Surprising Compassion

 Elana tries to convince J'onn to visit the DEO. Says that Henshaw really has changed and that at least one of them need closure. In the standard cliché J'onn obviously doesn't think so. Jeremiah tells him what Henshaw is really like. “He did what he thought was necessary to protect civilians, all of Earth really from people he honestly believed were our enemies. I can't fault him for that. And if this is coming from the mouth of an alien, then you can believe it's at least possible.”

“What's the real reason you want to go?” Jeremiah looked mildly shocked. “I can read your mind pretty well by now. It's almost natural to hear what's on the surface. You don't want to see him, at least not for any personal reason. You believe without proof he has changed. So there's another reason you want to go back. What is it?”

“Nikita. She was a dear friend of mine. Well, she was a dear soul and an innocent one. For the first time in the six years I served under Henshaw I couldn't stand by and watch her get interrogated for information she didn't have, or for being a threat she didn't actually pose. I broke her out of the DEO. According to Firestorm over there, she's back at the DEO as an officer, an attaché to the man I thought had the thickest skull on the face of the planet. I need to see if it's true, if she believes he has changed or is simply following orders, playing along. If she is with him of her own I can move on with my life.”

“Jeremiah. You don't need to stay with me. If you leave, I'll miss you sure but I wouldn't keep you here against your will. I thought you knew that about me at least.”

“I swore I would stand with you J'onn. I swore never to leave your side. It's been years since I thought of myself as a prisoner. But I swore an oath. That without your permission I would not leave your side. So of course I am asking your permission!”

"It is more than granted."

"J'onn I...I'm coming back."

J'onn Jo'nzz shook his head sadly. "You told me once that even your son was not reason enough for you to want to return home. Once you go back, you'll stay with your family. I would never get in the way of that. Jeremiah, if you have someone in this life who needs you I would never knowingly keep you from them."

"Does this mean..." Jeremaih was at a loss for words.

"I'll bring you to the D.E.O. You show me the way. But i do not want them thinking I'm holding you here agaisnt your will. If you're right about them, they'll let me come home. Home for me, is where Sarrin is. Just as home for you is where Nikita is...And E..Elias."

“She's broken.” Superman said to Director Henshaw in an undertone.

“With respect Superman, she's stronger than you think. I'M still learning how strong.”

Superman actually turned to look at the human solider. Understanding flickered across his face a moment later. “that's not what I mean. I scanned her with X-ray vision. Her bones aren't old they're Bro-ken.”

“You're trying to tell me that...You can't be right.”

“Oh and you're honestly trying to tell me you didn't....” Superman closed his mouth when he saw the flabbergasted look on the director's face. “You really didn't know?”

“She told me her people live an average of 120 years and I knew she was almost 100 years old I...I didn't know. Superman I don't know whether to yell at you or thank you right now. I'll settle for asking you to either return to your quarters or leave the facility.”

“My dad should be back soon. I'll go to my quarters.”

“Very well.” He waved a hand at an agent who was standing nearby. “Qǐng dài tā dào tā de zhùchù.” Which loosely translated to 'show him to his quarters please.”

Superman tried to keep the look of shock off his face; and did not succeed. “I may have seriously underestimated you Director.”

“Now you know how it feels.”

Minutes later when Jeremiah clocked out of his shift the first place he stopped was at Superman's temporary quarters. He had no time to knock before Superman got to his feet.

“Jeremiah!” Superman said embracing his adoptive father in a bear hug.

“Good to see you son. The last time I saw a grin that big on your face...you were 15.”

“I...had a question to ask you about Nikita.”

“In fairness to a mutual friend don't you think you should ask her first?”

“Not that kind of question. I was wondering her age and if you knew if she was ill?”

“She's lived on Earth for more than 50 years and she was 20 years old when she landed here. But ill, I couldn't say. She wouldn't necessarily tell me if she were. Why?”

“Hank Henshaw just reintroduced us. I scanned her as she walked away. I told Hank that her bones aren't old they're broken. And he looked at me with exactly the same look you have on your face right now. Perhaps even more shocked. I didn't understand it.”

“Tell me what you saw. And what you mean.”

Superman sat down in a desk chair and proceeded to explain that when he saw Nikita with his x-ray vision her bones looked fractured. Enough so, that every step would be painful, especially if the person were making an effort to walk without impediment. And his initial assertion that Hank Henshaw had been responsible for the damage, sometime before his extremely sincere redemption. An opinion that had changed when he 'saw an expression on Hanks face that looked like death warmed over.' Jeremiah put his hand in front of his mouth in a thoughtful pose.

“Elias. Henshaw was a jerk back in the day, but he was a law abiding jerk. He had restraint. There is no way he would have done anything to cause that kind of damage to her system. And I'd hate to say it but this explains a lot.”

“Okay, explain, please.”

“After I'd served here for about 2 years I asked Hank why Nikita was considered an enemy alien. She certainly had not done anything since I'd joined to earn that classification. He replied simply 'because those are my orders'. As if it should simply be enough for me that he had decided this. Or at least that's what I thought at the time. But I'm starting to think I had that wrong. Perhaps those were orders he had been given which he'd accepted with the straight-forward simplicity of a solider.”

“And in the six years they've been working together Nikita never brought it up?”

“Elias are you kidding? What good would it do for Hank to know that the man he'd served under used such excessive force against a non-hostile alien that he literally broke her bones? She is not one to make things any harder on him. I mean I always knew Nikita was staying quiet about something for Hank's sake but it never occurred to me...”

“You never considered she was staying quiet from me for my sake.” Hank said from the door. His stocky, muscular form betraying the emotion written all over his dark face.

“I'm sorry Hank, I should have realized...” Jeremiah began.

“No, it's alright. I just wish we'd found out a different way.” Hank chuckled suddenly. “Then again, she wouldn't want to appear weak or not-up-to-the-task. She wouldn't have said anything anyway. You know how she is Ag...” Hank stopped himself from saying 'agent Danvers' and looked at his hands. “She never would've asked for pity or mercy. Not because she didn't want to beg for it, just that she didn't want pity or mercy from either of us.”

“Oh, that I remember. You want to know something strange?” Superman and Hank Henshaw both nodded. “The entire reason I came back when I did is because Elana Morris and her friend found Arias. And Elana said that Xavallens don't tend to lie without a damn good reason. So chances were pretty good Nikita actually did believe in you and wasn't just playing along. I didn't doubt it for a second. But I wanted to see her again. Finding out what has happened here was enough motivation for J'onn to bring me back here. Of course I am truly overjoyed and proud beyond words to see you again,” He said, putting his hand of his adopted son's shoulder. “But Nikita is the one who brought me home.”

In 1658 a duel occurred, between a French Duke and a Spanish Count. Upon defeat the Spaniard knelt, closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"Quick and clean, you promised."

The other man dug his sword into the ground.

"That assumed I would have to kill you, as we fought. Not like this. I cannot."

This confused the Spaniard immensely. Obviously this man was not of any religious order that forbade violence or taking a life. The Duke explained. "I have not sworn an oath never to kill. Taking a life fighting for my own is something I can accept. Taking a life just because I have the choice or freedom to do so is abhorrent to me. And I will never cross that line. Get up."