/O/

Ray was bored. The meeting was just another 'keep up the good work' speech. Nothing had been built upon since the Blackest Night. Ray remembered that night clearly. He had seen his ex-wife at her worst, brought back from the dead. He remembered the feeling when he wielded the Indigo Tribe's ring. It was like no other feeling. It was like the first time he had fought crime as the Atom. Euphoria wrapped in fear and anxiety. The perfect adrenaline rush. He wished he could have that feeling again, minus the world being in danger of Armageddon factor. Perhaps a partner?

No, he could barely handle dealing with his assistant in the lab for hours at a time. Maybe he should start dating again? Again, not the answer. The last two girlfriends he had were dead, crazy before that. He knew he had a bad taste in women. He couldn't deny it.

But doing nothing was killing him! All the time, the JLA took care of all the distress calls, leaving him time to agonize over small details in his lab, like nanotechnology's role in the new world. It was going to be big, that much he knew, but the extent of its uses were endless. Would they be able to use it to its fullest potential? Probably not, but a man could dream.

He daydreamed while staring out the panel windows that surrounded the boardroom. Something green shot past. He figured it was Kyle, John, Guy, or even Hal. But the green streak was too small to be a person. In fact, it was just a ring. Panic welled up inside Ray. The only way a green ring could be given to a person in sector 2814 was if one of them died. He stood up from his seat at the long, expensive glass table.

"I'm sorry, everyone, but I've got some JLA business to attend to." he excused himself. The advantage to having revealed his identity years ago was that no one could question were he was for various times. He was honest about his absences.

He ran into his office and picked up the phone. His fingers were shaking as he dialed Hal's number. The phone rang for a few minutes, then picked up.

"Ray?" Hal's voice asked on the other end of the line. "What's up?"

"Hal! Oh, thank goodness you're alive!" Ray sputtered. "There was this Green Lantern ring that flew by and I had thought- well, it doesn't matter now, does it? Where's John? Is Kyle alright?"

"Woah, woah, Ray, calm down!" Hal tried to soothe his friend over the phone. "Kyle's right here with me, and John's got his hands full with fixing the Golden Gate Bridge right now. Guy's at his apartment, he just called me with some good news."

"Thank God," Ray sank into his leather swivel chair by the claw footed desk. "What's this good news?"

"We've got an influx in new heroes. I mean, the Mimic and Cardinal thing was years ago, and they're already ingrained in the system. But these new guys, like Phoenix and Dragon, and the new Sigma Lanterns that we're getting today-"

"Sigma Lanterns? That explains the ring." Ray sighed in relief. "What do they do?"

"Well, the Sigma Lanterns are basically Green Lanterns assigned to just Earth as the role of Multiverse protectors. Phoenix and her cousin Dragon are basically like Hawk and Dove, with Phoenix as the peace lover and Dragon as the aggressor. They have this ability with fire, though, that's really neat, but that's only when it's not at you. Anyway, we gotta go. The new Sigma Lanterns are supposed to meet us here. And one of them is from South Africa, Ray! How cool is that?" Hal droned on.

"That sounds really cool. Are the JLA going to induct them?"

"Not for a while. We have to take them under our 'ring' for a while." Kyle laughed over the phone. "Get it? Ring! 'Cause we're Green Lanterns who use rings!"

"Hilarious. Are they at least going to meet them?" Ray tried a direct approach.

"Yeah. Well, a few of them. Not the Bat or Supes. I think the only founders that are gonna see them would be Flash and I. Ever since those twins were born, Flash has been so much busier. I guess it's the whole parenting thing, right?" Hal mused.

"Yeah. Kids take a lot of time out of your schedule." Ray answered.

"You ever think about what life would be like with them?" Hal hit him with the question.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Ray thought about the plans his ex and he had made years ago, before Elongated Man and his wife had died. "All the time."

/O/