Chapter Three — Three Day(s Grace Period)
"A home isn't always the house we live in, it's also the people we choose to surround ourselves with."
Though she hadn't been formally grounded, Arley had, the afternoon following the debacle at Project Cadmus— while Hal and John spoke to the Guardians about the yellow crystals that she had encountered in the sub-levels of Project Cadmus —been handed over and placed in the Green Lantern Sargent Kilowogs care if only so the Bolovaxian Lantern could run her ragged by making her run training exercise after training exercise in punishment for disobeying Batman's order.
Not that she minded running drills under Kilowogs watch; after she had gotten her ring— and once the Guardians had found out she had no one waiting for her back on Earth —and was delegated to spend a year on Oa for training it had been Kilowog who had taken her young self into his quarters, and under his wing, and looked after her on the days Hal had to go back to Earth.
Hal and John— and Guy —were like fathers to her, but before any of them had taken up that mantle Kilowog had been the one to tuck her in and help reassure her whenever she was awoken by nightmare's.
Jumping back, hand springing twice as she dodged the falling, glowing green tractor trailers Kilowog constructed with his ring Arley couldn't help but chuckle as her bangs rushed against the tops of her eyebrows. Arley could feel sweat drip down off her jaw and onto the floor.
Hal and John had gone to talk to the Guardians hours ago; and since Oa didn't run on any actual time scale— almost every other planet seemed to, in someway or another, measure time differently so the Guardians, timeless as they were, simply opted out of time in general —that meant Arley could only hazard a guess on exactly how long Kilowog had been putting her through the motions.
"Is that all you have old man?" The young Lantern wondered playfully, her chest rising and falling quickly as she tried to catch her breath; Kilowogs tiny eyes narrowed as he huffed, his constructs disappearing back into his ring.
Arley could feel the eyes of some of the other Lanterns— White Circles and new recruits who were in the Hazard Simulation Facility to hone their skills, and seasoned Lanterns who were simply there to polish their reflexes —as she pressed her knuckles against her hips. Of course they were watching her, Hal had not only been the first human Lantern in centuries, but he had been the one to stop Sinestro before the former Green Lantern could destroy Oa and the Corps and she had been the first human Lantern after Hal, the first one to learn from him.
They expected as much from Arley as they did from Hal so watching her train; watching Kilowog put her through the paces, it was almost as if they were watching Hal.
"Old man?" Kilowog snorted, a hammer formed from his ring and materialized in his hand; Arley's hazel eyes widened, though she formed a shield with her own ring. "Who're you calling old?"
"Certainly not G'nort, grandpa," Arley laughed.
"I'll show you old," Kilowog declared, smirking.
Kilowog flew, Arley ducked and rolled as the Bolovaxian landed on his feet; getting to her own Arley held the shield out in front of her. The fifteen year old Lantern couldn't help but snicker; adrenaline pumped through her veins and as Kilowog flew high before dropping above her— Arley's shield changed to a large slide that though Kilowog flew off of, still slide him away from her —the young girl took to the skies herself.
The slide changed to a large Louisville slugger that Arley's grip tightened around. Kilowog hit Arleys bat away as she took a swing at the alien and Arley ducked and rolled back in the air as he flew up into the air and swung at her.
"Fancy foot work there kid, Jordan show you that?" Kilowog wondered shouldering his hammer, he looked at Arley proudly; impressed. Arley shook her head with a smile;
"Come on Kilowog if anyone knows it's you, Hals more the get hit then get back up sort of guy—" Kilowog nodded with a laugh, "—My friend Robin showed me some of that."
"Impressive, but not impressive as this," Kilowog said and his hammer changed and stretched over his body so that it was a large and heavy looking machine gun in his hands, two belts of glowing green ammunition crossed over Kilowogs chest.
Arley's bat disappeared and Kilowog opened fired; Arley swerved and tumbled and zig-zagged through the air as she dodged what were green ring-made constructs of rubber bullets only to be hit in the stomach by one, and then another when her flying faltered and then several more until she was flat on her back on the ground.
Thankfully her ring, like every other Green Lantern ring could heal it's host, which of course meant that the bruises she would have had from not only the constructed bullets hitting her but from landing harshly on the training pads were healed by the time she managed to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her from the fall.
Though that didn't mean her body still didn't ache.
Landing at her feet, Kilowog, whose construct had vanished, offered Arley his hand. Arley took it and the Bolovaxian lifted the girl to her feet.
"Learned your lesson about running off when you're not supposed to?" Kilowog wondered and Arley who lived not only with Hal Jordan, but had become a Lantern because she had run away at the right moment looked at the alien with a slanted expression.
"I guess."
"You guess?" Kilowogs brow bone lifted.
"I guess I've learned my lesson until the pain goes away," she told him half jokingly and Kilowog sighed with a breathy chuckle.
"I guess that's the best we can get out of you, isn't it?" Kilowog wondered rhetorically.
"Dose this mean I'm free?" Arley asked.
"Why got a date with that Earth boy of yours?" Kilowog joked; Arley's cheeks flushed red. She wasn't sure which Lantern had told him— Hal or John or even Guy before the accident —but Arley knew when she found out vengeance of some kind would be hers, whether that meant drawing something in marker on Guy's comatose face, telling Carol about the time Guy had dressed Hal in clown makeup and a bunny suit after the pilot had needed to get his wisdom teeth removed, or telling Katma just how many times John had gotten lost in the Guardian City after getting his ring, and all the embarrassing hilarious places he had ended up due to his lack of direction.
"No," Arley muttered, "I want to get to the Hall of Great Services, I need to ask Tomar-Tu something."
"I guess, if it's just the library, go on." Beaming, Arley rose to her feet and pressed a chaste kiss against the Bolovaxian's leathery-like cheek. Arley grabbed the pink backpack she had propped up against a far off wall— the bright pink bag was filled with the books she had on loan from the alien library —and shot out of the Hazard Simulation Facility and into the streets of Oa's Guardian City.
Arley had tried to describe Oa to Wally and Dick before; she had tried to find the words to describe the sky and how no matter how much light seemed to emanate from the planet the stars were always crystal clear in the night sky. She had tried to find the words to talk about the planets architecture— some of the planets buildings corkscrewed up into the atmosphere, ending in a sharp point, others stretched out and curved and layered on top of others in such ways so that a Lantern could jump down from one buildings edge to another all the while surrounding the large Lantern that stood in the public square —and the odd alien plants that seemed to grow around they city— some plants snapped and hissed when a Lantern flew to close grew up on the sides of buildings while purposefully made parks for the Lanterns to enjoy held plants that glowed in the dark and others that hummed before releasing spores —but she never could because in her mind there wasn't a word in any human language that could properly convey the cityscape with justice.
There were hardly words to describe the Hall of Great Services. The library was the tallest building in the city— on the planet; there wasn't anything else on Oa outside of the city except sand and rocks —and like a broken piece of wood it seemed to splinter up and up into the planets sky until it came to a sharp point just under the planets stratosphere. The buildings many windows glittered under sun.
Arley landed just outside of the Hall of Great Services large doors when she ran head first into Katma-Tui, John's newly wedded wife. The pink skinned alien dropped the books she had been holding and stabilized Arley— who had teetered on the edge of the libraries many steps —by grabbing the young girls shoulders and Arley, having tilted her head up, smiled brightly at the other female Lantern.
"Katma!" Arley beamed; her arms wrapped around the woman's middle; Katma-Tui hugged Arley back just as tightly, her black lips turned up and her pointed canines gleaming almost dangerously in the sun.
"Arley! it's good to see you again!" Katma-Tui said as she pulled away; using her ring each of the books that had dropped were picked up off the ground. Arley chuckled; it wasn't as if she hadn't seen Katma since her and John's wedding, both the pink skinned alien and John had stopped by for Sunday dinner the week before to congratulate her on Batman's offer to join the League.
It had been Katma-Tui who had joked about how angry Guy would be when he woke up and found out that Arley was an official League member before him.
"You too Katma! How've you been?"
"Alright; Bloobert Cob—" Arley snorted at the name, and Katma, with a disapproving, almost mothering gaze shot a look at Arley, "—From sector seventy-four and I have been paired together to go on a reconnaissance mission." The glowing green platform of previously fallen books moved so Arley could read the names on the spines; half of them had to do with Margoi culture and history whilst the other half had to do Alioi culture and history. "Apparently a war is brewing between the Margoi and Alioi over something called a grayl, the Guardians want Bloobert and I to find out what this grayl is and if it posses a threat to the galaxy."
Worry polled in Arley's stomach; sure Katma had been a Lantern for nearly a decade, and sure even without the ring the Korugarian woman was capable of defending herself but Arley still worried. She didn't know who Bloobert Cob was nor if he was another pacifistic Lantern— like Alia from sector two-eight-one who refused to use her ring in battle —or a hit-them-hard kind of Lantern like Kilowog.
"You'll be okay though, right?" Katma smiled kindly at Arley,
"Of course, it's just a recon mission, Bloobert Cob and I are just going to gather intelligence, besides," Katma said, "Can you imagine what John would say if I got killed this early into our marriage?" Arley cracked a smile at that. Katma began to glow green as her feet lifted from the ground, "I'll try to see you before you and Hal leave, if not—"
"—Love you," Arley nodded, Katma nodded,
"Love you too Arley, be good." Arley's gaze followed Katma until the pink Kourgarian was too far away to watch anymore, and when the green contrail from Katma had disappeared Arley turned back to the large glass Library doors and with the help of her enhanced strength, pushed open the door.
The library was massive; as old as Oa itself. Floor upon floor was covered with thirty foot bookshelves; there was a floor for every sector and on every floor each bookcase or two was appointed a planet that was in the sectors boarders. From there books on food and culture and customs and politics could be found. Some planets books would get moved because the people of the planet had been relocated and other times the books would simply collect dust because the planet itself had been destroyed.
Computers that were hooked up with the Corps information system were on fifth floor; some computers were larger then others and some only worked if you spoke to them because some Lanterns weren't corporal themselves while other computers were small enough for a mouse to use.
Long wooden desks ready to be piled high with research were scattered across the library; Arley's favorite was in the back of the first floor, towards where the archives room was, hidden behind half a dozen rows of bookshelves. The chairs where large and softer then the looked and more often than not, during the school year when Arley couldn't concentrate at home because a neighbor was blasting music or a couple was arguing in the streets it was there the young Lantern could be found.
Arley, when she saw that the return desk was empty, one by one slid the several books she had checked out the last time she and Hal had been on Oa down the return shoot that was next to the desk.
Shouldering the empty backpack Arley flew off towards the archive room in search of Tomar-Tu. Tomar-Tu in Arley's option was one of the coolest Lanterns to ever have been giving a ring— after of course, Hal and John, Guy, Kilowog and Katma, though not in that specific order —not just because the was the planets archivist and thus in charge of the Hall of Great Services, but because of Xudarian physiology he was able to remember any and everything he had ever read.
As per usual, Arley found the beaked alien hunched over his desk reading a thick, old looking book.
"Hey Tomar!" The fish-like alien swiveled in his chair, away from the book and to Arley.
"Green Lantern Arley! What a surprise! Have you finished all those books already?"
"I finished them yesterday actually." With everything that had happened the night before— breaking into Cadmus, finding Superboy, temporarily losing her powers and then fighting whatever the scientist Desmond had become —Arley was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that the previous days events had all happened in a span of six or so hours.
"Usually that means you would have been here yesterday," Tomar-Tu jested; Arley snickered because it would've. If she and the boys hadn't raced off trying to show Batman just who he and the League were sidelining she would have been at the library.
"Yeah," Arley nodded, "Something came up though, which is sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh?" Xudarians where a scaly, fish like people who didn't have eyebrows, but the way Tomar-Tu tilted his head had Arley imaging eyebrows on him.
"Xudarians like yourself, you guys are dedicated to the arts and sciences right?"
"Yes," Tomar-Tu nodded.
"How well versed are you on cloning?"
"Why?" Tomar-Tu's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Arley threw her hands up in front of her and looked at her fellow Lantern.
"My friends and I, we ran into a clone yesterday when we broke into an evil layer and I was just, well you see, he's Superman's clone."
Fish don't blink, and neither do Xudarian's simply because neither species had eyelids; though both had nictitating membrane, something that worked almost similar to eyelids, and so when Arley had told the Xudarian that the clone she had met had been Superman's clone the alien's nictitating membrane flashed repeatedly at her, sort of blinked at that.
"Superman?" Tomar-Tu practically crowed, "You ran into Superman's clone?" Arley had heard all about the time— before she'd gotten her ring —when Tomar-Tu, Superman and Hal had to band together and protect a planet that teetered on the border between her and Hals and Tomar-Tu's sector and how Superman had saved Tomar-Tu's life. Arley had also heard how ever since then the Xudarian always seemed to go starry eyed over the last Kryptonian.
"Yeah! And well, the people who created him they kept him in a pod the whole time and well," Arley blinked her eyes and then widened innocently, "I know we're not supposed to share Corps resources and equipment for any kind of personal gain but, I mean, it's not really personal gain if I take out books on Kryptonian culture for Superboy, right?"
"I-well, I-see—" Tomar-Tu got to his feet, his fists curled against his chest and he began to pace, he looked at Arley, "—I mean, what are you gaining from it? Nothing right?" Arley nodded. "And the Book of Oa only prohibits Lanterns from using Oa resources for personal gain, it mentions nothing about a friend of a Lantern using Oa resources for any type of personal gain."
"So the Guardians would be okay with me lending Superboy books on Kryptonian culture?"
"What no?" Tomar-Tu nictitating membrane flashed, "The Guardians would never allow you to exploit a loophole." He held a finger up to Arley and turned to shuffle around his desk, he moved papers from one side to another as he muttered only to rip whatever he had been looking for out from one of the many, many drawers and hold it in the air.
He turned back to Arley and held out what looked like the alien version of a kindle.
"I made this a while back, it can hold tens of thousands of books and it translates the words into any known language in the universe."
"And you're going to let me give it to Superboy?" Tomar-Tu nodded.
"I made it," Tomar-Tu said, "So it's not a Lantern Corps resource." Arley as Tomar-Tu turned the alien kindle on and pressed a series of buttons. His beady yellow eyes flipped between the device and Arley as he moved forward; "Now come along Green Lantern Arley, it'll take quite some time to download every book on Kryptonian life."
John had been right hadn't he, she could sell a bridge with that look.
...
Hours later, as twilight turned to darkness and with Tomar-Tu's device in her pretty, bright pink backpack Arley and Hal, before heading home to Coast City, stopped just outside the West household in the outer suburbs of Central City.
The two story West house looked a lot like every other house on residential street. the outer paneling was yellow and both the door and the well maintained window shudders were all green. There was a large evergreen in the front yard and the freshly cut grass rustled under the warm July wind.
Powered down and in her civilian clothes with Hal waiting at the end of the West family driveway, looking up at the stars as he spoke to Carol Ferris on the phone— there was a soft smile on his face that made Arley smile herself; Hal and Carol loved each other, even if neither of them would admit it —Arley knocked on the front door, just under the number twelve that had been screwed into it.
"Coming!" The feminine voice of Mary West called out from behind the door, only for Rudy West to answer it. The man was what you more or less expected a banker to look like, he was slightly over weight and balding and for the hair he lacked on top of his head he made up with the bushy mustache he kept well maintained above his upper lip.
"Hey Mr. West!" Arley beamed,
"Arley! Kiddo, hey!" Rudy West scooped the young hero into his arms and hugged her, Arley, standing on her tippy-toes, hugged back just as tight. When he set her back flat against the ground and pulled away from her the brown haired banker looked at Arley quizzically, "What are you doing here, Wally—" Rudy sighed, "—Did he forget to tell us again?"
Arley laughed loudly at that; she loved Wally— she really, truly loved him with everything she had in her heart —but after his parents and aunt and uncle she would be the first in line to admit that sometimes when he was focused on something, whether that be a video game or science project, he tended to tune everything and everyone around him out excluding food.
"No," she shook her head, "Wally doesn't actually know I'm here, Hal and I were at work—" stopping by uninvited meant you never knew who was in the living room and though both the West parents knew about Arley and Hal's outer space extracurricular it was always better to be safe then sorry, "—When we decided to make a quick pit stop here, I have something for your guest in my bag."
"Arley!" Mary West cheered as she moved from the kitchen archway to the door, Rudy looked at Arley,
"I'll get the boys-is Hal here?" Arley threw her thumb back and pointed towards the West's mailbox. Mary West wrapped Arley in a tight bone crushing hug the young girl relished in.
"He's talking to his not girlfriend," Arley said over Mary West's shoulder.
"They're worse then Barry and Iris were," Rudy laughed.
"I dunno hun," Mary West chuckled stepped back from Arley, "I know two people even worse."
Rudy West's eyes sparkled knowingly before he turned and moved up the stairs. Mary looked at Arley and with her fingers ran her hand through the girls bangs, fluffing them up.
"How have you been?"
"Alright, I'm happy I'm here," Arley told her truthfully; and she didn't mean it as she was happy to be alive— she was —but rather she was happy Hal and the Guardians had let her stay on Earth for the Summer so she could join the League instead of shipping her to Oa for more training.
"Lord knows Wally is too," Mary said. "Poor boy is always so upset to see you go." Arley opened her mouth to tell her friends mother that she was just as upset to go every time Summer rolled around only to be cut off before she could.
"Ars!" Arley turned to see Wally West; his smiling was so bright and dazzling her head seemed to spin. Superboy— in clothing that was obviously Rudy Wests as the shirt he wore draped off of him and the sweatpants had needed to be tied around the waist in order for them not to fall —stood next to Wally.
"Speak of the devil," Mary West mused. The speedsters arms were outstretched wide and Arley wasted no time before diving right into them. Wally picked the girl up as he leaned back, her face buried itself in between the junction of his neck and she breathed in the smell of the kiwi body wash she had convinced him to start using in order to protect against breakouts.
Behind them Hal approached the open door; Arley was set back on her feet, though Wally kept and arm around the dark haired girls shoulders and she turned to Superboy as she shrugged off her backpack.
"I was on Oa before, that's where the Green Lanterns Crops set up like a million years ago, and another Lantern gave me this to give to you," Arley explained as she took out the alien device Tomar-Tu had built.
"Why did they want you to give that to me?" Superboy asked,
"Cause I asked them for a way to get you a bunch of books on Kryptonian culture," Arley told the clone, Superboy's eyes widened at the admission. "Tomar-Tu built this a while ago and basically it has every book the Hall of Great Services has on Krypton-related things inside of it, so here, think of it as a welcome to sector two-eight-one-four gift."
Superboy gently took the device from Arley and she pointed to what he needed to push to turn it on and the cover of the last book Arley and Tomar-Tu had scanned appeared; Kryptonian Dance Steps.
"Why did you get me this?" Superboy asked, his voice soft.
"For future references Supey, when someone gives you something you're supposed to say thank you not question their motives," Wally said and Arley nudged the boy with her elbow,
"What?" Wally hissed, his arm still around Arley's shoulders, "I'm right."
Arley, with a grin, looked away from Wally to Superboy.
"Because it was the right thing to do," Arley told the clone. "Besides, I want us to be friends."
"Oh," Superboy said, he looked at the device and then back at Arley, a small smile on his face. "Thank you."
"You're wel—"
"—Oh!" Wally gasped, he turned to Arley, "Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off but I just remembered, do you want to come to the mall with Supey and me tomorrow, Batman sent us this—" Wally had returned by the time Arley had even registered he had left her side; he waved a black credit card between his index and middle finger, "—So Supey could get whatever he needs."
Arley eyed Superboys clothing, she turned to Hal who was chatting with Mary West; "Hey Hal can I go to the mall with Wally and Superboy?" Hal looked from Arley to Superboy to Wally who hovered next to Arley and then back to Arley.
"Don't you have your appointment with Dinah tomorrow?" Hal wondered.
"At four," Arley said, Hal shrugged.
"I don't see why not," Hal told the three teens, Arley and Wally beamed, "I have to work late tomorrow so I can catch up on paperwork so you just need to make sure you in Star City on time."
"Sweet!" Wally pumped his fist, Arley looked at the clothes Superboy was wearing and scrunched up her nose.
"Would you like me to see if Hal and I have any of Guy or Johns old clothes still in the apartment, anything they'd left behind will probably fit you better the Mr. Wests." Once again a small smile played on Superboys lips.
"Thank you."
...
The next day Wally and Arley lead Superboy— who wore an old pair of cargo shorts that had once belonged to John and a Baltimore Department of Corrections shirt that Guy had long ago given Arley —around the Central City mall as the pair talked to the clone about everyday life as the moved from store to store.
The first store Wally and Arley took Superboy into was Urban Outfitters, Wally— as Arley threw jeans after jeans at Superboy over the dressing room door —had told Superboy about his studying techniques because unlike other teens he, nor the other teen heroes like Arley, could count on cramming before an exam on because there was always the chance that a bad guy would choose the night before Midterms as the day they wanted to launch their explosive rocket at the moon. Superboy ended up buying most of the jeans Arley had thrown, and also the brown leather jacket that had caught his eye before he or the other two teens had stepped onto the checkout line.
From there the three went to Primark. Arley, as Wally ferried back and forth between the changing rooms and the floor exchanging the shirt that had been too small for a bigger one and the outer shirt that hung off the clone for a slightly tighter one, talked about skin care routines and other hygiene oriented regimes only to pause and wonder if Kryptonian's actually got pimples. The three teens had ended up walking out of the large mall store with a dozen dark colored shirts; several packs of boxer-briefs, a bunch of different cut socks and three flannel shirts that just seemed right on the boy.
The next store they went too wasn't a store, it was a kiosk; Superboy had caught sight of a back shirt with Superman's symbol printed on it and so, after arguing that both Green Lantern and the Flash were the next best heroes after the man of Steel, Superboy had ended up walking away with five Superman shirts, one Flash wrist band and a Green Lantern baseball cap that Arley had flipped onto the boys head before it could be but into a bag.
Superboy had taken a minute between stores to change into one of his Superman shirts; Wally at the sight of the clone high-fived the boy.
After that in the shoe store Wally had tried to get the clone to buy a pair of sneakers like the pair that had been on his feet— "We can be like sneaker bros," Wally had said —only for Superboy to be stuck on the pair of black Belleville combat boots that had captured his attention from the minute he and Arley and Wally had all walked through the mall doors.
Following the shoe store the three took a break. Sitting on the edge of the Central City's wishing well fountain between both Wally and Superboy; Arley, listening to Superboy talk about the recipes he had read about in the Kryptoian cook book, ignored the way her heart clenched every time Wally's eyes followed a new girl. Her arm was pressed flushed against Wally's and though her sole attention was on the clone next to her, from the corner of her eyes she could see Wally's head following a giggling civilian and her friends.
"You know," Arley offered Superboy, "If you want, you can write down the recipes you really want to try and, well if we can't find the subisitute ingredients here on Earth I'm sure the next time I'm on Oa I can look up what planet I can find them, or at least, where I can find suitable substitutes."
"Why?" Superboy questioned, "I mean-I know you said you wanted us to be friends—" the way he said the word was like he was trying to speak a foreign language for the first time, "—But why? Do friends usually do nice things for each other?"
Wally patted Arley's shoulder and motioned to the bathroom she nodded and turned back to Superboy.
"Only the good ones," she joked, her smile faltered into a grimace. "I'm doing same for you as Hal did for me."
Superboys head tilted in confusion.
"I was in foster care before I got my ring," Arley confessed, "And I was the only Jewish kid in a lot of my foster homes, so really it was like I wasn't, like part of me was being erased because I couldn't practice or celebrate, but that first Hanukkah after Hal adopted me he went all out. Growing up Hal's mother was Jewish but she never bothered to learn how to cook any of the foods so I guess sometime after he found out I couldn't even remember ever celebrating Hanukkah he went to a family member of one of his friends and he learned how to made latkes and knishes, and well, he bought the challa bred but still—" Arley waved, "—The fact is, is that while it's great you're going to be learning how to integrate like a normal human being, you're not a normal human, you're an alien and that part of you shouldn't get erased."
"Am I though?" Superboy asked, his voice heavy, "I'm a clone."
"Hey," Arley frowned, "Kaldur was right about what he said back when we were trapped in those pods, you deserve your own aspirations, you're more then who you were made to be."
"You think so?"
"Of course I do," Arley told Superboy confidentiality, "We don't allow pessimists in the Jordan-Gluck home, thank you very much." Wally emerged from the boys bathroom, drying his wet hands on the legs of his pants.
"What about realists?" Superboy joked; Arley grinned,
"Nope," she told him popping the p at the end, "Only optimists, why do you think Wally has a key?" Wally who was two steps away from his seat froze at the mention of his name.
"I have a key to where?"
"My place." Wally nodded, he looked at Superboy, he took out his keys and on the ring next to his house keys were three rings all painted bright green.
"I also have her locker and diary keys cause she keeps losing them."
"Don't try to shame me, it's not like I need them," she told Wally; Arley turned to Superboy, and shook her ring hand, "I have pictures of the keys on my phone so as long as my ring is charged I can make perfect copies."
"I'm just here for when she forgets her phone and her keys," Wally snickered; he stuffed his hands and keys back in his pockets and looked at Arley, "You think Mr. Dark and Broody would mind if we used the card to buy some food?"
Arley, with raised brows snickered at the nickname, she looked at Superboy.
"Are you hungry?"
He shrugged and looked at Wally, "I guess but I thought you mother said not to ruin your appetite for dinner?"
"Your appetite dude," Wally pointed at the clone, "Having super speed means having an enhanced metabolism which means—"
"—Wally here's virtually a bottomless pit," Arley teased.
"Attacked?" Wally gasped playfully, his hand against his chest "By my best friend?"
Arley, smiling, got to her feet and rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you'll get over it. But seriously if the card is to buy Supey here whatever he needs I don't see why food wouldn't fall under that umbrella."
"Awesome, there's an all you can eat buffet down the block—" Wally was cut off by the loud popping sounds of a gun and the wailing of sirens coming from the jewelry store on the floor above them quickly following that. Superboy jumped up to his feet; Arley, as civilians rushed around them towards the exits of the mall, put her arm in front of his chest, stopping him from running forward.
"Supey your with me me, Wally—" Arley cut herself off as she took in her best friends clothing, his shorts and tee-shirt, and grimaced, "—Go home get the suit and meet us back here?"
"Got it."
Arley— as Wally, with his goggles over his eyes ran out in one direction —lead Superboy to the corner under the escalators going up, behind a plant and stationed the clone in front of her. Her ring hummed as her suit melded over her clothing and her mask materialized over her face.
Arley flew around Superboy and offered the clone her hand, "Want a lift?"
The clone smirked.
Arley and Superboy dropped onto the second floor landing next to the three responding mall cops. The cage around the jewelry store had been dropped and rope had been tired around handles of the cracked glass door that sported bullet holes towards the top of the ceiling. Arley and Superboy could see five hostages lined up against the front jewelry case and a buff looking male standing behind them, shouldering the gun he had placed against the counter just over the hostages heads.
"Green Lantern!" One of them sighed,
"Superman!"
"Superboy," the clone corrected with a growl.
"Now's so not the time Supey," Arley hissed, she turned to the store, "Come out with your hands up." Arley ordered the criminal. Wind rushed next her and Arley didn't need to see— or hear the mall security guards sighs of relief —to know that Wally, in his Kid Flash costume, had appeared next to her.
"Like hell!" The criminal yelled, he had a thick southern accent. The young man stood and pointed his gun down at the top of a woman's head, "How about you back up!" Arley turned to Wally. Wally's eyes had narrowed behind his mask.
"This is your turf Kid how do we play this?"
"Why do we need rules?" Superboy growled, his arms flexed beneath the shirt and the criminal behind the gated glass pressed the muzzle of the gun harder against the top of the woman's head. "We're heroes, we—"
"—Protect the people," Arley cut Superboy off, her voice firm, "Civilians come first, number one rule of being a hero."
"I said back up!" Lifting the guards and Kid Flash and Superboy up on a platform Arley and the five of them flew back over the second floor ledge. One of the guards knees gave out and a second let out a gasping sort of scream. Arley's eyes focused on the criminal and the open door behind him.
Her frowned deepened.
"We're back!" Kid called out, "Now let the hostages go, they're innocent." The criminal didn't though he moved the guns muzzle away from the woman head and crouched back down behind the glass; the gun pointed at them. The construct moved and while Kid and Superboy stood standing next to Arley the security guards were gently lowered to the first floor.
"And-and what if I do, huh? What keeps you from busting through the door after that?" The criminal sneered, Arley hadn't meant to but she had drifted closer— her eyes locked on the open doorway behind him; if the criminal didn't want to risk being taken out so much that he held five people hostage why did he leave the door behind him open —only for a single shot to ring out.
Before Arley could jerk back— before she could find a way to avoid just dropping Kid Flash and Superboy thirty odd feet to the ground —Superboy had caught the bullet before it had hit her, the bullets metal jacket crumpled against the skin of the clones palm.
"Thanks," Arley nodded, her throat suddenly dry. She turned back to the blonde man and Wally tilted his body towards Arley.
"I can phase through the door, if you can make a ramp to the floor I can run though the door and get his gun before he can hurt anyone."
"And what about whatever is in the room behind him?" Arley muttered, "Besides, since when can you vibrate through a door running?" Last Arley checked Wally had only started to mange molecular phasing if he was standing in front of whatever he wanted to phase through, concentrating. Last time she also checked he got nose bleeds when he did that.
"I can try," Kid said in rebuttal.
"I can bust through the door," Superboy ground out, "And break the gun."
"Before or after he kills the woman in front of him?"
"I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Superboy snapped. Arley's eyes narrowed.
"Trust me?" She asked the boys.
"Of course," Wally said with no hesitation,
"Sure," Superboy said a moment later. Arley nodded, her chest puffed out and she set Wally and Superboy down on the ground before flying out of the mall and around to where the jewelry store would have been. Peaking through the tall, half moon window Arley caught sight of a girl, just as blonde as the male with the gun, stuffing all the jewelry she could get her hands on into a large dark purple duffel bag.
"That's what I thought," Arley muttered to herself. Just as she was about to fly back in and tell Kid Flash and Superboy about the accomplice the girl turned around, her hands stuffed with diamond and pearl necklaces. Arley and the female criminals eyes met.
"Tommy!" The girl cried out, and Arley, who thought that meant for the other criminal to kill the hostages was thrown— both figuratively and literately —when the girl came crashing through the thick Central City mall wall. Arley grappled in the air with the blonde girl as she fought midair against letting the criminal get the upper hand, only for the girl to push off against Arleys abdomen, sending the Green Lantern back in the air as the blonde hit the ground knees first.
"Tuppence!" The boy— Tommy —called out as he ran from the mall, the green duffel bag in his hands and Superboy on his tail. The girl— Tuppence —got to her feet and turned to run, only to stop short when glowing green chains shot out of Arley's ring and wrapped themselves around her. Tuppence, struggled against the constructs Arley had made as she was lifted into the air.
"Let me go!" The girl demanded, her voice held it's own southern twang. Arley snorted at the demand; she could finally hear the police sirens in the distance, Arley wondered what had to have been happening across the city if it had taken dispatch that long to send cars. Perhaps the Mayor had been kidnapped by Cold or Gorilla Grodd; hopefully that was the reason and it wasn't just sheer incompetence, but after having spent the first eight years of her life in Gotham and almost another eight as a hero, Arley highly doubted it was the former instead of the latter.
"Sorry but no can do Dorthy, you're under arrest," Arley said as she landed on the ground; the criminal wriggled in the air. Kid Flash appeared in the gaping hole in the wall.
"Where's Supey?"
"Took off after the other one," Arley pointed in the direction Superboy had run off after, Kid Flash, with a two finger salute nodded before heading in the direction Superboy and the other criminal— the older boy Tommy —had gone. Arley looked at Tuppence as she struggled and tightened the chains around the older females body. "So," Arley wondered smirking, "Tommy, is he your brother or boyfriend?" The blonde girls only answer was a withering glare that Arley continued to smirk at. "Or is he both?"
The girl snarled, "You won't be talking when I get outta these, bitch!"
Arley's eyes narrowed; her lips pressed together. "You won't be getting out of these, cabrón."
"What'd'cha call me, I don't speak illegal." Arley's tongue poked against the inside of her cheek.
"You know I might've been offended at that if somehow I wasn't completely unsurprised that a hick criminal turned out to be a racist," Arley snapped back.
"Call me a hick again!" The criminal demanded, "Do it and see what happens!" Arley opened her mouth, ready to call her a backwoods country hick until her face was blue, only for the words to get caught in her throat when she saw both Superboy and Kid Flash, tangled together, get thrown clear across the parking lot. The boy who'd held the hostages at gun point was gunless and the bag the girl had been stuffing full of stolen goods was gone.
With a running jump the girls accomplice, with his balled fists bared and raised, leapt— twenty or thirty feet —into the air. Arley wasn't so focused on how high he had jumped but rather that where he had been destined to fall. The older boy planned to land on top of both Superboy and Kid Flash, and while Superboy could take the hit Arley knew that even with his accelerated healing Kid wouldn't have been able to.
So she did the first thing that came to mind; she threw the girl at the boy the same way a pitcher threw a baseball or a quarterback threw a football, hard and fast and with enough force to knock the boy away from both Superboy and Kid Flash and into empty cars in the mall parking lot.
Civilians who had crouched and taken cover in the area screamed as they scattered behind other cars and out of the parking lot. Some ran back into the mall and others took their chances by blindly running across the four lane highway. Thankfully no one was hit by any of the speeding cars.
Shooting over to the boys Arley landed at Kid Flash's side, the red headed speedster's eyes cracked open as Arley hovered over him and he smiled weakly up at her. Superboy groaned as he grimaced and breathed. Police cars skidded to a halt and the officers inside them, with their guns drawn got out and crouched behind their open doors.
"This is CCPD!" An officer said over the speaker of his patrol car, Arley turned her head when she heard the sound of metal shifting and glass hitting the asphalt. "Put your hands up and get on the ground!" The two criminals— Tommy and Tuppence —had gotten to their feet, neither had a scratch on them and both looked furious. "We will open fire!" Arley's head snapped to the police and their itchy trigger finger attitude. The two criminals looked at each other, neither said a word to the other and yet they both nodded.
"Get on your knees!"
Arley got to her feet and Superboy and Kid Flash, though he swayed where he stood, got to theirs. Arley looked to Kid,
"Can you run?" Kid grimaced, but he nodded.
"Yeah."
"Get all civilians out of here," Arley said, Kid nodded and with a whoosh he was gone; civilians that had ducked behind cars were deposited down the block, far behind the police line of cars. Arley looked to Superboy, "Can you take the guy?"
"We will open fire!" The Police screamed though their patrol car speakers, "One—"
"Gladly."
"—Two—" Arley glowed green as she levitated off the ground and Superboy, towards the boy, lunged forward. Tommy, the boy criminal, lifted the car he and the girl Tuppence had crashed into with a roar. Tuppence, like Superboy had lunged at Arley; in the background the police opened fired. Superboy batted the falling car away into another and Tommy rushed forward; Arley with a constructed fist threw her arm out and the blonde girl went flying only to get up seconds after hitting the ground.
A bullet whizzed by Arley's head and shattered a car window; Arley's head snapped in the direction of the police as she glared at them.
"Can you not!"
That was the only distraction Tuppence needed; with her arms wrapped around Arley's middle the criminal knocked Arley to the ground. Arley's head bounced harshly against the asphalt and the wind that had been in Arley's lungs was knocked out of her. Another car was thrown; Arley wasn't sure if it was Tommy who was throwing them or if Superboy had started throwing them at the criminal. More bullets flew through the air.
For Arley it was almost like being back in Crime Alley.
"Told ya, you wouldn't be talkin' when I got out," the blonde girl sneered, her thighs on either side of Arley's stomach. Arley, with her wrists crossed and locked, protected her face as the girl above her brought her own heavy fists down on her. Arley's legs, just like Katma-Tui had showed her, kicked out until Tuppence's ankle was locked between her heel and the back of her thigh— Tuppence's foot was on top of Arley's —and the Green Lantern bucked her ups up; pushing herself to the side she landed on top of Tuppence.
Before the hero could lock the other girl down with a construct from her ring Tuppence's head surged forward and knocked harshly against the bridge of Arley's nose. The Lantern jerked back and Tuppence's knee escaped out from under Arley and the girls booted foot made contact with Arley's stomach. The Lantern flew back and bounced roughly off of a car, denting both the passenger and back doors. The car's alarm blared.
Arley lifted her head just in time to see not only a car land on top of Superboy but a loose tire shoot out from the same direction the car had come from hit Kid, who's back was turned as he dropped a civilian off away from danger. Both Kid and the older man he had tried to take to safety went down. Tuppence sneered down at Arley and the Lantern, as the southern girl lifted her foot, raised her arm and formed a shield around her.
The criminals boot made contact with the shield; the shield didn't crack or splinter under the criminals force. It didn't shatter as the female criminal continued to bring her foot down on it while Arley collected her baring. Bullets the police fired bounced off the blonde girl like spit wads.
"Drop the bubble you coward!" The girl spit; Superboy, panting and with his new shirt and Guy Gardeners old clothing torn, pushed the car off of him.
"And what, let you stomp me out?" Arley snorted, "No thanks." That only seemed to make the blonde girl bring her foot down harder on Arley and the domed shield. Across the street Kid Flash and the civilian moved the tired off of them; the civilian helped Kid to his feet and Kid seemed to do the same with the civilian.
Kid, limping, lead the man farther down the street, out of the way of any trouble.
Arley knew if she was going to do anything she was going to have to drop the shield eventually but doing so meant a boot to the face from someone with almost Superman-like powers. It was waking Superboy from his pod up all over again, only this time Arley didn't think she'd get a chance to wake up if she let her opponent get the better of her.
Arley breathed; Tuppence brought her foot down again. Glowing green spikes shot out and formed around the shield. Tuppence, an unstoppable object, met the point of Arley's spiked shield, an unmovable force. The girls foot put pressure against the spike and though the glowing pointed tip ripped through the sole of her boot Tuppence only seemed to press harder against the construct.
The criminal girl growled as she pressed harder; only to be thrown to the side when a bright blur of red made contact with her. Arley looked up and saw the Flash, above him she caught sight of Superman's red cape.
The police had stopped firing. Arley let her shield drop and Flash pulled her to her feet.
"You alright?" Flash asked, as he let go of Arley
"Fine," Arley nodded gratefully. "No offence but, uh, why are you so late to the party?"
"I was in court," Flash said and Arley nodded. Judges usually frowned at answering police radios while on the stand or in the gallery; they especially frowned at it when you were only a forensic scientist and not an actual cop. Arley turned to where Tuppence was; the girl had gotten to her feet and had her hands wrapped around the bumper of a car. The car was half way in the air; Arley formed a large bat with her ring and choked up on the constructs shaft before she hit the vehicle away from her and the Flash.
"Tup!" Tommy called out from across the lot; Tuppence looked to her partner, and threw the car at Superman who was forced to doge it. Both blonde criminals leapt into the air after that, back in the direction Tommy had first run off in.
Superman took off after the two. Arley began to rise in the air when Flash caught her around the wrist,
"Where do you think you're going?" The Lantern looked at the older speedster as if he'd grown three heads, one of which began to speak Ewok.
"To help?" Arley blinked.
"You might want to check your phone but it's a quarter to four kid," Flash said, Arley's shoulders dropped. "Superman's got them, I have Kid and uh-Superboy."
Arley's teeth scrapped against her bottom lip; Hal would stop letting her out of the house on the days she had therapy if she kept missing them in favor of crime fighting. He wasn't usually strict— John was the drill Sergeant of the bunch —but he cared and Arley knew that when it came down to it, Hal would do what he needed to in order to make sure she'd be okay at the end of the day.
"You're sure?"
"Go," Flash's head jerked West. Arley looked at Superboy who was frozen next to a battered car, the clones eyes stuck to the sky.
"Alright, just let me say bye," Arley said. Darting over to Superboy she flew around the clone, "You okay?"
Superboy blinked, he blinked again and then looked away from the sky and to Arley, his face cold and expressionless.
"Yeah," he told her, "Fine. If you need to go, go."
Arley frowned, concern and worry colored her expression, "I-okay, tell Kid Flash to call me around six okay? No getting sidetracked; he calls me to check in and tell me how he is or I kick his ass. And don't think I don't expect to hear from you too Superboy after my appointment I demand at least a good night."
Superboy didn't answer, though he did raise a brow. Arley took that as an okay. Arley smiled at boy and flew higher; she glower brighter as she did so, and then taking off towards Star City at breakneck speed, she was gone.
She'd cut it close before but as long as she was never late Dinah never let it slip to Hal just how close she had come. Though, perhaps, that had more to do with doctor-patient confidentiality then a mutual unspoken agreement between Arley and the current Canary but the young Lantern didn't question it; you weren't supposed to look gift horses in the mouth.
...
Superman did not have it, Tommy and Tuppence Terror, the Terror Twins as the news had dubbed them, had somehow gotten away. Wally though, was thankfully alright after some rest and ice and a tub of Cookie Dough ice cream.
That following day Arley sat, with her feet up against the hospital beds metals bars, next to the comatose body of Guy Gardner. Her chin rested against the ball of her palm as she watched the third Earths Lantern steadily breathe on his own.
Flowers— orange hydrangeas that matched the color of Guy's hair, pink gerberas and white anemones —Arley had gotten Guy earlier that day sat idly in the vase next to the man. The Lantern had been like that, a vegetable, hidden up in one of the medical rooms in the Justice Leagues Watchtower for a little over a year; Arley could remember the day it had happened.
She'd been fourteen and so excited to get home because she had been cast as the lead in her schools musical production of Legally Blonde— somewhere in her closet Arley still had the long blonde wig she would have had to wear on stage if she'd been on Earth during the theater clubs performances —and she had wanted to tell everyone. Kilowog and Katma-Tu wouldn't have understood what the role or the musical itself was but they would have been proud— they had been, even though the two of them had been confused on just what musicals were —only for Arley to find Hal and Carol sitting on the Jordan-Gluck couch, John in the kitchen making tea; a metaphorical rain cloud stormed over each and every one of them.
Guy had been a teacher for elementary school students in Baltimore and earlier that day on a field trip, when one of his students had darted out into the street unprompted, Guy had run out after the boy without a second though. Guy, who had forgotten to charge his ring that morning and allowed it to die, had shielded the boy from the oncoming car, saving the boys life and seriously endangering his own.
Almost ending his own.
Arley blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes.
When people thought of Guy Gardner they thought of his his smirk and his can-do-it attitude and his arrogance; they never thought of his heart, of how though he lead every fight with his fists instead of his head, the Lantern never gave up. They never thought of how he could be sweet and how far he would go to make someone smile and how much he cared about the people he was close to. About the people he was charged to protect.
If both Hal and John were like Arley's fathers, Hal being the fun dad who was always there for her— the one who made sure Arley knew that no matter what she did she would always have a home with him—and John being the one who not only made sure Arley ate her vegetables but completed her homework before patrols of the sector, then Guy Gardener was the kind of father Arley knew she could always talk to, no matter what the subject matter was.
He had, after all, been the one to give her the 'the talk' though perhaps that was because he was a gym teacher.
Guy got Arley in ways Wally could never, in ways Hal and John struggled to, it was the kind of understanding that only to people who had once feared their caregivers could share. The bond formerly abused kids formed because who else could get that dry-witted humor about being used a punching bag or a whipping post? Who else could understand what it was like to flinch when a door shut to harshly or when someone set a glass down too loudly? Who else could understand what a powerless child had gone through expect someone who had gone through such similar circumstances?
Arley reached out and held Guy's hand in her own.
Guy had always joked that when he left earth no one missed him; he always said that when he died no one would mourn him because his mother was dead, and his brother Mace and him hadn't spoke in years after the last time Guy had tried to the older Gardner to go to rehab— apparently the pair had gotten into it and after Guy had compared Mace to their father Mace had dropped off the radar, after the accident Batman had said Mace had overdosed six months before —and well, Guy would've rather eaten glass then look up his father to see whether or not the old man was still alive.
Batman had though, and though the eldest Gardener man was in fact alive in a Baltimore hospital of his own Arley knew no one in the League had bothered to let him know about Guy.
But it wasn't true.
"I miss you," Arley told the comatose Lantern, "Please Guy, you need to wake up." The man didn't stir, but Arley did when a knock came from the rooms door. Arley's hand swiped across her eyes and she turned to the closed door, "Come in."
The heavy metal door peeled open and revealed, in his long dark cape and cowl, Batman. The Dark Knight stood in the doorway for a moment surveying Arley and Guy and the recently bought flowers on the nightstand and the view of Earth from the large window.
The man quietly moved so that he stood at the foot of Guy Gardner bed; Arley watched his every movement. She had seen Batman in the midst of a battle, cool and calculated, every movement controlled, and she had seen Bruce Wayne with Dick at his side as the two walked down a long red carpet only to trip over a News Anchors microphone wire, the man in front of her was a mix of the two.
His shoulders and spine, though tense weren't pushed back and out, and Arley thought couldn't hear his breathing could see the way his lungs worked beneath his skin and bones, expanding and contracting, and she could see the gears in his head turning as he looked at her. Dick— and every other hero who had met the masked man —always said talking had never been his mentors strongest suit, Arley could see that.
"Mount Justice," Batman spoke, his voice deep and gravely, "You remember it?"
Arley nodded, a small smile on her face. Mount Justice had been the Leagues first secrete base, despite the fact the town it was just outside of was only a few minute flight from Coast City Arley had only ever been to the old base a small handful, back when she was nine and first starting out as a Lantern.
"Of course," Arley answered, "It's where I met Wonder Woman."
Batman didn't laugh, Bruce Wayne's loud booming laugh was on YouTube, the masked man in front of her snorted airily at Arley, he didn't smile though.
"Right, be at the Mountain with a Lantern at eight EDT, the others and I will give you and the boys our answers then." Arley grimaced; running on Eastern standard time meant having to be at the abandoned cave at five in the morning via West Coast time.
"Is there a problem?" Batman asked rhetorically, the same way teachers who only expected a no-answer always asked.
"Not at all." Batman nodded curtly at Arley.
"See you then." And with that his long dark cape swept behind him as he left the room, when the door clicked shut and the caped crusader was no longer in the room a glowing green replica of Batman's cowl and cape formed over Arley's body, the girl lifted her right arm and hid the bottom half of her face behind her cape, the same way she'd seen videos of Batman do before.
"I am night, I am darkness, I am Batman, fear me!" Arley playfully mocked in a deep voice that almost hurt her throat to speak in. Guy didn't stir; the cowl and cowl disappeared and Arley's shoulders slumped defeated. "Come on Guy," she whispered, "You need to wake up."
Guy didn't.
...
If Happy Harbor and the Mount Justice Cave was a forty-six hour drive ride out from Coast City by car then it was only a three minute flight by Green Lantern power ring. Arley and Hal— who yawned with every step he took —and John were all the first to arrive back at the old base.
Arley and John, with wide mesmerized eyes took in their surroundings, Hal, as he sleepily floated forward with a coffee he had bought from the local Starbucks, lead the two other Lanterns from the secretly hidden front door to the area of the cave that had the two large zeta beam tubes.
"No way you carved out this place Jordan," John said, "It looks too nice to be your handiwork." Hal immediately threw his hand over his shoulder and flipped the black man off. Arley guffawed at the action and at John's scandalized face.
"It's too early to insult me John, wait a few hours and tell me again, m'kay?" Hal said. Usually the pilot was better with waking up and dealing with any jet lagged feelings he still felt— space was dark and days and time worked differently then it did on Earth, so it was safe to say more times then not all three Earth Lanterns were in some form or another, jet lagged —but after two days of nothing but paperwork and forms he had to sign before the company he worked for would allow him to test-fly a new jet all the brown haired man wanted to do was sleep.
"Yeah," John scoffed, "Sure." Hal loudly slurped his Frappuccino through the green straw.
The next people to arrive at the cave were Aquaman and Kaldur, Arley and Kaldur, as the Atlantean King talked to Hal and John spoke quietly between themselves; they talked about whether or not they thought Batman and the others would let the boys continue to be heroes under the Leagues care.
"They have to let you guys right?" Arley whispered, "I mean either they get on board or they get out of the way," she quoted Superboy.
"If they do neither?" the boy asked, "If they try to stand in our way?" His hands were stuffed in the pockets of the jacket he was wearing.
"We don't let them, I'm sure between my couch, Wally's pull out bed and where ever Roy's staying there'll be enough room for you, Dick and Superboy," Arley told him cheekily. Kaldur shot her a dry look.
"That is not what I meant." Arley, with finger guns and a clicking sound, winked. The zeta beam tube fired up and Arley and Aqualad, and their mentors looked at the machine.
"Batman, zero-two. Robin, b-zero-one," a voice said loudly and both Dick— who was dressed in civvies, though wore dark glasses to obscure his eyes —and Batman who was dressed in his suit walked out of the zeta beam tube.
Dick looked at his ungloved hands, beaming.
"So cool," the Boy Wonder muttered as his mentor walked forward. He walked over to Kaldur and Arley.
"Hey," Dick stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt; Arley looked between the two boys and at their clothing before powering down herself. Her suit faded to reveal a pair of straight legged jean that had a hole at the left knee and a plain white t-shirt Arley had tucked in under the gray blazer she had bought at a thrift store; the blazers cuffs had been rolled up to just over Arley's wrists and the whites of Arley's shocks showed through the spaces of her Doc Martian Mary Janes
"You look nice," Dick smirked, "Trying to impress someone?"
Arley's fist darted out and the boy danced away just out of her reach and behind Kaldur.
"Will you shut up!" Arley demanded with blazing cheeks. She moved to go around Kaldur only for the boy to step with her, his expression amused. "What if shows up and hears you!" The zetabeam lit up and more heroes as the speaker announced their arrival walked through the tube and into the cave.
Hawkman and Capitan Marvel, neither of whom Arley knew well stepped out of the light and Red Tornado, from the same direction Arley, Hal and John had come from flew into the room.
"Then he'll wonder who you're trying to impress, seriously Arley you can't hide your feeling from Wally forever." Arley shot a nasty look at the boy, Hal threw his chewed up straw at Aqualad who batted the plastic away before it could hit him; John's lips twitched up.
"I know," she told him begrudgingly, "I know, I just, literally rather take on a flarnop without my ring then risk Wally telling me I'm just a friend and that now everything is awkward and he can no longer ever talk to me ever again."
Arley was okay with pushing down her feelings and dying with them unsaid if it meant never having to risk the already solid and dependable friendship she had with Wally.
Dinah of course always said that, that wasn't healthy and she was only keeping her feelings so close to the chest because of the trauma she went though as a foster kid, always being passed around and never having a stable home and therefore developing a fear of abandonment, and sure maybe she was right but also what did she know about being in love with her best friend? Green Arrow and her had been League members who started dating after one of their first successful missions together, they hadn't had almost eight years of history behind them.
"I'm sure that wouldn't happen, Wally cares about you." Kaldur put a hand on Arley's shoulder.
"What's a flarnop?" The Boy Wonder questioned, Arley looked away from the dark skinned boy to the short one.
"Think of an almost eight foot tall, square monster with razor sharp teeth and an insatiable appetite only covered in brown wool."
Dick, from behind his glasses blinked at Arley.
"That sounds fake."
"Goblin sharks sound fake too until you see them," Kaldur said and Dick shrugged.
"I guess."
The zeta beam lit up
"Flash, zero-four. Kid Flash, b-zero-four. Superboy, b-zero-six." The two speedsters and Superboy walked out of the zeta beam tube; Flash was in his uniform and Wally was in his usually pair of clothing; Superboy was wearing one of the Superman-themed shirts he had bought at the kiosk from the mall.
"Hey guys!" Wally beamed as he and Superboy walked over to the three other teens. "Glowstick."
Arley, as she hugged Wally was picked up off the ground by the boy; her knees bent as she hung to him, only for the speedster to threaten to drop her as his back hunched.
"Do you have to call me that?" Arley groaned, her feet were back on the ground she leaned back and looked at the boy, "It's embarrassing."
Wally grinned down at her.
"Of course I do Glowstick, I mean what else would I call you?" The cute nicknames he called her in her dreams flashed though Arley mind but the Lantern quickly blinked them away.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, before narrowing them at Wally, "Look, I know you said you were okay last night but, uh—"
"—I'm fine," Wally nodded. Though his arm didn't wrap around Arley's waist, it instead pressed flat against the small of her back as he turned to the sidekicks. Arley looked at Superboy and smiled.
"How's the West house?"
"Alright. I finished the book on Kryptoian history yesterday," Superboy said, he had already named a few recipes he wanted to try from the cookbook the night they and Wally had tried to stop the Terror Twins.
"Yeah?" Arley smiled.
"It-it was great, informative," Superboy said, he looked like he wanted to say more, to talk about Krypton until he went blue in the face only for Batman to clear his throat. The Dark Knight waved the five young heroes over. The five filed down into a line, Arley stood between Wally and Dick, Superboy between Dick and Kaldur.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League," Batman told them, "We're calling it into service again. Since you five are deterred to stay together and fight the good fight you'll do it on League terms." Batman looked to Arley at that; the girl, though her face heated and her lips twitched into droll smile, didn't look away from the bat-themed man.
"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, Black Canary's in charge of training and I will deploy you on missions."
"Real missions?" Dick asked.
"Yes but covert," Batman nodded.
"The League will still handle the obvious stuff, there's a reason we have these big targets on our chests," the flash said and Arley, sharing a look with Superboy, looked at the large symbol splattered across the boys shirt. A wry, sardonic glint flashed through her eyes.
"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter, Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly," Aquaman said.
"The six out you will be that team," Batman told them.
"Cool," Robin smiled, "Wait, six?"
Batman motioned behind the team with a tilt of his jaw and the five teens turned to see Martian Manhunter and a green skinned, obviously Martian girl, no older then any of them standing next to the alien.
"This is the Martian Manhunters niece, Miss Martian," Batman introduced. Arley smiled at the girl and waved, Miss Martian waved back.
"Hi." Wally looked forward, past Arley at Dick.
"Liking this gig more every minute," Wally muttered, Arley's smiled dimmed, she looked away from the Martian girl and at toes of her shoes, only for them to fly back up when Wally patted her shoulder as he stepped forward.
"Welcome aboard, I'm Kid Flash, that's Green Lantern," Wally introduced with a fluttered hand in Arley's direction; she pretended not to notice the heavy stare Kaldur threw in her direction. "That's Robin and that's Aqualad, it's cool if you forget their names."
Dick moved so that he was next to Wally and Arley moved so that she was in front of Wally, her hand outstretched towards the Martian girl; just because she was jealous didn't mean she was going to be rude to the alien girl, besides, the saying grin and bare it had come from somewhere after all.
"It's nice to meet you," Arley greeted and Miss Martian clapped her hands together excitedly before taking Arley's hand in hers and shaking it.
"I'm honored to meet a memeber of the Green Lantern Corps and to be included on the team!" Miss Martian beamed.
"We're happy to include, especially me," Arley said brightly, "It's nice to know I won't be the only girl on missions anymore." Miss Martian giggled. The boys crowded around the two girls, Wally's hand was once more on Arley's back and Robin turned as Wally with his other hand shook Miss Martians.
"Hey Superboy, come meet Miss M!" The clone boy stepped forward and Arley nudged Wally out of the way so Superboy could step towards Miss Martian. The red headed alien girls white shirt bled black and her cape disappeared; Arley looked on in fascination.
She loved Martian shape shifting, when of course it wasn't an enemy using it.
"I like your t-shirt," Miss Martian said softly, Superboy smiled kindly at the girl. Arley nudged the Man of Steels clone in the chest with a pointed look, her eyes flickered between him and Miss Martian.
"T-Thank you," Superboy replied; Arley beamed. Kaldur looked at the five other teens smiling, his eyes gleaming with pride.
"Today is the day."
