A/N: Now, I know I have at least 6 people reading this story, judging by the follows - so I hope all of y'all are reading and enjoying, even if you haven't reviewed. That said, thanks very much to Knightwing20042for reviewing! I'm really glad you like the direction the story's going, because this is only the beginning - there's a WHOLE lot more to go through.

Here's Chapter Three!

Chapter Three: A Grey Mood Under a Grey Sky

When the other Founders received Hal's request for a leave of absence from the League for an undetermined length of time, they instantly gathered on the Watchtower for a meeting. The only non-Founder in the conference room was the Atom, who had been on monitor duty when Green Lantern's request was submitted to the Watchtower computer. The other non-founding members – Doctor Fate, Black Canary, Aquaman, Vixen, Wildcat, Zatara, and Zatanna – would not be informed until the remaining six of the Original Seven decided how to handle this unexpected request.

"What did the message say?" Superman asked, directing his question at Atom.

The Atom, Dr. Ray Palmer, was a highly intelligent scientist whose study of a chunk of white dwarf star matter that had landed on Earth on Christmas Eve 2002 had enabled him to fashion himself as a superhero. Normally a man of average height, he had built a suit that allowed him to shrink down to atomic sizes at will. Inspired by the Justice League, he had then applied for and received membership a couple of months ago.

"Green Lantern extended his apologies and asked for a leave of absence for an indeterminate period of time."

"He didn't say why?" Wonder Woman inquired.

"No."

"This is unlike him," J'onn commented. "He is normally quite conscientious about communicating with us."

"Do you suppose something happened?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Of course something happened. He wouldn't have asked for leave otherwise," Batman pointed out. "The question is whether we're going to press him for an explanation."

Superman frowned. "I'm sure he has his reasons for not saying."

"He's a Founder with important obligations and responsibilities within the League. If he's going to take off unexpectedly without specifying how long he'll be gone, he should tell us why."

"He's turned off his comlink," Atom reported. "I can't contact him."

"Maybe it's a Green Lantern thing," Hawkgirl suggested.

"I doubt it," said J'onn. "He's still on Earth."

"He's been distracted lately," said Batman. "You've all noticed that, haven't you?"

The other Founders nodded – all except Flash, who was uncharacteristically quiet and biting his lip thoughtfully.

"Do you know something, Flash?" asked J'onn, noticing the speedster's unusual silence.

"I know something's been bothering him, but he didn't want to talk about it. It seemed to be getting better, though."

"I think we need to find out what's going on," Superman decided. "Batman has a point – we should know why he's suddenly taking leave – but more importantly, Hal could be in trouble."

"I'll talk to him," Flash volunteered. "He's more likely to open up to me than anyone else."

With that decided, the meeting adjourned.

Tom Kalmaku came to visit Hal the day after Ace died, brimming with sympathy and grief.

"I'm sorry about Ace, Hal," he said sincerely.

"He was your friend too," Hal reminded him.

"Yeah, but I wasn't nearly as close to him as you were." Tom looked Hal up and down. "How are you holding up?"

Hal shrugged. "Okay, I guess. U.S.A.F. gave me a couple days' leave to pull myself together."

His fingers were fidgeting with a green ring; he was rolling it between his thumbs and index and middle fingers. Unlike most of the people who knew Hal, Tom knew exactly what it was – he'd walked in on Hal transforming into Green Lantern one time, and been sworn to secrecy on the matter. Right now the ring was completely dark, not even glowing a little bit.

"Didn't you charge the thing?" Tom asked before he could stop himself.

Hal's eyes became haunted. "No." Tom couldn't understand the disgust he heard in that single word.

"Hal…what's the matter?"

"Do you know why Ace died, Tom?"

Tom eyed his friend warily. "Because Doctor Polaris did what villains do?"

"No. Ace died because I forgot to charge the damn ring." Hal snorted humorlessly. "Can you believe that? I couldn't save Ace because I forgot to charge a ring." For a brief moment, Hal looked as though he might throw the ring on the floor, but instead he pocketed it with a sigh, deflated after his short burst of anger.

"Crap." Tom realized now why Hal was so miserable; if not for his overlooking this detail, he could have saved Ace – and Tom could not say anything to the contrary, because it was a brutal truth. "Even so," he said, "it wasn't your fault. Polaris killed Ace, Hal – it was not your fault."

Hal looked at Tom through troubled eyes. "It's gonna take me a while to believe that."

Tom clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You take all the time you need, buddy – but make sure you remember that."

Hal nodded. "I'll try." He managed a wan smile. "Thanks, Tom."

"What are friends for?" Tom smiled back. He glanced at his watch. "Listen, I gotta get to work now, but I'll be back tonight, okay? We can have pizza."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be all right."

"You sure?"

Hal shrugged. "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'll see you at the funeral."

He saw Tom out the door and then sank into an armchair. Not five minutes later, his doorbell rang. Hal sighed as he went to answer it, and came face to face with Wally West.

"Hi," Wally offered. "Can I come in?"

Hal wordlessly stepped aside.

"We got your request," Wally said without preamble. "Are you okay?"

Hal rubbed a hand across his eyes. "I will be. I just need some time to get my conviction back."

Wally looked confused. "What conviction?"

"To be Green Lantern," explained Hal.

Wally stared at him. In all the time he'd known him, Hal had never been anything but proud to wear the ring and represent what it stood for. "Are you doubting yourself?"

"You could say that."

"Hal, what happened?" Wally asked in concern. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it," he added, remembering their conversation on the Watchtower, "but we're all worried about you, you know."

Hal resumed his seat in the armchair; Wally sat opposite him. "I don't know where to begin," he admitted.

"Start with that thing you've been avoiding telling me about," Wally suggested. "I know something happened."

Hal exhaled. "You know Sinestro?"

"He's your Corps mentor, right?"

Hal flinched. "Was my Corps mentor."

Wally inhaled sharply. "Was?" he inquired warily.

"Sinestro was considered the best of all the Green Lanterns – a shining example to the entire Corps. What we didn't know was that he was oppressing his homeworld and ruling it as a dictator."

"Jeez," breathed Wally. "You had no idea?"

"Not a clue," replied Hal. "His trial and sentencing was last month. The Guardians exiled him to a planet called Qward, in the Anti-Matter universe. I was summoned to witness the trial."

Wally winced sympathetically. His original assumption was that Sinestro had been killed, but he knew that a betrayal cut worse than a death. "That must have really hurt. No wonder you were down."

"Yeah, no wonder," agreed Hal. "The trial really shook me – the idea that a Green Lantern could be corrupted by power…it was the first time I had questions about the integrity of the Corps, and of course by thinking that way I began to have questions about my own integrity as well."

"Hal…"

"It took some time, but I got through it with my willpower intact. Another Lantern, Arisia – she helped me a lot. I was just starting to feel normal again when…yesterday…Doctor Polaris attacked."

"Yeah, I heard about that. The news said there was a casualty?"

Hal's eyes became hollow. "Ace."

"Damn," Wally swore quietly. He knew how close Hal was to the other pilot. "I'm really sorry, Hal."

Hal shook his head. "That's not the worst part."

"It's not?"

"I could have saved him, Wally." Hal's voice was full of regret, frustration, and grief. "I could have saved him. But I forgot to charge my ring." Horrified comprehension began to dawn on Wally's face. "It died on me at the crucial moment."

"Hal, listen to me." Wally got off his chair and placed both his hands on Hal's shoulders. "Listen to me. Everyone overlooks things. Ace's death is not on you – it's on Polaris."

"So people have told me." Hal sighed. "I'm not that far gone, Wally - logically, I know it's not my fault. But I haven't been able to use the ring since Polaris' attack."

Wally's eyes widened with understanding, but he let Hal continue uninterrupted.

"I need some time to regain my confidence in Green Lantern, and I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

Wally nodded. "All right, Hal. I'll tell the others." He let his arms drop from Hal's shoulders.

"I'd appreciate that." Hal paused. "Thanks for coming, Wally."

Wally smiled and unknowingly echoed Tom's words. "What are friends for?"

It was cloudy the day of Ace's funeral. Hal dug out an all-black suit he'd last worn for a previous funeral from the back of his closet and groomed himself in front of the mirror. He studied his reflection for a long minute, looking for any trace of the charming, confident, courageous Green Lantern he was trying to rediscover, before he pulled his ring out of his pocket. After a moment's consideration, he deliberately slid it onto his third finger and closed his hand into a fist, observing it carefully for any tell-tale glow.

There was none, but he slowly began reciting his oath anyway.

"In brightest day, in blackest night…"

The doorbell interrupted him, and the moment was broken. Hal regretfully placed the ring back in his pocket and made his way downstairs. Carol was waiting for him at the door; they had agreed to go to Ace's funeral together.

Carol gave him a quick once over before nodding approvingly. "You ready?" she asked.

"Let's go."

They drove to the church in silence. While their friendship had slowly begun to mend since Ace's death, there were still a lot of things they had yet to resolve. Today was not the day for that, though – today was about honoring Ace's memory. However, when Hal offered his arm to Carol at the entrance to the church, she took it unhesitatingly.

Besides himself and Carol, others at Ace's funeral included Ace's family, church mates, and girlfriend. Tom and a few other colleagues from Ferris Air were also in attendance.
Ace had been a devout Catholic, so his funeral service was traditional and deeply religious. Hal was reminded of his own Catholic upbringing, and he remembered explaining the meaning of Christmas to several of his Green Lantern friends almost two years ago – with a pang, he recalled that Sinestro had been there that day, just as interested in the discussion as the other Lanterns. With another pang, he realized that he never had gotten back to Ace about his views on the meaning of Christmas.

I'm sorry, Ace, he apologized silently as the priest finished his prayer.

Before long, the Mass was over. Hal and Carol lingered a while to pay their respects to Ace's family, and then they left. Hal drove Carol back to his house so she could pick up her car.

Carol unlocked her car, but stopped short of getting into the driver's seat. "You know…" she said slowly, "there's a flight test next Monday – it was supposed to be Ace's first task back on the job, but…" She shrugged.

Hal knew what she was asking. He hadn't piloted anything for Ferris Air since the Peregrine incident, so this was more than just Carol asking him to replace a pilot; it was also a gesture to tell him she was willing to try trusting him again.

Hal didn't have to think twice. "I'd be happy to."

Carol nodded, then got in her car and drove off. Hal went inside his house and, after locking the door, took out his ring again.

It still wasn't glowing yet, but for the first time, he felt sure it would again eventually.

A/N: Well, what do y'all think? ;)

Chapter Four on Friday!