Sam wakes up this morning the same way he always does: a disheveled mess. He usually ends up falling asleep with a comic resting on his chest and a flashlight at his side from when he was reading last night. His mother Carol opens the door and allows Cosmo to come bounding into the room.
Cosmo jumps up onto Sam's bed, knocking off the comic and begins to lick Sam's face. Momentarily, Sam is discombobulated, completely forgetting where he is for a moment. "Ugh…" he moans, "some dream that was…"
"Well kiddo," Carol says, leaning on the doorframe, "if you can escape Dreamland, you oughtta get ready because you're coming to work with me. Then you can tell me all about your dream."
"Aw, sweet!" The news got him out of bed fast, he loved going to his mom's job. Even more so when his dad went too. Sam eagerly jumps up, ready to hop into the shower for a quick wash. His excitement even startled Cosmo who is running anxious circles around Sam's room.
His parents worked at the same place, Ferris Aircraft. His mom inherited the place from his granddad, and his dad was a test pilot there. Only, the problem is, is that Hal was hardly present for work at all. He was too busy with his Green Lantern duties.
After showering, Sam calls out to Carol asking if Hal was home today.
"Come see for yourself!" she calls back and those words definitely meant he was here.
Hurrying to put his clothes on fast, Sam bolts out of his room pulling his shirt down and fastening his belt. Waiting for him in the doorway was his dad, wearing his aviator jacket was always. Hal was a bit of a cartoon character that way, always wearing the same outfit everyday.
Overjoyed upon seeing him, Sam practically threw himself into Hal's arms. "Dad!" he exclaims, and proceeds to bombard Hal with a barrage of questions. "How was space? How's Guy and the rest? Did you guys do anything cool?"
Hal hugs his son and ruffles up his hair, chuckling softly. "Whoa, one question at a time. I know it's been a bit, but give a guy some time to think!"
Sam smiles sheepishly while Carol watches bemused, "Sorry…" he says. "But really, how's everything?"
"Everything is great Sam." Hal answers, also amused. It was the same song and dance whenever he came home. "There hasn't been a huge threat since Volthoom. And the guys and doing fine too, they'd like to see you again one day."
"Mom, can I go to Oa with dad one day?" Sam asks, turning towards Carol. "I wanna show Guy that my slugging is getting better, oh and Kyle promised me he'd teach me how to draw and-"
"I'm going to stop you there kiddo." Carol cuts in, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not so sure going to Oa would be such a great idea."
Sam groans, turning to Hal. "Dad you tell her!"
Hal gives him a sidelong look, glancing at Carol who was giving him the stink-eye, daring him to contradict what she just said. "Yeah… listen to your mother."
"Man!" Sam throws his hands up in defeat, "What's the point in having two superhero parents and you can't even go to space with them!"
His parents exchange a glance before Carol grabs the keys. "Well, we better get going. You're lucky enough you get to come to work with us." she advises, kissing Sam on the head.
Sam grumbles incoherently about "one day" as they open the door to head out. Upon hearing the door open, Cosmo bolts out wanting to come with them. The dog circles around the family van, waiting for entry.
"Look mom, Cosmo wants to come too." Sam points out. "Can he?"
"No." Carol replies curtly. "Not after last time, he nearly got himself hurt."
"Aw…" Sam frowns a bit, giving Cosmo a sympathetic look. "Cosmo just want to be spendink the time with the family." he says, speaking for the dog. Ever since Sam has been having wild dreams, he insisted that Cosmo was Russian and proceeded to use this tone of voice. Sam did it so often that even Cosmo came to recognize it in reference to him, the dog perks his ears up.
"Go Cosmo, get back inside." Carol instructs, pointing her finger towards the house and the dog obliges. He walks in slowly with his head and tail hung low, glancing back occasionally. It was enough to break anyone's heart.
"Seeya Cosmo! I'll take you on the best walk when we get back!" Sam calls after him as Hal finally shuts Cosmo inside and locks the door.
The Jordan family pile into the van, and starts driving towards Ferris Aircraft, first taking a little detour for some breakfast doughnuts.
The whole way there Sam recalls the dream he had last night or else he swore he'll forget. "So this talking raccoon and this green lady give me a black helmet, saying that it belonged to me in the last dream right? Then this dream, I was using the helmet. It gave me superpowers, like I was able to fly and shoot power blasts. There were supposed to be other people who had helmets like mine, but they were all dead. I forgot what they were called, but they were like… space cops. Like what dad does."
"They were a corps?" Hal asks, intrigued by Sam's quite colorful dream. He chopped it up to be Sam's wild imagination running free during the night, but it was interesting to hear what he had to say, especially after the one about Cosmo being a telepathic dog.
"Y-yeah!" Sam agrees, his whole face lit up at the word suggestion. "Just like a corps! The whole universe respected them but something happened to all of them. The me in the dream was the only one left. I think I was supposed to restart the corps or something…"
Hal cocks a brow, "You've been reading comics like this?"
Sam pauses before shaking his head. "No, but if Kyle teaches me how to draw, I want to turn my dreams into one." He curled his hand into a fist and bumps the air, romanticizing the idea. It didn't sound so bad, maybe that could be his hobby. His dreams felt too real to be materialized in his head.
"I believe in you son." Hal encourages, glancing back at Sam and smiling. Sam smiles in return getting a sudden pang of worry. Something felt wrong and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The more intricate his dreams got, the more these feelings occurred. Everyone assumed it was anxiety of some sort and Sam believed it. His life was fine, there was no reason to doubt it. Never in the past had he felt so many negative feelings. "It's just hormones Sam, every teen goes through it." his mom would say.
Blanking out for a few, Sam shakes his head and brings himself back to reality. Perhaps he was just being silly, besides they made it to the Ferris Aircraft compound the place where he could forget everything that worries him and let them fly like jets.
The family exits the van once Carol parks it. "Lemme guess," she starts, turning to look at her husband and son, "Sam you wanna go with your dad?"
"Does a Jordan boy love to fly?" Sam answers. Most males of the Jordan family (save for Hal's brothers) were affiliated with flying so the answer was a resounding yes.
Carol smiles, taking a mental picture of her boys, breathing in the moment. "Take care of him highball." she says, giving Hal a quick kiss. She then pats Sam on the shoulder, leaning over so she could whisper in his ear. "And you take care of him kiddo."
"Take care boys." She leaves for her office leaving the two alone.
"So." Hal takes off his jacket and places it around Sam's shoulders. "Who's ready for some high flying fun?"
