Chapter One — Beware
"Cause my baby's sweet as can be."
There were two large photographs of Wally surrounded by red and yellow flowers, the low sounding music that flowed through the air was somber and the overhanging lights were dimly lit giving the funeral homes showroom an almost smokey look to it.
People littered the tiny showroom; Dick, Kaldur and Roy's clone— who had decided to start going by the name of Will since the original Roy's body had been discovered —were all huddled together off to the side. Mary and Rudy West were wrapped up in each other's arms, the two of them were sitting in the front row of seats the funeral parlor had set up; their faces were tear streaked and blotchy and Iris who sat a few seats over from them had her own face buried in Barry Allen's neck.
Artemis sat in one of the rows of seats, Lian, her niece and Arley's god-daughter was asleep in the retired heroes lap.
Bart and Jaime stood solemnly off to the side and as Arley started to almost robotically walk forward— she didn't want to go forward, she didn't want to see what was in the casket but her legs wouldn't stop moving forward —towards the open casket, the Lantern spotted Conner and M'gann walking away from it.
Choking on her grief, Arley found herself unable to cry. Instead she just paused next to the casket and looked.
She looked at Wally West's corpse. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips and his eyes were closed; he looked like he had fallen asleep on the couch of their shared apartment, not like he was dead.
Dead, Wally West was dead and Arley would never get to hear his laugh again, she'd never come home to the smell of his mothers sauce on the stove and they'd never get married like they had talked about. Arley and Wally would never have that family they had planned, the one Bart had told them they were meant to have.
"Such a shame," Someone said from behind Arley, "To have died so young, I mean just think of all he could have done, the life he could have lived."
Arley turned to look at the person speaking behind her only to freeze with her mouth half open and her eyes blown open wide, because standing behind Arley, in a nice suit and tie was Wally West. The same Wally West that was dead in the casket next to her.
"Wally?" Arley croaked, Wally's bright green eyes looked up from his casket— his body —and to Arley, the speedsters lips tipped upwards.
"Hey babe, what are you doing here?" Wally asked; as if he and Arley had run into each other at a grocery store, and not his funeral. Arley blinked.
"What am-Wally you're dead," Arley breathed. Wally looked down at his hands and flipped them over so that he was looking at his palms.
"Am I?" Yes he was, Arley turned to look at the casket only to find it gone and when she turned to look back at Wally— at her Wally —standing behind her no longer could she see his parents or their friends in the funeral home's showroom behind him in the background.
Because they were no longer in the funeral homes showroom, but rather, the two of them were back at the Earth's northern magnetic pole. Wally had died here; him and Barry and Bart had all saved the world but he had died not even several feet from where Arley and Wally were standing.
Arley's stomach twisted, her heart clenched and tears dotted the corners of her eyes.
"Wally-what's going on, why are we here?" Arley didn't want to be here. Tenderly, Wally cupped Arley's face, his feet shuffled over the icy ground, closer to her. Arley rested her own hands against the speedsters chest; she didn't feel his heartbeat.
"Why didn't you save me?" Wally asked softly, Arley felt the blood drain from her face.
"What?" Wally's thumb ran across Arley's cheekbone, his bottom lip jutted out.
"Why did you let me die? Don't you love me?" Wally questioned, Arley's nails bit into the front of Wally's suit, her brows had furrowed together.
"Of course I do," Arley replied, "Wally you know I love you."
"Then why'd you let me die? The Reach killed me and you just let them," Wally said with a shake of his head, his hands dropped from Arley's face and Arley— begging him to just wait a second —went to grab his wrists only for him to move out of her reach.
"You don't love me, you never have-never did!" Wally called out as he started to walk backwards, away from her.
"That's not true!" Arley shouted back rawly, she went to take a step forward, towards Wally, only for the icy tundras winds picked up around them; around her, seemingly imbolizing her.
"Wally!" She called out, "Wally please!" Wally's figure darkened and as snow and ice began to swirl around her Wally looked more like a shadow than a person.
"Please don't leave me!" Arley tried to scream over the winds; Wally must have not heard her— if he had he would have stopped, he would have turned around; Wally had promised not to leave her and Wally he didn't lie, not to her —because a second later his shadowy figure was gone and Arley was left to collapse on the ground beneath her.
Arley's chest heaved in pain as she cried. "Please," she sobbed, "Please don't leave me."
…
Breathlessly and with tears already streaming down her face Arley shot up in bed. Her bed, in the small flat her and Kilowog lived in on Oa, was tiny; it was nothing like the bed she had shared with Wally back on Earth.
Wally; Arley's dream flashed through her mind and almost violently bile rose up in the Lantern's throat. Wally had been dead for fifteen whole days, dead and never coming back. Dead and gone.
Shooting to her feet, shaking off her covers as she did so, Arley rushed out of her room and down the hall to the apartment's bathroom.
Throwing open the bathroom door Arley dove towards the toilet before emptying the contents of her stomach into it. As she heaved into the metal bowl, Arley heard Kilowog, the only other occupied in the apartment, cumbersomely making his way out of his bedroom.
Tears ran down Arley's face, more so because of her dream— and the fact Wally was in fact dead —than because of the pain she felt in her gut as she dry heaved into the toilet.
Sitting back against the far wall as she whipped the back of her hand against her mouth Arley glared at the toilet; Wally's voice rang through her ears.
Of course she loved him, she loved him more than the air in her lungs and she loved him more than her duty to the Corps; she would have given the ring up if the Reach hadn't been kicked off of Earth because a life without Wally wasn't one she had wanted to live.
"You're still throwing up?" Kilowog asked, Arley turned to look at Kilowog, the Bolvaxian didn't wear his uniform to sleep but instead wore a large old fashioned looking nightgown.
"I had a nightmare," Arley croaked. Kilowog crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"Right," Kilowog said, there was a beat of silence, "You've been sick for the past week and a half," Kilowog sighed, "I think, in the morning you should go to the infirmary."
"Kilowog—"
"—I'm not kidding, kid, somethings wrong, seriously wrong."
Yeah, Arley thought, Wally's dead. But Arley also knew it was more than that. Arley knew that she shouldn't be throwing up, that if she had caught something while undercover then the minute she'd powered her ring back up it should have gone away.
There was also the fact she could no longer hear Aniell; a fact she hadn't bothered to mention to anyone.
Kilowog was right, there was something seriously wrong— she was throwing up and could no longer speak to Aniell —and yet Arley didn't care, she couldn't find it in herself to care. Wally was dead, what did it matter if something was wrong with her?
If she were somehow dying?
"I have work to do in the morning," Arley said, for the past five days— ever since she had come to Oa —she had started working as the archivist in the Hall of Great Service, "Tomar's organization system made no sense, I'm still trying to figure it out-I need to figure it out before I can get any actual work done." Tomar-Tu had been the previous archivist but his wife had fallen ill and the Lantern had been relieved of his duties on Oa in order to be with her.
"You need to be alive to do your work," Kilowog resorted, Arley just looked down at the bathroom flooring and with a sigh Kilowog sunk to his knees, "Arley, kid, I know what you're feeling, I do—" years before even Hal had gotten his ring Kilowogs entire planet had been destroyed, his wife and children had been on it at the time, "—But just because your boy is gone, that doesn't mean you can let yourself waste away. Wally wouldn't want that for you."
What would you know about Wally, rested on the tip of Arleys tongue but the human Lantern bit back the combative resort and instead, with a sigh, looked at her old Training Sergeant because he was right, Wally wouldn't want her to waste away.
He had loved her; she loved him. She always would.
"You'll go with me?" John— the only other human Lantern who lived on Oa —and Katma, his wife, had both been sent on a recon-mission the day before and while she knew Guy and Hal would drop what they were doing to come with her to the infirmary she couldn't ask that of them, they'd only just gone back to Earth after hovering— over her —for the past few days.
Kilowog shot Arley a half smile, "Of course I will, now come on," Kilowog said as he rose to his feet, the Bolvaxian offered Arley an outstretched hand, "You need your rest."
Her nightmare flashed in her mind and Arley, as she too, got to her feet, looked unsurely at Kilowog,
"Do-can we just watch television on the couch?" It'd been an old tradition of theirs; back when she had been eight and Kilowog had taken full responsibility of her whenever Arley had ended up having a nightmare she and the Bolvaxian would camp out on the couch and watch alien television shows until they both fell asleep on the way too small couch.
Kilowog smiled easily at Arley, "Of course we can."
…
Hal was once more in trouble with the Council; after Arley— and Kilowog —had gone to the infirmary Larvox, a Lantern from sector seventeen had managed to catch the two of them and let them know that the Guardians had called Hal to Oa.
Apparently— while Arley had been undercover and the Lanterns had been banished from Earth —Hal had punched a diplomat, which Arley was sure her adoptive father had a good reason for doing.
Standing next to Kilowog, whose arms were crossed over his chest Arley couldn't help but force a smirk in the Bolvaxians direction. It hurt to smirk— to smile —to breathe; it hurt knowing Wally was dead. The love of her life was dead.
Salaak, the Guardian's new scribe waited outside the Council Chambers doors with them, the fingers from each of his four arms tapped furiously against the holographic keyboard he was using.
"You know he had a good reason for what he did," Arley said, "He wouldn't just hit some random diplomat, especially not in the middle of a war."
The Corps couldn't afford any more enemies at the moment, not with Sinestro's Corps growing stronger by the day.
Kilowog, with a poorly hidden smile looked back at Arley.
"I know he did, but if I let him think I approve of his decisions then Jordan really won't think twice before making them."
"Hal doesn't think twice now," Arley resorted. John did though; and apparently so did the new guy, Kyle, but— counting herself, Arley knew it was safe to say that —that the rest of sector two-eight-one-fours Lanterns didn't think twice before doing something stupid.
She tried though— to think twice before doing something incredibly stupid —she did her best to keep her doubts and questions to herself, she was, after all a good soldier, but sometimes Hal's words, 'It's better to ask forgiveness than permission' floated through her head and Arley couldn't help but find herself agreeing.
Because what was the point— what was the point of the blood on her hands and the lives she had taken, of everything she had lost over the years; her innocence, her childhood, Wally —of being a good soldier if it meant she wasn't a good person?
What was the point of wielding a Green Lantern ring if it wasn't, at the end of the day, to do good?
Kilowog snorted only to quickly swallow it as Hal Jordan landed gently on the platform before them; Hal was no longer the twenty five year old Lantern Arley had met thirteen years ago, he had flecks of grey in his hair and the deep smile lines that were sculpted into his face hadn't been there several years ago, neither had the crows feet that were hidden beneath his mask.
"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Oa," Hal breathed as he stepped forward, he opened his arms and Arley dove into them; Hal wrapped the younger Lantern into a tight, bone crushing hug as he pressed his lips against the crown of her head.
"Hey Ars," Hal said softly into her hair.
"Hey," Arley replied; slowly their arms unwound from one another and Arley stepped back from her adoptive father. Moving forward Hal looked at Kilowog and Salaak with a smile as his hand stayed between Arley's shoulder blades.
"Hal Jordan of Earth," Salaak said into his floating workstation, more so to let the Guardians know Hal had arrived than to greet the Earthing, nonetheless Hal waved at the pink alien.
"Salaak, of—" Hal's free hand clasped the back of his neck, "—Some planet whose name escapes me." Arley leaned into her adoptive father,
"It's Slyggia," Arley said. Hal snapped his fingers,
"Right, Slyggia-and Kilowog! Hey buddy!" Hal put his hand out for Kilowog to fist bump only for the Bolvaxian to stare at the human Lantern steely eyed and with his arms unmoved from across his chest. Hal's eyes flickered between Arley and Kilowog, "What's going on?"
Kilowog answered before Arley could,
"You'll find out soon enough Jordan, just keep it professional and definitely don't go looking for me to bail you out this time." Hals brows raised.
"What, did I leave the toilet seat up this time or something?"
"Or something," Arley murmured as the four of them started towards the Council room.
The Council rooms door opened and slowly, one by one the Guardians— tiny blue aliens as old as the universe itself —descended from the ceiling and onto their rounded platform that hovered above the podium whatever Lantern would be talking to them stood on.
"Hal Jordan of Earth," Ali Appa Apsa addressed Hal; Hal's hand fell from Arley's back as he moved onto the podium.
Hal stood on the podium with his heels clicked together and his arms behind his back; behind him Arley and Kilowog stood the same way.
"Of Sector two-eight-one-four the Viceroy of Demarc-Seven claims that when we assigned you to police crucial peace negotiations you punched him in the face. Is this true?"
"Uh-no sir," Hal replied, "I punched the Viceroy in the stomach, then I headbutted him in the face, sir. The Viceroy was a serious dirtbag using diplomatic immunity to cover up his slave trafficking ring."
Behind her sector leader Arley's brows shot up; she supposed that punching— and headbutting —someone for using their diplomatic immunity to cover up a slave ring was more than just a good reason to assault a Viceroy.
"The Council should note," Ganthet, another Guardian said, "That Hal Jordan's claims have since been proven true by Demrec's authorities."
"That is not the point," Ali Appa Apsa resorted, "This Lantern—" the ceiling of the council room slowly began to open as the Guardian continued, "—Clearly seemed to revel in exceeding his authority, ignoring our orders and making his own—"
Ali Appa Apsa was cut off when a single Lantern ring fell from the sky; the ring clattered loudly against the Council room floor and Arley felt dread pool in her gut. A Lanternless ring could only mean one thing; a Corpsman had fallen.
"Oh no," Kilowog whispered. Hal moved forward from where he had been standing and picked up the ring between his two fingers, the brunette Lantern looked up at Ali Appa Apsa.
"We can argue about my conduct later but right now, somewhere out there, there's a dead Green Lantern." Hal turned to Kilowog and passed him the ring, Arley watched as Kilowog placed the ring onto Salaaks workstation, Arley's heart stilled in her chest.
With Sinestro still at large and his army— his Yellow Lantern Corps —growing bigger by the day; that ring could be Guy's or Arsia's or any other Lantern Arley cared about. It could be Katma or Johns; they had only just been sent on a recon mission after all.
Arley had buried Wally six days ago, she couldn't bury someone else.
"Salaak whose ring is this?" Salaak hit a series of buttons and the imagine of a Lantern Arley had never seen before; the alien was thin, his bones seemed to almost show through his uniform, and his oval shaped eyes were completely black.
"Green Lantern Maten," Salaak replied.
"Who?" Arley asked the scribe; she'd been a Lantern for over half her life— Arley knew every Lantern and while she might not have known the life story of every Lantern she at least knew her other Corps members in passing —but she had never met a Lantern named Maten; she had never seen the Lantern Salaak was showing.
"Salaak displays Guardian Space," Ganthet requested and the image of the fallen Lantern changed to one of the Guardian protected Universe; it was an odd looking oval short of shape as the Tribunal controlled a small portion of the universe. "There are thirty-six hundred sectors in Guardian Space for over a millennia we Guardians have dispatched our power rings to choose worthy protectors of these sectors, together you are what makes up the Green Lantern Corps."
"This part we know," Hal breathed, Kilowog roughly elbowed the man in the side and Hal, rubbing his abused side, shuffled closed to Arley.
"Salaak displays the home world of Frontier Lantern Maten," Ganthet ordered.
"Frontier Lantern?" Kilowog questioned as the image of Guardian Space shrunk and was then on the left side— on the other side of the universe, away from Tribunal territory —encapsulated into a larger glowing sort of spherical shape. There were both glowing Corps symbols and dull looking Corps symbols that littered the larger sphere.
"This is The Guardian Frontier, the very edge of our territory," Scar, a female Guardians whose actual name was lost to the sands of time, "We have seated Lanterns there but they are few and far between. The vast distance between the Frontier Lanterns makes contact sporadic at best."
"Then who trains them?" Kilowog asked.
"They receive limited instruction from their rings," Ganthet replied; Arley frowned at the Guardian's above her.
"You mean you're sending untrained aliens into battle?" Arley asked loudly; unprompedly.
"As Guardian Ganthet said they receive—"
"—Like you would let any Lantern on the honor Guard protect Oa right now out there with that kind of training," Arley snapped in Ali Appa Apsa's direction, Arley felt a wave of anger surge through her, "You're sending these Lanterns to die!"
"They can always refuse the ring," Dennap, another Guardian, said coolly. Arley tilted her head back in the Guardians direction. The Guardians weren't infallible, they were arrogant and brazen and secretive little Space Smurfs but never before had they seemed so callous.
Had they always been that way or had the war between the Green Lantern and the Sinestro Corps changed them?
"Why would they?" She wondered rhetorically, in the same cool voice Guardian Dennap had used, "It's an honor to be a part of the Corps."
Hal cleared his throat and pointed to the non lit Corps symbol.
"What do these non lit symbols signify?"
"Those are locations where operatives have gone offline, those power rings are either in search of new hosts or on-route back to Oa," Ali Appa Apsa said and Arley stepped back from Hals side so that she could look at the imagination for Frontier Space in its entirety.
There were more unlit symbols then there were lit ones.
"That means they're dead," Hal said stiffly.
"That is unfortunate but more accurate, yes."
"And what?" Arley scoffed, "You just move on with your day and don't even think about them?"
"You do not even see fit to inform us of these Lantern deaths!" Salaak added on angrily; everyone who made it through boot camp knew that growing old in the Corps was a privilege, every Lantern knew that their lives were forfeit the minute they were no longer a White Circle and they were okay with that because they knew at least by the time they died they would have bettered the universe.
"There is nothing to inform you of right now, nothing to be done, even flying at your top speeds you would not reach Frontier Space for eighteen months!" Ali Appa Apsa snapped at the four Lanterns below him. The Guardian breathed, "The Council is formulating a plan."
Right, a plan.
Arley glared up at the Council as she stood next to Hal and Kilowog; Salaaks fists were clenched mid-air. The Guardians had known for years that Frontier Lanterns were dying and yet they'd done nothing.
"There are Lanterns dying out there, we need to get there and stop whoever's killing them, right now!"
"Let me remind the Green Lantern Hal Jordan that the Council is not on trail, you are."
"Appa Ali Apsa," Ganthet said cheerily, much to cheerily to be genuine, "It had been an eventful session but perhaps a refreshment break is needed-or as our two Earth Lanterns would say, a coffee break."
Ganthet floated down from his spot with the other Guardians before he quickly ushered Hal, Kilowog and Arley out of the Council room.
Salaak followed until they were out of the room but then quickly split off from his fellow Corpsmen, most likely to find Ch'p, a sentient alien squirrel who was the sector Lantern for sector one-zero-one-four.
Out of the Central Meeting Hall and flying through the streets of Oa, Arley trailed behind Ganthet with Hal and Kilowog at her sides; her heart still pounding in her ears at Ali Appa Apsa's callousness. Lanterns were ready— were okay with —dying but to know their deaths meant so little to the people sending them to die, it was unnerving.
"Good call Ganthet," Hal said, "Another minute in there and I might have said something—" Hal cut himself off.
"—Stupid?" Arley scoffed, "Yeah me too."
"Probably because those ships sailed a long time ago," Kilowog resorted. A genuine smile tugged at Arley's lips before it dropped; how could she smile when her fellow Corpsmen were dropping like flies at that very moment? When Wally was dead?
"Uh-sir? This ain't the way to the Commissary," Kilowog said in Ganthet's direction.
"Indeed but I thought we might enjoy taking a more scenic route," Ganthet said as he led them towards his workshop. Ganthet's workshop was different from his laboratory; Arley had been in the Guardians laboratory countless times over the years as the Guardian had, on more than one occasion, studied both her and Aniell ever since her rings sentience had come to light.
The rooftop to the Guardians workshop glowed green before it opened as Arley, Hal, Kilowog and Ganthet flew overhead; a beautiful sleek ship was the only thing Arley spotted inside the workshop. There was a glowing green ball of light emanating from the back of the ship; it looked like— to Arley —like a construct.
"What is that?" Hal asked in awe; Arley liked flying but Hal had fallen in love with it before he had ever gotten his ring. Though just because Hal was forever the pilot that didn't mean Arley didn't think the ship below them wasn't impressive, it looked more like something she should find in the future rather than on present-day Oa.
"Oh that?" Ganthet replied in a tone of innocence, "Nothing really, just a prototype powered by the green energy itself. You could call it my little pet project."
"Holy Bantha crap," Kilowog murmured, impressed at the sight of the ship.
"How fast does it go?" Hal asked Ganthet far too innocently; Arley turned her head away from the ship and in her adoptive fathers direction. She could see the gears in his head turning; it was better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.
"Well, potentially, in theory, the Interceptor should be-is, the fastest ship ever built by sentient life," Ganthet practically bragged, his head was held high in the air.
"Potentially?"
"This prototype is so sophisticated, and travels so fast that it's navicomputer is an actual artificial intelligence," Ganthet explained. Hal, practically in a trance, started to float down towards the ship only for Kilowog to reach past Arley and grab him by the shoulder.
Hauling Hal back, Kilowog flew to stand in front of him and Arley, "No way, I know that look—" Arley did too; Hal was in love with the ship, "—But this isn't one of your Earther jet things."
Hal rolled his eyes and moved easily around Kilowog so that he was flying in front of Ganthet.
"Look I'll take her for a fly, we can work the bugs out and then we can take her to the frontier and catch this Lantern Killer," Hal proposed.
"I doubt that will come to pass," Ganthet said; Ganthet scoffed. Arley's brows raised at the Guardians tone, "It is much too risky," Ganthet explained to Hal, "And on a decision like this, in a time like this, all Guardians must come to a unanimous decision."
"Bureaucracy at its finest," Arley breathed; Ganthet hummed in, in agreement as his workshop slowly began to close.
"Some Guardians doubt the very existence of this so-called Lantern-Killer; frontier Lanterns have always had a much shorter life span than you other Lanterns."
Then you Guardians should send a dozen or so seasoned Lanterns to the Frontier as Training Sergeants, Arley thought spitefully. The Corps were her family and to know the people who had taken her in and given her a shot at a home didn't truly value the sacrifice she and her fellow Corpsmen were making, it was wrong.
"Then why show us this?" Kilowog asked.
Ganthet closed his eyes and started forward, "I told you my friends we are simply taking the scenic route, that is all."
Hal, in the corner of Arley's eye smirked.
Maybe collectively the Council wouldn't help catch the Lantern Killer— maybe Guardians Dennap and Ali Appa Apsa were too set in their arrogant ways to do so —but it was clear to Arley that Ganthet was helping, that he was done with the Councils ineffective methods and had decided to take matters into his own hands.
Though Arley wanted nothing more than to cry— Wally was gone, Aniell was gone and just like Wally her rings sentience had probably left her forever too —she felt warm; Ganthet had been the Guardian to take her hand when she had been transported to Oa at eight years old, he'd been the one to tell her she could have a family and now, thirteen years later, he still cared about his Corpsmen.
…
Before Kilowog and Arley had snuck off, back to Ganthets workshop— because they both knew Hal had been pretending to sleep on their couch, the man had all but allowed Bodie to curl up on his lap in order to gain an air of innocence, even after years of comparing the vulpimancer to a miniature tank —the Infirmary had called Arley to get more blood; apparently before any conclusions could be made— because human anatomy was so odd —tests needed to be run again.
Arley, as her and Kilowog waited for Hal to sneak into the room the interceptor was being kept in, watched as her adoptive father made a Ganthet-like construct from around the corner he was hidden behind; the construct wobbled forwards just as Arley's had an hour or so before.
"Identify yourself," the workshop's robotic security measure insisted as it scanned the construct.
"Ganthet of the Guardians," Hal badly imitated; the construct's arms flail as Hal spoke and it's glowing green head lulled to the side. Arley had to suppress a bark of laughter that had bubbled up her throat.
"Incorrect," the security bot said, "Connecting the Council Room."
Throwing himself around the corner— his construct evaporated —Hal blasted the bot and rushed past its fallen form; Hal ran into the room Arley and Kilowog were hidden in, and he turned so that his back was to the light of where he had run in from.
Hal then spun on the balls of his and bumped into Kilowog's broad chest, Arley threw her ring hand out and imagined a bean bag chair; Hal bounced off of Kilowog's chest and fell onto the glowing green construct Arley had formed.
"The kid and I kind of figured you'd show up here Hotshot," Kilowog said, "How fast does it go?" Kilowog squeakily imitated Hal's voice as Hal got off of Arley's construct and made it to his feet. "This is just your style, you borrow the ship, rush into battle and catch the killer and save the day, and be the big hero."
"You forgot, get the girl," Hal said, "There's probably a girl somewhere in this."
Arley's brows raised pointedly, in her father figures direction, she knew Hal and Carol had spent the past twelve years dancing around each other but anyone with eyes could see they loved one another.
"Look Kilowog-kid, don't try to stop me."
"Stop you?" Arley scoffed, "Hal we're coming with you. Someone's out there killing Lanterns and Kilowog and I aren't just going to let you rush into that fight alone. Besides you obviously forgot something."
Arley grabbed the three Lantern batteries that had been sitting idly on the floor by her feet. Hal grabbed a battery from Arley and swiped the top of her head with his other, empty hand.
"Okay, Ars, I guess you can come along."
"Like you could stop me old man," Arley resorted as she took to the air, just a few inches above the workshop flooring. Hal and Kilowog began to float too. Hal chuckled, he looked to Kilowog,
"She's got jokes."
"Yeah well I'm sure he picked them up from you," Kilowog replied as the three of them began to climb aboard the ship; Hal stopped short then Arley and Kilowog did too because the first thing they were greeted with was the sight of a large Lantern battery.
It crackled and sparkled in what was obviously the engine room and all Arley could think of was the large Central Battery in the middle of Guardian City.
"Woah," Kilowog breathed.
"Look at that," Hal said in awe, with one last look in the engines direction Arley started forward first, towards where the ship's cockpit was. The doors slid open to what looked to be both a medbay and sitting area.
Arley felt her brows rise at Ganthet's work, the ship was beautiful.
"She's beautiful," Hal said mesmerized as he, Arley and Kilowog continued to move through the ship.
"She?" Kilowog asked.
"According to Hal ships are always she's, Guy says car's are she's too," Arley explained Kilowog looked at her quizzically, "It's an Earth thing." Kilowog nodded at that as they all entered the cockpit; Hal stepped forward and sat himself in the captain's seat, his Lantern Battery was placed by his foot.
"I wonder how you fly this baby?" Hal asked Arley and Kilowog only for a blue, holographic sphere to popup over the captain's station.
"Please define the term beautiful," A female voice said throughout the ship.
"That must be the AI navicomputer Ganthet told us about," Kilowog said. Arley leaned forward over Hals shoulder and looked at the holographic sphere,
"Hi," she said to the ship, "I'm Green Lantern Arley and these are Green Lanterns Hal and Kilowog, do you have a name yet? Did Ganthet give you one?"
"No," the navicomputer replied, "Do I need one?"
"Everything needs a name, and we will call you Aya," Hal said, "Arley, Kilowog and I are your new best friends and we want to know how to fly you."
"AI doesn't come out to Aya, Jordan," Kilowog muttered, "It's I-E."
"Well that's a stupid name, Aya isn't," Hal replied quickly, "Besides Aya is a pretty name, a pretty name for a pretty girl."
"How has Carol not beat you?" Arley breathed but she— mournfully —supposed Wally had been the same way; over the years they'd been together he had still playfully and over exaggeratedly flirted with M'gann, Barbra, Raquel and Zatanna if only to annoy Conner, Noble— Raquel's fiancée —Artemis and Dick.
He'd always made a big show about it; he'd wink at Arley with a sly smirk on his face whenever M'gann would giggle or Barbra would roll her eyes and then proceed to say something like, "Oh well, I suppose it's for the best, Arley's the only girl for me after all."
She'd never get that again; Wally would never make another joke or smile or wink in Arley's direction. He was dead.
Feeling gutted, Arley's fingers curled around the back of Hal's seat.
"Would you like to play a game Aya?" Hal asked the navicomputer.
"What game?" Aya asked.
"This game is called joyride."
The holographic sphere blinked, "How does one play joyride?"
"Well," Hal said, "We give you a destination and you try to reach it as fast as you can; it's a racing type game."
The sphere blinked again. "Alright."
Hal let out a deep breath he had been holding and with a bright smile in Arleys direction— Wally's never going to smile at me again, Wally's never going tell me a corny math joke that only he gets ever again —as she moved towards one of the seats in the very front of the cockpit, the ship slowly began to rise.
"What is the destination we are going to?" Aya wondered. Arley produced the coordinates from her ring,
"Frontier space, we need to go where Lantern Maten's ring was last signaled to have been."
"Very well," Aya replied.
The workshop's ceiling slowly began to open and as soon as there was enough space for the ship to fit though, quickly, they were off; only to be quickly met by the angry looking Guardians who flew alongside the ship.
"Company's coming," Kilowog said gruffly, as Ali Appa Apsa knocked loudly on the ship's side window.
Ali Appa Apasa motioned downwards; he was telling the three Lanterns to land the ship. The three shared a look between themselves; if they landed the ship not only would no help ever reach the Frontier and not only would the Lantern killer not be caught but without a doubt their rings would be taken.
"Aya initate ultrawarp now."
"Ultrawrap protocols require at least forty-three minutes to calibrate."
"Aya listen to me, right now there are Green Lanterns in trouble at this very moment, we don't have forty-three minutes."
"It's unwise to ignore protocol."
She was right of course, protocol and procedure was put in place for a reason but what was the point of rules if they only ever stopped you from saving people; if they were more a hindrance than a help?
"First lesson rookie, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission," Arley quoted, her eyes flickered to Hal and then back at the holographic sphere that was the navicomputer, "Green Lanterns risk their lives every day for the good of others, it's part of the job-Aya please."
There was no reply but something happened, a holographic screen appeared over the captains console and the large Lantern Battery that was the ships engine hummed loudly. The ship shook and vibrated and then suddenly, faster than Arley had ever remembered moving, the ship was off.
Space bent around the ship, bright lights shined into the ship's windshield and for a second Arley thought of the old lava lamps Jay Garrick still had in his garage.
Arley was thrown back against her seat as the ship shot through an ultrawarp field.
"Warning bypassing protocol has resulted in an unstable ultrawarp field, disintegration imminent," Aya said to the three Lanterns and Arley, with her stomach in her throat and the urge to throw up overwhelming her, pressed her hand against her lips and shut her eyes tightly.
So not the time, so not the time, Arley thought woefully.
"Hull integrity at seven percent."
"Aya can you convert to manual controls?" Hal asked urgently.
"Affirmite, however manual control while in ultrawarp—"
"—Do it," Hal snapped not harshly but rather pressingly. Arley heard the sound of machinery moving but with her eyes closed she couldn't quite tell what was happening, the ship tipped left and Arley nearly fell out of her seat as it shook violently.
"How is this better!" Kilowog shouted from his seat; from the crashing sound Arley had heard the Bolvaxian had fallen from his seat.
"If I can slow us down I might be able to punch through the ultrawarp conduit without breaking her apart." Still shaking violently, the ship spun; Arley used a construct from her ring to strap herself against the seat.
Kilowog must have not done that because as the ship continued to spin Arley heard the Bolvaxian crashing against different parts of the cockpit; she would have shouted at the large alien if not for the fact she'd throw up if she'd open her mouth.
Arley squeezed her eyes shut tighter.
With a loud boom the ship came to a stop and Arley, still alive, slowly opened her eyes. From the corner of her eyes, with her hand pressed against her lips Arley could see Kilowog on his knees and Hal with his hand pressed flat against his stomach but more importantly, in front of her, directly outside of the ship's windshield, she could see Frontier Space.
And it was beautiful.
Wally would love this, Arley thought despondently.
A burning star shinned brightly outside the windshield and pockets of purple and blue littered the black expansion of space. As her nausea began to subside Arley felt tears dot the corner of her eyes. If Wally had to be somewhere— if there was an afterlife — Arley could only hope it was as beautiful as the sight before her.
"Wonder what my odds are for making my dinner with Carol," Hal murmured and Arley jerked back away from the space in front of her and turned to her adoptive father, with a dry look on his face Kilowog looked to Hal; the Bolvaxian had his fists resting on his hips.
"A million lightyears away and that's what you're thinking?" Kilowog breathed.
"Uh no," Hal said, his cheeks tinged pink.
"Attention, I am picking up a signal from a nearby power ring," Aya said. Kilowog walked over to the control panel closest to the ship's windshield and pressed a button.
"It's a GL, and whoever it is, they're alive," Kilowog said.
"But not for long," Aya added, "They are in a firefight and losing."
"Buckle up people, this is now officially a rescue mission-Aya we need to get to that Lantern and as fast as you can."
"Affirmative," Aya responded and then almost instantaneously, the ship took off in the diction of the troubled Lantern.
Not even a moment later Aya had arrived upon a large asteroid; Arley, stationed at the panel that controlled the ships blasters didn't hesitate to fire at the two red clad figures standing over a Green Lantern.
Hal sat the ship down on the ridge overlooking where the Lantern and two red figures had gone and Hal was the first one out of the ship; Kilowog and Arley flew close behind only to be blasted out of the air by two glowing beams of red.
Though Arley, Hal and Kilowog hit the asteroid's rough ground none of the three Lanterns stayed down for more than a split second; there were two very accomplished Lantern killers after them and any hesitation on their part could result in their deaths.
Hal threw his arm out and a large green hand shot from his ring, the construct wrapped around the two Lantern killers only for the taller one of the two to quickly— and easily —destroy the construct.
The red clad Lantern killers threw what appeared to be their own power rings forward and Arley and Kilowog jumped in front of Hal; their rings formed a thick shield in front of Hal and themselves only for the Lantern killers to quickly destroy that construct as well.
"Come on!" Arley said as she spun; just as if they were fighting two Yellow Lanterns their constructs were seemingly useless. Leading the pack Arley ran; a tactical retreat was better than lying dead on some unknown asteroid. Hal took to the air first; jumping high Arley followed after the man.
"Weaklings!" One of the Lantern Killers shouted after them mockingly, "Your feeble constructs are nothing compared to the Red Lanterns might!"
Arley's head swiveled to look at Kilowog, her brows shot up as if to ask if he caught just what the Lantern Killer had called himself.
Kilowog nodded as they landed behind a large rock; "Red Lantern! What the Nortz is a Red Lantern!"
"These guys I'm guessing," Hal breathed, "We need to move!"
Hal flew over an arch as they took back into the air and while Kilowog flew around it Arley flew through it all while the three of them avoided oncoming attacks from the Red Lanterns behind them.
Kilowog stopped short and threw a hammerhead construct out towards the Red Lanterns and though it hit one of them, the rounded, shriveled one the other Red Lantern quickly destroyed Kilowogs construct before attacking him.
The Red Lantern punched Kilowog clean across the face and Kilowog, wish a glowing green hammer in his hand, batted the Red Lantern away; the Red Lantern aimed his ring out at Kilowog and Arley threw up a construct of her own— a simple shield —so that Kilowog had time to get away.
Quickly, both Kilowog and Arley flew from the Red Lantern and chased after Hal; when they saw the limping and injured Lantern they had come to save Arley, Hal and Kilowog dove for him, Kilowog threw up another shield with gritted teeth as Arley and Hal slowly began to help the Frontier Lantern to his feet.
"Easy-easy," Arley instructed, as she gently led the alien behind a large rock; "We're here to rescue you."
The alien, a pink skinned alien who looked more like a cow than Kilowog did, smiled crookedly up at her.
Kilowog's knees shook under the Red Lanterns fire and Hal, with a blinking ring, looked at Arley, "Get him back to the ship alright, Kilowog and I will draw their fire."
"Like hell, your ring's almost dead, you take him and I'll help Kilowog."
"Just trust me okay?" Hal said and Arley's mouth snapped shut, her lips twisted together. That was one of the last things Wally had said to her; "Trust me?"
Arley felt her heart squeeze in her chest; she couldn't not trust Hal anymore then she could have ever not trusted Wally.
"Don't die on me," Arley said; begged.
"Course not Kid," Hal breathed.
"Right," Arley said with a nod; Arley— as Hal jumped back to where Kilowog was standing —slowly lifted the Frontier Lantern to his feet, "I'm Arley."
"Shyir Rev," the other Lantern said, he looked weary at Hal and Kilowog,
"They'll be okay?"
"Course they will," Arley said Hal and Kilowog left to draw the Red Lanterns fire, "They're the best of best-Hal saved Oa once."
"Yeah?" Shyir wheezed as Arley moved to lift the alien bridal style, Arley nodded as she flew carefully around every bend.
"Oh yeah, it was before my time and all but still, I can think of three other Lanterns on their level and two of them are mine and Hals sector mates."
John was one of the best, his constructs were built from the inside out, you could see every nut and bolt working as if it were real machinery and Guy, though loud and brash, always walked away from a fight, no matter how nasty or grim looking it had been.
"Sounds like bias to me," Shyir tried to joke only to wince as he chuckled.
"Maybe you should try resting up before making any more jokes," Arley replied as she flew up the ledge the Interceptor was perched upon. Rushing inside the ship Arley— knowing that this part of the ship was the medbay but having no idea how to operate it —placed Shyir Rev gently on the ground. "I'm sorry I can't stick around but I have to help Hal and Kilowog."
"Go," Shyir Rev breathed, though he caught Arley's hand in his, "Thank you."
"It's no problem," Arley said, "You would have done the same-we're Corpsmen, family."
And then with that Arley pulled her hand from Shyir's and rushed back out of the Interceptor; flying as fast as she could Arley caught sight of Hal running from the taller Red Lantern in his Ferris Aircraft flight suit and not his uniform.
His ring was dead and Kilowog was held up with the other Lantern Killer; Arley, dropping down between the Red Lantern and Hal formed a glowing green Thangarian mace in her hands and swung it at the Red Lantern with all her might.
Managing to hit the Red Lantern, the Lantern Killer went flying back and hit a large rock, though that only stunned the alien for a second or too; Arley could still hear the pitter patter of Hal's feet as he ran towards the ship.
The Red Lantern, with a bright, firefly whip like construct in his own hands lunged at Arley and Arley sidestepped the attack, Arley swung the mace and the Red Lantern jumped back into the air; Arley's right arm swung wide, battling the enemy Lantern away from her.
The Red Lantern blasted a bolt of red energy at her, missing only by a hair and Arley swung her construct again, this time she only just managed to clip the Red Lanterns breastplate and with a hiss the Lantern flew back.
Arley, remembering Laira and Black Canary and Kilowogs lesions on combat— about fighting smart —kicked up dust in the Red Lanterns direction; the Red Lantern threw his hands up in front of him and Arley swung her mace up at him, sending him back into another rock.
Arley's construct disappeared as she stepped forward, ready to take the dazed Red Lantern into custody only to go flying as a weight— Kilowog —barreled into her back.
The two Lanterns crashed into the ground— Kilowog did his best to brace his weight and keep it off of Arley —and the rounded Red Lantern that Kilowog had been fighting floated above them, half turning, Kilowog threw up a shield as the Lantern thrusted his rings out and a blast of energy shot toward himself and Arley.
The taller Lantern shot off in the direction Hal had run and his companion, the rounded Red Lantern, took off after him, leaving Kilowog and Arley to pick themselves up as best they could.
"Come on," Arley panted, "We got to—" Her words about getting to Hal were caught in her throat when a bright green beam of light shot out from the ship's direction and the two Red Lanterns who had been attacking them were thrown— who knew how far —into space.
"What the hell did Jordan just do?" Kilowog breathed, though it could have been the Frontier Lantern trying to help those who saved hit Arley knew Kilowog was right, that the burst of green energy had somehow been Hal.
"Who knows but come on he can't be okay after that."
…
John and Guy were right, Hal was a heroic moron; the man had charged his ring off of the ship's engine. Some odd hours ago, after Arley and Kilowog had made their way back to the ship, the two of them had found him passed out on the ball of energy that the ship's Lantern Battery gave off.
With Shyir Rev in one of the ship's medbay beds and Hal in the other Arley and Kilowog stood between the other two Lanterns, Arley felt tired and as the adrenaline from the fight wore off felt herself once more becoming nauseous.
Kilowog, eyed Arley's pale face; "You're feeling sick again aren't you."
"What?" Arley breathed deeply, "No, I'm fine."
"Kid," Kilowog reposed, "Don't lie, not to me."
"We're in the middle of Frontier Space, those Lantern Killers could come back at any moment and we got two of our ranks out of commission and unable to fight if something happened right now-I have to be fine."
"But if you didn't?" Kilowog wondered, "Have to be fine I mean."
"Then yeah," Arley nodded, "I feel sick again." Arley licked her lips, "But I have to be fine right now so I'm fine." Kilowog nodded, though Arley saw the Bolvaxian rolled his eyes as he turned towards Hal's unconcious form.
"You know kid whatever is wrong with you, the Doc's back on Oa will fix you right up."
Arley for a second clenched her jaw because she didn't want to be fixed; if she was dying then the doctors on Oa and on Earth should let her die. She didn't say that though; knew she couldn't— Kilowog was as much as father to her as Hal and John and Guy were, and saying something like that to him would be out of line —so instead, as she slowly sunk to her knees, nodded in Kilowogs direction.
With a groan, a few minutes later, Hal's eyes slowly opened and Arley steadily got back to her feet.
"What happened?" Hal moaned, he tried to sit up only for Kilowog to press him back down onto the medbay bed.
"Easy Hotspot, you charged your ring off the ship's engine-think you're pretty clever huh?" Kilowog asked as Hal pressed a hand against his head and threaded his fingers through his hair, "I say you're lucky you didn't blow your arm off." Slowly Hal sat up; this time Kilowog didn't stop him.
"Feels like I did," Hal muttered, his eyes widened, "What about—"
"—Don't worry about Rev," Arley said cutting Hal off, already knowing where his mind was going, she jerked her head in the direction of Shyir Rev's unconscious body, "He's going to be a little sore but once we get him back to Oa and patched up in the Infirmary he'll be fine."
"And our friends, ball and chain?"
"You sent them on a little trip," Arley replied as Hal slowly slipped off the medbay bed, "So in other words, who knows."
Hal's lightshow could have killed the Red Lanterns for all Arley and Kilowog knew, or it could have simply sent them running with their tails between their legs.
"I have a bad feeling we'll be seeing them again," Kilowog said in Arley's direction, "But in the meantime, like the Kid said, who knows."
The three of them walked back into the cockpit, Aya's holographic sphere was hovering over the captain's control panel.
Kilowog nudged Hal teasingly, "Maybe we'll be back in time for your date with Carol." Hal shook his head.
"Dinner will have to wait, those Reds have killed who knows how many Green Lanterns, which means we fight them. We stop them, no matter what it takes-however long it takes," Hal said and Arley and Kilowog with their chins tipped up nodded.
Their fellow Corpsmen were off defending the universe from Sinestro and his men, but the three of them— and Shyir Rev —would fight; they would find those two so-called Red Lanterns and they would stop them.
…
Somewhere else, somewhere not Earth, a man felt as if he were falling. He felt as if he were burning; feeling as if every cell in his body was on fire. He had a name once; he was sure of it. What had his name been?
What was it?
Laughter, the young man could hear laughter. It was sharp and loud and it wasn't a melodic giggle but it was beautiful; to that man there was no better sound.
Who's laughter was that? What was his name?
He was falling.
Burning, he was burning.
Who was he?
The laughter was getting louder, forgetting the search for his name and ignoring the pain of the burning he was feeling the man knew he had to get to the laughter. He had to get to it; he had to get to Arley.
Arley, Glowstick; his Glowstick.
It was Arley's laughter and he was Wally West.
Wally's eyes flew open as his back made impact with the ground; the yellow sky above him was clear and eerily looking but Arley's laughter echoed through his ears. Slowly, as his head spun, and his eyes began to close once more the only thing in Wally West's mind was the diamond ring he had in the storage compartment on his left wrist and the young woman he planned on giving it to.
A/N: AND THE THIRD BOOK IS UP; WLCOME BACK! First up, I edited both previous stories in the Lightspeed series; nothing big was changed in If I Were Born A Blackthorn Tree except chapter five but in the second book- Fire Weeping From A Cedar Tree -I edited it so Arley no longer goes by Tigress like Artemis did in the series and instead got her new- and explained -alias.
Second up, updating schedule, so I'm back in school full time and I'm also pulling about thirty or so hours at work right now, and seeing as while I do pre-write so I can just have the next chapter up for you guys, I'm not as far as I would like in this story. Which means instead of two updates a week right now I'm just going to update on Sundays.
Third up! Please follow, favorite, and leave me a comment!