There is a conversation, a scene which precedes this by 2 years. In which Oliver Queen and his friend Sarrin encounter the Green Martian J'onn Jo'nzz. Here, Jeremiah Danvers went above and beyond the line of duty in protecting his commanding officer. It should be noted that Jeremiah is the narrator and is mentally misspelling his hosts name to be Jean Jones.
“Am I a prisoner here?” I persisted.
“No restraints but there is a perimeter. That is my understanding.” the young woman replied. She tilted her head to the left. “Please, introductions should come first. My name is Sarrin, and you?”
“Jeremiah.”
“Jere-miah. That is a good name.”
“Forgive me but are you...what planet are you from?”
“I am Atraxi. My planet of origin was not the home planet for my people. I was 8 years old when my mother and I left it. I was almost 10 when we made our home on the West coast of the United States.”
“It took that long to get to Earth?”
“Well, to get to Earth and learn enough about it to know that northern California is a pretty cool place, yes. I should have started by saying 'welcome to Arias'. It's our collection of friendly faces of various alien races and a few of the more tolerant humans. Of which you seem the best.”
I didn't understand what she meant, so I decided to press on the the part that concerned me. “Jean is you leader?”
“J'onn Jo'nzz is the leader of our community, yes. But I am not wearing a bracelet.”
“Please elaborate.”
“I'm not afraid of him, or you. That's not why I'm this high-strung. By my very nature I am unsteady and uncertain. And to be blunt I am more concerned that you think accurately of us than you think well of us. And far more concerned about that than I am offending you.”
“That is...very helpful to know. And you are an incredibly perceptive individual.”
“My people, like Xavallens and Enkarens, sense emotional vibrations. But unlike them I am not reading your heart, like I read a book, I feel whatever is coming from you without effort and without real choice. Now I can try to read your heart, search the core of your being. Please believe me that I would not do so without your permission. Well I cannot claim that. If J'onn asked me I would do so. And to tell you the truth I am tempted to do so anyway. I swear I am not trying to be intrusive. I can tell you are an extra-ordinary individual and I'm... really curious as to the why. But it's not the same as reading minds. I am an empath not a tele-path.”
“ ' Discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart' is that it?”
“More like 'motivations and intentions' but yes essentially.”
“A world without ego without selfishness without...lies.”
“Oh trust me, lies exist. But they are usually for a much better reason. Thinking of which, J'onn is eager to talk with you. But his people are telepaths and psychic. All of their communication would have been through thought. He will probably send his words that way. Or send them to me and hear your answers as you speak.”
“You said you were not a telepath.”
“One does not need to be a telepath to hear the thought projections of an individual who is themselves a telepath. I have an extremely compartmentalized, that is a well-ordered mind. Makes it easier for me to understand what he is trying to say. I wanted to assure you he will not search through your thoughts looking for hidden truths. It is communication only not...the other thing. If that was what you were – to be polite expecting to be candid anticipating – you are incorrect. To quote an old television show “Let him have every liberty, except liberty itself.” It is that kind of situation.”
I nodded. “House arrest.”
“I just realized you have been asleep for hours. And probably do not know where you are.”
“Well, how far are we from the way-point?”
“A good 6 hours walk but that's not what I mean. Arias is the name of the village we have built here for ourselves. It is our community of friendly individuals from various points across the stars. And this...you...are on its outer edge.” She looked hard at me to make sure I understood her meaning. I nodded my confirmation. “In fact, if you were up for it, I was to take you on a little bit of a tour around the place. But only if you are up for it.”
“Do you always talk like that?”
“Uncertain, overly concerned, quiet but intense? Yeah pretty much.” She said with the first true smile I had seen on her face. “If you mean with such a precise use of English that it seems like my second language, also yes. Because it's my Fourth.”
“Okay, please explain that to me.”
She started counting on her fingers. “My own peoples language, the official language of my home planet, the first Earth language I ever learned which wasn't English and then English.”
“Wait, you landed on the West coast of the United States and English wasn't the first language you learned?”
“What major city would stand out like a shining light in Northern California?”
“San Francisco...Chinatown. You learned Mandarin first.”
“Nail-on-head.” She gave me a strange look. “Being 10- degrees off however has less to do with proper English as having greater concern for clear communication than accurate convention. I don't care about getting the expression right, only expressing myself clearly. Different as daylight and darkness' instead of 'different as night and day' is not a near-miss. Some have negative ideas of the harsh light of day and positive ideas of the cool winds of night. To make sure you actually get what I'm saying...”
“You make it damn near impossible not to understand what you are saying. That's why Jean has you do the introductions. You understand both of our worlds but don't claim either one.”
“There's that.” A deep voice said suddenly. “And she sees beyond sight in a way I have never encountered before.”
I would be hard-pressed to disagree with you, Jean.” I looked at him and felt myself blush. “Listen I realize you have practically no reason to trust me, but you can believe me when I say I am glad to meet you.” Jean looked at me like I had just told a very good joke. I could swear Sarrin was hiding a personal smile behind her serene expression. “What did I say?”
“Jeremiah, I have every reason in the world to trust that you mean what you say. You are the most honorable individual I have met since I came to this planet. That was 300 years ago. I just hope you can believe ME when I tell you the feeling is mutual. That I am glad to meet you as well.”
“Whatever else is going on, I do not doubt your intentions. And I hope to prove mine. Starting with what a Xavallen friend of mine would have referred to as 'proper introductions'.” I put my hands to my heart, fingers pointed inward. “I'm Jeremiah Danvers. For my part you can consider me a friend.” I offered my hand and for a moment he looked at it as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it. Then he straightened himself like a solider and offered his own right hand.
“I am...J'onn Jo'nzz.”
“Sarrin told me she was to take me on a walk around Arias if I was up to it. I'm surmising that was less an assignment from you and more an idea out of her own head?”
“Yes, but she said it that way to illustrate to you that I was alright with it. Sarrin can be... more direct that precise sometimes.”
“I'm picking up on that.”
Jeremiah was brought here to live and stay after the mission to terminate a particularly dangerous alien went the way it did. Jeremiah stayed with J'onn as kind of a willing captive. Exchanging himself for Hank Henshaw. In his offer itself it was for his freedom as well as his life. “If you will not only let him live but let him go.” As a result he is a captive in that he cannot escape but his life is otherwise perfectly normal. Basically he has every liberty, except liberty itself.
At some point Elana and Martin Stien practically stumble into them at Arias. Elana had spent a few months at the D.E.O previously and Hank had decided she did not fall under their purview. She is not from outer space, she is not interested in being any kind of a threat and would not be much of one even if she had the inclination to be. In the course of that discussion, Martin gets a bit of a wake up call. He becomes thoroughly educated between what he assumed was going on and what was actually going on, as far as why Elana didn't talk about being an alien. Elana mentions Nikita by both name and race. And that sets a lighting bulb off in Jeremiah's head.
He asks J'onn's permission to go to the D.E.O. and learn for himself if Nikita actually believes Hank has changed or is simply voicing a party line. If he could know for sure that Nikita was alright he would finally have closure and be able to move on with his life. J'onn is thoroughly confused t his request. Not that he would want to go, but that he would ask permission to go. It has been between 4 and 6 years since Jeremiah offered to stay with him. In that time they have become the best of friends and brothers to each-other. Jeremiah explains that he feels bound by an oath of loyalty to J'onn. “I promised I would never leave your side. From what I understood that was a 'till death do us part' oath of loyalty, if not brotherhood.”
In response J'onn laughs quietly. “The oath is invalid if you are staying only out of obligation. Do you not see that? Jeremiah...I know why you stay with me. But if you have someone else in your life who needs you, I would never knowingly keep you from them. Is that not what 'brotherhood' means?”
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