When Querl awakes, it’s almost easy to pretend he’s still at home.
He can let himself believe he’s still there, in the Legion headquarters, about to leave for the twenty-first century. He can believe that he will never truly leave, that he is only trapped in a time loop and each time he will always wake up here, still in danger, never too far from home.
The decor in his new room versus his previous one is different, of course. He knows that the DEO building will, at some point, require being rebuilt, and these are not literally the same walls as those in the Legion headquarters. The bed is not the same either, and neither are the shelves or drawers that have been placed here for his convenience. But they take similar shapes, and when he sees the collection of what he might refer to as “junk” that Ayla has given him over the years...
He wants to mistake everything for what he knows.
But he cannot, and no sooner does he remind himself of that and dress in the official DEO uniform that’s been laid out for him (Mon-El must have told someone his sizes, or perhaps Winn had guessed) that his door opens, and Alex arrives, waiting for him.
“Good morning, A-Ah, Director Danvers.” he says. From what he could figure out (and Kara, once she’d introduced him to ice cream, talking enthusiastically about it between promises of game nights and showings of Star Wars movies) her promotion happened around the same time his did (though he’s still not sure that it definitely applies to his situation) and he suspects they’re both getting used to it.
“Morning, Brainy.” she answers. “Did you...”
She gestures to the bed, and he realizes she might not be sure that he sleeps at all. He and Mon-El and Imra slept in the Legion ship while they stayed here, and nobody needed to show them to a guest room or checked on them.
(Specifically, nobody checked on him for weeks, as he first isolated himself to, as Winn instructed, “learn his history”, and then went on patrol with Imra. But he wasn’t holding it against any of them, especially not now, even though nobody checked on him last night either)
“Sleep well? I suppose.” he tells her, leaving out that he slept in his desk chair instead of the bed, and that’s enough, as she gestures for him to follow her out the door.
“Good. Because we’ve got a long day ahead of us- I guess that’s kind of always, but... it’s both of our first days too. So that’s different.”
“I can adjust.” he reassures her.
“So can I.” she says. “But first... I don’t suppose you still have paperwork that you fill out, in the thirty-first century?”
He must look as though he doesn’t understand what she’s saying, or have remained silent for longer than she anticipated, because she follows it up with “Forgive me. I don’t even know if you have paper.”
“I am aware of what paper is, Director Danvers. We do have some of it stored in our archives.”
Including Winn’s original design, he thinks. But he doesn’t want to further remind her of the friend she just lost, so he keeps that to himself.
“Good, because we need to work on it together.” she says.
Querl wants to question her- does she not believe he can do so himself, answering the questions prompted to him with the correct information?
But a review of DEO files past, on another thought track, reminds him that J’onn was removed from the DEO once his true identity as a Martian was discovered.
And, it stood to reason... he had two things to hide.
“Yes.” he agrees. “I suppose I need a... a secret identity?”
Alex smiles back at him, as she pauses in front of the door to her new office, which still has Hank Henshaw’s name on it- although underneath, someone’s also added J’onn J’onzz.
“Something like that.” she says. “Let’s build your cover story.”
~
It comes together.
And accordingly, they are able to piece together an explanation as to why Querl is only now on the grid, so to speak, why he was brought in to replace Agent Schott. It’s not as easy, he imagines, as J’onn taking over Hank’s life- there is nobody for Querl to impersonate, no human he can pretend to be to make his life easier.
But he does lie- albeit to protect himself, just as Kara does, but lie nonetheless, and list his species as human, his homeworld as Earth.
(The latter of which, from his point of view, is true.)
Once he does, though, Alex nods in understanding, and they fill out the rest of the paperwork- as close to honestly as possible.
(“You’re older than me.” Alex says at one point when he writes down his birthday, converting the calendar he knows to that of Earth, staring at him. “And I thought Winn was the only one.”
“Is this a bad thing?”
She shakes her head, and they keep going.)
~
“Just take these up to Pam in HR- she’s got a name tag, she’s easy to find. She’ll get everything processed for you.” Alex says once they’re done- after Querl has made standard identifications for himself, cards that prove he exists, and belongs to this planet, to this century, at least for now.
“Affirmative.” He says.
Querl turns to leave, but he catches sight of Alex holding up a hand to halt him, and he turns back around.
“What is it?”
“Welcome to the DEO, Agent Dox.” She says- and when she pauses, he recognizes that she’s speaking to him now as a friend, rather than as a boss, or a team leader. “We’re happy to have you.”
“And I am glad to be here.”
To be safe, especially. Even if “safe” is a relative term, in this city when fighting the antagonists that Supergirl does, and for a member of my family.
“Thank you. I will not let you down.”
“That’s what I was counting on.”