Monitor Duty
John had the Monitor duty; Another 24 hour shift of picking and choosing which of his fellow superheroes were sent out whenever and where ever they were needed. He didn't like it much. He much preferred to lead on the ground. He was a much better field commander than he was an armchair general. Still, it was a duty, and, as with all his duties, he performed it professionally. Still…someone had a complaint.
Batman made a rare appearance on the monitor deck as the Green Lantern was controlling an incident.
"We're using stealth and guile here, people," John advised into his head set. He sat almost perfectly upright but kept his head swiveling between several monitors that gave him satellite and camera views of the situation. On an overhead schematic of the area, colored icons representing superheroes and super criminals shifted their positions on the board.
"I am in position," Shayera's voice came over a speaker. Her icon halted in place not far from two dots. One red and blue representing the degenerated backwards clone of superman, Bizarro; and the other a purple icon representing the over-powered she-villainess Rampage.
Batman spoke:
"I've noticed that as long you have monitor duty…Shayera is safe from getting overworked."
John without missing a beat, ignored him and proved him right at the same time.
"Hold your position, Shayera." John then turned his attention to two icons at different locations farther away from the targets than Shayera's was. "Atom Smasher? Red Tornado? Do you two still have your targets in sight?"
"Check," and "Affirmative," Came the separate responses from the two other Justice Leaguers he had assigned to this mission.
"Okay," John acknowledged. "You know what to do. Grab your targets. Shayera, stand-by."
John and Batman watched from the first-person-view transmitted from Red Tornado's electronic camera eyes as the superhero robot flew into Bizzarro. The Earth was simultaneously trembling as the super-sized Atom Smasher thundered toward and slammed into Rampage.
"Who's complaining?" John asked without taking his eyes off the screens.
"No one," Batman admitted. "If anyone has noticed…they probably understand. However, maybe they might not be so understanding if someone gets hurt when Shayera is spared any harm."
"Got 'im!" came Atom Smasher's voice on the speakers. This was rapidly followed by Red Tornado's affirmation, "I have her!"
"No one gets hurt on my shift," John said calmly. He then switched his eyes to the overhead view again. "Allright, Shayera. Go."
They watched as Shayera's icon moved in a figure eight fashion, first towards one set of blips…
"Bizarro is out!" she announced.
… and then to the other.
"Eeeeeyah….Rampage is down!" she announced again.
John did not bother to look smugly at Batman. He continued-on, businesslike in his job.
"Communications," John called to two uniformed technicians on the deck below. "Inform police and emergency services that they can move in now. The suspects are apprehended."
"Nice work," Batman said impassively. "What do you intend to do when it is a choice between Shayera or Mari?"
That did it. John stood up and faced Batman.
"Do you want to take my Monitor duty, Bruce?"
It was a ridiculous question. Batman did not bother to answer. He never did monitor duty. He was a part-timer. No one questioned that.
"I didn't think so," John said sitting back down. "Thank you for your concern, but I've got everything under control."
"If you say so," was all that Batman said, "but you can't protect her forever." And with that he was gone before John could make response.
John sat back and resumed his vigilant monitoring. He kept his eyes on everything. He micro-managed missions on the ground and he tended to err on the side of caution. Still, all situations were handled rapidly, efficiently, and by-the-book. Just the way he liked it.
Best of all: simply no one ever got hurt when he had Monitor control; but, especially not Shayera.