A/N: Yayyy! For the first time on this fic, I got TWO reviews for the last chapter instead of just one. A big thank you to WhiteWing and Alverrann for taking the time to write some reviews for me.

Be aware: short time skip here from the last chapter, as indicated by the italics under the title.

Chapter Four: Scars of a Yellow Streak

August 2004

Hal parked his car by the side of the road just outside his house and switched off the headlights. As he killed the engine, he noticed that the fuel gauge was hovering close to the 'empty' symbol; he popped the glove compartment and rummaged around until he found a pen and the small notebook he always kept in there. Tearing off a page, he wrote a reminder to himself to fill the tank and stuck it on the steering wheel for him to see the next time he drove. Then he grabbed his overnight bag from the passenger seat, pulled the keys from the ignition, and clambered out of the car.

He saw the woman waiting on his front porch immediately. A smile spread across Hal's face as he pressed the button to lock his car; he was walking towards her even before the alarm beeped.

Arisia barely had time to smile in greeting before he dropped his bag and swept her up in a kiss.

"Hi," she said breathlessly when they broke apart. Hal smiled gently at her.

"Hi," he returned.

Arisia gestured at the duffle bag. "Overnight mission?"

"Of a sort," Hal agreed.

In truth, he'd merely been spending the night at Edwards Air Force Base, but Arisia didn't need to know that. She didn't understand how his day job (so to speak) worked, and he didn't want to admit that he wasn't very active as either a Green Lantern or a U.S.A.F. pilot at the moment. Arisia already knew about the Green Lantern part – she was the only Corps member who knew about the troubles he'd been having with his ring.

He bent down to kiss her again. "I missed you."

Arisia pouted. "Sorry, Lianna's 'errand' took longer than I expected."

"Mm-hm." Hal picked up his bag and moved to unlock the front door. "You coming in?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"You had to ask?"

Hal grinned.

Hector Hammond stared at his computer screen in frustration. He'd inputted the best calculations and probabilities, mind-mapped all his ideas and available evidence, and established a coherent and fairly detailed timeline, and his algorithm had compiled a list of possible identities for the Green Lantern – but without further observations he couldn't confirm his theory.

And it was hard to make observations without a Green Lantern to observe.

"Where did you go?" Hammond mused, gazing at an image of the green-clad hero in the sky. Green Lantern had not been sighted in over a month, either in Coast City or elsewhere. He'd not even been seen with the Justice League. It was as though he had completely disappeared.

Maybe he died, a voice in Hammond's mind suggested.

He rejected the idea immediately – the Justice League would have been sure to announce a Founder's death and commemorate him publicly for the hero he was.

"Some hero," Hammond muttered. If Green Lantern hadn't perished, the next most likely explanation for his disappearance was that he'd decided to stop being Green Lantern. Why he would do such a thing was beyond Hammond's comprehension – hadn't those heroes all said, multiple times, that they were here to protect people? Even Hal had said something along those lines in defense of the Justice League.

Sighing, Hammond closed the image of Green Lantern and clicked on another file. Research for Cadmus, it seemed, never ended. Despite the lack of a Green Lantern for him to study, there was still plenty else for him to do. In the absence of Coast City's regular protector, another, hitherto unknown metabeing had stepped up. As he was a loyal Cadmus official based in Coast City, Waller had put Hammond in charge of finding out about this Star Sapphire person.

As if I don't have enough to do already, he groused. Sometimes he felt utterly underappreciated.

"All right, let's see…" Hammond scrolled down his in-progress report on Star Sapphire and her activities. She had truly risen to the occasion where crime-fighting was concerned. Despite only being around for about a month, she was effective and efficient, displaying none of the growing pains that Green Lantern had undergone when he first appeared and generally taking to the hero business like a seasoned pro. She popped up everywhere, stopping robberies, preventing murders, and even dealing with the occasional supervillain – often much more quickly than Green Lantern would have.

Despite that, her behavior was somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes she would quickly and efficiently neutralize the criminals she encountered without causing undue harm, while at other times she might rough them up a bit before she dropped them off at the police station. It was as if she couldn't decide how hard she wanted to be in her vigilantism. However, she did seem to be leaning increasingly towards somewhat more ruthless methods than Green Lantern, making herself more similar to Batman or Green Arrow (while he'd been active – Cadmus had not heard about him for some time either) than their shinier, more principled colleagues, though her powers were very much like Green Lantern's own.

Indeed, it was rather curious just how similar Star Sapphire's abilities were to Green Lantern's. Though their energy was different in color, Star Sapphire had proven that she wielded hers with as much proficiency and creativity as Green Lantern did, and the scope of what she could do mimicked her predecessor very closely. Hammond had voiced his opinion that the two derived their powers from related, if not the same, sources, but as usual, no one paid much attention to him. General Eiling was the only one who actually took him seriously, but Waller was more interested in finding out whether Star Sapphire was a threat.

Waller's definition of 'threat' meant that a metabeing veered more towards the criminal side of the law rather than the vigilantism side; in Hammond's mind, however, all metabeings were a threat.

Oh, when I work my way up… Waller wouldn't be in charge of Cadmus forever, and Hammond had designs on attaining a higher position within the organization.

He just hoped, for the sake of ordinary people like himself, that the metabeing threat wouldn't detonate in their faces before that happened.

Hal and Arisia lay side by side, both panting from the exertion of their lovemaking. Arisia's head was resting on Hal's bare chest, and she brought her fingers up to trace the scar over his left bicep.

"You never told me how you got this," she said.

Hal's chest rumbled beneath her as he exhaled. "It's not something I like to remember."

"It's very faint," she noted, working her fingers around the thin, almost invisible line. "You must have been very young when you received it."

"I was."

Arisia rolled off him and propped her head against her hand, pulling the covers further up over herself. "Tell me?" she requested softly. "I want to know you, Hal. I've told you all about my past."

Hal shifted towards his side so he could look at her better. Arisia's golden eyes were entreating.

"When I was six years old, I watched my father die," he told her. "He was flying a plane, and it crashed while I watched. A piece of shrapnel from the explosion hit me in my arm. I've carried that scar ever since."

Arisia inhaled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Hal. "It was a long time ago. Of course, at the time, I thought it was the end of the world; my worst fear – my father dying – had been realized, and I was just a tiny kid. But in time, I learned to deal with it and move on, and I signed up with the Air Force to honor my father's legacy. We both loved flying, and it seemed like the best way to keep his memory alive."

Arisia contemplated that in silence for a moment. While he waited for her response, Hal covered her free hand with his and stroked it with his thumb.

"You were six years old when you were faced with your greatest fear," she said slowly.

"Yes."

"And you conquered it at what age?"

Hal shrugged. "I guess I must have been ten or so when I was able to let it go and accept that my fears don't define me."

"Hal." Arisia's voice was awed. "You faced your greatest fear when you were six years of age. You conquered it when you were ten years old. Don't you see?" she pleaded. "That's why you're such a great Green Lantern."

Hal's thumb stopped stroking her hand. "Arisia…"

"How can you not believe you're fit to wear the ring when you learned to overcome fear at an age when most Green Lanterns do not even understand what it is?"

Hal's grip on her hand tightened. "It's not that simple, Arisia. I've been trying, since Ace – but I still haven't managed to find that belief that drove me when I first donned the ring. I think part of it is because of what Sinestro did, too – I was shaky even before Ace died, and –"

"Harold Jordan, do not give me pathetic excuses." Arisia pulled away and sat up in the bed. "You were a magnificent Green Lantern, and it is perfectly within your ability to be so again."

"I know. I just need time…"

"You have had more than a month." Arisia's brow furrowed. "The other Lanterns are asking where you are, you know – they understand why you'd rather keep away from Oa, even now, but they've noticed the lack of your presence in your sector. I can't keep covering for you."

"I didn't ask you to," Hal exclaimed.

"You didn't have to," she retorted. "As the Lantern of Sector 2815, everyone expects me to be more knowledgeable about your doings by virtue of our being neighbors. Naturally they ask me about you. I haven't told anyone about your troubles because I know what they would do. They would be duty-bound to tell the Guardians and someone else would be appointed to replace you as the Green Lantern of your sector if you are unable to carry out your responsibilities."

"Maybe they should," said Hal. "Like you said, it's been a month, and I still only manage to get a faint glow out of the ring. Maybe being a Green Lantern is just not for me anymore."

Arisia gave him a long, scrutinizing look.

"I refuse to believe that," she said with conviction. "If you had the capability to conquer fear as a child, you have the ability to do so again now, as an adult. You're just afraid to do it because becoming Green Lantern again means you risk losing more than you already have."

"Is that so unreasonable?" Hal demanded.

"It is if you let it get in the way of your responsibility to the people you swore to protect." Arisia swung herself off the bed and began pulling on her clothes. Hal made an exasperated noise.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I'm going back to Oa. There's no need to get up – I'll see myself out."

"Arisia," Hal groaned in frustration.

"I think you have forgotten what it means to be a Green Lantern," Arisia told him curtly as she laced up her boots. "The Hal Jordan I respected and admired is not the same Hal Jordan I have been sleeping with." She paused at the doorway to deliver her final word. "I would very much like it if you could find him again."

Then she left, leaving Hal staring forlornly at the dim ring on his bedside table.

A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter today, but at least the next one's posting soon.

By the way, as I mentioned when I first published this story, I'm still working on finishing up the final few chapters. At present, on the current update schedule, I have enough to keep this going till the end of March, by which time I aim to have completed the story so there doesn't have to be a lull in updates (I hate when that happens). That said, you know what's a great way to ensure I finish the story in time? Yup - a few words of encouragement would do wonders for my writing speed (no joke, it's happened before). So, if you have the time, I'd love to hear from you.

See y'all Monday!