A collab done with Redbat132, who owns Lea/Midnight Hope.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. I own nothing.
Counting Bunnies
Lea looked at her English assignment as she walked with Hal, who had picked her up from school. "Okay, so the theme is Redemption," she said.
"You have to write about someone who is working on redemption or has been redeemed?" Hal asked.
"Yes," she said. "And I know just the person I want to interview."
"Who?"
She grinned. "Plastic Man," she said. "I read a bit about him being an ex-thief, but he's a hero now."
"That he is," Hal said.
"I know I could just read about him online, but what better way to do my paper than talking to the actual hero himself?"
The Green Lantern smiled. "Let me give him a call," he said.
Neil was watching over his son when the phone rang and he answered it. "Hello?" He said.
"Neil, it's Hal," said the person on the other end.
"Hey, Hal," the stretchy hero said. "What's up?"
"Well, my niece has an English assignment where she's writing a paper about someone who is looking for redemption or being redeemed," Hal explained. "She'd like to interview you, if that's okay."
Neil's jaw hit the floor, quite literally. His son giggled and his wife came out. "Neil, what is it?" She asked.
The hero snapped out of his shock. "Hal, did I hear you right?" He asked. "Your niece wants to interview me for an English assignment for school?"
"Yes," Hal said, smiling. "She knows she could read about you online, but she really wants to interview you instead. Would that be okay?"
Neil was still stunned, but smiled. "Hold on, let me ask my wife," he said, turning to his wife. "Hey, honey. Hal's niece is working on an English paper for school and it's about redemption. She wants to interview me for it."
Mrs. O'Brain smiled. "She's welcome to come over," she said.
Neil relayed the message to Hal, who nodded. "I'll drop her off tomorrow afternoon after school," he said.
"That's fine," the stretchy hero said. "I have watch duty at the Watchtower in the morning, but I'll be home after two p.m."
Hal nodded, signing off before turning to Lea, smiling. "He agreed, kiddo," he said.
"Yes!" She cheered happily before looking embarrassed as the cheer echoed, but Hal chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"I'll drop you off at Neil's house tomorrow after school," he said. "We better let your parents know too."
Lea's folks were a bit unsure, but agreed when Hal vouched for Neil. "He's a good guy who's working on redemption," he said. "Plus he's got a wife and a kid. Lea will be safe there."
"Alright," Lea's father agreed and her mother nodded.
"Just make sure to mind your manners and be polite, honey," she gently reminded her daughter.
"Yes, Mom," Lea said.
The next day passed quickly for Lea as she not only went to school, but also helped Hal fight some crime. She felt tired by the time Hal was ready to take her to Neil's house, but she decided to push through, wanting to get her paper done.
Neil opened the door. "Come on in," he said.
Hal smiled. "Call me when you're done with the interview, kiddo," he said.
"I will, Uncle Hal," she promised.
Plastic Man led her to the living room. "Have a seat and we can begin your questions," he said.
Grinning, Lea sat down and got out her paper with questions she had prepared the night before. "Okay, I'm ready," she said. "But if you're not comfortable answering a question, just let me know."
"Will do," he said. "What's your first question?"
"How did you first meet Batman?"
Neil bit his lip a bit before taking a deep breath. "Well, our first meeting wasn't on the best of terms," he said. "I was a thief then, but on that night when Batman came to stop us, I fell into the vat of chemicals. Kite Man, who was my 'boss' at the time, left me there. Batman managed to save me, but by the time he got me out of there...well, I had new powers."
Lea felt sympathy for him. "I can imagine that was a shock when you found that out," she said.
"It was," he said with a nod. "Batman stuck by me until I was stable enough."
She wrote that down. "Okay, next question, what made you decide to become a hero?"
He smiled. "Bats had a lot to do with that," he said, making Lea realize he was referring to Batman. "He spoke up at my parole meeting and convinced the parole board to give me a second chance. I owe him a lot for doing that. Not sure why he did that, but I'm glad he did."
Lea smiled, writing down his answer as she started to feel sleepy, but forced herself to stay awake. "What has been your toughest mission so far?" She asked, managing to hide a yawn in her hand.
"That's a good question," he said as he fell into thought, thinking back on what mission had been tough for him to do. As he was thinking, Lea was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, though she tried hard. But she soon lost the battle, her eyes closing as she fell asleep.
Plastic Man was about to speak up when he noticed the girl had fallen asleep and he smiled, gently picking her up and carrying her to the couch, not offended that she fell asleep. His wife came in and she smiled as she saw her husband use one arm to hold the sleeping teen and the other to pull out the couch bed. "She fell asleep?" She asked gently.
"Yeah," he said. "She's exhausted from school and other stuff."
"Let me get some pillows and a blanket for her."
Plastic Man smiled at his wife as she went to get the items while he sent a text to Hal that Lea had fallen asleep and he and his wife were letting her stay the night and if he could let Lea's folks know so that they weren't worried about their daughter.
Around sending the message, Plastic Man was unaware of Lea's Blue Lantern ring started to faintly glow from the sleeping Lantern herself. As if her stressful thoughts were coming in yet trying to block them out through hopeful thoughts.
Just then, their pet dog, Schnitzel, went over to the sleeping young girl and gave a small kiss lick that made her smile.
"Not now...So much...to do...," Lea muttered sleepily, shifting her sleep position. "Can't...be late...,"
All of a sudden, her ring glowed again until she was constructing something while still asleep.
Plastic Man blinked as he saw a glowing blue rabbit appear and he looked at Lea, noticing the ring on her hand and he gasped in surprise, recognizing the ring to be of the Lantern Corp. "She's a Lantern?" He asked himself.
Schnitzel the dog then barked at the blue rabbit before chasing it all over the room. To matters more interesting, more bunnies big and small continued appearing out of thin air.
"Wow," Plastic Man said in awe before looking at the girl, wondering if he should wake her. He knew Lanterns were serious about keeping their identities hidden and though his wife knew of his alter ego, he didn't want Lea's secret exposed.
A baby bunny went over to the sleeping teen. Carefully sniffing her before cuddling next to her cheek and snuggle sleep there...making the blonde teen smile.
Plastic Man, seeing the teen's face becoming more peaceful, didn't have the heart to wake her then. He just smiled and when his wife came in, she smiled too, seemingly not surprised. "I had a feeling she was a hero," she said softly as her husband carefully tucked a pillow under Lea's head and she placed a blanket over the sleeping teen. "There. Now she's comfortable."
"Thanks for letting her stay the night, Sweetie," the hero said, kissing his wife lovingly.
"Well, it wouldn't have been right to send her on her way while she was tired," she said with a smile. "Besides, what kind of a hostess would I be if I didn't let a tired guest spend the night and get some good sleep?"
He smiled. "You're the most amazing lady, my love," he said.
"Better get your sweet-talking self to bed if you want more kisses," she said teasingly.
He gave her a goofy grin and followed her while Lea continued to sleep on peacefully, not waking up once until it was morning.
Little did they know, Plastic Man's old enemy boss was stalking outside the house, eager for his revenge. "You'll not escape this time, Eel," he said sinisterly.
Uh-oh! Here comes trouble.
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GoldGuardian2418