"These are good," Kara said between bites of her taco, "much better than the ones in the US."
"That's the difference between home cooked and store bought," John told her, as he worked on his own.
"I was talking about the ones you get at the Bell places," she said waving a hand, "and you picked these up from a taco truck."
"Yeah," he agreed, "and The Bell gets premade stuff from the corporation to standardize everything, unlike here where they have people actually making the stuff themselves. Corporations cut corners as much as possible, since their main purpose is to make money, so everything they make is the poorest quality they can get away with, while people who run actual restaurants and such make sure everything is of the best quality they can reasonably afford. It makes a big difference."
"Then why do people eat there?" she asked.
"Because the food isn't bad, it just isn't great, and is affordable and fast," he explained.
"I can see that," she agreed and grabbed another taco. "So, what do you have planned after our very late lunch?"
"Have to recharge the blue ring, so I'm planning on taking a look at Gotham's water treatment system and seeing if it needs any clean up and repair done on it," he explained.
"I wonder how many bodies you'll find," Kara said thoughtfully.
"It's Gotham, I'm betting at least half a dozen," he said. "I'd guess more, but I'm pretty sure they actually check the water regularly."
"I'll take that bet," Kara said with a grin, "because you have no idea how lazy the workers in Gotham are."
John frowned in thought. "Okay, you have a point there. I guess I'll handle it tomorrow, since it's getting towards evening and Bullock has done enough work for the day. Hmmm. I suppose I could do a patrol of Gotham. I got some time to kill, since Green Lantern has a date with Wonder Woman, and I don't want to cramp his style, in case they decide to go back to his place… In fact." John's green ring glowed brightly for a second. "Just sent him a message, letting him know I'm going to spend the night elsewhere."
"If you join the Justice League, they'll give you a room on the station whenever you need one," Supergirl suggested. "It's either that or build your own Fortress of Solitude or Batcave."
"Or grab a hotel room," he pointed out. "Seriously, there are hotels everywhere, it's not a big deal."
"Enhanced senses," Supergirl said uncomfortably. "You don't want to use a hotel room… trust me."
John turned to look at her. "You've never used a public restroom, have you?"
Supergirl shuddered. "Thank Rao for teleporters!"
"Couldn't you just use heat vision to sterilize everything?" he asked curiously.
"I don't have that much control," Supergirl admitted with a shrug.
"Oh, well as long as I have a Lantern ring on, it provides complete protection," John said smugly.
"I wonder how many Lanterns tell their girlfriends that," she said with a giggle.
John laughed and then paused and looked thoughtful. "James?" he asked, mentally sending a question to his ring.
"The standard Green Lantern aura prevents the transmission of biological contaminants, so yes, while worn it prevents STDs and can be used to prevent pregnancy," his ring reported aloud.
"You're kidding me," Supergirl said in disbelief.
"It can tank punches from your cousin and let you breathe in the vacuum of space," John said with a grin, "a little thing like preventing the exchange of bodily fluids is nothing. Of course, with how stupid people can be I can just hear a lantern trying to convince his girlfriend that they do it without the aura because it 'reduces the sensation."
Supergirl giggled. "I'd argue but I can actually hear about a dozen people using that excuse right now."
John blinked. "There are that many power ring wielders here?" he asked, confused.
"No, I mean there are about a dozen people using that argument about condoms," she said, shaking her head.
"That would make more sense," he said, a little embarrassed that he'd misinterpreted what she'd meant.
The amused blonde placed a hand to her left ear. "Looks like the League needs me, hopefully it's something interesting." She took off the Green Lantern ring, changing her costume back to its usual colors and offered it to him.
"Keep it," he told her. "You can return it when it runs out of juice. In the meantime, check out the training programs, having more people with ring experience isn't a bad thing and if you manage to make a blue one it'll come in handy."
Supergirl nodded and put the ring back on, her costume changing once more into a black and green Lantern outfit. "See you later," she said before tapping the comm unit in her ear. "One to beam up."
After she'd disappeared in a flash of light, he took to the skies himself and flew back to Gotham.
The difference between Mexico and Gotham was like night and day… of course since the sun had been setting in Mexico and it was already fully dark in Gotham it may have exaggerated things a bit in his mind he decided. The sound of gunshots rang out from somewhere nearby, as if sarcastically underlining the difference in the two locations.
John's ring helpfully directed him to an alley a couple of blocks away, easily calculating where the sounds had originated from, and he dropped down right into the middle of a small war. Bullets pinged off his aura as he created a wall between the two sides of the conflict, half a dozen gangsters on one side and two females on the other. "Calm down people," he ordered them. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
There was silence in the alley for a few seconds before a blonde-haired pigtailed woman wearing heavy pancake makeup popped up from behind the dumpster she'd been using for cover. "They're trying to ventilate us, and we are registering our disagreement!" she yelled angrily, waving an oversized handgun.
"Yeah? Well, you two bitches robbed us!" one of the gangsters shouted back, firing a couple of shots at the green wall for emphasis to no effect.
"Maybe we should get out of here," one of the others muttered.
"He's a Lantern, you really think we can escape?" the first one said with disgust.
"If you leave, I'm not going to chase you," John announced. "I'm not interested in turning people in so much as stopping violence."
"Works for me," the gangster said, turning and immediately making tracks, his friends leaving with him.
"A little help here?" the blonde asked, as she helped a green skinned, bleeding woman out from behind the dumpster.
"I don't think a hospital is going to do me much good, Harley," she said with a cough, a dark green blood leaking from her mouth.
"Don't say that hon," Harley said her eyes watering but forcing her voice not to waver, "a little light and some water and you'll be fine."
Ivy chuckled with a pained wheeze.
"Doctor Quinn and Professor Isley," he said, realizing who they were and bringing up his Starheart charged Lantern ring and pouring energy into Ivy, who let out a relieved sigh and immediately started looking better.
"Whatever you're doin', keep doin' it," Harley ordered, a trace of hope leaking into her tone.
"Professor Isley is fueled by the same thing my ring is," he told her. "She'll be fine in a second."
"I've run into Green Lanterns before and they never affected me this way," Ivy said as she examined her chest and found her wounds gone.
John quit feeding her energy and gave her a quick scan. "I doubt they fed you the energy. Looks like you are back in the green. Are you good to go home?"
"You really aren't going to nab us?" Harley asked, as she checked Ivy over to make sure she was okay.
"Nope," he replied. "Promise to stay in for the rest of the night and I'll call it good."
"What about our swag?" Harley asked, holding up a cloth sack with a dollar sign on it.
"I doubt the mobsters are going to report it stolen," he replied with a shrug before his aura brightened and he floated off the ground. "Have a nice night."
The two stared as he vanished into the night's sky.
"That's not what I expected from a Lantern," Harley said.
"Beats Batman," Ivy said, examining herself. "I think my breasts are larger."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Mugging," he muttered, tagging a mugger with a thread and sending him to sleep as he floated above the alley. The fact that the victim lowered his hands and looked around before stealing the mugger's wallet was ignored as he continued floating above the back alleys.
'Nightwing is silently approaching from the air,' James told his wearer telepathically, while sending him an image of the approaching hero.
"I don't believe I've met you before," Nightwing announced as he landed on a nearby rooftop.
"You work with Batman, I have no doubt he has a file on me he made you read," John replied as he spun around to face him.
"Yeah, but it's mostly questions, theories, and cautions," Nightwing replied, "nothing that really tells me who you are."
"Not even a psych profile?" John asked, surprised.
"Not enough to go on," Nightwing replied with a shrug. "He's a bit anal about making sure all the information he has is correct."
"He's a bit anal about everything," John told him. "I may have lost my personal memory, but everything I know about everything else is intact."
Nightwing considered that for a moment. "You've probably worked with him before… How close were you to everyone? Ignore that, you can't remember, but you should have a clue from what you know about everyone, like actual identities and personal habits. How much do you know about us?"
"Tons," John said bluntly. "Of course, some of it will be wrong as it was a different timeline, but the majority of it should remain the same."
"Do you know who I am?"
"Yep," John agreed, "I even know who Alfred is."
Nightwing chuckled. "Yeah, that is our greatest secret."
"I'll need to give him a medical checkup, because I don't recall treating him, but do recall him needing it at some point," John offered, not sure whether this timeline was one where Alfred had a terminal disease.
"Long term health problem or traumatic injury?" Nightwing asked concerned.
"No idea," John replied, "it would have been personal actions."
"You are the weirdest person I've met all week," the hero said.
"Just the week?"
"Gotham," the pair chorused.
"Give me all your money!" someone growled out in the alley below them.
Glancing down they saw a young woman being mugged by a man with a gun wearing a ski mask. A green thread lashed out and the gun vanished from his hand, just in time for Nightwing to land on him like a ton of bricks.
"Are you okay?" John asked as he landed next to the young woman, taking in her manner of dress and condition and realizing he was probably speaking to a street walker.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she said nervously.
"Relax, I'm here to help," he told her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
She gave him a confused look while the two of them ignored the sound of Nightwing bouncing a mugger off a dumpster.
"Seriously," he assured her, "he handles the violence I handle everything else. Consider me your personal genie. If you had one wish, what would it be?"
"A wish?" She chuckled bitterly. "I wish I'd listened to my parents and stayed in Idaho."
"Time travel is always a bad idea," John said seriously, "but I can fly you back to Idaho right now if you like."
"Seriously?" a pained voice asked.
The two turned and saw it was the mugger being held by Nightwing with his arms twisted behind his back who had asked.
"Yeah," John said. "It'd take me a couple of minutes max. Green Lantern rings are great for travel."
"I-I'd love that," she stuttered out. "Can I get my things first?"
"Sure, I'll take you to get your things and we can fly out there," he promised, surrounding her in a green aura and slowly lifting her into the air. "Just give me directions."
"She gets a ride to another state and I get my shit kicked in," the mugger complained as the two flew off.
Nightwing slammed him into the alley wall and ziptied his hands behind his back. "You are a criminal," he reminded him.
"And she's a whore, what's your point?"
"Victimless crime," the vigilante pointed out, "hardly a crime at all."
"What, seriously? I thought you guys had a hard on for anything illegal," he said as Nightwing dragged him towards the street.
"Nah, we only get involved when there are victims," the crimefighter told him.
"Huh, guess you guys aren't complete assholes after all," the mugger said thoughtfully as he was tied to a lamp post.
Nightwing just stared at him for a moment and then chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Beta by: Mist of Shadows and Abyssal Angel