hand out to your friend and asked me not to hurt him. You said 'tie his hands it makes sense but nothing else, please'. At the time I didn't understand why.”

“Because even though you had absolutely no reason to know this, he wasn't any sort of a threat, willingly or otherwise. You didn't know if our team was there to capture or kill you and I was pretty sure you were a warrior, not a hunter or a barbarian but...but I DID NOT want him hurt. I was there to keep him safe, my personal though obviously not official reason for being. Did you never wonder why?”

(conjunction is missing but this IS all one scene)

“I know he's not being deliberately ignored. Like I said no one knows how important he was. But he deserves to be acknowledged. People need to know that he was the kind of person he was. If Jeremiah had tried to make me feel normal I would have hated him, given what I thought of 'normal' around here. But he didn't, he tried to make me feel alright, acceptable. Something no other human...Hell no other sentient being...in my life has bothered doing. No human I have met has been as dark and blind as Henshaw. No human I have ever met has been as patient and compassionate as Jeremiah. So I can say with assurance that I witnessed the very best and the very worst of humanity, side by side with each other for 11 months. Because you're wearing his face, people know about Hank, at least that he existed and that you are a way better human being than he was. Kal, Jeremiah Danvers was to me who Johnathan Kent was to you, and none of you have ever even asked what his name was. It's kind of annoying!”

“Danvers?” Kal-El of Krypton said in a weak voice.

“Jeremiah Danvers, that was his name. I don't even know what happened to him.”

“I'm sorry, I you didn't know?” Kal-El said in a mystified tone.

“It's time to make SURE we're on the same page.” J'onn said in a deliberate, impatient tone.

“The first thing I can remember after that camp fire was waking up in Clark Kent's house. That is he was standing over me and it was obviously not a house in the Canadian Rockies. For all I knew I'd been either unconscious or out of it for weeks before he...you...found me. As far as not knowing what happened to him, I didn't want to know. Enough crap had happened to him on my account including getting a wooden spear through the ribs, I was basically just afraid of the truth. If he was DEAD he'd probably be better off than whatever else could have happened to him.”

“Nothing bad happened to him Nikita...he's with his daughters.” J'onn J'onzz said quietly.

“He's back with his family?” Nikita said in a trembly voice. “He...He has his happy ending?”

“You thought he died?” The Martian Man-hunter prompted.

“I thought he was living his life more alone than I was.”

“Wait, you both know Jeremiah!” Kal fairly shouted.

“The one time I remember using violence against a human was to get Henshaw quite literally off his back.” Nikita said coolly. “That Creche-ta shoved him against a wall for 'stepping out of line' while interrogating me. I basically football tackled the guy. Yes I know him...why?”

“Guys, Jeremiah Danvers is my cousins adoptive father.”

“I didn't know there were any Kryptonians on Earth except for you.” J'onn quipped.

“She...she hasn't revealed herself as an alien. She's a refugee or an immigrant by most standards, but yes another member of the house of El is here. Kara Zor-el took the name of the family that raised her. She's Kara Danvers to literally everyone but me.”

“Can you tell him I'm here?” Nikita said weakly. “Tell him I'm still part of the fight, this time by my own choice. Maybe, ask him to come see me? There is something I seriously NEED to know from him.”

“If you mean 'did he regret helping you' the answer is no.” J'onn offered.

“What he thought of me in the fracking first place the 11 months I knew him!” She exploded. “I know why he helped me, he knows more of my story than literally any human being on the planet. I've heard and talked about nothing with You, Winn or Kal about anything that happened before that night. Because I only know half that story anyway, Jeremiah IS the other half of that story, a part of it I didn't know how to tell, and frankly didn't think I should. Until today, I didn't think I could EVER find an answer. That's why his being dead or gone sucked so much and THAT is why I don't talk about my former time at the DEO...it reminded me way to strongly of a a dear friend. And the one person on this earth I would want to make proud of me. Not to mention it sucked just on general principle.” At that moment she seemed to realize she'd said something wrong. Pulling herself up and holding her hands flat against her hips she stared J'onn J'onzz in the face. “You were a stranger from Mars when we found you, but that's the extent of your time with them. I was an enemy alien held as a spy because I, and I quote General Elling 'supposedly don't know the name of my own planet.' Which, taken together with the fact that I'd lived here more than 20 years without telling anyone meant I was an infiltrator to this world. You looked more alien than anyone else I'd meet while in DEO custody. That was to your advantage and nothing short of serendipity. It was a blessing, not a condemnation for you. To them, I was an alien and didn't bother showing my 'true form'.”

“I don't understand you told me this IS your true form.” J'onn J'onzz said, sincerely mystified. “That except for having your cardiac organ where their left kidney is physiologically you're the same...that this is what you really look like.”

“And you took me at my word! You could accept that there were aliens out there who were not soldiers for either side, weren't here for vacation, and just want to live somewhere else. Honestly, I don't think it ever entered Henshaw's crystallized, fragile, narrow perfect mind that some are aliens out there who naturally looked more like human beings than your...(realizes she is talking to two aliens) than apes do.

Hero and Heart (Earth-9)

Also explaining Hank Henshaw in half of my stories with him in it. 

In another time Henshaw was blind and close-minded but not xenophobic. On Earth-9 I mean. His duty and need for answers got in the way of his seeing things clearly or finding answers. Several months after inviting the former prisoner Nikita back as a member of the D.E.O. Henshaw knocks on the door to her quarters. And thus begins this tale.

Hero and Heart

“I thought we were a little overdue for a chat.” The young woman said to the solemn, dark-skinned man at her door. “Well, in or out choose one.”

“I rather deserve that. We need to have a serious talk.” A shiver went up Nikita's spine.

“I'm sorry; it still kinda gives me the chills when you talk like that.”

“I'm surprised it doesn't make you want to punch something...especially me.”

“Hank, what exactly are you here to hear from me? I mean we both know there is a pretty serious animal in the room, but what do you think that animal looks like...a tiger or an elephant?”

“Well that's actually what I'm asking...If I understand you correctly there is definitely some giant Herbivore that's stopping us from solving a damn problem. But if it is not a frightened dog, and I can tell it is not, why is it not a tigress? And why is it not turning on its kidnappers? Nikita I really mean it...why don't you hate me?”

“I have no reason on the face of this earth to hate you Hank. And I have nothing to fear from you anymore. I am aware of the fact that hate is useless, I can sense everything that makes you who you are. The essence or core of a person, a soul I guess it's called. I don't mean an immortal thing. It isn't of everyone but I've spent enough time around you I can hear your proverbial heart. There is nothing in you now that even resembles what I sensed from you before...the person you were when you and I used to sit here and have those endless debates. I cannot hold who you were over the man you are now. It's actually against my own scriptures to do so.”

“Were you a priest on your planet?” Hank looked shocked and stupefied and a couple other things at once. “I'm sorry but everyday Christians don't hold so unswervingly or effortlessly to Christian teachings. Only those with religious training or holy orders so devotedly follow, even our own 'scriptures'. Are you the equal to a Franciscan friar?”

“Only in so far as the teachings in our holy book resemble closely what I have read in your Bible. And it's one of a very few things I have of my culture of origin. I never attended church back home. I would have if I'd had the liberty, I wasn't given that opportunity. I wasn't a prisoner I was...a shameful secret. So I stayed at home, read books, watched holo-vids and read The Good Book over and over again. I KNOW the ten tales that comprise my peoples most sacred book. The only good thing that came from being hidden away is how easily I can follow the star in my own heart, and live as I would be taught, even without the...Basic Instructions By Light Eternal. On my desk.”

I've heard the bible called Basic Instruction Before Leaving...You meant your own peoples scriptures, didn't you?”

“We read them by lamplight and they are the light that guides our way as we journey along through life. We don't argue about what the afterlife looks like and there is never any doubt that one exists–Yeah, I didn't mean the Bible. Although from what I've read, even though it gets drown out a lot, the Ten Certain Tales are found in your Bible as well. Hank you've made the conscious choice to be different, to be better than you were before. More than that you have succeeded. You ARE a man a million times better than who you were. I will not hold onto that hot coal just waiting for you to backslide so I can stone you with it. I realize I am mixing A-TON of metaphors here, but they fit. From my perspective holding your past self against the man standing in front of me right now is not only stupid, it's morally wrong. Hate is as painful as it is destructive, and completely useless besides. The fires of the past hurt like hell, why would I choose to keep them burning hot?”

“Forgotten, but not gone?” Hank Henshaw said mildly.

“Oh trust me, this shrape still hurts...I just don't let it dig into my back.”

Outlines of Myriad Earths

After she treated Henry Allen's wound without batting an eye at J'onn's green Martian-ness, J'onn challenges Eloise for lying about who she was; she can't be human either. She replies that genetically she's other than human, both her parents were Naltorians, but she was born on Earth, within the boundaries of the United States. And she wasn't 'hiding' being an alien at all. She then invited her guests to sleep on the couch and blankets in the living room and locks herself in her bedroom.

J'onn J'onzz: (Uncertainly) why do I get the feeling we just repaid kindness with betrayal?

Henry Allen: (sadly) Because that's exactly what we did.

Earth 21 In the times between March 17 2004 and October 28^th 2015

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 the speed and silence of flying required the non-terrestrial look of his assumed identity. 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 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 while expressing his disdain.

“ '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. It wasn't until Mon-el of Daxam showed up that I saw the depth of her feelings about the place. And two weeks later I overheard her reminisce about the good-bad old days.” Kal-el took Jeremiah by the arm in a gentlemanly embrace, holding him enthralled to his next words. Jeremiah sensed 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.”

Earth 9 DEO take 2:

Henshaw recruits Jeremiah into the DEO by threatening his daughter, Alex. Not under suspicion of being an alien but more for some of the extra-curricular activities that could get her in a hell of a lot of trouble if anyone ever learned about them. Henshaw, Jeremiah and two other agents, Steel and Collins go into the Canadian Rockies after a 'humanoid alien'. This is of course Nikita. The young woman willingly and without compulsion answers all of Henshaw's questions. Which confuses Henshaw considering her obvious disdain and loathing for him. Jeremiah notices she is using the politeness of a head of state or someone in the diplomatic corps. No matter how she personally feels, she gets the job done with decorum and brevity.

On her planet she was the crown princess of Tarsus, the most willful and fiercely independent of the 3 nations-continents on her world. She wanted to forge her own path in life and eventually found her way to Earth. A planet that is known to be extremely individualistic and to value self-determination above all else. After 3 years Jeremiah breaks her out of the DEO. He dies in the line of duty less than a year later. Hank Henshaw sought her out to bring her, as a friend and ally back to the DEO. They both have an example to live up to and a great man to remember. They decide to do their best to further Jeremiah's vision and catch each-other when they fall.

Earth 9; Central City

Cisco is engaged to Kendra Saunders. Eddie and Iris are married. Caitlin has three children with Ronnie. Barry Allen splits his time evenly between his theoretical physics studies at the university and watching the skies from his tech-enhanced stables. He observes a kryptonian pod crash about 7 kilometers from his place. A blonde-haired female alien Kara (pronounced Care-a) emerges and he takes her in. They become roommates and close friends, but nothing more. Together with Raymond Palmer the 3 form the super-friends: science and technology geeks who solve the mysteries of the universe. Barry Allen is NOT the Flash on this earth. Eddie Thawne is.

Caitlin and Ronnie's children are named Irene, Harry and Jesse. Eddie and Iris when they have kids will name the first one Gabe. They plan to name their next child Monica but after her death they name their daughter Thea, in memory and in honor of the fallen hero of Star City.

Earth 27 Central City:

Barry Allen is the Flash but is not associated with STAR Labs. His best friend and mentor is Harrison Wells. In the four years since Barry gained his powers Dr Wells went from a Chemistry professor at Met:U to a bit of a homebody taking Late@NightEnrichement courses at Central City University. Martin Stien is a professor teaching some philosophy courses who recognizes IN Wells a rare breed of human being: one who still believes in the goodness of the world despite everything that's happened to him. Whatever gave Allen his powers fried his neurons...and he's not embittered by it.

Martin Stien and Harrison Wells begin a courtship that they mostly keep to themselves. Iris is Barry's legal sibling, so they never considered dating. All the times Caitlin came to Barry for both scientific and life advice grew into a deep affection and respect for each-other. Late at night once Barry admitted: I need you in my life Caitlin; I've always known that. Would you go out with me Friday night? She joyously says yes. Eight months later they are planning their wedding.

Earth 42

Wells was in a wheelchair already when the accelerator launched and successfully ushered in a new era for humanity. Harrison Wells found Thawne's ship, but never encountered him. Reading Gideon's records of the three heroes to usher in an era of understanding, equality and hope, he decides to follow these history pages like a script...including killing Barry's mother. He has been doing things slightly differently for the last 7 years; choosing to focus on developing a whole new way of looking at Physics. And learning his accelerator put Barry in a coma he has, out of guilt and responsibility done everything he could to be a better mentor and teacher (life and work respectively) to Barry Allen. Eddie and Iris are married after dating for almost 2 years. Ronnie was engaged to Caitlyn but died in the experiment that opened the singularity on our Earth. He had discovered that Wells knows a lot more about this than he lets on and informs Wells of his discovery. Ronnie's last words were to Barry and Caitlyn: Creating a life for you that is TRULY your own, is worth it.

Wells will reveal Gideon's existence and his possession of the Yellow Speedster suit almost a year after Ronnie's death. But sometime in that year Barry will ask why it feels like Wells is doing everything out of a sense of obligation or responsibility. Ronnie's death wasn't your fault you know. I know that Barry. But there is another flame that's no longer burning because of me. I do what I do...because of her. Joe West had confronted Wells with his suspicions five months after Barry woke up from his coma. The audience is meant to think he is referring to Tess Morgan. He is referring to Nora Allen. A revelation and admission he will make before the year is out.

Earth 21: Starling City May 2015

Oliver, can I talk with you for a minute?

“Sure Quentin, what's up?

“I have something I wanted to ask you about. I know you said you were fine with Moira and I being together so often..”

“I didn't just say it; I meant it. You've been seeing my mom the last 18 months, you've been living with her the last 5. If I had a problem, you would have heard about it way before now.”

“Yeah I know it's just, would she accept if I 'put a ring on it'? Hehe. I don't even know why I'm so nervous it's just...”

“Quentin take my advice: no fanfare, no elaborate presentation. Tell her how you feel and ask her. I have it on fairly good authority that she'll say yes.” Oliver Queen smiled broadly. “She asked me three nights ago why if you loved her this deeply, you kept hesitating around her. I told her it might have something to do with the extremely rocky road we had a year ago; the two of us I...” his voice trailed off. “Wait were you worried about what she would say or what I would say?”

“You were right about our complex relationship. I didn't want to make it a convoluted one.”

“Quentin are you high? When the entire city, including Ray Palmer thought the Arrow was a murderer all over again you defended him to my mother and I. As the Arrow I already trusted you. I decided the moment I heard your admission that I liked you. As weird as this sounds, I want you in my life. ESPECAILLY if that life means being my step-father.”

“I...I can't tell you how much that means to me Oliver.”

Oliver is Barry's best man at his and Caitlin wedding. Harrison Wells for the first time in 8 months stands up, stands at Barry's side ad father of the groom. “Joe can see me, from beyond; you are with me, here. I could not be happier about either thing.” Barry says to Harrison with gentle strength.

Aliens of National City

 A model inmate at a prison for aliens is one of the few to have kind words of appreciation or respect for how Hank Henshaw ran things.

"He knew there were two responses to caging a beast: its broken or it gets angry. He understood that if you treat people like animals you're gonna get bit. But more than that, he knew that sometimes just the inability to move or to change was enough to break someone...or at least quiet them. I never gave him any trouble...so he never had to calm me down. What I knew, I shared. But unlike literally everyone else here, 'what I knew' was never a priority for him. He was misguided and single-minded but duty-bound. His regard for his code of honor and responsibility...in other words his inability to see past his own uniform was unfortunate for some but helped him recognize and appreciate her own dedication to her people and exception-less belief in honesty and honor. She wasn't a monster, like some people there but she was a criminal, so she absolutely deserved to be there. The only reason I'm at the DEO not a regular prison is my physiology is such they would accidentally kill me. Table salt burns through the soft tissue of my throat and the stuff they use to calm unruly inmates would give stop my heart flat. So I serve my time in the one place equipped for someone as weird as myself...without issue and without complaint.”

She's explaining all this to the new director, J'onn J'onzz. Who after a few minutes asks what crime she committed to get arrested in the first place. Since she was arrested through normal channels and not captured by the D.E.O. Her face grows sad, she sits cross-legged on the floor and says "I beat the hell out of a guy who turned out to be a cop."

"One of the main things presented in the case against me was that I had the disregard and the audacity to attack an officer of the law. And no offense but I'm starting to think your justice system is a little broken. If a person's status is such that it's a worse crime to rob them, or you get a more severe punishment for wronging them, shouldn't they bother telling you what they are? If I'd known, I would have pulled back. To me a cop is either in a dress uniform or...in a blue outfit with a badge on his chest. I never saw a uniform or his badge. Without explaining my ignorance or my other-worldliness I couldn't tell them this, and I doubt people would have listened.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I beat the hell outta the guy, enough so that  he died from his injuries 3 weeks later, but I didn't decide to be a cop-killer like they presented of me...I DIDN'T KNOW!"

J'onn looks like he wants to say something, but decides against it. Instead he crouches down, eye-level with the complex riddle of a prisoner. "I am listening if you will keep talking." He says simply.

"It's been 11 years since I was sentenced. I keep my head down. I'll serve my time. Although I still am trying to figure out how the hell I killed the guy in the first place." Her voice went completely silent.  Almost entreatingly she looked up at J'onn J'onzz. "Am I the only one of my kind that you have on file? Can you check? The only thing I can think of for how someone of my build, size and weight to be able actually kill a cop, physically speaking, is if my people are just that much stronger than human beings."

   "And you didn't tell anyone?"

"No, And actually, maybe that's something that earned me a little admiration from Henshaw. that I would rather accept what happens and deal with it than try to change anyone's mind. Introducing the public to some strange human-looking visitor from another planet wasn't something he could hold with. It was actually in his mandate at the time to prevent that from happening. Aliens who look like aliens is one thing. But to prevent witch hunts and people turning on each-other for fear of 'infiltrators'. It was enough to show him I would rather go to prison and just deal with it than create mass panic or a scene. Maybe learning we had so much in common was enough to quiet his suspicions of me."

"I didn't know him very well, only saw his bad side..." Eloise raises an eyebrow. "I don't actually look like this. In my native form I look like a monster, and an imposing one even as far as monsters go. He saw me like that...and reacted accordingly."

"I...I won't say I apologize...but I do regret it."

"Thank you." J'onn said sincerely. "Anyway, if he didn't think he needed to hurt you, he wouldn't have wanted to. And I guess you're right: most prisoners here probably would want to tear *my* head off."

"...He knew." Eloise said suddenly. "That's why he never did anything to make me mad. He knew I was only capable of those things when I was ticked off...so he never did anything that might make me mad."

It occurs to Eloise out of nowhere that she's very nearly free. The charge was manslaughter not murder, and rightly so because it wasn't premeditated and she didn't have a weapon. She has served 11 years of a 15 year sentence and she only has 4 years left. And that's where the story leaves off. I'm left wondering as the author if the actual legal system does the 'taking days off for good behavior' thing for manslaughter? Because if they do, she was a model inmate for the last 7 of these 11 years and her sentence might actually be commutable, without any extenuating circumstances like her alien physiology, the law not being able to take her alien strength and her essentially being a foreign child despite looking old enough to buy alcohol without getting carded.

After treating Henry's wound and not batting an eye at J'onn's green Martian-ness J'onn challenges Eloise in such a way that she locks herself in her bedroom.

J'onn J'onzz: (Uncertainly) why do I get the feeling we just repaid kindness with betrayal?

Henry Allen: (sadly) Because that's exactly what we did.

The Martian word 'attuned'

 An original story of mine and a story that just felt like it needed writing.

“Dining on ashes J'onn?” Kal'el said floating a few feet above the balcony.

“That's a new one.” J'onn J'onzz said distractedly. "From you anyway."

“If the dark and slightly brooding look fits...and it seems to.” Kal'el landed at J'onn's left and walked over to him, smiling warmly.

“Well if it means chewing on the dry bones of your own stupidity, it does.”

“What's wrong? I know this doesn't mean what it should but I've never seen you like this.”

“Nikita compared me to Hank Henshaw.” The alien said miserably.

“You mean the military jerk who kept her prisoner for five years and tried to execute you on the spot? That'll do it.”

“Believe it or not Clark, that's not the problem. The trouble is...I think she was right.”

Kal'el of Krypton, or Clark Kent as he was known by most people on Earth, put his hand gently on J'onn's shoulder. “I'm here to listen if you want to talk.”

J'onn looked at his compatriot. “Not here. This place has more ears than I'd like to admit.”

“My father's place. 68.4 north Longitude, 77.2 West Latitude You'll need a heavy coat or thick skin.”

It took a moment for J'onn to react to his friends invitation. And a minute longer to understand it. “Well Clark I appreciate it. I'm just not sure...I'll see you there.”

“Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude.” Kal'el said amiably when he crossed the threshold into his second home. It was quite a beautiful place, a crystalline ice palace On Baffin Island just West of Greenland in the Arctic Circle. J'onn resumed his human form as soon as he landed, which made Kal'el smile slightly. “You don't have to hide here J'onn. We hold your people no ill-will. Besides...it is considered more honest.”

“...Very well.” J'onn closed his eyes and his skin quickly changed from that of a human African American male to the lime green pallor of his own race. His legs grew, his chest shrank slightly and his head sloped backward as it grew a good 12 centimeters.

“Master Kal, I did not know we'd be receiving guests.” A mild voice said from the near-distance.

“Kalex, fabricate some Rhown wine for me and my guest to share and then leave us to ourselves.”

Two champagne flutes of a carbonated beige colored liquid materialized on the pedestal in front of them. “Privacy mode initiated.”

“That's convenient.” J'onn said mildly.

“I didn't think this would be something meant for other ears.” Clark hesitated a moment. “And I get the feeling I should feel honored you would share this with me.”

Kal picked up a flute of the drink, J'onn raised his in a toast. “Tsu freynt, alt aun nay.”

“ 'To Friends, old and new.' ” Kal translated. “I didn't know you spoke Kryptonian.”

“It's an antidote to arrogance and a reminder of our humanness that we can still surprise each-other, the 4 of us.” J'onn said with a slight grin. “First I have to ask you if Nikita ever told you the story of how we met. Rather to what degree of detail she shared the story.”

“That Hank Henshaw took her and Jeremiah Danvers on a mission to execute a 'particularly dangerous alien' a description she and Jeremiah both laughed at until Hank told her it was a Martian they were going after. That she was ashamed of her mistake when she actually saw you.”

“Because unlike the human inhabitants of this world, she knew both Green and White Martians existed. Jeremiah Danvers and I held each other in high regard. Now that I know he's still alive, I can assume we still do. That was entirely due to the fact that Nikita trusted me without hesitation. For the past 4 years she and I have been working to make the DEO 'more like what it is today and less like what it was when I was first brought through its doors'. How many times have we heard her say that? And yet I never stopped to ask her, or even consider what it was like when she was brought into the DEO. I realize I'm telling a story in a very bad order here but...I just listened to a more detailed description of what Henshaw was really like pouring out of her mouth than what I've heard from anyone at the DEO since I arrived. And along with stories of why he's such a blind arrogant idiot and why she holds Jeremiah in such high regard in the first place. But the best part: she told me exactly what it means to be a low-level empath. I always assumed it meant the signals or readings in her mind were faint, distant or easily muddled. It turns out she senses the literal thoughts and intentions of anyone she's within 20 meters of, their very nature and essence ring into her ears...into her mind's eyes. Nothing can convince her not to act upon it. Do you know there are two species in the known galaxies that physiologically make her sick, no matter what she senses from the person?”

“I knew she reacted horribly to Infernians and White Martians; they make her double over in pain. It was Infernian to commit the attack for which I squarely blamed our Daxamite guest.”

“I found such a creature in her apartment, a White Martian. And their kind are monsters... abominations...murderers to me and of my people. Not only did she not let me take that thing into custody, Nikita stood in my way and told me to stand down. Among other things she said that her apartment, which she is beholden to me to be able to use is as much a sanctuary of peace as it is a sanctuary of life and that if I continue to disrespect that and use the wrong end of my anatomy I would quickly find out how thoroughly even a pacifist like herself could kick my ass.”

“White Martians are aggressive, relentless and egotistical. That's not just me repeating what you told me, my Kryptonian father said the same thing. Why would she defend one of them?" Kal-el mused. "And I am assuming this is at the core of this whole situation?”

“Nikita told me that as a White Martian, Meagan is shredding her insides. Who she is as a person she is calming me...Nikita...down. And that I was the one making her sick. I couldn't believe it. I still have trouble accepting it. When she told me I was the one reminding her of Hank Henshaw, I said what's probably the most thoughtless thing to ever come out of my mouth. I insisted that she remember I knew what Henshaw was like. She was there when we he tried to cut me down.”

“...And she reminded you that by comparison you were there for five minutes...she had to live under him for five years.” Kal'el finished slowly.

“Apparently he was a far more violent and thoughtless warden than I had given him credit for. And the one time she fought back was for Jeremiah's sake and not her own. She told me few days after we'd met that her treatment at the DEO had improved tremendously, but  it was still incredibly new to her. I'm sure she's told you the same.”

“She never stops saying it...but never says anything more either.” Kal'el agreed.

“I am seriously regretting never asking her before...what her life was like even a year before I knew her. Truth is I never even tried to think about what it had been like before, what it was like under Henshaw for her or anyone else. With Me'gann standing right there she explained how she and Jeremiah became such a close team. Basically they respected and trusted each-other so completely that Henshaw brought them on missions together...a military unit is supposed to have each-others backs and they did so quite naturally...the two of them I mean. Then she turned to look at me with the most devastated expression you could ever fear to see on someone's face and said 'I understand you might not want to see me again. And you probably won't want me working at the D.E.O.; and that's alright. But there is nothing you can do to stop me from being exactly who I am.' Then asked me to leave her house, leaving her and her guest alone. I've never felt so insulted and yet rightly-embarrassed in my life. When I got back to the D.E.O. I talked to a few other inmates and realized how greatly their lives improved once I took over. Understand I did nothing as director except make sure they deserved to be there before keeping them locked up and they got medical treatment they weren't allergic to. Today I've learned even that was an improvement from their treatment at the hands of that monster Henshaw. I thought I knew him because he wanted me executed rather than captured. But he was...”

“...Everything you don't want to be.” Kal'el finished lamely.

“Exactly. And well, do you remember how it felt getting 'dressed down' for bad manners?”

The oblique reference was not lost on the Kryptonian. “Thank you for putting it gently. I don't think I'll forget that any time soon: I assumed Mon'el was responsible for an attack he was physically incapable of and jailed him at the DEO without a trial...something Nikita rightly pointed out I didn't have the authority for. In the process reminded a former DEO prisoner of the treatment she fought so hard to overcome. Worse, I became everything the two of you were trying not to allow...and acted as if in control of the situation.”

“Okay, that part I don't know about.” J'onn said quickly.

“I speak as a citizen of Earth when I meet people from other planets; after all I was raised here. But when I spoke to Mon'el I spoke as though I was an agent of the DEO, as if my prejudices towards Daxamites was DEO policy. And as if it was with their--your authority I was detaining him. The dressing down she gave me was mostly for being so completely wrong about a person and misusing an authority I had no right to claim. She said I 'was the DEO's strongest alien ally but still an ally of the DEO, not a part of it'. And that 'If I was going to speak as one of us, I might want to get my perspective straight'. I never knew she had so much passion, I never knew her to speak with such fierce conviction. It threw me completely off. I asked her what had infected her with this much 'passionate intensity' and she said 'you should ask the man whose face J'onn is wearing for that one.' Not exactly anyone's finest moment.”

"You can say that again." J'onn replied, thoroughly dejected.

Nikita has her own off-site apartment provided by the D.E.O. And several days after these events, Jeremiah stop by Nikita's place at J'onn's behest to learn if Nikita is ticked at J'onn for a falling out and what the heck even happened in the first place. Twenty minutes of exposition follow explaining the avoidable, if understandable missteps that cropped up at the D.E.O over the past 11 years, a lot of which played out, or RE-played out under her roof the last time she saw the Green Martian to whom she was beholden and with whom she was 'attuned'. Green and White Martins are the equal of what would happen if Isaac and Ishmael took their people along such divergent paths that they became two separate races instead simply having 2 separate religions...And hated each-other's guts. She had been 'harboring' or protecting a white Martian, knowing what it was. Something J'onn had not like nor understood. Nikita stares Jeremiah in the eyes:

“Believe me, I know where he was coming from. But from my perspective he was still judging someone for their race and their looks instead of on their own merits, instead of seeing the individual before them for who they really were. Or even bothering to look. When we first met J'onn I could tell the kind of person he was, regardless of which breed of Martian he was, or that he was one. My inherent tendency worked to J'onn's advantage then. I simply extended the same courtesy, or rather proclivity and consideration to my guest. And that's the other thing. I ended up kicking J'onn out of my apartment, I flat out told him to leave because the alien he was so intent to drag away to prison was a guest under my roof and my responsibility. One thing that has been true for the last 27 years is that no one with a brain in their skull insults a friend on mine in my house.. Not even my closest friends get away with THAT.”

J'onn J'onzz: Let me assure you that if it wasn't her decision to stay, it would be both arrogance and stupidity to try to keep her here. Also, since she's decided you're worth fighting for, I'd have to be either a fool or suicidal to try to threaten you.

...Elana is of a race that once they set thier mind to something, whether to make themselves rich at all costs or live as a beggar, they do that thing to the fullest. They are extremely single minded once they've made up thier mind. She is also of a race that can kick a Martian's ass if they want. So staying out of their way, or not getting in thier way, really is self-preservation.

After treating Henry's wound and not batting an eye at J'onn's green Martian-ness J'onn challenges Eloise in such a way that she locks herself in her bedroom.

J'onn J'onzz: (Uncertainly) why do I get the feeling we just repaid kindness with betrayal?

Henry Allen: (sadly) Because that's exactly what we did.