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.
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