AN: Another chappie out! Hope you enjoy! Thanks to all who've faved/followed/reviewed!
Disclaimer: If I owned YJ, I wouldn't have an ACen (Anime Convention) budget and my room would be filled with posters, art supplies, and all the manga and pocky I could ever want. I no own song(s) either.
Summary: Faith Evans, a 16-year-old girl, was just trying to make sure that she and her little sister got by in the world. "She was prepared to die when she took that bullet. So can someone explain to her why a dead guy's ring just decided to hitch a ride on her finger?!"
Genre: Humor/Adventure/a little Angst/a little Drama(cause you always need just a bit of Angst/Drama in every story)/Romance(?)
Song(s) used: Oh no!-Marina and the Diamonds
Word Count: 2,886
"Communicating through something (ie: communicators, phones, rings, etc…)"
"Thinking"
Dreams/Flashbacks
"Talking"
Quotes/Lyrics
Chapter 5: Accepting your Fate…Even if it sucks…
Don't do love, don't do friends.
I'm only after success.
Don't need a relationship.
I'll never soften my grip.
Don't want cash, don't want card.
Want it fast, want it hard.
Don't need money, don't need fame.
I just wanna make a change.
Fae had been going through some rough times the past few days. After the whole ring fiasco, she had made her way back to the apartment complex she'd left after her fit since she had nowhere else to go.
She was met by an irritated Thomas who was going to call the cops on her until she had gotten him to let her explain her situation.
It took longer than Fae would've liked to convince him that, no, she didn't have anywhere else to go, and yes, the hotel was the only place she could think of to stay at.
Even though he had given her hell with all the questions -some she couldn't answer and some she wouldn't answer- Thomas had sighed and set her up in an unoccupied room on the 6th floor. He also set her up with a small time job in the apartment so she could work off her stay, though she would have to find a more permanent one if she wanted to officially stay there.
As soon as she had gotten the go ahead, she had retrieved the lantern she'd hid behind a dumpster by the building.
Sneaking it in was a bit difficult since Thomas had still been there, but he was just getting ready to head home so it had been easy enough.
After all she had been through that day, from finding out she was alive to watching a battle between thought-to-be fictional people, Fae had sat the lantern on the floor of her room and went to sleep on a small couch in the living room; Thomas had moved it from the lobby until she figured out what she would do. That's how she got to where she was now.
For the past three days, Fae had been trying to find a job.
Sure she was working around the apartment, but that was only temporary and she doubted the owner even knew.
As harsh as Thomas seemed, he was really sticking his neck out for her by doing all of that for her. If he was found out, Fae had no doubt in her mind that he would get fired. That's why she had gone out in search of a job ever since Sunday.
It was Tuesday now and she was unlucky thus far.
She was extremely fortunate to have stumbled upon Grandpa George back in her time, but it seemed fate wouldn't be so kind in this world.
Walking down Rose Street, she had taken to memorizing the names of streets, roads, and different places –she refused to be directionally challenged in this place-, Fae started to toy with the ring on her finger.
"I still can't believe this. Still alive? Not impossible. I don't know what happened after I blacked out, and I'm obviously breathing now. Another world? Kinda hard not to believe, even though she was still struggling a bit, when there're constant reminders everywhere… But being a Green Lantern? No. Uh-uh. I'm pretty sure I'd of been found by now and taken to that place –what's it called? O-Oa! So maybe I'm just a place-holder?"
Fae was taken out of her thoughts when she heard construction up ahead. It seems that while she was thinking, she had walked to the sight of the battle that had occurred only a few days ago. A place she had been avoiding.
It's not that she was scared –there hadn't been any more attacks, which she was thankful for-; it was just a harsh reminder that, yes, in this world superheroes and villains were real, and no, she hadn't been imagining it.
She would be more at ease with her situation if it wasn't for the fact that she was in a world that was inhabited by thought-to-be FICTIONAL characters.
She stood there for a moment, watching the workers fix up the park and buildings, and then headed off once more.
After a few more minutes of walking, saying the names of streets and places in her mind as she went, Fae ended up at the same empty park that she came to when she first got here.
On her second day, she'd found out that it was incomplete and was eventually abandoned to work on Grand Park, the one that was currently being reconstructed. That's why no one really came to it.
Each day, after failing to find a job, she would end up there, just sitting on the same exact bench and thinking about her situation. It was basically her thinking spot, her peaceful place.
Looking up at the sky and noting that it was only about noon, Fae decided she would take a little nap. A burst of nostalgia hit her as she thought about the many times she and Emily would fall asleep at a park after they'd played for hours. She hoped her little sister was alright.
"Of course she is! Grandpa is looking out for her so there's no need to worry. He'll make sure she's ok…"
Lying down on the hard stone, her thoughts turned to her newfound jewelry.
"Why do I get the feeling that this is gonna cause more trouble than it's worth?"
She drifted off under the sun's warm rays, unknowing that the ring she was just thinking about was sending out pulses of energy.
One track mind, one track heart.
If I fail, I'll fall apart.
Maybe it is all a test.
'Cause I feel like I'm the worst so I always act like I'm the best.
If you are not very careful,
Your possessions will possess you.
TV taught me how to feel.
Now real life has no appeal.
Hal was frustrated, and that was putting it mildly.
It had been three days since he started his search for this new Green Lantern. The Guardians hadn't specified exactly where this person was, just that they were on Earth.
They could've at least given him a hint!
Currently, he was walking the halls of the Watchtower, grumbling under his breath about "blue midgets" that "can't give directions". He'd had a long week, he was allowed to complain.
Before he began actively searching, Hal had told the rest of the founding members about his upcoming duties and that he would be on Oa for quite a while. That was IF he could find the new Lantern.
He huffed in irritation.
"Hey, GL!"
Hal closed his eyes as he came to a halt, taking deep breaths.
"I must've done something wrong in a previous life to deserve this…"
A red-gloved hand found its way onto his shoulder.
"So GL, any luck with finding that new GL?"
Hal had to keep himself from sighing. Flash was only curious, and he just got excited when he was curious. And nosy. Really nosy.
"No Flash, I haven't. The Guardians haven't exactly told me how to find them."
He must've heard how frustrated Hal was with the whole hide-'n'-seek thing the Guardians were putting him through.
"Hey, don't be so stressed out about it. I'm sure you'll find 'em sooner or later. In the meantime, let's go get some food!"
Hal couldn't help but smile. Trust the Flash to solve everything with food.
Turning around, they both headed for the cafeteria. Or that's what would've happened if Hal hadn't of sensed a burst, or pulse more like it, of energy and stopped dead in his tracks.
"GL? What's wr-"
"No time! Sorry, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that meal!"
He flew away, ignoring Flash's protests and shouts of "GL!"
He sped towards the Zeta tubes and had J'onn beam him down.
Landing in Terra City, specifically Grand Park, where he'd felt the pulse come from, he scanned the area trying to figure out where the Green Lantern was.
Another pulse.
He was flying away before people could register that he'd even been there.
Following the energy trail from the, now frequent, pulses, he came upon the incomplete park that was just on the edge of the city.
The pulses had stopped as soon as he landed so he decided that he'd take a look around.
And saw no one.
The park was completely deserted, not like anyone came in the first place since it'd never been finished.
Hal was ready to throw his hands in the air and give up. How in the world was it so hard to find ONE person?!
As he turned to leave, grumbling over another search failed, he heard a soft noise.
Whirling around, he had his ring out in an instant. A part of him wanted it to be a villain; he needed someone to take his frustrations out on. A hero he may be but everyone needed to vent sometimes.
When he saw nothing he went to leave once more but then the noise came back, so he concentrated on listening. He heard it again and instead of sounding like the light footsteps of someone trying to be sneaky, like he'd thought, it sounded more like a person breathing.
Curious, he listened more closely and followed the sound.
He came upon a teen girl, and it was, in fact, the same teen girl that he'd saw during his fight!
Looking towards her hands, he saw that her left hand was covering her right over her stomach. Not seeing the ring yet, and getting a little disheartened because he thought he'd found the new Lantern, he decided to lift her hand as gently as possible to make sure if it wasn't on the other one.
He could've done a happy dance when he saw it sitting there on her right middle finger.
Deciding to wake her up and introduce himself, though he thought it wasn't necessary, he gently shook her shoulder.
As the girl started to stir, he felt his bad mood disappear completely. He'd finally found the new Green Lantern, not to mention he would finally be a mentor.
He was positive that his cheeks would hurt later on from grinning so much.
I'm gonna live.
I'm gonna fly.
I'm gonna fail.
I'm gonna die.
I'm gonna live.
I'm gonna fly.
I'm gonna fail.
Gonna die, die, die, diiie.
Fae was having a good dream, her first good dream since she'd got here to be exact. And she definitely didn't appreciate someone waking her up from it.
"This guy's gonna get it as soon as I get up."
She conveniently forgot that she was sleeping outside, and that someone just might be concerned enough to wake her.
"Or they could be a serial killer-rapist-douche-bag…"
Fae was hoping for the latter so she wouldn't feel guilty once she punched them.
Opening her eyes a bit, she felt them widen all the way when she realized who was in front of her. She'd been waaaay off with the latter statement.
"Oh…my…God…" She was suddenly thankful that she had looked first before punching like she often did. She was positive that it wouldn't have been good if she had.
Standing before her was Hal Jordan, the first Green Lantern from Earth.
Fae felt a blush come to her face as she realized that one of her favorite superheroes had seen her sleep. What if she snored, or worse, drooled! She wouldn't be able to live it down!
So she casually, or as casually as she could in his presence, put her hand to her mouth to check for saliva. Fae could've jumped for joy when she felt none.
Remembering that he was still standing there, she looked up and felt the strongest urge.
Fae couldn't help it. She started checking him out -as discreetly as she could of course! And man, the cartoons had nothing on real life! Well, real now at least.
His green and black costume showcased his muscles quite nicely. And if she hadn't been drooling while she was asleep, she definitely was now.
She blushed even harder.
Then a thought occurred to her that effectively stomped down on her budding fantasy.
Hal was here.
He was a Green Lantern.
She had a Green Lantern ring.
Oh God…
Her mind went into overdrive as she thought about what that meant. This wasn't happening; she wasn't ready! This was all becoming too real, too fast.
With that last thing in mind, she did the only thing that she could do at the time.
Fae ran.
Hal couldn't help but feel a bit smug when he saw her eyes widen when she came too.
He didn't usually indulge in people getting star struck over him, he'd get Flash's inflated ego if he did, but it was nice to see people appreciating him once in a while.
And appreciate him she did. He was a little surprised when he saw her eyes drifting over his form, trying to checking him out without him noticing. He gave her points for trying to be subtle but he was too trained not to.
He felt kinda flattered that he was her superhero crush, practically everybody had one. He was a little tired of seeing Superman posters with hearts on them.
When he saw her blush when she caught herself staring, Hal almost laughed aloud. He could tell that working with her would be fun –more like embarrassing her would be, but that was beside the point- and was yet again thankful that he had an opportunity to be a mentor.
Just as he was about to save her from more embarrassment and introduce himself, he saw her freeze. Then she did something he really wasn't expecting.
She ran.
If he hadn't been so shocked he would've thought about how Flash would be impressed with how fast she'd bolted off, but there was no time to think about that.
Shaking off his stunned state, Hal turned in the direction she took off and called after her.
"Hey! WAIT! Come back!" But she had either suddenly turned deaf or was ignoring him, he was betting on the latter, because she kept running.
Flying after her, he used his ring to stop her by entrapping her ankles in cuffs.
Hal couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as she face-planted. Admittedly, he shouldn't have thought it was funny but there's something about a face-plant that's funny no matter who it happens to. Unless it was the Bat. Then you'd better run for the hills and pray you weren't caught up in his rage.
Shivering at the thought, he shook it off and landed in front of the girl, keeping her in the cuffs just in case she tried to run off again.
He saw her struggling to sit up and his amusement immediately died down to be replaced by concern and guilt -maybe she seriously hurt herself when he made her fall?
Just when he was about to ask if she was alright, she lifted her head and looked at him with an embarrassed blush on her face.
"What do you want?"
"What do you want?" She heard herself ask.
She couldn't believe that she'd fell –face-planted!- in front of the Hal Jordan! Granted, he was the one that had made her, but that was beside the point. She had run –RUN- from him in the first place which was, admittedly, a stupid thing to do.
So here she was, on the ground, looking up at her favored hero, and what a nice view it was.
"Stop it!" Fae yelled at herself mentally. She would've hit herself in the head if it wouldn't have seemed odd.
She had to focus and keep a clear head. She'd asked him a question and was currently waiting on his answer, though she already had a clue to what he wanted –more than a clue, really, but she wanted to hear it from him. That way being in this new world would be final, and she could stop doubting her sanity.
"I'm a Green Lantern-" She heard him say, not that she didn't already know that piece of information.
"-and that ring on your finger," he pointed to it, "makes you one too."
Fae closed her eyes and released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. His answer definitely finalized things.
"I need you to come with me."
Reopening her eyes, Fae felt the shackles that restrained her disappear and saw Hal extending his hand to her.
Taking it, she got to her feet and dusted herself off. Glancing at him, she looked away quickly –to keep herself from staring- and asked another question.
"So where are we going?" She glanced over again and saw a grin spread across his face.
"Have you ever flown?"
She felt her eyes widen.
"Oh boy…"
I know exactly what I want and who I want to be.
I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine.
I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy.
Oh. Oh no. Oh no! Oh no! OH!
Chapter 5 End
AN: So here's the next one. I got this out sooner than I thought I would. It's all thanks to my cousin who made me finish since I said I would do a second chapter (it was supposed to be out yesterday with Chapter 4 but it hadn't been finished). So I hope you enjoyed it! And sorry if I'm making Fae perv on Hal but…I LOVE that guy! If I was in the DC Universe, I would be molesting SO MANY guys it'd be a shame XD. So review! Reviews = love and motivation! :D