Lt.
General Anderson was being shown around the D.E.O. by Hank Henshaw's
second in command Nikita, a human-looking alien. She speaks with
professionalism and restraint. That is she speaks with obvious
emotion but keeps herself restrained and professional. Anderson asks
her about how she first came to be part of the D.E.O. Her voice goes
quiet before becoming present. Director Henshaw returns from a
mission and the 3 of them go up to the briefing room. They talk for a
few minutes before Anderson's face gets the unmistakable 'down to
business' look of an officer wanting to burn away irrelevancies. That
is where this story starts.
“There
is one thing that confuses me about this whole situation. And that's
you, Director.”
“How
do you mean, General?”
“Nikita
speaks highly of you, I couldn't get her to say a bad word about you
if I tried. The entire time she showed me around she let me form my
own opinions about everything, not trying to sell me on how good a
job you're doing; a good strategy by the way. It's clear her loyalty
is to you first and the D.E.O. second.”
“Why
would that be confusing to you? She's served under me for years. At
the very least we have a history together.”
“It's
confusing to him because he knows the rest of that history. I told
him how we met, how I came to your attention. And about the day
everything changed. He doesn't understand what you could have done to
change my mind about you.”
“It's
not just that. When you were talking to me about your time here
before, you spoke of Hank with sadness in your voice. Said the only
thing you felt for him was pity. But you're loyal to him. I can tell
you genuinely believe in him. You'd have to be blind not to see it.
So my question to you Director is, what changed?”
Hank
Henshaw spoke in quite a different voice. “I did General,
literally.”
“Sajen
no.” Nikita interjected.
“Nikita,
I appreciate you having my back, but I appreciate telling the truth a
little more. Keeping my secret is one thing, but I'll not have you
flat out lie for me. General, here's the truth as any of us know it.
(He shape shifts into his natural green form). Two years ago the
original Hank Henshaw led a mission to kill me. Nikita was part of
that mission. As was an agent named Jeremiah Danvers. Nikita vouched
for me, to Jeremiah. Or actually more the other way around. She did
everything she could to keep Jeremiah safe. And that man died saving
me from Henshaw. So when I found her I brought her back here, to the
D.E.O...and she's served as an agent under my command ever since. My
name is J'onn Jo'nzz.”
Moments
passed in which the only communication was looks of confusion or
resignation.
“Listen
to me General. I'll surrender myself on one condition, that Nikita
stays as she is. Don't discipline her for having a sense of honor.”
General
Anderson's voice took on a hard tone. “I don't see why she should
get off. She knew what she was doing and contrary to your assertions
she outright lied for you. If she's a free individual, she had a free
choice. One you ironically gave her. Believe me, there will be an
investigation into this. And it will begin with her.”
“She
was following my orders; she's done nothing wrong!” he struggled to
get himself under control. “General, you know Henshaw kept her here
as a prisoner for years before deciding she should serve under him.
She didn't have a choice back then. I gave her a choice when I asked
her to stay. And she chose to keep my secret and help me serve with,
well I honestly think I have done a good job here with what this
place is supposed to be. But regardless of what I did with my name,
and if it justifies my deception, I will NOT see her punished for
being loyal to a friend, who happens to be her superior officer. She
sees this as paying a debt, to Jeremiah if not to myself. Please.
“Thank
you for proving the kind of man you are J'onn Jo'nzz.”
J'onn
looked confused. “You were testing me, to see where my priorities
stood?”
“I
wanted to know if you would put yourself first or your friend first.
If you reciprocated the trust Nikita clearly has for you. Don't
worry, I'm not about to haul into detention as a traitor. But this
deception cannot stand any longer.”
“I
don't understand, what's the alternative?”
“That
you remain as director but admit who you are to the public. That way
you are not viewed as a liar and will never fall under the suspicion
of being a spy or some other kind of enemy. The deception has to end.
Your time as Hank Henshaw can finally come to an end. But your tenure
as the Director of the D.E.O. does not have to. I can stop lying for
you and can be recognized as the man you truly are. In Superman's
case it would be better if he told people who he truly was rather
than being found out and you are no different than him in that
regard.”
No
one saw it at the time but General Anderson's face went white.
“J'onn,
congratulations. It's good to know things really are changing for the
better around here.” Superman said as he clasped J'onn's hand
lightly.
“You
should thank Nikita, she's the one who convinced me to accept it. And
of course General Anderson for making me the offer.”
“Is
he here, I'd like to thank him in person.”
Nikita
walked up with General Anderson at her heels. “I am unfamiliar with
protocol in these matters so I'll fall back on my own peoples customs
of formal introductions. Superman, I would like to introduce you to
Lt. General Mitchell Anderson. General Anderson, I'd like you to meet
a friend I believe needs no introduction whatsoever, Superman.”
“General,
it's a pleasure to meet you.” Superman said extending his right
hand. Lt General Anderson looked flustered as he accepted it.
“It's
good to...meet you too...Superman.”
“So
how exactly did this happen?”
“The
general came for an inspection of the D.E.O. and picked up on the
fact that Nikita had a much higher opinion of me than she did of the
actual Hank Henshaw. I offered to turn myself in. And instead they
convinced me to step into the light.”
“Well
that couldn't have been an easy challenge.”
“It
actually wasn't hard. Nikita made pretty convincing arguments that I
should stop living down to my own face, that Director Jo'nzz had a
much better ring than Director Henshaw.”
“I'm
sorry, would you excuse me for a moment?”
“Of
course General.” Nikita said simply.
“Of
course General, you would know all this anyway.” Superman said
simply.
“Thank
you Superman.” General Anderson actually snapped to attention gave
a short, curt bow and excused himself.
“Okay
that was weird.” Superman pondered aloud. “I wouldn't have
expected a military general of all people to get unnerved around me.”
“Superman,
I think 'unnerved' is an ironically appropriate choice of words.”
Nikita said thoughtfully. “He's not tripping over himself; he's
beating himself UP.”
“What
possible reason could he have to do that, you just met.” J'onn
intoned.
“I
was beating myself up like that the first time you and I met,
remember.”
“Good
point.”
“I'm
going to and follow him. This is...something I don't have the words
for.”
Nikita
found Anderson standing against the back wall of the auditorium. “How
do you know Superman?” She asked simply.
“It's
pretty obvious I don't right, you heard him he just met me.”
“Yes,
he
just met you.
It does not thrust both ways.” Anderson looked thunderstruck. “Your
open-book nature makes it a lot easier for me to get a read on you.
And what you feel for him is so close to the surface it might as well
be painted on your skin.
“Well
I suppose that comes with the territory of being a low-level empath.”
“I
don't read people, either telepathically or like a book. I sense the
core or essence of most beings and the emotional vibrations coming
off of them.”
“And
what are your conclusions on the matter?” General Anderson asked
stiffly.
“You
are familiar with Superman but he doesn't know you. The only thing I
can think is that you know a different version of him.”
Anderson's
face instantly transformed. As if a lightning bolt had somehow
vulcanized his skin into metal. “What do you know about that?” He
asked in an urgent whisper.
“It's
only a theory. 'Simultaneous realities in parallel places wherein our
statuses are different but we have the same faces.' Does that sound
right?”
“That
sounds...weirdly accurate actually.”
“General,
I can guess what happened between you and your Superman, at least in
the broadest of strokes.” Anderson gave a 'go ahead' look with his
eyes. “You didn't know he was anything but Superman. Whatever
posting you had put you with him as completely as being director of
the D.E.O. means J'onn has to deal with National City's highest
profile alien. But you never trusted him...until it was...almost too
late.” She thinks for a second. “Wait, were you the director of
the D.E.O. on your Earth?”
“We
didn't have one. The only aliens known to exist are Kryptonians. And
I... I screwed up badly. It took landing on a world with a red sun
where the D.o.D. Had been taken over for me to realize how wrong I
was. Superman and I made peace and I tried to help him fight the
bad guys. I died. Like I actually remember dying. Except I woke up...
and I was in a world where Superman works with an organization called
the Department of Extra-normal Operations. And the leader of the
agency is an alien himself. It was...the second weirdest shock I've
ever had on that account.”
“I
imagine your inner jaw hit the floor when I first mentioned
Superman.”
“Oh
yeah. Do you mind if I ask...”
“How
do either of us know him?” Nikita suggested. General Anderson
nodded. “Hank Henshaw, Jeremiah and I were on a mission to hunt
down a particularly dangerous alien. Well that alien, turned out to
be J'onn. It was the biggest mistake I can remember making, being
into Hank's rhetoric and being so completely wrong about the man.
Henshaw was knocked on conscious, the three of us got away. At least
for a while...
There
is a scene that belongs here. One not instantly recognizable as
belonging to this same story. For now, I'm skipping to the newest
part.
“Promise
me that you will keep him safe. Protect him from pain. Promise you
will not send me against others___and I am your slave. Keep me as
your own, do as you will to me. Only please, leave him alone.”
“Superman
no, you don't understand.” Mitchell cried. Superman quieted him
with a hand on his shoulder.
Lex
Luthor took a cautious step forward. “On your knees. Say it on your
knees.”
Superman
dropped to one knee, hands at his sides. “Yes I know what I'm
offering to become. Anderson can't believe it; he doesn't know me.”
“That's
two for two.” General Anderson muttered under his breath.
“But
you do.” Superman continued. “You win, alright? But you don't
need anyone else. Any-thing else for that matter. So please le____let
him go.”
“Clark
this is insane.” General Anderson insisted. He smiled softly. “But
it's what I've come to expect from you.”
“Why
are you like that?” Superman asked suddenly. Anderson looked up
sharply. “Why are you like that with me you never said.”
“Nikita
never told you?”
“I
think she figured whatever was going on was EXTREMELY your business.
But come to that...how do you even know my name?”
Anderson
sighed deeply. “I'm from another Earth.”
“Does
this seem a little strange to you?” Anderson said to his friends.
“...She
was never here.” Superman intoned.
“Parallel
planet development.” Nikita pondered aloud.
“Say
what?”
“It's
a relatively new theory in quantum physics. 'simultaneous realities
in parallel places wherein our statuses are different but we have the
same faces'. Basically realities occupy the same place in space but
vibrate at a different frequency so they can't see one another.
People have doubles, doppelgangers who ARE the same people but have
lived different personal lives.”
“Okay,
I didn't know you had such a keen scientific mind.”
“I
don't Superman. I just happen to have met one such person. And be
best friends with the biggest techno-science geek that could possibly
exist.”
“Fair
enough.”
“It
was you.”
Anderson
smiled faintly. “Where I'm from we...we worked together. But we
never really trusted each-other. Not like we should have. I didn't
understand... why you kept so many secrets from me. I came to see you
as the enemy. And did A-Lot of stupid stuff to prove it. Your brother
would probably heat-vision me if he saw me again and I wouldn't stop
him.”
“My
what?”
This is the scene
that doesn't seem like it's part of this story. At first it looks
like it's Nikita and J'onn's story and nothing else. But trust me, it
circles back.
A
young man with dark hair and an open face sat in front of me.
“Are you all-right?”
“Yes.
Yes I believe so. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble.”
“Okay
why don't we start with proper introductions. My name is Clark Kent.”
“I
am...called Nikita. It means 'hidden strength'.”
“Listen
it's okay. You're safe here.”
“I
don't think you are.” I replied slowly.
“I'm
sorry, what?” A middle aged man with dark blonde curly hair said
from the other side of the coffee table. He looked more concerned
than anything else. But I could tell I had alarmed him.
“I
didn't mean that as a threat sir. And I'm not radio-active or
anything. But I am I..”
“You're
in trouble.” Clark finished for me. “I kind of figured seeing you
were unconscious and shaking when I found you.”
“I
wasn't running away. I was...an asset. And my D.E.O. taskmaster WILL
want me back.”
“D-E--
Department of Extra-normal Operations.” Clark reasoned. “Does
that mean you are, from the stars?”
“My
home planet is 50 miles past nowhere and yes I am resident alien.
Wait – KENT?”
“Uh__yeah.
The name mean something to you?” The older man said with an utter
lack of hostility in his voice. In face he seemed quite literally
nothing except surprised.
“When
I first came to Earth, the first...Okay backing up a minute. The name
Hiram Kent is treasured for me. I never found him though.”
“You
never met him, and yet you value him, why? Or more importantly, what
went wrong?”
“First,
please tell me, are you descendant from him?”
“I
guess that would come first.” Clark intoned. “Proper
introductions should have included all of us anyway. Nikita,
Johnathan Kent is my adopted father. He is Hiram's natural son.”
“Okay
this is almost too cool to be real.”
“What
do you mean?”
“I
mean I believe in providence, or something like it. And if I didn't
before I would start to believe in it right now. This is more awesome
a thing than I could have anticipated. I have no way to convince you,
but I will find a way to assure you it was not deliberate on my part.
Breth-so-ree Ya Rey Fa Sool.”
“This
may be a weird time to say it but is there a reason you didn't give
your family name?”
“You
mean other than the possible explanation that I disavowed my family
name when I arrived on your planet. The very simple reason that I was
never given my
family's name. My own family that I lived with back home never
claimed me. So no real family, no family name to inherit. That's how
I came to your planet...Earth I mean.”
“...So
you know I'm an alien, it reasons.”
“I
know you're Kryptonian from the house of El.” I countered. Both
men's necks snapped inward as if someone had dropped a very loud
boulder in front of their faces. “It's what I started to explain
before. The first friendly face I ever met on this planet was
similarly foreign to it. He met me in the some caves to the west of
here. As we waited for the rain to pass he told me of a small
village, of a woman he had loved with all of his heart. That woman
died and he was pursued for her murder. It was a complete accident
but he didn't know how to explain it. He told em also of a good man
named Hiram Kent who sheltered him from the police and helped him get
safely away before the sun rose. This man, who I suppose I would call
a friend if I met him again, identified himself to me as Jor-El. And
I knew you had the powers a kryptonian derives from exposure to
Earth's yellow sun, otherwise you could not have found me in the
Canadian Rockies and carried me to the plains of Kansas in as little
time as I hope has passed.”
“Did
he stay long?” Clark asked me urgently. I shook my head.
“He
said with the death of his love he had no reason to stay on this
'fractured planet' anymore. I think he meant by that 'hopelessly
divided into millions of exceedingly different individuals'. I went a
different direction from Smallville, geographically speaking. Almost
30 years later I was enfolded—that is the only word I have for it--
into the D.E.O. And I have served there for the past six years.
Speaking of, I know you're there.” A dark skinned man with almost
completely shorn locks and military aspect stepped forward.
“It's
good to see you Nikita.” He said mildly.
“And
you as well Director Henshaw.” I replied in just as temperate a
tone.
“Found
some new friends I see?”
“These
people most kindly gave me shelter, yes. And yes I kind of like them.
I take it...” I stopped myself, I had to be very careful not to
break D.E.O protocol. Not just for the sake of Henshaw but so as not
to confuse my hosts. “I have an idea but I have to ask for his own
sake. Does this mean...Jeremiah?”
“I
haven't seen him in three days. I have assume he was killed in
action.”
“Johnathan
and Clark Kent, Director Hank Henshaw of the Department of
Extra-normal Operations. You're the one who mentioned we had been on
a mission. I'M not breaking protocol in confirming that.”
“Fair
enough.”
I
felt the eyes of everyone in the room. “Something else happened,
didn't it?”
“You
could say so. I'd prefer to tell you the rest of it back at
headquarters.”
“Then
let's get back to the base so we can talk about it.”
“She
is not going anywhere.”
Clark stated, taking an almost threatening step toward the director.
I
shook my head at him. “Clark, while this is a free country I am a
ward of his organization. You have no legal grounds to keep me. And
that is what you would be doing you know. For the past 3 decades I
have been a legal migrant of this country. It's my choice to make and
I have made it. If you get in my way, you will be the one keeping me
here against my will. . Unlike an old friend of mine, I never had a
family to be torn from.
The D.E.O. is sadly the closest thing to what a family should be that
I can even remember. And in going back to it I am going home.”
We
were within proverbial sight of the D.E.O. tower when I turned to
face the Director. “It IS good to see you, J'onn.” Every muscle
in his hands tensed on the wheel. “I'm an empath, I know you're not
Hank Henshaw. You knew not only who Jeremiah was, but where we had
been just under 3 days ago. And you do not feel even remotely like
the asshole we left unconscious back there. I know Martians are
shape-shifters. It was on a very short list of things that made
sense.”
“And
you're coming back with me? I mean you...won't betray me?”
“Am
I going back in my cell? Are you planning on assuming the worst of
every single powerful alien you ever meet? If Jeremiah was alive
would you forcibly keep him in line?”
“Absolutely
not. Of course not. And by NO
means.
In that order.”
“Let's
make the DEO. something Jeremiah would've chosen to be part of.”
“I'm
glad we think alike.” Was all J'onn said aloud. But I could feel
his spirits rise.
“And
that's how I came to serve at the D.E.O as a free individual. Under
the real Hank Henshaw I was a prisoner, and then something like a
ward of the state. I had a job to do and not much choice about
whether, much less how to do it. J'onn made me an active agent of the
D.E.O. But he is a little lax with me on smaller protocols.”
“Like
wearing a DEO uniform.” General Anderson inferred.
“He
knows what it would mean for me to wear one. And you pleasantly
surprise me." Anderson blushed at the vibrant praise.
