Chapter 2-

This is the chapter where Lyanna meets Carter and DNA testing is discussed as her name is among a list of girls in the system that need to be tested. It leaves at a sort of cliffhanger.


Monday afternoon came around and Carter was down to his last phone number. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he punched in the last number. This search for his missing baby, who had aged 12 years, was taking more out of him than at any other time of his life.

Carter looked up at the picture of the Justice Society of America as he heard the phone ring. It had been painted a year before Lydia's birth. His gaze went to him and Shayera sitting together, hands clasped.

He wondered what Shayera would have done. He did everything that a father might have done, but he wondered if Shayera would have done it differently. Shayera was calm and quiet. She would have thought all the angles out to try to find Lydia.

Queen had given him some sound advice the night that all of them joined forces to stop the "Icicle." Carter did have to live now for the young girl, Courtney, who was staying here and the others he was bringing back to the JSA when they disbanded. He also had to live for Lydia. Carter had the feeling that she'd be found this time.

"Hello?" A robotic voice devoid of feeling answered the phone, breaking Carter's musings.

"Hi. My name's Mr. Carter and I was thinking of adopting a girl. I want to know how long you've been in business," Carter said, giving only half his name. If any of the ones he had called was the one who took Lydia they knew that Lydia's father was Carter Hall and they might hide her away so he wouldn't find her. Carter also hoped that this place was it since he had no success with the other 19 places.

"About 15 years. We usually place children in foster care. Mostly the ones who are difficult to place," the voice said unemotionally.

"Difficult as in how?" Carter wanted to know as Courtney came into the room and put her backpack down.

'They are just loose cannons and troublemakers. Except we just had to close one home down because one of our kids was abused so badly she had to go to the hospital," the lady said.

"I see. Well, thank you. How was school?" Carter asked Courtney as he hung up the telephone.

"Fine. I became a student aide today. I just had to show an 8th grader around," Courtney said. Courtney wasn't Carter's daughter, but she was starting to make him think he could take care of her as if he was until her stepfather got here. Courtney's stepfather had been part of the JSA and had promised to come when Carter called him to tell him that Courtney was all right.

"Sounds different that a student would need an aide in the middle of the school year," Carter commented.

"She's in foster care. Her last foster parent abused her and she just got placed in a new home. She started this school today," Courtney explained.

"How old is she?" Carter asked, a sudden thought entering his mind.

"About 13. Actually she reminds me a lot of you when you're in a bad mood," Courtney teased.

"Not funny. You know I could always send you home," Carter said, trying to sound stern but failing.

"Yeah, right. I felt sorry for her though. Her foster father shattered her kneecap and she walks with a limp," Courtney said.

"Sounds really bad. What's her name?" Carter asked, wondering if this girl was his girl. She was the right age.

"Lyanna Edmonson. She's tall for her age and quiet. She doesn't talk much. She just looks out the window at birds or reads books about romance and history," Courtney said as John, Oliver, and Clark came into the room.

"So did you find anything?" Carter asked anxiously.

"I narrowed it down to two and Clark, Oliver, and Chloe found two. How many did you find?" John asked.

"1. The place was opened 3 years before my daughter was taken," Carter said.

"So that makes five. I'll have the judge issue a search warrant of all the girls in the system 13 or 14 years old. Chloe found all their names. Don't worry, Carter. We'll find her," John said in a kind voice.

"I'm not. I'm just thinking of her. Will she look like me or Shayera? She had her mother's blue eyes and my hair color. But a baby's looks change," Carter said, voicing a worry he had for years.

"I'm sure she'll look just fine once you see her. John says he's gonna run blood tests on all the girls. If the blood matches yours, then we'll know it's her," Oliver said, not sounding like an obnoxious pain for once.

"It'd probably be best to test Shay era's blood too. My daughter will have her mother's blood as well," Carter said, walking over to a cooler and taking out a vial of blood. He handed it to John.

"I think Dr. Hamilton better examine it. He'd notice the similarities between you, your wife's, and your daughter's blood," Clark said.

A knock at the door got their attention. "I'll get it," Oliver said walking to the door as Carter covered the JSA artifacts in the room. There was no point in letting anyone else know that the JSA was back.


Lyanna had an easy day at school. The school had changed since she last went there. It didn't stop at the 8th grade anymore. It now went to the 12th grade since the student aide was in the 10th grade. Courtney Whitmoore had said that she'd help Lyanna with her homework and catch up on schoolwork if she came to her house.

The house that she stood in front of, that Courtney lived in, was huge! It was a white brownstone that made Lyanna think of a museum. Lyanna looked at the gilded names on the door: Curators: Carter and Shayera Hall. So it was a museum.

It didn't take long for anyone to answer her knock. A handsome blond-haired man answered the door. "May I help you?" He asked with a charming grin. Lyanna then realized this was Oliver Queen. She had seen him on TV. So he liked museums.

"Hi, Mr. Queen. I'm Lyanna Edmonson. I'm supposed to come over here so Courtney can help me with homework. Courtney does live here, right?" Lyanna asked nervously.

"Yes. Come in," Mr. Queen said as he ushered her inside.

There were oriental rugs on the floor and elaborate tapestries. There was also interesting things in glass cases. Mr. Queen led her into a room that had white sheets on nearly everything.

Three men and Courtney were standing there talking. "Lyanna! I forgot you were coming over after school. So how was the Historical Society?" Courtney asked, slipping an arm around Lyanna's thin shoulders.

"Fine, I think. I think I'm gonna do it. My counselor and my foster mom both say I need to do extracurricular activities that doesn't require me using my hurt leg too much, Lyanna said, looking down at her leg. The doctors had said her leg would be bent slightly and cause pain if she used it too much. The Historical Society should be tame as opposed to trying out for the girl's basketball team.

"Don't you go to the doctor for your leg?" A bearded man in a brown leather jacket, jeans, and a red shirt asked. Lyanna felt as if she had seen this man before, but she couldn't place him in her memory. His eyes were a lighter shade of blue than hers and he had a kind face. It gave her the oddest feeling of déjà vu.

"Twice a week. My kneecap was nearly shattered," Lyanna said wearily as she and Courtney sat down and Lyanna pulled out her science, English, history, and math books.


Carter watched Courtney and the girl as they did homework. The girl did look familiar. Her eyes were dark blue like Shayera's and her hair was like his when he was younger. That didn't say much as a lot of girls had blue eyes and brown hair.

"Carter, that's one of the girls Chloe found. We need to get a blood sample," John said softly so neither girl could hear them.

"Courtney said she was in foster care. I thought maybe she is. I just don't want to be wrong," Carter said, watching as Lyanna pushed her hair behind her ear. She fussed with her hair like Shayera did, but he was sure all girls did that.

"Maybe I can ask her if she would submit to a blood test. She might be agreeable," John said, walking toward the girls.

Lyanna and Courtney both looked up at the detective. Hi, John," Courtney said with a bright smile.

"Hello, young ones. I need to ask your friend for a favor, Courtney," John said with a kind smile.

"Ask then. I can't promise anything," Lyanna said, putting her pen down.

"I'm looking for a baby girl. She was only one years old and was kidnapped. You see, Carter Hall is the girl's father and he asked us to search for his daughter; who would be in the foster care system. The thing is I'm going to need a blood sample since you are in the foster care system and the same age as Lydia Hall," John said.

"And you think I'm her?" Lyanna asked skeptically.

"There's a chance. Your name is on the list of girls who would be the right age as my daughter. And you are in a foster home," Carter said, hoping she'd agree to the testing.

"So, how about it, Lyanna? Will you let us take a blood sample and see if you are Lydia Hall?" John asked.

"Can I think about it?" Lyanna asked in a small voice.

John looked at Carter who nodded his head. "Yes. We could force you to submit to a blood test, but we won't. We want it to be your choice. We don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do," John said.

A look of relief filled Lyanna's eyes. "Thank you. I'll tell Courtney at school and she'll tell you if I say yes or no," Lyanna said as she picked up her history book and turned it to the chapter dealing with World War II.

"That sounds fair. Personally I hope you are Lydia," Carter said with a smile.

"I kind of hope I'm not. You look like too nice of a man for me to beat up. If you were my father I'd kick your butt for getting me into the foster care system in the first place," Lyanna said with a rueful grin.

"Would you really?" Carter heard Courtney whisper.

"Uh-huh. Now I'd better get history done and I have to read "The Diary of Anne Frank" that my history teacher assigned dealing with Hitler's Holocaust," Lyanna said, pulling out a clean sheet of notebook paper.

"Anne Frank?" Oliver asked.

"Uh-huh. It's a good thing I started reading up on her and her diary when I was in the 5th grade. I like the diary and this is my copy. It means I don't have to go and buy the copies that my teacher is selling," Lyanna said as she wrote on the paper

Carter watched as she did her homework. She was quiet, but she had fierceness to her. She seriously thought she could beat up her father. If she did agree to the test and it ended up that she was his daughter he doubted her strength to beat him up.