A/N: Wow. Three months. More than three months, in fact. To whoever's reading this, sorry for taking so long - I guess that's what happens when your final year of university kicks off and there aren't a lot of reviews or people reminding me to update. It's not like I don't have the majority of this story written up already - I just completely forgot about formatting and putting out the next prepared chapter, and the longer I didn't do it the more I forgot about it, if that makes any sense =P

Anyway! We're finally back, so please enjoy and review!

Chapter Ten: Mystery in Magenta

Coast City was not a locale that tended to require much attention from the Justice League, as it was not the home of any major supervillains, and first Green Lantern and then Star Sapphire did a fine job of keeping crime at a minimum; in fact, Coast City boasted one of the lowest crime rates in the country. Thus, when five members of the Justice League teleported into Palm Avenue late in the evening, people took notice.

Ignoring the stares and whispers, Batman and Doctor Fate betook themselves to S.T.A.R. Labs, while J'onn, Flash, and Zatara conferred briefly about how to investigate — or better yet, locate — Star Sapphire.

"We can cover more ground if we split up," said J'onn.

"Good idea," agreed Flash. "I'll take the north side of the city." J'onn's gaze bored into him. "What?"

"If I remember correctly, Hal lives in the northern part of the city," said the Martian.

"Huh, you're right, he does," said Flash in a too-innocent voice. "Um…what a coincidence?" he offered hopefully.

"Flash."

"Come on, J'onn!" the Scarlet Speedster exclaimed. "He might know something about Star Sapphire."

J'onn held up a hand. "I'm not objecting to a visit, Flash. In fact, I'd like to come with you."

That made Flash pause. "Really?"

"Really," J'onn affirmed. "You're right, Hal might know something."

"Huh. Okay. Uh…what about Zatara?" Flash glanced quizzically at the magician, who was wearing an amused expression.

"Since the two of you are heading north, I'll take the south side of the city," the Homo magus volunteered. "I'll contact you if I find anything."

"Sweet, catch you later," said Flash. He darted down several streets. "Come on, J'onn, let's go!"

Hal chewed thoughtfully on his pencil as he studied the blueprints in front of him, putting his degree in aviation engineering to good use as he went over the designs for the Peregrine 2.0 with a fine-toothed comb. The test flight for the new and improved model was in two days, and Carol was adamant that nothing go wrong this time. The designs for the plane had been revamped to counter the possibility of another spontaneous blockage causing a failure like the one that had crashed the first Peregrine, and the plane itself had been meticulously checked against the blueprints at each stage of production. Hal was still trying to get back into Carol's good graces after their relationship blowup before Ace's death, so he'd volunteered not just to fly the plane — and in the absence of a Green Lantern ring, he knew he could actually fulfill his promise this time — but also to examine the blueprints himself. Given the rigorous quality control this time round, he wasn't expecting to find anything wrong, but his looking over the designs was an extra reassurance for both Carol and himself.

He had just concluded that everything was perfect when the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" he called. He quickly finished rolling up the papers and went to answer the door.

On his front porch stood Wally West and John Jones, the former of whom was grinning brightly at him. Hal blinked in astonishment.

"What are you guys doing here?" A possible answer occurred to him, and he added, "You don't need to check up on me."

"We're not," said Wally cheerfully. "Not entirely, anyway."

"What?"

"May we come in?" John asked politely. "We have…something we need to discuss."

Frowning, Hal stepped aside to let them in.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you guys," he said cautiously as he closed the door, "but you could have called first. My schedule's a bit erratic these days."

"There wasn't really time," said Wally. "The decision was a bit spur-of-the-moment."

Hal's frown deepened. "Okay, what's going on?"

John decided to plunge straight into the heart of the matter. "Hal, what do you know about Star Sapphire?"

"Star Sapphire?" Hal repeated, brow furrowing. "Not much. Why?"

"We think she might be the one trapping people in crystal," Wally replied.

"Trapping people…in crystal?" Hal was confused. "What?"

Wally looked surprised. "You haven't heard?" he asked incredulously. "It's been happening in your city!"

"It is possible that the authorities are keeping it out of the news," John interjected.

"Even if they weren't, I probably wouldn't know," Hal admitted. "I've been a bit…isolated, you could say."

Wally sighed. "Hal…"

"So, people in Coast City are being trapped in crystal," Hal said swiftly. "Why would you think Star Sapphire's the one doing it?"

"Batman found out that the crystal is a more permanent form of hard light," John answered. "And there is enough circumstantial evidence to make it worth investigating her."

Hal quirked an eyebrow. "Circumstantial? Doesn't really sound like you can tie it to her."

"That's what we're trying to do," said Wally. "We're on a clock here — the victims can't survive forever in the crystal. If Bats can't figure out a way to free them, we need to find out who's responsible so we can interrogate them."

"I get you, Wally," Hal assured him, "but Star Sapphire? She's one of the good ones."

"We thought so too. But if she's singing a villain's tune now, we've got to stop her."

Hal had to take a second to replay that in his head. "'Villain's tune'?" he questioned disbelievingly.

Wally grimaced. "Sorry, one too many ripostes with the Pied Piper."

"You really think Star Sapphire could have gone rogue?"

Wally shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know her. Do you?"

"Not well enough to be confident that she hasn't gone bad," Hal conceded. "And frankly, the last time I saw her, we did part on less than friendly terms."

Wally frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say she wasn't happy to hear I quit the Corps. Seemed almost to take it as a personal insult, to be honest."

"What do you know?" John asked again.

"Well, her powers are a lot like a Green Lantern's, but she doesn't use a power ring. She seems to know quite a bit about the Green Lantern Corps, although I don't know how — she claims it has something to do with Zamaron and the Corps' history."

"Zamaron?" John inquired.

"Home planet of the only female Guardian," Hal explained. "Apparently most of the females from the Guardians' original homeworld decided to relocate to Zamaron. Lianna was the only one who went to Oa."

"Does Star Sapphire claim a connection to Zamaron?"

"I have no idea."

"You mentioned that Star Sapphire knows a lot about the Corps," said Wally. "What exactly does she know?"

"I know she knows about Oa and how the GL rings work. Can't tell you more than that."

"It might be a good idea to learn more about this Star Sapphire," mused John. "Even if she is not behind the crystal prisons, she is still a relative unknown."

"I know Bats thinks she's suspicious," Wally agreed. "Any idea where we can find out more about her?" he asked Hal.

"The library on Oa."

Wally winced. "The one only Green Lanterns can access?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, that could be a problem." Wally exhaled. "I don't suppose you have any idea who got your ring?"

"Sure I do."

"Who?"

"Anyone from any of the 17 populated planets in this sector."

Wally threw him a withering look. "Funny."

"You asked."

"We've learned what we can here, Wally." John had risen from his seat. "We should leave to help Zatara."

"Yeah, I know. You go on ahead, J'onn — I'll catch up with you in a few."

John nodded understandingly, morphed back into his regular form, and phased through Hal's ceiling.

"I sure hope nobody sees a Martian floating out of my house," Hal muttered. He avoided looking at Wally until the younger man broke the silence.

"Hal, how are you, really? I mean, we haven't heard anything from you since you told us you were quitting for good."

"Well, now that I'm not in the League, what reason would I have for contacting you?" Hal asked, deliberately sidestepping Wally's question.

Wally stared at him incredulously. "What reason? Hal, just because you're not Green Lantern anymore doesn't mean we stop being friends."

Hal ducked his head. "I know. It's just…look, the only reason I ever met you all was because I was Green Lantern. Now that I don't have the ring…what does that make me, really?"

"A retired hero?" Wally suggested. "Like Uncle Barry was, or Doctor Fate or Wildcat before they joined the League — heck, even Diana's been retired before."

"I don't know, Wall. I mean, you're all still my friends, but…isn't it a bit awkward?"

"Why should it be? It's not like we'd consider it…beneath us or anything to continue socializing with you just because you're not part of the team anymore."

"That's not what I mean, Wally." Hal sighed. "I just…don't know how I could face you guys after the way I left."

"What way?" demanded Wally. "Look, Hal, there's nothing wrong with you giving up the ring. This life isn't for everybody, and even those who are in it sometimes change their minds. Nobody's judging you for your decision — Batman aside — and to be honest, the longer your 'leave of absence' stretched, the more we all realized that you probably weren't coming back. And I know you wouldn't have made this decision lightly."

Hal managed a smile. "Never thought about it that way."

Wally returned his smile with a wry grin of his own. "I didn't think you did. But seriously, Hal — how are you holding up?"

"I'm okay, Wally. Just…getting used to being without the ring."

"Yeah…how do you feel about that, anyway?" Wally couldn't imagine being without his speed, even though he'd lived most of his life without it.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, I do miss it sometimes," Hal confessed. "Even though towards the end, I couldn't really do much with it — it's still weird not having it on my finger. But at the same time, it's a huge relief not having to worry about a double life or intergalactic politics or whether I'm worthy enough to be the guardian of an entire space sector. It's like a giant weight is gone from my life."

"Yeah, I guess there would be that sense of freedom," Wally agreed. He'd never said it, but he'd always privately thought that when it came to being Green Lantern, Hal's expectations of himself were ridiculously high; consequently, he keenly felt any perceived failure to live up to those standards. Regardless of how anyone else saw it — even if they thought Hal had done well — if Hal felt that he hadn't succeeded, it hit him hard. It was, in Wally's mind, the reason why Hal had never really recovered his will after Ace died and ended up resigning. His green eyes turned shrewd as he observed his friend. "But you're still unhappy?"

"It's only been two weeks, Wally. I'm still adjusting to…everything."

"Ace?" he guessed.

"Yeah." Among other things. But Wally didn't know that. Hal had told the League when he resigned that there'd been a battle on Oa and the Corps had driven the invaders off. He had not said anything about the devastating bloodbath it had been. He would have been content not mentioning anything about Oa at all, except Wally had been with him when he'd received the distress signal and there was no way the redhead was going to forget what he'd dashed off to do. Ace's death gave him a plausible and semi-true excuse for his current blue mood.

Wally was sympathetic. "It'll get better, Hal."

"One hopes, right?"

Wally was about to respond when Zatara's voice came through his comlink.

"I've found Star Sapphire. Corner of Sand and Pacific." Wally heard something crash, and Zatara added, "Requesting immediate backup."

"Uh-oh," Wally muttered. In the blink of an eye, he'd changed into his Flash costume. "Sorry, Hal, I gotta go." And he was out of there before Hal could open his mouth.

At the sound of three sets of footsteps, two of which were unfamiliar, walking past his lab, Hector Hammond looked up from his research and spotted his supervisor, Ian Egerton, leading Batman and Doctor Fate through the corridor. Hammond frowned at the sight of the two Justice League members.

What are they doing here?

Thus far, Coast City had more or less escaped the notice of the League (with the exception of Green Lantern, of course), who tended to focus more on major cities like New York or Metropolis (though surprisingly, not Gotham) — which suited Hammond just fine. When metabeings took an interest in a city, bad things tended to happen. The Teen Titans had established themselves in Jump City, and that was the first place Darkseid had attacked. Professor Zoom had appeared in Central City, and nearly destroyed the entire municipality. And the less said about the various aliens and supervillains that seemed to flock to Metropolis like flies to honey, the better.

"I didn't know the Justice League were taking an interest in this," Egerton was saying.

"The League is committed to protecting innocents from metabeings who would wish them harm," Doctor Fate responded. "When we heard about this, we were compelled to act."

Ah. Hammond understood at once. They're here to look at Star Sapphire's work.

While S.T.A.R. Labs had found no definitive evidence to link the violet vigilante to the crystallized victims, Hammond was certain that it was Star Sapphire's doing. Waller, for once, agreed with him — a unit of some of the best scientific minds in Cadmus had been assembled and snuck into S.T.A.R. Labs Coast City, under the guise of being a specialist team from New York, to study the crystals and work out a way to free the victims. Hammond had been instructed to focus on finding a way to neutralize Star Sapphire. He'd been thrilled — he knew that with his intellect it would only be a matter of time, and being the one to take out Star Sapphire would earn him some much-appreciated points with Cadmus' hierarchy. His research, however, was far from complete, and if the Justice League was looking into this and came to the same conclusion he did, he had no doubt that they would take it upon themselves to deal with Star Sapphire — and Hammond's work, and his dreams of kickstarting his advancement through Cadmus, would come to nothing.

"Big damn heroes," he muttered sourly.

Batman suddenly turned his head, and Hammond found himself staring into the cowled face of the Dark Knight.

Did he hear me?

Batman held his gaze for only a few seconds before the the trio vanished down the hallway, but it was enough to raise the hairs on the back of Hammond's neck. Even on this side of the country, people had heard tales of Gotham's guardian. Some called him the World's Greatest Detective, claiming that he was able to learn more in a single glance than most people could in a conversation.

Hammond couldn't help but wonder exactly what Batman had just learned from him.