"How serious is it?" Alan asked, concerned.
"Very," Kent said as the golden glow faded from his eyes. "The amount of power in your lantern… is like a sun. The vast majority of it is from The Green and there's no trace of the Shadowlands, but I'm guessing that's because all of it escaped into the black ring."
"So, what's the problem?" Ted asked.
"If a villain got his hands on this, like Mordru, we wouldn't be able to stop him," Kent said. "We have to ward it as soon as possible and the only one I trust to make wards strong enough is Nabu."
"I thought you two weren't really on speaking terms," Alan said.
"For something this important he'd be more upset if I didn't call on him," Kent said.
"I was more concerned with a malevolent force lurking inside the Starheart than anyone grabbing it," John said with a frown. "Pretty sure anyone who wants to use the Starheart is going to have to break Alan's will first and that's damn near impossible."
"They wouldn't have a chance if they came at him directly, but the ones who'd want to use it wouldn't be that foolish," Kent said. "The most likely plan of attack would be to slip a malign entity into the lantern and slowly corrupt him."
"So, I was right, just not right now," John said with a grin.
"That was a horrible pun," Ted said.
"I'm guessing this is something that occurred in your timeline, which asking you about would be useless because you don't remember your timeline," Alan guessed, shaking his head.
"Probably," John agreed, "I'm mostly just following my instincts to try and get on top of disasters I can see coming. You know, common sense stuff."
"I don't think what you consider common sense is what we consider common sense," Alan told him.
"Probably," John agreed before waving it off. "Now, how long is it going to take to get Dr. Fate out here?"
"I'll have to go to Salem and talk to him," Kent said. "It shouldn't take more than a week for us to design a warding scheme for the Starheart. So, figure a little over a week, nine days is my best guess."
"So, ward the house and see you in a week and some change?" Alan asked.
Kent nodded. "I'll ward the house and you can drop me off at the Tower if you don't mind, that'll save me some time."
"Or alternatively we could top up our ring charges and drop you off at the town with my lantern just to be safe," Alan suggested.
"That would take a load off my mind," Kent said, relieved. "I can make you a key so you can enter the Tower when you need to recharge."
John picked up his brick of Lantern rings and pulled it in two. "Or he can use these already charged rings for the next week or so. Plus, I have a charger for the standard flavor of Lantern ring that can keep us charged for most of what we do."
"And since the Green Lanterns can charge twice a day you can split it," Ted said.
"Actually, my charger doesn't work that way," John said. "I can charge a ring every two hours, but it takes the full two hours. At any rate it means we can keep a couple of fully charged rings on us at all times."
"You really believe in being prepared," Ted said with an approving smile.
"An ounce of prevention, or in my case a pound," John replied.
"I'm surprised you haven't given Alan a blue ring as well," he said.
"The blue ring can't duplicate itself and the green ones are incompatible with its power or I would have," John replied. "An extra healer on hand is never a bad idea."
"That's a good point," Alan said. "I've been going over the medical files in my ring and the various healing techniques available and I think I can at least play paramedic if not heal a number of injuries outright."
"Excellent, now I just have to convince the other Lanterns to study them and the Justice League will be a lot more effective," the younger Lantern said with a smile.
"I've completed the anti-mind control protocols, sir," James announced, the ring glowing slightly as it spoke.
"Update all rings and forward to the Oans for review," John said, "they may find it useful."
"Doing it now, sir," James replied, letting off a pulse of green light. "Done, sir."
"And that should prevent a number of problems, including drunken shenanigans," John said cheerfully.
"Drunken shenanigans?" the three old men chorused and then looked at each other in surprise.
"The mind control protocol also deals with situations where you are drugged or drunk and acting out of character in a dangerous way," John explained.
"So, you can't get drunk?" Ted asked with a frown.
"We can get drunk," John assured him, "it just prevents us from getting so drunk we do things we'll regret."
"Huh, coulda used a ring like that a time or two," the old boxer said with a grin, "of course, those incidents did make for some good memories… when I sobered enough to remember them anyway."
"I tend to avoid those situations," Kent said, "drunken spellcasting is a recipe for disaster if you're lucky."
"Well, I need to get ready for my date, so let's dump you off at the tower and deliver the rings to my kids," Alan said. "John, you're on your own for tonight, don't call unless it's urgent and the Justice League isn't available."
"It's not even noon," Ted pointed out, wondering why he was in such a rush.
"Yes, but my kids are going to expect more than just a hello when I visit them, and… my date is with Wonder Woman," Alan admitted.
Ted turned to John. "He may need four balls, how long will it take to grow an extra pair?"
"Wise ass," Alan said as he waited for the laughter to die down.
"I'll give you a ride back to Gotham," John told Ted. "And I'll make myself scarce for your date, good luck!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You ever think about taking up boxing?" Ted asked as they entered Wildcat gym, the sounds of fists hitting bags and stale sweat washing over them.
"Not if I can avoid it," John said, shaking his head. "I don't like getting punched in the face, it messes up all my plans."
"The object of learning to fight is to avoid getting punched in the face," Ted told him. "Learning to fight means learning to avoid getting hit."
"That's why I have forcefields," John said with a grin.
"Forcefields can be broken," Ted pointed out.
"I know, that's why I have three of them," John said, "and anything that can get through all three… fighting back isn't going to be an option because I'll be splatted over a three-block radius."
"Huh," Ted said thoughtfully, "that's actually the first time someone had a decent reason for not learning hand to hand."
"So, you'll give up?"
"Nah, just means I've gotta come up with another reason," Ted replied.
John chuckled. "You just want the chance to see me get bounced around the ring."
"That's only part of my motive," Ted said, waving a hand, "I also want to pass on my love of the sport."
"That's a good reason," the Lantern admitted. "Still not my thing, not sure why; memory loss."
"Yeah, if I had amnesia I'd avoid getting punched in the head too," he joked.
"Well, give me a call if you need me or you come up with a good enough reason for me to get my ass knocked around the ring for a bit," John said. "I'm off to visit the children's cancer ward."
"Why there?"
"I can heal people, can't let that go to waste," John replied.
"I hear ya," the older man agreed. "If I had the ability to heal I'd do the same thing. See ya around, kid."
"See ya around, old man."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Lamar shifted in his hospital bed, trying not to move too much because his joints ached, as he watched My Little Pony on the TV across the room.
Some people would say a ten year old boy shouldn't be watching such a girly cartoon, but he didn't care; it was one of the few cartoons that distracted Ashley from all the pain she was in after her latest round of chemo and he knew he wasn't long for this world anyway because someone from the Make A Wish Foundation was coming to visit him.
All the kids in the ward knew what that meant.
"What are you going to wish for?" David, the bald kid in the bed next to his asked in a whisper, unable to speak any louder.
"Don't know," Lamar replied quietly, "depends on who they send I guess."
"Who they send?"
"Yeah," Lamar replied, "if it's a guy I'll see if maybe I can go see a wrestling match, cause he'll be able to help me out of my bed and push a wheelchair."
"And a girl?"
"Box set of My Little Pony," Lamar said firmly as if daring him to argue.
"That'd be nice," David rasped out. "I like Spike."
"He is a cool little dude," he agreed.
The door to the ward opened and a dark-haired man in a Green Lantern outfit entered.
Lamar raised a trembling arm and waved him over. "Are you here to grant my wish?" he asked hopefully, knowing a superhero would be able to do things a normal person couldn't.
"I am," John said, "and before you make your wish you should know, I can heal people."
"Really?!" Lamar asked excitedly.
"Cross my heart," John promised. "Say the word and I can remove your cancer and have you on your feet in minutes."
"Wow," Dave whispered in awe.
Lamar opened his mouth, paused, and closed his eyes, chewing on his lower lip for a few seconds.
'Will detected,' James announced in John's head.
Lamar opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "I wish for you to heal Ashley," he said, his voice shaking a little.
John froze for a moment in surprise before clearing his throat. "And which one is Ashley?"
"She's over there, with the blonde wig," the young boy said, forcing his arm to lift up enough to gesture to his left.
John stepped over to a young girl lying in bed, her wig only half on and an IV bag feeding her through her right arm.
Ashley's eyes widened as blue light surrounded her, taking away the pain and the fog her thoughts had been in from the medicine they gave her. New strength filled her limbs as she sat up, the blonde wig falling to reveal a full head of black hair. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Holy shit I'm hungry!"
John burst out laughing as the children smiled and those that could, cheered. He could feel the charge in his blue ring draw less power as he finished restoring her and walked back over to the young black boy who had wished for his friend to be healed. "I think you deserve another wish. What will it be?"
"Heal David," Lamar said, gesturing to the boy next to him.
"Me?" David rasped out.
"Haven't had a good rap battle since you lost your voice," Lamar said, "can't have you going out like a bitch."
A blue aura surrounded the young boy and red hair spurted from his head as his emaciated frame filled out. "Bro," he said loudly, looking at his arms which no longer looked like thin white sticks, "I… I'm hungry. I haven't been hungry in a year!"
John turned back to Lamar. "Let's try again. What is your wish?"
"Shelia could use some healing," he said, locking eyes with the Lantern, refusing the implication that he wish to be healed.
"Alright," John said with a nod, turning and walking across the room. "Who's Shelia?"
"Shouldn't you ask him to heal you?" David asked.
"Don't know how many people he can heal," Lamar said, "not going to waste it on me when I can help them."
John returned and was given another name and healed another child, coming back only to be sent away again. This continued until Lamar was the only child left. "Okay kid, last wish. Say the words I've been waiting to hear."
Lamar smiled. "Genie, I wish you were free."
There was silence for a moment before the children burst out laughing and John shook his head.
"I'm going to heal you now, if you don't mind," John said with a smile.
"I'd really like that," Lamar said and sighed as the pain and weakness went away, his body surrounded by a blue aura.
"Why's it blue?" David asked. "Aren't you a Green Lantern?"
"I am, and it's blue because it's a Blue Lantern Ring, which is the best color for healing. I picked it up because I like healing people more than punching people," John explained. "And done!"
Lamar examined himself and smiled, feeling his head and finding his hair had grown back. "You are awesome!"
"Yes I am," John agreed. "Now, before I go, is there anything else you guys need?"
"Mommy and Daddy were always worrying about how much me being sick cost," a little red-haired girl said. "Can you fix that?"
John nodded, thinking of all the gold he had in his subspace pocket. "I'll go take care of that now."
The children called out thanks as he was leaving, telling him he was their favorite superhero ever.
John just grinned, almost bumping into a young woman on his way out. "Excuse me."
"It's okay," she told him, stepping back and letting the door close, holding a file to her chest as she stared at the door nervously, not even really registering who he was.
"Are you okay?" he stopped to ask.
"Just steeling myself," she said, not looking away from the door. "I'm from the Make a Wish Foundation and there's a young man in there who doesn't have a lot of time left. I love helping them, but it's hard to keep smiling and encourage a positive attitude when you see what they're going through, you know?"
"He might recover, miracles do happen," John said.
"Well, I hope we see another today," she said, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on her face before opening the door. "Lamar Wilson, I'm here to grant your wish!"
John grinned and walked down the hall with a spring in his step. He had a billing department to visit.
Typing By: Abyssal Angel
TN: Ted said, waving a hand, "I also want to pass on my love of the sport."
Ugh. Hearing fighting be called a sport is grating. But then I'm also aware my definition of fighting differs from most. What most people call a fight, I call sparring. What I call a fight… Well, I hope I never get in one because if I get into a fight, someone's not getting out of it alive. Not without some luck involved. And I don't feel like dying, almost dying, going to jail, or having someone or something's death on my conscience.
TN2: "Mommy and Daddy were always worrying about how much me being sick cost," a little red-haired girl said. "Can you fix that?"
…I propose we storm every government office and hospital and demand the children in cancer wards are treated for free. At the very LEAST.
TN3: … #Dogbertistryingtokillus …Seriously, I've seen people pluck heart strings, and sometimes strum them. I wasn't expecting to suddenly have mine smashed like a tack hammer on piano strings screaming FEEL THE FEELS! CHOKE ON THEM! HOW DOES IT TASTE!?
AN: Bwahahaha! Self Inserts are all about wish fulfilment.