Chapter 6: Greetings
About two hours later, the lanterns were summoned back to the Hospital by way of emergency call. Dashing through the front doors, IA met them, a tranquilizer in her hand. "Greetings, Hal Jordan." she began. "What's going on? What's the emergency?" Hal asked, a little out of breath. Aliens of all sizes were rushing away from the room they usually frequented: the Speedster's room. "The Speedster patient has awoken and proceeded to go into shock. Its body has begun gathering an extremely dangerous electric charge, which could prove fatal to another if contact is made. The patient is discharging this electricity in small doses at the moment, but the situation could change drastically if it is not sedated immediately, and the charge disposed of properly." IA explained. "Alright, alright." Hal puffed, taking a deep breath. Peeking into the room, he spotted a small figure curled haphazardly into the far corner of the room, electricity curling around its body like yellow tentacles. The figure's head was resting on its knees, which were pulled tightly into its chest. Turning to his crew, Hal formulated a plan. "I'm from Earth. If he is too, then he'll understand me. If I can get him to trust me, I might be able to get him to relax." Hal offered. "I'm from Earth, too, and so is Simon. What makes you think you can do this?" Jade asked. Hal gave her a firm glare. "Because I've dealt with people in shock before. They take a lot of care to recover. And you don't want to be on the receiving end of their delusions." Hal replied. "Alright. So, you just want us to wait here?" Yat asked. Hal nodded, moving to the door frame. Stepping through, he took a few steps before the Speedster's head shot up from its knees, a pair of glowing blue eyes staring at him in terror. "Stay away from me!" the Speedster cried, moving to curl farther into the corner, if that was even possible. "Whoa, whoa, slow down. Look, I'm a human." Hal said, deactivating his ring for the moment. His mask disintegrated to reveal his pink skinned face, dotted with freckles along the cheeks, and his chocolate eyes. He was dressed in his pilot's jacket, a pair of blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a white sleeveless t-shirt, his dogtags hanging loose against his chest from a silver chain. Upon seeing him change form, the Speedster flinched away from him, grinding his teeth. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm here to help you. So is everyone here. We've been taking care of you for awhile now, helping you recover and stuff. If we wanted to hurt you, we would have done it already." Hal reasoned. The Speedster took in his words, his glowing blue eyes filling with tears. "Why can't I move my legs? Where am I? Who are you? How long have I been gone?" the Speedster asked, his voice shaking and making his words sound like a blur of speech. "A: We rescued you from an android named Brainiac. You looked like you'd been in his captivity for a long time. Apparently, we think he shattered your legs. B: You're on the home planet of the Green Lanterns, Oa. C: My name is Hal, Hal Jordan. D: Gone from where?" Hal answered. "I'm from Earth. I live in Central City and I work as a CSI for the CCPD. I want to know how long I was gone." the Speedster replied. "When did you vanish?" Hal asked, using his ring to project a calendar. "April 26, 2001." the Speedster replied. Hal checked the date and counted the weeks backwards. "You vanished over a year ago." Hal replied. "No. No, no, no. That's not right. It was so much longer. I felt like I was dying." the Speedster stated, grasping his head in panic. "Technically, you were. You were suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, oxygen deprivation, and multiple fractures to your bones. That would make you feel like you were dying, for sure." Hal explained. "So, an android broke my legs?" the Speedster asked. "Yeah. He's from Krypton, a friend of mine's home planet." Hal replied casually. "I-I-I don't know what to say….I'm so scared." the Speedster admitted, tears pooling in his eyes. Hal knelt down and offered a hand. "Hey, don't cry, man. How old are you?" Hal asked, trying to distract. "Twenty three." the Speedster replied. "That's too old to be crying. You're younger than me, but too old to be crying like a little kid." Hal said, chuckling slightly. "Sorry." the Speedster replied, wiping his eyes. "Don't be. Life gets to be a little too much, sometimes." Hal replied, smiling broadly. "So, your name is Hal?" the Speedster asked. "Short for Harold James Jordan." Hal replied. "I'm Bartholomew Henry Allen. But, everybody just calls me Barry." the Speedster replied. "Nice to meet you, Barry. Now, how about getting you back up on that bed, so you can finish your recovery?" Hal asked. Barry nodded, a small smile on his lips. As Hal talked the Speedster down, the electricity folded back into his body, and his eyes stopped glowing, revealing a pair of lovely baby blues. "I can't stand up, remember?" Barry asked. Hal facepalmed, smirking. "Of course I remember." Hal replied. Cough* "No, I didn't." *Cough. "Do you think you could pick me up?" Barry asked, looking at him with a pair of pink cheeks. "Sure." Hal replied, bending down and scooping up the Speedster, gently depositing him on the bed. He turned to the doorway, peeking his head out. "We're good, guys." he said, giving a thumbs-up. The other lanterns gave a deep breath, some sighing in relief. "Who were you talking to?" Barry asked as he settled himself underneath the blankets. "My crew." Hal replied, gesturing as the other four lanterns filed into the room. "This is Jade, that's Simon, this is Yat, and this big guy is Kilowog." Hal said, introducing each lantern in turn. "You are cute." Jade smiled as she shook Barry's hand. "Nice to meet you, dude." Simon greeted, waving shyly. "Greetings, human." Yat stated, smiling slightly. Kilowog was shy at first, looking at the floor. "I know you, don't I?" Barry asked, cutting the tension between them. "Kinda….I mean, we used to kinda know each other….but not very well…." Kilowog answered, nervous. Barry leaned forward a little bit, his nose twitching slightly. "I do know you. You sat by my bed, and fell asleep, and brought me the teddy bear, and the flowers, and tried to get me to eat." Barry stated, smiling. Surprised, Kilowog grinned proudly. "Yeah, it was nothing, really. I felt bad about what Brainiac did to ya and I thought I'd make it up to ya." he replied, rubbing the back of his thick neck. "Well, thank you. Thank you all, for what you've done to help me. I'd love to hear more, but maybe after I've gotten something to eat." Barry smiled. 'So polite.' Hal thought, filing his comrades into chairs as he went to retrieve something good for the Speedster to eat. When he returned, Barry was laughing heartily at a joke Simon had just told, his eyes watering with the joy. "It's been too long since I've heard such a good joke." Barry complemented, grinning. He didn't have a cheeky grin, like Hal thought he'd have, but a warm, addicting smile that drew you into whatever he had to say. Hal stepped into the room, a tub of ice cream in his hand. "I managed to swipe some ice cream from the commons. You sure you can eat all of this?" Hal asked as he handed it to the Speedster. "You haven't seen anything until you've seen me eat." Barry smiled, taking a bite of the sweet, cold yogurt.
~END