A Truly GOOD Man (Earth-9)

 A TRULY GOOD Man

“No please, take me.” Jeremiah Danvers said in a rush. The alien warrior lowered his fist. “Listen I might not care for him but he is my commanding officer and I cannot let him come to harm. Leave him here. Let us, you and I go away, someplace we can't be found. It's a strange way to start a new life but 'a new life' is what I've been seeking the past six years of my life.”

“I am not sure what you are saying. What are you suggesting?”

“Listen if we are going to do this, we should learn each-others names.”

“That is polite even among enemies.” The alien said quickly.

“My name is Jeremiah Danvers.” The agent said, placing his hand over his heart.

“I am...J'onn Jo'nzz.”

“Jean. I give you my word, I promise, if you give him his freedom as well as his life then without your instruction to the contrary I will not leave your side. He has a tracker on him, a beacon to activate in emergency and call for extraction. Activate the beacon and leave him as he is, our people...agents from our organization will find him; he will be alright. But you can't be here when they come. To tell the truth I'd rather not be here either.”

The alien solider bent down over Hank Henshaw and put the back of his hand against the man's temples. He closed his eyes briefly before righting himself. “Then we should get out of here.”

Two silent hours later Jeremiah came to a clearing in the middle of the mountains. There was very little around as far as structures. Just what looked like an old one-room school house and a few houses with flat roofs made out of red clay. With a wave of his green hand J'onn motioned his companion into the school house. The room was sparsely furnished but quite comfortable. A cot was set up on cinder blocks with lightweight sheets and fluffy white pillows on it. A low set table and an equally short bookshelf stood off the one side. “I hope you'll be comfortable here. I have to go see a friend. There's more of us here than you realize...strangers and friends.”

“Thank you.” Jeremiah said in a heartfelt tone.

“I get the feeling I should be thanking you.” With that he was gone.

Around noon the next day J'onn came back, and Jeremiah instantly got to his feet. J'onn looked almost disquieted at the courtesy. "I am waiting for you to ask the obvious question." He said simply.

"What happens now?" Jeremiah replied.

“Do your people have a word for being able to move freely throughout the premises as long as you do not leave the premises?”

“...House arrest.” Jeremiah said.

“Then I suppose 'house arrest' is the best description. You are not my prisoner. I do not intend to treat you as any sort of captive. I...am sorry if that's what you expected. I would hope we could treat and regard each-other as equals. You were the first human to treat me as an equal, seeing me as I really am. I was hoping we could continue that.”

“I would like that as well, J'onn. And I didn't expect to be a hostage. I just wasn't sure...who or what to expect if you understand me.” J'onn nodded once. “Does that mean I can soon see the rest of this place?”

“ 'the rest of this place'...is what I came here to show you.”

J'onn walked out of the building, and headed to the West, with Jeremiah walking half a step behind him. Ten minutes later they came to another clearing. This one dotted with structures made of wood as well as a few made of gray stone. And one that seemed to be formed entirely out of moss and knitted together with animal bones. There was a beaten path straight down between the houses leading to a small outdoor market. There were a few pale faces, Caucasians but most seemed to be indigenous to central America. A few faces were clearly other than human. “Welcome to Arias.” “A collection of outcasts and misfits and a few people who don't mind being around outcasts and misfits.”

“Arias, what does that mean?”

“In many languages it means something between and including 'city in the clouds' and 'near to God.” J'onn said with a note of pride.