Targets-Secrets

Ok, so, just when things start working out for me, I actually start communicating with the team, I get called back to Oa. Everyone made this huge fuss about it, trying to talk me out of going, but when the Guardians call the Green Lanterns come. I really hate that. Especially since the only cool Guardian, Ganthet, got kicked out. That was a real bummer, but he did start the Blue Lantern Corp. I wonder how they're doing.

Anyway, the old, blue people called me back to Oa to keep the peace between two warring cultures while they try to work out a peace treaty. That is very creepy considering the same thing is happening back on Earth. Very creepy and coincidental. Apparently, they divided themselves because of religious reasons, food scarcity caused tension between them, and a small scuffle between patrols made war break out. Why do I always get stuck with the missions that could turn out violent? Everyone else gets nice and peaceful ones, but I don't. It's starting to annoy me.

At least Tomar Re volunteered to come with me, and we brought the rookie, Arisia Rrab. Without some help, it would have been horrible.

I still think he flies like a whale swims.

"How have things been on Earth?"

"Fine. We beat up a few bad guys, saved some people, hero stuff."

"How do you feel around your new friends? You have spent most of the time you know them on Oa."

"What is this, a counseling session? They're great, I'm great, everything is great. Let's get to the peace conference before they decide to launch nuclear missiles."

"That would be bad, wouldn't it?" Of course it would rookie. Of course it would. "Maybe we should have called in some of the more hevy hitters, just in case."

More muscle just causes more problems Arisia. Kilowag thinks differently, but it's true.

The entire flight was like that. He knows what being friends with the team means to me. The thing is, I hardly see them. I don't even know if Superboy has decided on a human name yet, or if Kaldur is in a relationship with the Tula girl. It's upsetting to say the least. My friends probably think I have no loyalty to them.

We continued flying through space, the blond girl occasionally asking me about Earth stuff, and Tomar occasionally trying to interrogate me. He's persistent, I'll give him that.

What we found when we arrived at the negotiation grounds, was nothing that could be imagined.

"And you found residue of the yellow energy in the ruins, among the corpses?"

"Affirmative. It could have been the yellow ring, or the yellow orb that Tanya or Kilowag saw. No survivors."

We returned to Oa after searching the ruins of the negotiation location for anyone who may have survived to tell us what had attacked them. No such luck. Hundreds of corpses. All that was left of a small civilization, gone.

"The attack on the Numeks can't be a coincidence. Only the Numeks and the Green Lanterns knew about the peace talks."

"While that is true, Green Lantern Arisia Rrab, we have no evidence that will allow us to convict anyone. The only thing we can do, is spread the Corp to any vulnerable locations, covering every inch of space in the territory. Green Lantern Tanya Stewart, you will remain on Oa, handling the archives, searching for any clue as to where the orb came from, how to destroy it, and a way to locate the yellow ring." What?! I need to get back to Earth!

"Appa, may I suggest that we permanently make Green Lantern Tanya the Oa archivist. She is the most qualified." NO! My team needs me!

I was about to argue with them about that when Appa said, "I agree. We have been in need of a new one. Green Lantern Tanya Stewart of two-eight-one-four, you are now the Green Lantern archivist. You will remain on Oa indefinitely, engaging in combat only when absolutely unavoidable." NO! Before I could say anything, they all started floating upwards, ignoring me as I shout up at them.

Great. What will the team say when dad and Jordan come to get my stuff from the cave?

3RD POV CAVE

The entire team had assembled in the cave, everyone speaking with their mentors, well the Supers just stood there in awkward silence, joking around, talking about how they've been doing, having a good time in general, when the two older Green Lanterns flew into the cave.

"Big GLs! Is Mini GL coming?"

The two men looked at each other, a sad look in their eyes, before turning back to Wally. "No. She wants to, but no."

"What?" Artemis.

"What do you mean?" Kid Flash.

"Is there a reason she is not returning from her mission?" Aqualad.

"Is she hurt?" Miss Martian.

"Is she having one of her anger fits?" Superboy.

"Is she the only Green Lantern working up there?" Robin.

They all asked their questions at the same time.

"Calm down kids. There's something going on in the Greater Galaxy. The Guardians put her on Archive duty to find any sort of reference or weakness to what we're looking for, and they made her the official Archivist for the Corp. Even after the threat has passed, she must remain on Oa."

"They're trapping her there? That's taking her freedom!"

"Superboy!" They turned to the older Kryptonian. "What do you mean 'there's something going on in the Greater Galaxy'? Is there some kind of threat we need to know about?"

"The Guardians ordered us to keep it quiet. We can't discuss it with anyone. We were just sent here to collect her things and move it to Oa."

Jordan moved forward, inserting something after the girls father finished. "She really wants to be here. I could tell by her face that she feels like she's the unreliable one on the team. You guys mean everything to her, heck, you beat Kilowag and Tomar Re down a few places on the friend list. You guys took the top."

With that, they walked down the hall to the sleeping quarters.

Once they were out of earshot, the younger heroes turned to the older. "They can't just take her away!"

"Actually, they can. She works for them Artemis."

"We know that! But they're trapping her on the Green Lantern home, like she has no say in her life. Like she doesn't have a life to live!"

"Superboy..."

"Supey is right! The green stands for will power. They're taking her will away."

"Kids, there's a lot you don't understand." Everyone turned back, as the men came back with one of those galactic moving things, the ones that store everything in a room. "It's been like this since the Corp started. It's happened before and Tanya won't be the last one it happens to."

"Are we at least allowed to go visit her?"

"Only Green Lanterns are allowed on Oa. But we'll find a way for you to see her again."

The older Lanterns turned to leave, but Hal stopped. "We should probably warn you, Tanya might not be the same when you see her again."

"Why not?"

"There's something about the Master Archivists on Oa. After a while, they change, they all become calm, emotionless, and serene. It must have something to do with the archives."

They both nodded to their fellow leaguers, and left through the Zeta Tube.

"But..."

"M'gann, all will be well. There is no doubt in my mind that you will see her again, but until then, you and Superboy have scholastic studies in the morning. You need rest, and the rest of you should get back to your homes.

With that, the mentors shuffled the students away, sending them away to rest.

Tanya POV Oa

Dad and Jordan brought all of my personal belongings to the sleeping quarters adjacent to the Archives, where I would be staying from now on. It was larger than the room I had in the cave, so there was more unoccupied space. A computer covering half of one wall, while it took up an entire wall in my old room, the bed only a quarter and an eighth of the two walls it was on. Other than that, I didn't really have anything. I don't need a dresser since I'm going to be in my uniform twenty four seven. I only have one picture, but it's not in a frame on the wall. I always carry it in a pocket. It's of Kaldur, Superboy, Wally, Robin, Megan, and me at the ice cream parlor that day.

We were all on one side of the table. Wally was standing behind Megan and me, his head between us. Megan was trying to get Superboy to try rocky road, while he pressed his lips together, letting her press the spoon to his mouth, and Robin tried to help the Martian. Kaldur and I were leaning against each other, our arms around each others shoulders. My pale skin a stark contrast to his dark skin. Each and everyone of us had large smiles on our faces. We had asked a complete stranger to take the picture, and I saw that they had a happy look on their face after they met us, when they had looked like there was nothing to be happy about when he had walked up.

There was a knock on the door, breaking me from my memories. "It's open." The door slid open slightly, and the blond rookie poked her head around it.

"Hey. How you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just a little upset that I'm stuck here."

She gave me a sad look. "Hey, I'll be here to keep you company. The Guardians want me to be your assistant. We'll be great friends!"

"Thanks Arisia."

"No problem. How about, we have Kilowag go find you some more furniture, there's like nothing here, and I'll give you a make over. A sign of a new you. And when you finally get to go back to Earth, you'll get a cute boy." I blush at that last part, thinking about a boy following me like a lost puppy. It sounds like a nightmare. "Come on, we can use the mirror in my room before they move it to the assistant archivist room."

She dragged me up and out of the room, taking me to the regular sleeping quarters, which turned out to be much smaller than the room I live in now.

"All right. First of all, loose the streaks on your face and the beads in your hair." Ok then. I comply to the demands of the elf girl, watching through the mirror as she studied my image. "How do you feel about a hair cut?"

"Um, ok?"

"Great! I have the perfect idea. She unraveled my braid and made a pair of scissors and started clipping away at the long hair. By the time she was finished, it was much shorter than before, the front resting an inch below my chin, and the back stopping at the base on my skull(like Raven from Teen Titans). "Alright, now wee need to figure out what to do with the outfit."

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"We're giving you a whole new look. And no one wears armor boots." I look down at the suit I wore with the black metal boots. Is it that bad?

So, by the time the blond girl was done with me, I couldn't even recognize myself. Now I wore a green, tight fitting top, that stopped just above before it reached my new skirt. It has a diamond cut out on my stomach showing my belly button. The green skirt went all the way down to the floor, allowing easy movement, but covered a lot of skin. On my arms, I have black bracers, with black gloves. Around my neck was a black choker with the Green Lantern insignia on it and I have shin high combat boots.

"You look amazing Tanya!"

"Thanks Arisia. I just wish I could go see my friends."

"Can't you contact them on your ring?"

"Power rings don't tap into the communication channels on Earth. That's why we generally have comm links with us, I just didn't think I would need one for this mission, so I left it back on Earth."

We both sigh at the depressing mood in the room.

...It's nice to have a fellow teenager in the Corp.

"Maybe something will happen that will let you go to Earth."

"Maybe. We should get back to the archives."

"Hey, Bookworm! You want to help me look up a race?"

"Of course big guy."

I hadn't been Master Archivist long, but I felt different. My emotions flat lined, and I don't react to anything anyone says. It's strange.

"I need everything the archives have on Thanagarians. The guardians said that Byth Rok and his gang have been causing trouble nearby. Apparently they finally got somewhere after breaking out of that prison in the frontier. They want Jordan and me to go take care of them since we're kind of responsible for them getting loose. They would send you too, but with your new job, they're not. Still can't believe they put my best student in the books."

"So, you decided to learn everything you could about Thanagarians after what happened last time."

"I still feel the bruises from that fight."

"Alright, let's find the book we need." The great thing about being Master Archivist, you can connect to the archives, and mentally search for the information you need. Then, you can call the information to a holographic screen. It's amazing. "Wow. Warrior race, wings, speed, practically invincible. Unless, you take away their ability to fly. Keep them on the ground, and attack from the air. Something we couldn't do at the prison because of the because of the yellow crystals. So, grounding them is basically your only hope."

"Great. And knowing Jordan, he'll do something to screw it up, and make it even harder on us."

"Well... smack him upside the head if he does. Do that to train him to not screw up."

"I can try, but it's in his nature. Maybe, I can take someone else along with us and tie Jordan up when we get there." As he said that, he walked away, passing Arisia as he left.

Good luck with that buddy.

"Should I be concerned that he's talking about tying someone up?"

"No. It's completely reasonable considering the situation he's about to be in." I quickly explain the mission he was about to go on, and why it had to be him and Jordan.

"I feel bad for him. Thanagarians are practically impossible to beat. But you would know wouldn't you? You do have two of them on Earth." That we do. "You know, I heard from Hal Jordan that there's someone named Atrocitus is being transferred to the holding cells here while the prison he's being held at is under repairs. He also said the Guardians are stupid for holding him so close to his ring."

What!?

"Who is Atrocitus anyway?"

"Three years ago, when I was twelve, there was a threat killing Green Lanterns in Frontier space..."

"What's Frontier space?"

Internal sigh. Pulling up the three thousand six hundred sectors she knows about, I state the obvious. "You know about the thousands of sectors that have a Green Lantern in them right?" She nods. I pull up the Frontier. "At the very edge of the Guardians territory there are few Green Lanterns seeded through the space, one of them is even a queen. It takes eighteen months at full speed to reach it, unless you have the Interceptor, which doesn't exist anymore. The Red Lanterns, a Lantern Corp driven by rage, was attacking the Green Lanterns because of something the Guardians did. Atrocitus was their leader in the war." I gave her a pointed look, asking if she was following.

"Ok, I'm with you."

"Well, Hal, Kilowag, the Interceptors Ai, and I made friends with one of the Red Lanterns, Razer, a Green Lantern planet named Mogo, and some Blue Lanterns..." She gave me a questioning look. "Blue Lanterns use hope." She nodded. "Anyway, we managed to drive the Red Lanterns back, defeat Atrocitus, and make peace with the Red Lanterns. We actually met the Thanagarians we were talking about in Frontier space."

"So the power ring that belonged to Atrocitus is here on Oa, and the Guardians think it's a good idea to bring him here?"

"I know. The yellow ring has already been stolen. The last thing we need is to have an eight foot tall, angry, red maniac with a grudge against the Corp out there with a power ring."

"Yellow ring?"

"I forgot, you weren't around when the message went out. A ring made out of the yellow energy of fear, the only yellow ring, was being held here, and it was stolen."

"But if it was stolen here, that means a Green Lantern stole it, and a Green Lantern may be responsible for the Numeks extinction!"

"I know. I have someone I'm suspicious of, but I don't have proof."

"Who?"

"I don't want to turn you against someone if I'm wrong." She gave me a look, like she understood but she wanted to know. She wouldn't question me, that's just who she is. She'll just be unhappy about it.

"What would happen if there was a break out?"

"Well, we're short handed because of the search for the yellow thing that killed the Numeks, so, we would either be killed, or it would be extremely difficult to apprehend the prisoner." She looked pale at that.

I was just being honest. I didn't mean to scare her.

"The chances of that happening are almost zero. Don't think about it."

"Ok. This is the most secure planet in the galaxy right?" Poor girl.

"Yes, it is."

She nodded, some color returning to her face. "You know, that team you have back on Earth was attacked in their base. The 'cave'."

My spine straitened quickly, and I looked at her with wide eyes. "What?!"

"The Justice League found them all unconscious, some of them restrained in some kind of rock. They said something about the Reds. And a Tornado."

"Red Tornado? He such a nice guy... android. Why would he attack them?"

"No one knows."

"Ugh. My friends get attacked and I can't go check on them. Why did I have to be assigned to the archives?"

Three, two, one... LIGHTBULB!

"Arisia!" She jumped, not expecting my to shout out her name after my pacing. "I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"The Master Archivist isn't allowed to leave Oa. The ASSISSTANT Archivists can. You can go to Earth and check on the team for me."

"Are you sure? It took me awhile to get use to everyone on Oa. I'm not the best with new people."

"I'm positive. I'll send the Coordinates for the cave to your ring, I'll give you the picture I have of five of them with me in front of an ice cream shop, in case they don't believe I sent you. You can find out how they're doing, and you can come right back. You don't have to stay any longer then is necessary. Please."

She watched me for a few moments, watching the pleading look in my eyes, until she cracked, "OK! Fine! I'll go."

"Thank you!" I took the picture I had out of that day, handing it over to her, and quickly scrolled through the built in GPS my ring had. Finding the Coordinates for the cave, I sent a data packet to her ring, giving specific instructions on how to get into the secret base without setting off an alarm.

"You are SO taking me to Frontier space one day." Then she left.

... I've been wanting to visit Mogo, Saint Walker, Ganthet, and Iolande anyway.

Maybe we'll find Razer out there.

3RD POV CAVE

The team had just returned from finding the source of supercharged animals, and they were speaking with their mentors, and Kaldurs friends, Tula, Artemis and Megan giving the red head a strange look, and Garth, when a female form surrounded by a green light flew into the cave.

"Tanya?"

"No." The form landed in front of everyone, the glow died down to reveal a blond instead of a burnet. "My name is Arisia Rrab."

"Where did you come from and how did you find the cave."

"I'm the assistant Archivist on Oa."

"Prove it."

"Superboy, do you not see the Green Lantern symbol on her revealing dress?"

"No, ahhh, Lightning bolt kid? My boss said you might be skeptical, so she gave me a picture of you guys with her. Well, you guys minus arrow girl."

A picture magically appeared, and she held it up for them to see. It was them, minus Artemis, in front of an ice cream shop with Tanya Stewart.

"Mini GL is your boss?"

"She doesn't want me to look at it that way, but she's Master Archivist. So yeah, she's my boss."

"Heh, she wouldn't want you to look at it like that. She would want you to think of her as your equal."

"So... why are you here?"

"Well she found out that you guys had been attacked, and since she can't leave Oa, she asked me to come check on you. She cares greatly about all of you." She looked at the dark skinned Atlantean. "She seems to like you more than the others."

"What, does that mean Kal is her best friend."

"No. She told me about something she heard him say when he was dehydrated in a desert, and he feels that way about someone else. She doesn't know she feels this way, but she feels that way."

"You claim she has no idea what her feelings for me are, but you do."

"Oh, I know her feelings for you as well Kaldur. So does Megan."

"It's kind of sad that she can't tell what the feelings are herself."

"So you three know what her feelings are for me, while she doesn't, and she thinks that I have the same feelings for someone else. What exactly did I say when I was dehydrated?"

"You said, and I quote, 'Tula, I love you, please don't go.' That's why Megan and I don't like the red head right now. It's because of her that our friend has a broken heart and she doesn't know it."

"I've caused her pain? I'm sorry. I didn't know." The red head female turned to the male who had frozen at the news, and the king was keeping him from falling over. "You broke a girls heart?"

He finally unfroze, looking his friend in the eyes. "I didn't know. There was an incident in the desert, we all had memory loss, and I had become dehydrated. I was apparently speaking about you. I don't know how they understood me though considering Kid Flash said I was speaking Gibberish."

"Speak what ever your native tongue is." They all turned to Arisia when she said that, and Aqualad quickly said a few sentences in Atlentean that made Tula go, 'Aww!'. "He said, 'I never meant to hurt Tanya. She is a sweet girl and I am honored to have her affections even though she does not realize what they are.'"

"That's what I said exactly..."

"The Green Lantern power ring can translate and dialect in the galaxy, so we can have a conversation with anyone we need to."

"Say something in French." Kid Flash, of course.

"Pourquoi la Terre ont plusieurs langues?"

"... I am thoroughly impressed."

"How's she doing? Is she eating well? What about sleeping?"

"M'gann, please calm down. Let the girl speak."

"Sorry Uncle J'onn."

"She's fine, and she's a lot calmer than she was the first time I met her a month ago. She feels like she's not reliable, but she's fine. She talks about you guys a lot." Before the conversation could be continued, the ring on the girls finger began beeping. "Oh! That's her. Before I pick up, I have to warn you. I gave her a total make over, so you may not recognize her." They all nod, wondering what she had done to their friends appearance.

Soon enough, a large green projection of the missing Green Lantern filled the room. "Arisia! We need you back at Oa NOW!"

"What's wrong?"

"You remember how I said it's almost impossible to escape custody while on Oa?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Almost impossible. I don't know how, but Atrocitus managed to escape, and he found his ring. There's already nine Lanterns down, and he's plowing through what little forces are here right now and heading for the Citadel."

"WHOA! There was like ten Lanterns guarding him!"

"I know. Only one survived the beating they took. They took him to the medical wing, but I need help NOW! Get he... AGH!"

"TANYA!"

"I need to get there!"

"Take us with you!"

"I can't. The Guardians have forbidden it."

"I don't care. My first human female friend is in trouble, and I want to help."

"We're not about to sit back and not know what her condition is."

"Look, I promise to come tell you how she is after everything has cooled down on Oa. But I don't have time to argue with you right now."

Two Minutes Later

"I can't believe I let you talk me in to taking you with me." She was currently driving a spaceship construct with the team, their mentors, Superman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Tula, and Garth to Oa.

"Hey, I can't let the new girl in my best friends life get killed."

"She's not his girl yet. He needs to ask her out first."

"She needs to survive the whole eight foot tall, angry, red dude first." Everything went quiet at the words Arisia spoke, the harshness of the situation breaking through the attempted conversation.

On Oa

"Wow. I hope this place looks better when it doesn't have an angry ex-Green Lantern rampaging through it."

"He was never a Green Lantern."

"But, when Tanya was talking to you, she said he found his ring." There are other colors in the galaxy too."

Suddenly a swarm of tiny blue people came rushing in their direction.

"Green Lantern Arisia Rrab, why are there non-Green Lanterns here. It's bad enough we have an escaped prisoner, but now we have a swarm of Earthlings?"

"They've come to help."

"Atrocitus managed to take down the Green Lantern with the strongest will, and one of our best warriors, Sinestro. How could Humans without power rings help?"

Appa soon ate his words. The humans without the power rings managed to take down Atrocitus. Serves him right.

They all watched as sixteen green lights flew off the planet, going to their respective sectors. The they all saw a medic carrying Tanya on a gurney construct.

"Will she be alright?"

"We have the finest healers in the Corp. If anyone can save her, it's them. And the head of any division gets the best medical treatment we can offer."

"That's good, ok, she'll be ok. We just have to keep faith.

"You can keep faith on your planet. Green Lantern Arisia, take them back to Earth, and don't bring anyone here without permission again."

"You can't kick us off. We have to be here for Tanya."

"Kid, if we're not welcome here, we have to leave. It doesn't matter what we think."

KF grumbles as they walk away from the Guardians. "Why don't they have more guards here anyway? And why is it always Tanya. It's like the universe hates her."

Tanya POV October 24RTH

The first thing I was aware of when I finally woke up, is the fact that my body was numb. I couldn't feel anything but that buzzing feeling you get when your foot's asleep. When I opened my eyes, it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the brightness.

When I could finally see, the room was all white. And it was filled with gifts you send someone when you want to say, 'Get Well Soon'. Flowers from Earth, candy from Earth, a bunch of other stuff from Earth, and stuff I don't recognize from other planets.

The closest one was a bunch of water lilies arranged in a weird traditional liking way, and pouches of an orange liquid in the middle. With a bit of a struggle, I manage to lift my arm over to a card laying next to the arrangement, and bring it over to read.

'Tanya, we all hope you get better soon. We sent several pouches of underwater plant nectar in pouches, nectar from several different plants. The mixture helps with the healing process, and it tastes sweet. We hope we can see you soon. Kaldur, Tula, Garth, Aquaman, and Queen Mera.'

That's sweet.

"You're awake!"

Looking up, I see Arisia rushing over with Kilowag behind her. "I get back from dealing with Thanagarians and I find that you've been fighting an eight foot tall red person. I called your dad, he should be back soon."

"The only reason, he's not here now is because the Guardians sent him on a mission."

"Atrocitus must have hit you pretty hard. You've been out for a month." I internally groan at that.

"The team?"

"I go and check on them every week. They always have something new for me to bring you. They care about you a lot."

"Yeah, those poozers have my vote of approval. Now, the fish people sent you something to help the healing process, so you should drink some." He lifted one of the pouches from the arrangement, bringing it over, and dropping it in my hands.

As I drink, Arisia updates me on everything I've missed. "There was this group of people called the 'Injustice League', how unoriginal can you get, and they distracted the Justice League with giant plants attacking cities, so the team found them and brought theme down, Aqualad getting help from a doctor named Fate. No idea who that it. Then the team and a magician named Zatanna went and tracked down Red Tornado to find out why he betrayed them, but it turns out he didn't betray them, he just wanted to keep them from getting hurt because of him. There was a training simulation in their minds that went wrong, and that kind of caused some sadness in the team, and they needed counseling, but everyone came out alright, and that's about it."

Wow. That was a really fast summarization of what happened.

"Tanya!" Dad was standing in the doorway, a relieved look on his face. "You're ok."

"I'm good." He came over to the side of my bed, knelt down and took my hand in his. "Dad?"

"Yes Tany?"

"Is there anyway I can go back to Earth? I want to be with the team."

"Jordan, Kilowag, and I have been arguing with the Guardians for the past month about that. You can't leave until they say it's ok, but we're working on it."

I smile at that, finishing the pouch given to me, and felt my eyes droop down. Soon, I'm fast asleep again.