Life wasn't as hard as most people told him. Sure, he had a nice 'boss' and a job that literally needed him to be everywhere, at once if possible, but it wasn't so bad - that's what Joshua Danvers thought for two months while working for the DEO. His view of life changed when he left National City. In the last 8 months he has been working with the GCPD in Gotham and had little to no contact with his mother or his aunt; he's been trying to built a life outside his mother's shadow.
"You know...For someone so laid-back at work, you sure think a lot. What's on your mind this time, Special Agent?"
Joshua chuckled "I think we both know that's not true, Selina."
The woman smirked as she stood up, the white sheets barely covering her naked body. Joshua stared as she began dressing, not once shying his gaze. You see, he expected to have one-night stands, maybe one or two girlfriends too, but he never expected Selina Kyle, the famous thief, to be one of them. Oh, his mother would have a blast kicking his ass for not turning her in...
"Seriously, what's on your mind? You know you tend to be more injury prone when something is bugging you. Or should I remind you what happened last time?"
The boy sighed - he'd had his own share of criminals and hospitals since he got here, more than he cared to remember. His body was practically covered in scars, although most were small and barely seeable, and a few bullet wounds, but he couldn't help feeling bored - maybe fighting aliens would be more interesting. Sure, being shot at kept him on his toes, but humans were predictable and limited, aliens were still an enigma; they were like mystery boxes...you didn't know what they'd do until you faced them. He could go back to National City, Hank always said he was welcomed back anytime and his mother was supposed to fly to Geneva today, he had his fateful car and his apartment was still there - his nice and spacious apartment; what was keeping him from going back?
"Am I boring you, Joshua?"
Oh, right - Selina... She'd been his 'partner?' for over 4 months now and he'd be lying if he said he didn't care about the woman, but, on the other side, she always encouraged him to go back and face the music.
He smiled as he got out of bed "Maybe it's time I go back..."
The older woman smirked "About damn time you figured that out, Danvers. Now get dressed and start packing, we don't have all day."
His dog, Duke, barked at him from Selina's side - Joshua groaned as he muttered 'traitor'.
XXXXX
It didn't take long to get to National City when you had a super car and a free pass with the police. His mother was on the plane and he was already settled in - he was home. Unpacking was done, he fed Duke, his apartment was surprisingly clean - he probably had to thank aunt Kara for that - and, for the first time in weeks, it was just peace and quite as the TV became the only background noise.
They sat in silence until the dog jumped on his feet, barking at the TV. Joshua's eyes widen as he hurried to get dressed - he had to jinx it and call this a peaceful night...
He parked and got out of his car at the same time as his mother was about to enter the building. Joshua forgot about everything as he tackled his surprised mother - the reality of what could've happen finally caught up with him as he felt his mother hug him just as hard.
"You're okay..." was the only words he could barely muster for a whole minute before getting a hold of his self "Bloody hell, mom. Are you hurt? Do you need anything? Is Hank-"
"Kid, I'm fine. Everything's OK... but what are you doing here?"
He smirked, already back to his usual self, at least for the moment "I kinda came back... But I can leave if you want me to."
Alex hit him hard over his head, smiling, before turning the conversation serious "Are you coming back? For good?"
"Yeah, Gotham is not really my style... You can question me all you want later, now we have a bigger problem."
Alex groaned, but began walking to Kara's apartment; Joshua laughed.
Kara hugged both of them as soon as she saw them, and began to babble on about the plane crash. They listened for a few moments, then a few questions were exchanged before Alex finally cracked and asked for a drink.
Joshua sighed as he dropped on the couch. He watched his mother finish the glass in one go before he finally talked "What were you thinking, Kara?"
"What...?"
"You exposed yourself. To the world. You're out there now, Kara."
"Mom is right. Everyone will know about you and you can't take that back..."
Kara stared at them as she began shyly "I don't want to... Guys, this is what I was talking about - I always felt the need to protect people and I finally got the chance."
Alex scoffs "What if people figure out who you are? What you are? It's just It's not safe for you to do anything like that. Ever again."
Kara's face fell and Joshua felt the need to interrupt "What mom is trying to say is that you're not trained to be a hero, Kara. You could get hurt. Or worst."
"Oh..." Kara bit her lip "I'm kind of tired...I-I just carried a plane on my back. You should go."
They both wanted to argue, but thought better of it. Alex nodded and Joshua hugged his aunt before leaving. They both groaned when they were out of the building - this was going to be a long week...
XXXXX
Watching Kara fell was one of the most unsettling things he had ever seen. He knew this was for the best, he also knew a fight was going to happen when Kara woke up, but having his aunt disabled like that? If he didn't care so much about Hank, he'd have killed him right then and there.
Watching Kara pull away from his mother? That... That made every muscle in his body tense, he felt like shit - dirty, like he just committed an unspeakable crime. He managed to stay silent as Hank held his speech about the DEO and Fort Rozz.
"I can help you stop them."
Hank threw him a look and Joshua sighed, at least it was him and not his mother "You couldn't even stop the DEO from capturing you." Kara was looking at him, shock visible on her face "Those are the worst criminals there are. Our job is to keep people in the dark about alien life on Earth, we can't do that with a you flying around."
"They know about my cousin, they don't fear him."
Hank stared at her and, as he was turning away from her, he dropped one last thing "Plenty of people do, just not popular to admit it, miss Danvers. You wanna help? Go back to getting someone's coffee."
Kara turned on her heels and walked away with Alex not far behind. Joshua groaned quietly as Hank came next to him.
"She might not understand, Joshua. But it's for the best and you were the only one who could tell her."
Joshua nodded - his mother would've never told Kara so bluntly, yet that only made him feel even worse.
"And Joshua? Why did they recruited him? To make sure you stayed with them?"
The boy rolled his eyes - he loved his out to pieces, but she was much too obvious for her own good sometimes. "They don't let us stay because of you, they let us stay because of our background in bioengineering and what we can do."
"And for how long have you known about this?" Kara pressed "You knew that you didn't even try to tell me."
"You should guess at things you don't know anything about." he started coldly "In a lot of ways they saved me, but seeing as you are set on being angry that doesn't matter. Not right now."
Joshua didn't avert his emotionless and cold glare until Kara looked down and left. He hated being the bad guy, but his aunt needed someone to be and he'd rather die that let Kara hate his mother. He growled - now it was just a waiting game, one that could end up killing Kara.
It ended up being a short game. They caught a transmission from a possible hostile and Hank had already ordered Joshua to move to the location, alone to scout. None had foresaw Kara coming so fast, or her being overpowered so fast - the team Hank asked for as backup would arrive too late. He groaned(it sure seemed like he was making a habit of it and he was home for less than two days); the only weapons he had on him were a dagger and an axe, both modified. He took a deep breath before throwing the dagger at the hostile, hitting him in his shoulder and successfully gaining his attention. In his defence, he went toe-to-toe with an alien and was close to wining had in not been for the hard tackle that threw him into a wall, efficiently breaking two of his ribs. The alien was about to finish Kara when the DEO arrived. Joshua would have got up and help his aunt, but the pain in his side was still too fresh for him to move; Alex will kill them both...
XXXX X
"Fighting the alien head on, Joshua? You could've been killed!"
"Mom, it's just broken ribs. It'll heal."
Half an hour and Alex wasn't done with him. Joshua threw a pleading look at Hank, but the older man just laughed and took the sample that his mother got from Kara's wound.
"I swear, all that talking about how dangerous Kara being out there is and you rushed in like that? God, kid. What if they found out that Kara cares about you?"
"Alex, it wouldn't have been that bad..."
"Bad, Kara? It would have been catastrophic. The Fort Rozz escapees would give anything to get revenge on your mother and the only way that they can do that now is to hurt you and those you care about. This is why I didn't want you going out there. We were trying to protect you"
Kara sighed "Yeah, well... You were right. The world doesn't need me."
The kriptonian left, defeated, and Alex sighed "You're lucky to be alive, you know?"
"Mom, I know what I'm doing. Maybe it wasn't the best plan, but it bought you time to get there."
She pulled the boy as close as she could while minding his injury "No one is indestructible, Josh, not even Kara... Don't try that again."
Joshua smiled "I can't promise that. Not when you would've done the same thing."
Alex laughed and pulled Joshua even closer "Idiot."
XXXXX
Convincing Kara to help was easy, it was Alex's mission after all. Convincing Hank to let her help almost made Joshua punch someone, but he managed nonetheless.
Stopping the bad guy? That was something else - Kara almost died, again, but won eventually. The hostile, however, killed himself before anyone could get any info out of him.
Joshua smirked at Hank "She won."
"This time, kid. We can't let our guard down just because she defeated one escapee."
"Still, a win is a win."
Hank rolled his eyes, but left the young man be - after all, she did won.
