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 words ringing with a tone of 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 to know who I am and I have recently learned that they know you. I'm finding myself feeling a little stupid about her. There is...a former alien prisoner who has not stopped talking about her hero, a former agent of the D.E.O. 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. Both the personal haunting of before and how fervently she defends what the place has become...to her anyway. And two weeks later I overheard her reminisce about the good-bad old days. And seriously everything crystalized.” Superman took Jeremiah's are in a tight embrace, pulling him close and refusing to let him turn away. Jeremiah sensed the need behind the action and did not resist the effort. “I'm here because J'onn J'onzz and Nikita think you're dead.”
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