"So, what brings you out here?" John asked. "As far as I know your normal hunting ground is Gotham."
"Can we get some introductions?" Alan requested.
"Sure," John said, as Grace was busy eating a burger.
"Grace or Orca when transformed, is one of Batman's rogue gallery, but unlike the majority of them the reason she commits crimes is actually a decent one, Grace is robbing from the rich to fund the orphanages in Gotham," John explained.
"Nice to meet you," Alan said politely, "I'm Green Lantern, the original one."
"I'd say it's nice to meet you, but getting arrested is always unpleasant," Grace said, "though I will admit this is a lot better than when Batman or one of his proteges catches me."
"You're not under arrest," John told her.
"I'm not?"
"She's not?"
"As far as I know she's not wanted in Canada," John replied with a shrug, "and it's not like Batman's so obsessive he's going to hunt her down all the way out here."
*knock*knock*knock*
The three turned to stare at the door.
"I bet that's him," Grace said with a sigh.
"That's highly unlikely," Alan disagreed.
"Which means it probably is him," John said, using his ring to open the door, revealing a black cowled vigilante. His cape would have flared dramatically in the wind, but John created a thin green membrane on the door to keep the heat in.
"You are insane," Grace told Batman, who blinked and looked confused for a moment.
"Batman, what brings you all the way out here?" Alan asked.
"You've been inactive for a number of years," Batman replied, "so when you were spotted in action with a sidekick who is completely unknown, I decided to investigate matters."
"You're not here for me?" Grace asked in disbelief.
"You're not wanted in Canada," Batman replied.
"Not going to argue about the sidekick label?" Alan asked John.
John shrugged. "I'm better at support so sidekick fits and I don't have a huge ego. I'm fine with being a sidekick, you are teaching me after all."
Alan chuckled.
"What are you doing to her back?" Batman demanded as he noticed a couple of green threads of energy connecting John's ring to Grace's lower back.
"Fixing past damage," John replied. "If the injury was fresh I could heal it in a matter of minutes, but since it's an old injury and a spinal one at that, I have to map out and reconnect the nerve strands one by one."
"You can fix my back?" Grace asked softly.
"Doing it now," John replied, "it's just a long slow process. I should have you back on your feet in about an hour."
"I have some questions," Batman said, in his most polite manner, which still came across as a demand.
"Fire away," John said.
"How are you wielding a green lantern ring when the Guardians of Oa have no record of you?"
"I'm a paradox child," John replied. "Someone altered the timestream and my protections weren't one hundred percent effective, so I exist but all knowledge of me was wiped from existence."
"So, we only have your word about who you are," Batman said suspiciously.
"No, I said all knowledge, that includes mine, I had to put things together from what I could figure out," John said.
"You having no knowledge yourself doesn't provide any additional evidence," Alan pointed out.
"Yes, but I'm saying my word really isn't evidence either, because I'm guessing myself," John explained.
"Makes sense," Alan agreed. "Well, as much as anything to do with time travel does anyway."
"Are you going to change the timeline back?" Grace asked, having a hard time following what they were discussing.
"I have zero information to go on and messing with the fabric of time is always a bad idea," John said, "besides it's also possible someone changed things back from someone messing with the timelines so there actually is nothing to find as I'm from the altered timeline which has ceased to be."
"That's convenient," Batman said, glaring at John as if he could force a more acceptable answer from him.
"Not for me," John said, completely unconcerned, "I'm having to relearn a lot of things from scratch."
"You don't seem all that upset," Grace noted curiously.
"I'm a green lantern, we aren't chosen because we're angsty," John replied with a shrug. "It makes much more sense to work on building a new life than moping about an old one and since I have zero memory of it, it's not like I can miss it."
"And the reason you didn't contact one of the currently active green lanterns?" Batman asked.
"Standing rule is not to contact another lantern corps," John replied, "and since we come from different timelines I'm not one of them."
Batman slowly nodded. "Would you object to having one of the League's specialists verify your story?"
"Anything short of scanning my memories is fine," John replied. "I may not have memories of why I know some of the secrets I hold, but I still remember there are things that are kept secret for a reason."
Batman gave a terse nod. "That's acceptable."
There was a flash of green from outside the open door as a green lantern arrived and stepped inside. "Green Lantern," he introduced himself.
"There's a lot of that going around," Grace noted.
"Guy, I have the situation well in hand," Batman told him, visibly annoyed at his interruption.
"I know but it is a green lantern problem, so it falls in my bailiwick," Guy says, offering his hand to John. "Guy Gardner, Green Lantern for sector 2814."
John reflexively shakes his hand and Guy's hand flared green as he yanked his hand back and clenched his fist before dropping the shattered remains of John's ring onto the ice as a blast of cold blew in the now unshielded door.
"Problem solved," Guy said smugly, "you're safe now." He closed the door behind him.
Everyone looked to the shattered ring and then back at Guy.
"What? Don't everyone thank me at once," the green lantern said sarcastically.
"Why would I thank you for destroying my ring?" John asked, annoyed but genuinely curious as to what Guy had been thinking.
"It was an anti-green ring?" Guy offered carefully, realizing he may have misread the situation.
"Give me a copy of your ring," John said, holding out his hand.
"What?! Why?"
"Because you broke mine, which wasn't an anti-green ring, and I'm in the middle of fixing Grace's back so she can walk again," John explained, finding the situation both funny and a good chance to get a copy of the standard green lantern's files.
"I'm only authorized to make temporary copies," Guy admitted with a wince.
"I only need a temporary copy," John replied. "I can repair my ring and fix Grace's back within the twenty-four hour limit."
"Alright," Guy said embarrassed as he generated an energy construct ring and passed it over. "Sorry for screwing things up here."
"It happens," John said as he put on the ring. "Ring telepathic communication only," he ordered it, gathering up the pieces of his ring and slowly pieced it back together, using his hidden copy to restore its programming as he didn't trust the Guardian's copy, knowing they had multiple restrictions in place.
"Why set it for silent communication?" Batman asked.
"The amount of information it can feed back to me is loads greater," John replied as he set his newly repaired ring on his left hand and set it to copying files from the copy of Guy's ring, while using Guy's to return to repairing Grace's back, finding several techniques in the rings memory that would drastically speed up the process.
"I can feel my toes," Grace said excitedly, "they're cold!"
"Excellent," John said. "Thanks to your shape shifting, your muscle tone is fine, so you'll be able to walk as soon as I've finished. You'll be a bit clumsy as your brain relearns precise movement, but that shouldn't be a big problem."
"Thank you," Grace said, "I can't tell you what this means to me."
"If you want to pay me back, keep your nose clean and stay in Canada, I'm pretty sure there is something in the air of Gotham that drives people crazy," John told her. "You do that and I'll create an endowment for the local orphanages that exceeds what you made as a criminal."
"Really?" she asked wide eyed.
"Helping orphans is in my job description," he told her, "but I'm serious about Gotham, stay away from it."
"I will," she agreed. "I can feel my butt a little, it's numb!"
"You really think there's something in the air?" Guy asked as Batman clenched his teeth and forced himself to remain quiet.
"The land Gotham is on is cursed," John replied. "I know the tribe who originally lived there cursed the land as they were driven off or killed and I'm pretty sure at least one dark sorcerer or demon has been imprisoned there."
"It's your city, what do you think?" Guy asked the caped crusader.
"I've consulted with several magical practitioners," Batman allowed, "and while the malign sphere of influence surrounding Gotham encourages… poor decisions, it does not force people to make them. The more hope and faith the population generates the more the sphere degrades."
"Funding orphanages will help speed that up," Alan pointed out.
"So will cleaning and reopening the public parks," John said thoughtfully, "something power rings excel at."
"What? Seriously?" Guy asked.
"Have you even bothered to consult with your ring's AI to look through the list of advanced techniques?" John asked.
Guy's eyes glowed green as he mentally scrolled through a number of lists. "Man, would you look at that!"
"You never checked your ring for a list of uses?" Grace asked in disbelief.
"Nah, I was trained in person on ring use," Guy replied distractedly, "and you can do just about anything you can imagine, I just never imagined half of these."
"Since most Green Lanterns primarily function as police officers the training they receive reflects that," John explained, "so even the more useful non-combat techniques are rarely taught."
"Are you going to sign up with the corps?" Guy asked, setting aside learning new techniques for the moment.
"No," John said shaking his head, "as a temporal anomaly The Guardians are likely to stick me in a science-cell given half a chance and even if they didn't they'd assign me to patrol a sector of space to enforce the law and my natural inclinations are more towards social work than law enforcement."
"You did pretty well helping out GL," Guy pointed out.
"I have no problem fighting crime, I just think my time is better spent dealing with the social issues that cause it," John explained.
"You won't hear me knocking social workers," Guy said, "I still like to keep my hand in working with disabled kids and youth homes."
"I've also done my share of social work," Alan said thoughtfully. "I wonder if all green lanterns share that background."
"The other green lantern for this sector doesn't," Guy said, "but I wouldn't be surprised if we all share the inclination, I mean we all wanna do what's right and what's more right than helping kids?"
"Amen to that," Grace said. "Oh, I can feel my legs!"
"And done," John said as Grace laughed and kicked her legs, tears of happiness running down her face.
"I have got to learn how to do that," Guy said.
"All the files are on your ring," John pointed out, "just put aside some time to focus on them."
"You can bet I will," Guy said. "Man, I love being a lantern!"
"It has its perks," Alan agreed. "Now, who wants a burger and a beer?"
"Don't mind if I do," Guy said, accepting a bottle from Alan before taking a seat. "What have you caught so far?"
"Grace," John said, gesturing to the blonde who carefully stood up and hugged him.
"I'll let Manhunter know you're going off shift," Batman told Guy before giving a respectful nod to the other lanterns and tapping his comm. "One to port." He vanished in a burst of light.
"I can walk again, Batman didn't arrest me, and the orphanages are going to get funded," Grace said, "today has been the best day ever."
"Are you wanted in Canada?" Guy asked before taking a sip of beer.
"No, just Gotham," she replied. "I robbed rich people to try and fund three orphanages."
"Probably not the best way to go about it, but at least your heart was in the right place," Guy said. "Still, I'd avoid Gotham if I were you."
"I will," she agreed. "This has been great, but I've got to get going, I have someone waiting for me back at camp."
"If you need help, contact Polaris telecom and tell one of the operators you need to talk to green lantern, they'll put you right through to me," John told her.
"I will," she agreed. "I need to change, would you all mind turning around?"
"Let me know when and I'll subspace your clothes," John said as he turned around.
"What are we not looking at?" Guy asked as he turned to face the wall.
"Now please," Grace said, there was a splash a second later and the three turned back around.
"Grace is also known as Orca," John explained, "she changes into a massive orca-human hybrid."
"What was an orca doing in a lake in Canada?" Guy asked.
"They hunt moose," Alan said.
"Are you kidding me?" Guy asked.
"Hand to god," John said amused.
"Burger up," Alan said, passing one to John.
"Thanks," he said, taking a big bite.
"Got an extra pole?" Guy asked.
"Sure," Alan agreed, taking one out of subspace, "bait's in the bucket."
"Don't need the bait," Guy said, "I don't really care if I catch anything, It's just more relaxing to drink beer with a fishing pole in your hand."
"So I've heard," Alan said with a grin.
Typing by: fyrewolf5
TN: Wow, it wasn't Batman leaping to horrible conclusions this time, and fortunately for Guy's conscience John was able to fix his ring with the temporary one.