Almaric shoves his foot in his mouth

Nassir is Nicholas servant. Almaric, the loudmouth who challenged first Nicholas then Nassir did not perceive any connection between the two. And hence was rather more than surprised when Nicholas jumped to Nassir's defense. That Nicholas had refused to fight until Nassir was the one being threatened was a wonder to the man.

"Leave him alone! You tried to get a rise out of me and failed. So you turn around and start hassling a complete stranger you think will be much easier to goad into fighting. I'm not sure if that's cowardice or idiocy. Either way your argument is with me so leave HIM out of it."

"So you are capable of fighting after all? And more than that, willing to. It is surprising to be honest. What is he to you that you stand up for him, when you will not stand up for yourself?"
"You hassled me and I refused to fight, because I didn't want to lower myself to your level. You hassled a FRIEND of mine for fun and for that I will fight you. And I am fairly certain you will regret it quickly."

Later Nassir walks into Nicholas private chambers, confused and uncertain, but determined to make sense of things.
Nassir: Why would you do that?
Nicholas: I'm used to people misjudging me. I've learned to chose my battles.
Nassir: No I mean, why would you call me your friend?
Nicolas: (caught off guard) Be-cause I consider you my friend. Seriously which of us is not understanding which of us right now?

Weirdly this could be used for one of my auto-biographical alien characters defending a new friend fo theirs to an alien captor. I intend to use it as such. Like a version of Harrison Wells who doesn't think he's worthy of Elana/Sarrin's help, or a version of Jeremiah who actaulyl doesn't realize what he means to Nikita in the first place could be completely floored when the friendly, human-looking alien goes to bat for him.

Time Vault Discovery

 Discovery in Star Labs

“What is this place?” Harrison Wells asked as he turned in place. The room in which he should not have been able to stand was about 30 meters long and 12 meters wide. There was no obvious source of light, nor was there a shortage of it.

“Unknown individual, please identify yourself.”

The lack of pause between the first two words and the rest of the statement struck Wells as odd, as if the 'unknown individual' was being addressed rather than recognized. “Uh...Harrison Wells.”

“Greetings Dr. Wells. How may I be of assistance?”

“Tell me who you are.” Wells answered, bemused.

“I am Gideon; an interactive artificial consciousness.”

“What is your manufacturing origin, Gideon?”

“I was first activated on March 22^nd 2044. I was commissioned 7 years prior by the Central City Police Department CSI divi...”

“Disregard Gideon. It's never a good idea to peer into the window of the future.” Harrison waited for a confused sound or an objection. None came. “Are you still there Gideon?”

“Of course Dr. Wells.”

“Are you...aware of when you are?”

“Current transmissions and chronometric reading indicate Central City October 7^th 2004. Is this correct?”

Wells couldn't fight a smile. “Yes it is correct Gideon. I take it you are from, well that you were functioning for sometime after your activation?”

“My last memory in my recorded present was in the year 2166.”

“And then you ended up in my time?”

“Affirmative Dr. Wells.”

“I hope you'll forgive me for saying it is fortunate for me that you arrived when you did. Not that I intend to take particular advantage of you Gideon. I've just been feeling pretty adrift lately. I could use someone to talk to, let me know I am on the right path...If I am.”

“Likewise I hope you'll forgive this but I do not believe it was fortuitous for you that I arrived 'when I did'.”

Harrison felt his stomach seize up at that. “Explain.” silence. “When did you arrive in my time Gideon?”

“December 20^th 2002.”

The day before Tess died. “Gideon, do I infer correctly that the individual with whom you arrived had absolutely no intention of preventing my wife's murder?”

“You surmise correctly, Dr. Wells.”

“Gideon, who invented you?”

“Barry Allen, director of Central City Police, CSI division. Also known as The Flash.”

Explain the term please Gideon.”

“The Flash is the alias assumed by the hero of Central City, a meta-human who later gave his life defending the city.”

“I realize I shouldn't be asking this Gideon, but what is the origin of the Flash.” A newspaper article appeared at the far wall, dated October 17^th 2004. “I don't understand Gideon. I asked for the origin of the Flash. Barry Allen would be at most 12 years old right now.”

“Correct. However although the incident which grants him meta-human abilities will not happen for another 15 years, this is the event which allows him to become The Flash.”

“Elaborate Gideon.”

“When Star Labs accelerator gives various resident of Central City meta-human abilities, one individual thus affected is Barry Allen. Many such individuals seek either humanitarian or criminal futures for themselves. The Flash is recognized as a different sort of hero. He is frequently described as more relatable, more hopeful, a beacon of hope doing the impossible for the people of the city he loves. The vigilante team in Starling City is cited declaring the Flash as 'watching over his city like a guardian angel'. This incident led to his initial encounters with the Arrow and his other allies, leading to a 'golden age' of heroism. Barry Allen himself would describe this moment as what inspired him to truly become a hero, in spite of adversity or circumstance. Therefor this incident is the origin of The Flash.”

“...And unfortunately I can understand why.

Nora Allen murdered. Husband Charged.

Local Doctor Charged in horrific Crime.

“As a youth, Barry Allen always protested his father's innocence. But he was 12 years old and no one believed his account.”

“Because it was something impossible. Like a man who can move through solid matter and wore a yellow suit that looked like it had been designed by a speedster?”

“He frequently described a 'man in yellow' and a 'ball of lightning in his house that night, yes.”

“And did the truth eventually come out?”

“Within a year of The Flash's appearance, when Barry Allen himself becomes the impossible, Henry Allen is cleared of all charges, yes.”

“Then why doesn't the man in Yellow do his job?”

“Professor Thawne is...quite literally nowhere to be found in this time.”

Wells stared at the newspaper article. His mind was confused and clear at the same time. “Do you have a spare yellow suit Gideon?”

“Yes Doctor Wells. Although if I am correct in what you intend, you will need something else as well.”

“Harrison Wells, are you now set on your course?”

“You've calibrated the velocity-9, yes?”

“Yes Dr. Wells.”

“And the newspapers contemporaneous with The Flash and this 'age of superheroes' you spoke of will record this 'man in yellow' as the murderer, as originally recorded?”

“Affirmative Dr. Wells.”

“Then let's get this over-with before anything could possibly change my mind.”

“Agreed Doctor Wells.”

“I will not say 'congratulations'. However I will say you did the right thing Doctor Wells.”

“Really Gideon? Funny, I always thought NOT committing murder was generally 'the right thing'.”

“Defending his father's innocence, maintain his 'impossible' story until the time the impossible is born, is a crucial part of Barry Allen's developmental years.”

“He searches for the impossible until the day he becomes the impossible. Am I right?”

“Do you truthfully need a confirmation of this Dr. Wells?”

“Well, to confirm it as fact no. For the purposes of reassuring me this was all worth it, yes.”

“I understand Dr. Wells.”

“How do you know who I am anyway? I mean, obviously your from like 200 years in the future from me, so you would know who I am, but I couldn't help noticing that for an Artificial intelligence you were almost eager to help me, to offer me your assistance, why is that?”

“Because Doctor Wells...you invented Star Labs.”

“I create meta-humans...I create the Flash?”

“I can only speak to my own creation Dr. Wells. At some point Barry Allen and his team perform a through inspection of Star Labs and discover a room which technically should not exist. And within it they discover purely theoretical plans for an interactive artificial consciousness. Within 10 years Barry Allen creates me. In a way I create myself.”

"How long until Star Labs becomes Flash headquarters? How long until Barry Allen and I first meet?”

“You instructed me not to tell you the future Dr. Wells.”

“No specific dates. Approximately how long until I have a chance to tell him who he is...or what I did?”

“It is in approximately 15 years that Barry Allen becomes a speedster.”

“Then I will see you in approximately 15 years Gideon.”

“I understand Doctor Wells. I feel I should tell you it is possible to access this room without activating me. I sincerely hope the resources of future technology will be useful to you.”

“I think I will take advantage of the technology. And I want to thank you Gideon. You know I am not actually angry with you, right?”

“Of course Doctor Wells. I look forward to working with you more directly...when the future begins.”

“As do I Gideon....As do I.”

Lex Speechless Newest Version

 Nothing here.

The Timeline of Dining on Ashes

This 5 part series that takes place on Earth 21 but is it's own storyline is named after teh first chapter of it I wrote. Wherein Superman talks with J'onn on the balcony at the DEO tower. J'onn is morose, I think that's the word. His biggest regret from a confrontation he'd had with Nikita wasn't that she compared him to Hank Henshaw, the military jerk who kept her a prisoner at the D.E.O for 5 years and tried to summarily execute him 6 years ago...but that the proverbial shoe had actually fit so well.

I haven't' actually written the confrontation in Nikita's apartment. I've only alluded to it in the chapters that came later. And having everything there except the beginning is unfortunate. But using chapter 2 as a guide to write chapter one is extremely difficult. But I do know one thing about that confrontation. Nikita stops just short of flat out asking J'onn to leave her home. Tells him that if this mess gets any more screwed up they won't be able to come back from it and she doesn't' want that. So J'onn leaves. After Nikita locks the door behind her, Me'gann, the White Martian she was defending asks for an explanation. Not so much why Nikita feels the way she does but why  she would defy a man who is not only her superior officer but someone she so clearly respects, on her behalf.

"Because this is the second time history has repeated itself and I didn't know what else to do." Nikita replies. And without looking at her guest she explains. "When the former prince of Daxam was thrown in a cell for a crime he literally couldn't have committed. Mon'el was believed to be guilty and the hero who arrested him assumed the worst of him just because he was from Daxam, didn't even bother to ask his name. Yeah that actually happened, and that was the first time it felt like Hank was still running things. That's just because Superman...Kal'el didn't know how Hank ran things and how weird it felt that a hero of Earth was so suspicious of an alien stranger for thier race. Nikita turns slowly to face Me'gann. "I told you that J'onn is wearing  the face of his predecessor, a man I served under before him. But that is an epic misnomer. He took the identify of a man named Hank Henshaw. the single most narrow-minded arrogant idiot I have known in over 74 years of life. It is disheartening to say the least when J'onn lives up to that man's face. Like I said, being around White Martians hurts me, physically. It's a fact of my biology and neither of us can help what race we were born as. But J'onn is the one who actually made me sick. His emotions were a pit I...He scared the hell out of me in a way I didn't even think him capable of. But slightly more importantly you are my guest and this is my home! Knowing what I know about the history of your races, if he'd found you at a restaurant or something and tried to arrest you, that is to take you back to the D.E.O  I wouldn't have objected, not publicly. I would have made my case to give you a fair hearing when we were at the D.E.O. As I said, he cannot force me NOT to be true to myself. And whatever else is going on, I know you well enough to know that I can trust you. And no one with a brain in thier skull insults a friend of mine IN my house. Not even my closest friends can get away with that and nothing can force me to permit it."

For months after this confrontation Nikita does her duty at the D.E.O. Things are professional and not even very awkward between J'onn and Nikita. Although it is obvious to both of thier friends that something has put distance between them They both seem pretty determined to not let it get in the way of actually literally doing thier job to protect the Earth. It takes nearly losing Nikita to Queen Rhea of Daxam for that wall of separation, of enforced peace to finally be brought down. As in the actual show Supergirl Queen Rhea attacks Mon'el significant other in an effort to reclaim her son. Except in the show Kara aka Supergirl is Mon-el's girlfriend and along with  'doing what is necessary to reclaim him, Rhea thinks of Kara insisting Mon-el stays on Earth as Krypton trying to take her son from her. She literally says that once Mon-el makes his declaration to stay on Earth with his friends. "Krypton's taken everything from me, and now you take my son."

Here Nikita is a Xavallen and no threat whatsoever. Rhea tries to kill her and then makes a public speech about how a 'weakling' like Nikita had the arrogance to think she could stand in the way of her getting what she wanted, of putting her family back together and Mon-el going back to where he belongs. As reported by the half-Enkaren Elana standing in front of everyone, Nikita shared her memories of the attack and was...IS wearing a claddagh ring on her finger. Mon'el and Nikita were engaged and Nikita didn't even insist he stayed with her, only that Mon-el's own wishes be respected, whatever they are. Elana does not beat around the bush and flat out tells Queen Rhea why she's really doing any of this. You want what's best for you, not what's best for your son.  Here on Earth a father is the most important person in a woman's life until she is married, and then it is her husband. I imagine that's the same everywhere. If you were really interested in what was best for your son, you'd listen to his choices, to his perspective on what IS best for him. You wouldn't try to destroy one family to put *your* family back together. You didn't try to kill; her for her arrogance or that she was a threat to your son's future, you did it because she was in your way." Which as you might imagine does not sit well with J'onn, Mon'el, Superman, Martin Stein or Me'gann Mor'zz.

The Celtic culture and the Irish Gaelic language is the closest to her own. Nikita appreciated the sentiments and the symbolism of the hands, heart and crown of the Claddagh ring.

Elana and Brainy - Corrected

 J'onn, I would like to introduce you to Querl Dox, a descendant of the Brainiac Clan."

"And you are sure. You are confident...in him?" He wanted to say 'that he is a good guy' but didn't want to be offensive, or risk ticking off a strange visitor.

"He is as much an exception to the rule as my own mother was. And you know a Franciscan Friar is non typical for an Enkaren." She looked to Martin Stein, to the Coluan visitor and back to Director J'onzz as she spoke. "My mother carried a dagger but never a sword. And she was more apt to carry a loaf of bread than an olive branch. You get where I'm going...what I'm trying to say."

"She carried a knife but never loved a weapon. She wasn't a pacifist, or at least didn't wear that on her proverbial sleeve but always tended to the poor and weak?" Martin Stein guessed.

"And for her people, for Enkarens that was very A-typical. They were warriors born. Not aggressive, not tyrannical by any means, but fighters all the same." She looked over to her friend. "Like I told you Martin. My abilities being weaker, my emotions being diluted and not in pure form, is the result of my mixed heritage. That I actually have control over my 'quick temper' and why my 'hot blood' is never very explosive...that's because my mother raised me right." Elana blushed. "Well, it's because she raised me how she did. In a way most Enkarens wouldn't consider to be 'right' or at least, not the most natural thinking.  And in a style, with a set of values most aliens, most other alien races wouldn't think of as 'Enkaren'.

Elana stares hard and Querl Dox. A moment alter she shakes her head. "Director, Nikita would be a better help to you than I. And I do not know how much help I can be right now."

Director, J'onn Jo'nzz looked at his alien friend with a note of sympathy. "You should go to your quarters and lie down."

Querl Dox looked with concern as a DEO agent took Elana by the arm and guided her to the room that served as Elana's quarters at the D.E.O. "I am afraid I do not understand is she...ill?"

J'onn Jo'nzz glanced back at the visitor. "Her physiology is messed up, at war with itself. She's had a very full day and needs to rest.

"Being half-Enkaren, half human her body would be disproportionate to either set of specifications. It would be like everything was just a little smaller or larger than it should be."

"You really do know a lot about practically everything." Martin said with a slight smile.

"I realize Elana introduced me to you as Querl Dox. But I would prefer to be addressed by my designation, Brainiac-5. Most of my friends just call me 'Brainy' That works better as well."

"Not close to your family?"

"A less formal name implies a familiarity I find...comforting. And for my people calling one by their full name is what would set us apart from our family unit. Brainiac-5 identifies me as a member of  the Brainiac clan."

"In the same way that calling someone 5th cousin still recognizes thier relation to thier family. And calling them 'Bandit' would not." 

"Yes...I suppose so. Forgive me but I did not catch you name?"

"Oh uh, my name is Martin Stein." 

"I am pleased to meet you, both of you." Querl said with a quick nod. 

 "Brainiac-5...I think I'll just call you 'Brainy'." Martin and Querl both cocked thier heads. "If what you just said is true, if 'Brainiac' is actually your family name, then that means you're related to Indigo. How is that possible?"

Brainiac-5 did not respond except to lower his head.

Martin Stein spoke up instead. "Director, I believe we will have to wait until Elana is with us again to start answering that question. She seemed to have an understanding of the issue that surpasses knowledge."

Going Back (Remembering back)

This is the final scene, the glorious finale to that story that began in my writings with Superman compassionately asking J'onn Jo'nzz if he was Dinging on Ashes. Hence the name of the plot-line.

When Ashes are Turned to Nectar

“Oh my God I just realized how stupid I was being!”

It was the absolute last thing I expected to hear out of Nikita's mouth. I'd spent almost an hour talking with her about what had happened between her and J'onn and why.

“I was this close to making some sarcastic comment about being an empath not a telepath. And for once the point wouldn't have been that I wasn't a mind-reader. My people, like Enkarens are constant low level empaths. But we don't read emotions we receive them, like no matter what. I wouldn't say it's very good asa lie detector but we can actually sense ignorance and innocence. And in that moment, in my apartment Me'gann was innocent and J'onn had his head so far up his ass. I'm sorry but he did.”

That's when whatever the light-bulb was went off in her head.

“How he reacted to Me'gann is perfectly understandable. I've been asking myself how he could suddenly forget who I was, and think I would go along with it. In that moment, looking at me he actually reminded me of Hank. Not because of the hate in his eyes but because of the single-mindedness, close-minded and hard. He just wasn't thinking straight. I keep saying his reaction to Me'gann, his belief about her was understandable. But that's all this ever was, a reaction to having Me'gann in the room. Hell, given what they are to him I can't say I blame him!”

I didn't know what to say, so I just waited. I knew she didn't need prompting, just a breath.

“Me'gann's people are...what Hank and I thought J'onn was when we met him. You remember about White Martians and Green Martians, right?” I nodded. “What I never had the chance to tell you, is that if J'onn had been the kind of person he is, but looked like Me'gann, I would have had trouble seeing it. Seeing him for who he really is.  Even without my personal experience, I would have assumed the worst of him. The White Martian I met was a dick. But White Martians are horrible. I would actually call them monsters. They are known in the galaxies as mindless, aggressive, one-would-say militaristic-except-they-don't-have-discipline, monsters. But to J'onn's people they're something worse. They are more like...Demons.”

I was starting to catch on. “So the idea of a White Martian you would actively defend, was hard wrap his head around. And taking her part was hard to swallow. He must have felt...betrayed.”

“He didn't forget what I was or our history together. He must have thought I had betrayed that history! I mean don't get me wrong. I still stand by the whole 'She's a guest in my house and you have no right to take her from under my roof' part.”

“Can't argue with you there.”

"I just kind of have trouble with the thought I was so busy being hurt he pulled a Jekyll and Hyde to realize it actually made sense!"

“Do you truly believe she's different?” I asked her in a low voice.

Nikita raised an eyebrow, sat up straighter than I'd ever seen her and set her face. “Me'gann is as different from her people as Lena Luthor is from her family. She's not only different, she's worth it. And I don't just believe that. I know it. Which was kind of my entire point.” She looked over at me, almost inquisitively. I didn't say a word. “And you weren't asking that for yourself, were you?” I shook my head. She turned to the front door.

J'onn was standing at the doorway.

"Nikita, as always you are too quick to blame yourself." J'onn said warmly.

"I...will you please explain that?"

I chuckled a little bit at the irony. "Can I field that one?" J'onn nodded solemnly. "I've had a lot of time over the past 8 years to miss you, and to regret not having the chance to get to know you," I said pointing to Nikita and then to J'onn. "But one thing that stands out when I look back on the day we met is that you weren't just absorbing the blame to keep it off my shoulders. You actually blamed yourself for making such a baseless assumption about him just because of what you believed about White Martians. Even though that belief wasn't baseless. And now here you are again, absorbing fault that doesn't actually belong to you. Nikita, you were Hank's prisoner for six years. Even at the end when you didn't live in a cell, you were his prisoner. But you never had a problem with J'onn wearing Hank's face until he actually lived up to it. And I'm sorry but I have to ask...was she right?"

J'onn sighed deeply and looked down. He wasn't particularly on edge, just kind of pondering his answer. "Obviously I didn't know him like you did. But he seems to have been nothing if not a blind, militaristic idiot. Someone who couldn't see past his own preconceptions -what he knew as certainties- to see the goodness in a person. If is what the two of you see when you remember him. then yes, I lived up to his name." he looked up, with a fierceness I'd never noticed before. "And Nikita, you were right to call me out on it!" Nikita looked like she couldn't believe her ears. "I came into your home to take someone away just because I had a problem with them. But not even with them, with thier species. I treated them like a criminal because of thier race. You were right that is NOT what we do here anymore..." He looked at me, helplessly.

"It is however what Hank would have done when he was director, without a second thought." I said. "Hell it's what he did as director...to you. Nikita, I don't imagine you've had much occasion to talk about your time in the D.E.O before Hank saw you for who you truly were. I imagine it would have been too painful to talk about. Before I came back it would have been too sad...reminded you too much of me.  But I'm telling you know, your reaction to J'onn...to a reawakening of those feelings makes perfect freaking sense: You were having your own memory flashbacks!

Superman and Jeremiah

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.”