"You could be overreacting" J'onn asked the young woman as they were led into the prison, the security gates sliding open as the camera's tracked their entrance.
Stryker's Island was the most secure prison in the state closest to National City, built on the small land mass off the east coast patrolled by boats and monitored by a mix of maned surveillance and automated sensors. Its superhuman facility was built into the south wing of the structure and the most secure with metahumans dampeners and reinforced walls, each cell separated leaving the prisoners in isolation. As the Director of the DEO Alex was able to arrange a visit to this wing, following the warden who greeted them outside through reception. The guards nodded to J'onn as he walked past, recognising him from when he ran the DEO.
"I'm telling you, there's something off about him" Alex continued, speaking quietly as they walked through the corridors listening to the shouts and catcalls from the other prisoners who watched them from their cells or common areas. She ignored them to speak to J'onn in low whispers. "I can't explain why, but I don't trust him. The way he avoided talking about his past was odd."
"Some people prefer their privacy" he reminded her. He gave her a sideways glance and added "it's possible he was a little intimidated by you."
"That's what Kara said" she replied dubiously. "But I don't know. I've seen people intimidated by me before. They shake, they become nervous and they avoid my gaze. There are consistencies. But this guy… I didn't get that feeling. I didn't make him uncomfortable, at least I don't think I did. He was too calm, too…polite."
"And that worries you?" he asked.
"It felt like an act" she explained. "I think he's hiding something. Kara practically hinted there was something he wasn't telling her."
"They've only been dating for a few months" he reminded her. He became melancholic when he told her "when I first met my wife M'yri'ah, there was aspects of my past I wanted to keep from her. It took time but we grew to trust each other completely. We had to if we wanted our relationship to grow. Humans share much the same sentiments, only they don't have to worry about sharing their consciousness with their partner. Opening up doesn't come as easy. Something you can appreciate" he said softly. Alex sighed, hating when her mentor was so reasonable in his arguments. "If there are elements in his past he's not ready to share, it's not up to us to force him."
"But what if he's dangerous?" she asked concerned. "You should've seen the look he gave me when I brought up his ex-girlfriend. It was unsettling. And there was when I used the line, warning him against mistreating Kara…I don't know what but the way he stood there, the feeling I got…"
"What doesn't Kara think?" J'onn asked her.
Alex hesitated before confessing "she thinks I'm overreacting. Apparently he doesn't like to talk about his ex but she won't say why. I don't think she knows. What if he did something to this woman? What if he tries the same to Kara?"
J'onn slowed to a stop taking Alex by the shoulder looking into her eyes. "It's good that you worry for Kara as much as you do, and I know she appreciates your caution, but you have to know when to step back. Kara can take care of herself. She can also determine if she's making a mistake. Sometimes the best course of action is wait it out and support her when she needs you."
"What if I'm right?" she asked.
"What if you're wrong?" he countered. She inhaled falling silent. He could sense she didn't believe she was wrong and wouldn't let this go. "Just don't do anything drastic" he warned, knowing better than to try and control her decisions. "Caution is good, but good intentions can still lead to dangerous consequences. I don't want to see you two fall out over a misunderstanding."
Their conversation came to an end when the Warden brought them to the final security checkpoint, the iron bars sliding open leading to the metahumans wing. J'onn stepped forward to enter but Alex hesitated at the gate. "I'll be right behind you J'onn" she said.
"Alex?" he said, looking at her with parental concern.
"I just need to make a call to the base" she assured him. She read the look and repeated "I won't do anything drastic, I promise." He reluctantly grumbled, continuing without her while a nearby guard led her to a secure phone in a security booth.
Her mobile was at reception with her weapon, part of the non-negotiable entry fee to visit the prison. She was given privacy as she unhooked the phone and dialled a secure line, standing in a corner of the corridor out of view from the prisoners. After a single ring Brainy's voice echoed across the receiver. "Hey Brainy, it's me" she said quietly.
"Director Danvers" he said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you until after your visit. We've only just received confirmation you arrived safely."
"I know, J'onn's gone in ahead of me. But I wanted to ask a favour first."
"I can bring up everything we have on Hank Henshaw if you'll just give me a moment."
"No Brainy, not…I need a personal favour. Off the books."
There was a pause of surprise on the line as the operative digested it. "One moment" he said, followed by the sound of bustling activity and footsteps. She waited impatiently as Brainy found a secluded spot in the HQ where he could converse with her privately. "What do you need?" he asked more informally.
She took a deep breath before explaining "I need you to run a background check on someone. This isn't connected to a current investigation, but I'm concerned this person maybe be dangerous." She took a second to consider how to justify this to him, in case his loyalty wasn't as ironclad as she'd hope. "It needs to be done off the record, and anything you find brought only to me."
"This is very unorthodox" he remarked cautiously and she feared she'd have to convince him. But his loyalty proved strong as he confidently replied "But I will see it done. How comprehensive a background do you require?"
"As much as you can give me" she replied. She very took the biggest risk and told him "Brainy, this has to stay between us. Please don't tell anyone else about this, not even Nia."
That gave Brainy pause for thought. "Nia understands I cannot talk about official DEO business" he said.
"This isn't exactly official DEO business Brainy" she told him.
He paused for further thought before telling her "this investigation can stay between us, I swear. So long as it doesn't endanger any of our friends" he clarified. Alex nodded. She could work with that. If she was lucky there would be no cause for concern. But if she wasn't, then she didn't want Kara finding out through Nia what she asked Brainy to do, not until she was ready. Not until she found what she was looking for. "So, what is it you want me to look into?" he asked her.
She swallowed confidently before informing him "his name is Jake White…"
Despite his stoic demeanour on the journey to the prison, J'onn felt trepidation about coming face to face with Hank Henshaw again. The two of them had more history then he'd like to remember. It wasn't easy to forget that night in Peru when the man first tried to kill him. The night he lost a good friend. He could still feel the pain of that loss. Not as painful as the loss of his family, but it still hurt. It hurt every time he looked into Alex's face and saw her father staring back at him. It hurt every time he looked in the mirror and saw the man responsible. Even though Jerimiah was proven to be alive and survived, that night still changed him. It changed the course of both his life and Hank's.
The door buzzed open and the guards stepped aside as the dark room was opened to him. He looked back down the corridor in search of Alex, but she hadn't returned yet. He reached out with his mind and heard her thoughts, closing his eyes in disappointment and worry quickly cutting himself off. He prayed she wouldn't regret her decision later but swore he'd be there for them both. Just like he swore on their father's grave he'd look after them both. With a calming breath focusing his mind, he stepped into the cell to great an old enemy.
Hank Henshaw was shackled to the floor chained to his knees by tungsten manacles, his body exposed wearing only an orange pair of trousers. A power dampener was attached around his neck chained to the shackles, cables sapping the energy from his cybernetics so they weren't at low power. His head was lowered staring at the ground, his breath coming and going in a heavy growl, giving the former leader of the DEO the look of a caged animal. The glass box he was trapped in was lined with lead, green kryptonite filaments framing the metal. They could never confirm if it affected the Cyborg Superman but it never hurt just in case. The box was strong enough to contain Superman and General Zod, J'onn assisted in the design. There was no way Henshaw could escape on his own. Four guards stood outside the box at the four corners of the concrete room, each armed with a plasma rifle, their eyes trained on him at all times. J'onn waited by the entrance until the door behind him locked shut, sealing him in the room with them. He stepped up to the single lamp above the glass box, emerging from the shadows to look down at the man now more machine.
"You've got some nerve coming here Martian" Hank growled, opened his eyes and lifting his gaze to glare at his mirror image through the glass.
J'onn kept his composure as he glimpsed his distorted reflection in the man. "I came to talk" he said.
"We have nothing to discuss" he scowled. But he didn't drop his gaze.
J'onn circled the cage, scanning the chains and glass checking for weaknesses. Anything to distract him from the memory of all the pain this monster had caused. "We need to talk about the man you worked with" he said. "The one who betrayed you. The man who put you in here."
"I'm here because the last prison underestimated who they had locked up" he scoffed, following the man as he circled the box. "And when I get out, you're the first thing I'm going to exterminate. You and the rest of your ilk, alien!"
"Don't you ever get tired of this?" J'onn asked him, slipping from his calm meditative state scowling with frustration. "All this fighting? The deaths? The unending suffering?"
"Not until earth is purged of all of you" he spat. "You have no place on our planet."
"This is my home now" he told him coldly. "This is where my family is. My life."
"A life you stole from me!" he bellowed, leaping to his feet pulling on the thick unbreakable chains. The guards all raised their weapons as Hank lunged for the glass, falling short as the bindings held him back. "You stole my face, my position and my name! You are the invader here! I am protecting what is rightfully mine!"
J'onn didn't back away in fear. Instead he stepped up to the glass and glared back at him. "So am I. and I will do what it takes to protect it and the people I love? My family."
Hank looked at him and sneered. "You think you could ever replace Danvers?" he asked coldly. For the first time in years J'onn bristled, looking away from the cyborg momentarily. Hank chuckled. "Taking over my life wasn't enough, was it? You wanted to take his family too? You think you could just replace their father as easily after he died?"
"That's not what happened" he snarled angrily. "I never replaced Jerimiah. And I'm not the one who killed him."
"Neither am I" had he reminded him, a cold sneer on his face? "Where is he now? Is he even worthy of the promise you made on his grave? Do you think he thanked you for taking his daughter under your wing?" J'onn hesitated and Hank laughed. "A human raised by a Martian. How disgusting. More disturbing than having a kryptonian as a sister. I pity her, growing up surrounded by alien filth."
"Enough!" J'onn snapped, his eyes flashing red refusing to endure more of his taunts. Hank fell silent but never lost his smirk. J'onn took a deep breath recounting a Martian prayer, pushing the destructive thoughts away before they unbalanced him further. Hank Henshaw always had a way of getting under his skin. It took some work but J'onn was able to regain his composure and his focus, guarding himself against further predictable provocation. "I didn't come here to discuss us Henshaw" he said calmly. "I came to talk about the man in red armour. The man you were working with. The man who betrayed you. The Reckoning."
Hank's sneer deepened at the mention of this man, his gaze turning narrow and cold. But he refused to speak about it. "We have nothing to discuss" he repeated.
J'onn didn't buy that. He could sense the anger and resentment from out here, the seething hatred craving revenge. "We know this man helped you rob Axis Environmental" he said, circling the box slowly. "We also know the drones inside were being manufactured on the orders of a man named Maxwell Davies. The CEO of TITAN Industries. Were you and he working together?"
"I had nothing to do with that imposter" he spat, looking disgusted at the idea. "Wearing that armour thinking he could hope to achieve what I did."
J'onn paused, surprised at how much pride Hank seemed to have for his cybernetic enhancements. "Interesting" he said, continuing on explaining "because we have it on good authority that the reason he commissioned those robots was to create a spectacle big enough to promote his Samaritan project. You didn't know about this?"
"Why would I care?" he asked.
"Because your plan coincided with his and played to his favour" he pointed out. "Your attack on National City was the perfect stage for him to reveal his suit. It makes me wonder if he played any part in this scheme. Or if he just played you."
"Nobody played me. I don't work for anyone any longer" he snarled. J'onn held his gaze. He didn't believe him. Hank pulled back and laughed. "You think you can rile me up into confessing? I have nothing to confess. I was doing a public service. Eradicating the Kryptonians so they would never set foot on this planet again. I was protecting my planet."
"So was he" he noted, moving off Maxwell for the moment. From all he'd glimpsed from his reactions and the theories they deduced the two of them weren't working in tandem with each other. "Where did you get the kryptonite for the robots?" he asked. When Hanks refused to answer he asked "did you get it from the Reckoning?"
"You say that name like it means something to me" he scoffed angrily.
"The man you worked with" he said. "The one in red armour. The one you took orders from." He ground hi teeth at the mention of him again. J'onn felt the hatred return. "I don't care what happens to you" he said coldly. "But this man, I want to know who he is. I know you must have a name, or something to give me. I also know he got his suit from TITAN Industries, maybe even worked for them. Was he the one who gave you the tip off about the Metallo drones?" he stared at the cyborg through the glass, growing impatient at his refusal to speak. "Come on Hank!" he yelled banging on the glass. "This man betrayed you and ensured your capture. Surly you want revenge? Want us to find him and bring him in? Maybe bring him to this prison? Help us!"
Hank lifted his gaze and glared at J'onn, his sneer returning. "Why would I help you?" he asked.
"To bring this traitor to justice" he offered.
He scoffed. "Don't worry about me. When I get loose, he will meet his end all the same."
J'onn sighed in frustration, changing his approach keeping cool. "I do sense confidence in that statement" he remarked thoughtfully.
"Stay out of my head Martian" he snarled.
J'onn turned back and looked at him. That was a rather volatile reaction for an observation. "You find Maxwell's Samaritan suits a disgrace" he noted. "So why would your militia break into L-Corp to steal them?"
"I don't know what you're talking about" he said dismissively. J'onn went to push him until he sensed something he hadn't been expecting. Something that threw off his expectations. Truth and sincerity. Hank didn't know anything about the theft. That feeling vanished quickly and was replaced by curiosity when the cyborg asked him "why are you so determined to find this man?"
"I told you why. I want to…"
"No" he said, a knowing smile forming on half his face. "No, I can see it in your eyes. The fear. He scares you, doesn't he?" now it was J'onn's turn to refuse a reply as Hank glared at him, standing in his box laughing. "Oh, I don't need your telepathy to see how afraid you are. And you should be afraid" he warned him, drifting closer to the glass. "You wanted to replace Danvers as their father, take them one like your own" he chuckled. "Yes, he betrayed me. The man you're after. He betrayed me because I broke the one condition of our partnership. You're right, I am angry for that. But now I think it was best he stopped me. Now I get to watch the pain it will bring you."
J'onn stepped closer. "What do you mean? What do you know?"
"I know he has her in his sights" he grinned. "Your surrogate daughter. You're Supergirl. If you knew the things he's planning for her, if you knew the hate he has towards your kryptonian…" he broke into an unhinged laugh that unnerved J'onn. "Just think about it. Look at what he did to me to keep her for himself. Imagine what he'll do to Danvers' little girl if she gets in the way." he narrowed his eye and grinned wider. "But maybe you already do. That's why you are here. That's why you came to me. The desperate act of a desperate father. You know what this man is capable of and you're afraid of what he'll do. And you should be. That's why I have no intention of helping you. Because I want to see the look on your face when you lose your family a second time!" he said coldly.
J'onn stepped back from the glass, his expression masking his horror and rage while Hank Henshaw grinned and laughed and seethed from his cell. He turned away to hide his reaction, the mask slipping as pain and anger bubbled to the surface. He took a deep breath to focus, praying to his dead farther for forgiveness. Hank wasn't going to cooperate, so he will have to force him. He lifted his head and exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes, they were blood red.
Instantly Hank's expression shifted as he clenched, his head twitching as he ground his metal teeth tightly. His glare grew hotter as he hissed menacingly "get out of my head."
"You said it yourself" J'onn replied coldly, turning back to stare at the cyborg intently as he reached into his mind. Hank resisted his probing thoughts but he pushed harder, forcing them into his skull prying his mind open to him. "The desperate act of a desperate father. I never meant to replace Jerimiah but I swore to watch over them both like they were my own. They are my family now. And as much as it pains me to perform such a violation, I will do what I must to protect them." Hank winced and snarled as he fought against the Martian's telepathy, struggling against the powerful mind invading his memories violently. To a Martian such an act would be a crime. On earth such violence would be cruel. But right now J'onn wasn't concerned with the morality of his decision, hoping his ancestors would forgive him this transgression. Hoping Jerimiah's children won't look at him harshly for going to such extremes to protect them.
"You will not get anything from me" the cyborg growled, glaring in fury through the glass as J'onn stepped up to it. "I WILL NOT HELP YOU!"
"You will" he replied, glaring back intently pushing deeper into his thoughts forcefully, ignoring the pain he was inflicting on his human brain. "You will, whether you want to or not" he said.