Another collab with Redbat132, who owns Lea/Midnight Hope and the Gotham Grimtales.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold and Green Lantern: Animated Series belong to Warner Bros. and DC comics. I own nothing.

Hopeful Madness

Midnight Hope was at the Watchtower, skating around slowly down the hallways. She had come up there in hopes of finding her uncle or one of the other heroes she knew to talk to, but most everyone was off on missions, so she stuck around the tower just in case another mission came up.

She noticed a hero up ahead and paused, seeing it was Booster Gold with his partner Skeets beside him. Hope was about to turn around and leave when the futuristic hero saw her. "Hey, Midnight Hope," he said. "Whatcha up to?"

"Nothing much," she admitted. "Just came up here to see if anyone needed help."

"It's been quiet here," he admitted. "By the way, I heard how you and Batman took down Mongul. Great job."

"Thank you," she said.

"The Blue Lantern is as clever and strong as we've heard," Skeets said. "Not to mention always keeping a cool head from what we've heard from Flash and Manhunter."

"You've talked to Flash and Manhunter about me?" She asked.

"I was curious since I hadn't seen a Blue Lantern before," Booster Gold said. "Green Lanterns, yeah, and of course, one yellow Lantern, but that was all."

"Sinestro," Hope said.

"Yeah, him," the hero said. "Anyway, we're just waiting around for a mission too. Hopefully something pops up and we can finish it before my PR meeting this evening."

"I'm sure we will and you'll make it in time, sir, and it will be spectacular," Skeets said.

Though Hope didn't know him well, she could sense he was a bit arrogant and full of himself a bit. She hadn't seen him in combat so she couldn't form an honest opinion yet, but she was getting a bit put off by his attitude.

"So...What's it like back home in your timeline?" Hope asked, trying to forget her annoyance and give Booster a chance. "I understand that I cannot know too much that could cause trouble on the time stream, but I don't mine the light version without spoilers. Like...Have you ever heard of Midnight Hope before doing this time jump?"

Booster was surprised that she was concerned about the time stream. "Huh, most people wouldn't care about the time stream since the future isn't set in stone," he said. "Mad respect to you, kid. In answer to your question, no. I hadn't heard of a Midnight Hope before the time jump. Now, that doesn't mean that a future you doesn't exist. I probably just hadn't run into them yet."

"Some of the heroes do retire in the future. Perhaps Midnight Hope has done the same or decided to live far from the press. Sometimes they can be ruthless," Skeets said understandingly.

Hope nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I know I'm not that much into the fame. It's possible future me would lay low while still doing the right thing."

She then had an interesting thought.

"Is it true that you met both Blue Beetles and befriended them?" She asked with interest. "The one we know now and...Ted Kord?"

"Yes, it's true," Booster said, grinning. "Ted Kord really was a great person, using his ingenuity to be the Blue Beetle. Jaime got pretty lucky with the scarab letting him use its powers. They usually don't do that."

"They are very picky with who gets their powers," Skeets said.

"You already know his identity?" Hope questioned, only to think it over. "...Never mind. Time Traveler equals knowing who was the Blue Beetle. I got it. Khaji Da chose wisely. Jaime and I are not so different from what we do and who we choose to be. Having hope in our hearts while protecting others as if it's our own family."

Booster seemed surprised, but nodded. "Wise words," he said, impressed.

"Thanks. I try to follow my uncle's wisdom he would always illustrate," Lea/Hope stated, a sad smile showing while gently touching the flower on her head. "Whether about known heroes or made up ones. I still remember collaborations we'd do together."

"Sounds like a good person," Booster said.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Lea stated, chuckling lightly before looking neutral. "With every different points of time, I wonder if any of them leads to reuniting with someone everyone believed was lost for years. Yet someone like me still holds hope in believing otherwise."

The other hero was quiet for a moment. "Wish I could tell you, but...that might risk the future if I do," he said, looking a bit contrite. "Sorry."

"But hopefully, you will be reunited with your uncle someday," Skeets said nicely.

"It's okay, Booster. I know," Hope assured, a gentle smile showing. "And that's all I've been doing, Skeets. Still am. If any of my previous missions has shown me, it's that I should never give up hope. I know my uncle is still out there where I hope to not only find him but also bring him back home."

Just then, J'onn's voice came over the PA. "I need all available heroes to the transport beams, stat," he said.

"Sounds like a mission came up," Hope said as she skated towards the transport beams.

Booster smirked. "My way's faster," he said, opening a star-like window and arriving at the control room right next to J'onn, who had gotten used to his teammates suddenly appearing from thin air. He saw Hope skate up to them and she looked surprised.

"How did you get here so fast?" She asked Booster.

"Teleporting," he said. "Fastest way ever."

The teen hero bit her lip to keep from remarking that not everyone had teleporting abilities. Thankfully, J'onn began speaking then. "We've been getting alerts in Gotham," he said.

"Who is causing the disturbances?" Midnight Hope asked.

"That's the issue. Nothing is showing up on the scanners," J'onn said.

"False alarms?" Booster asked.

"Possibly, but we can't be certain without investigating," the Martian Manhunter said. "And right now, you two are the only ones available."

Though Midnight Hope was a bit annoyed with Booster Gold's attitude of being full of himself, she decided she could put her annoyance aside for a mission. It was concerning that it seemed like false alarms, but if there was one thing being a Lantern had taught her, it was to not dismiss an alarm until you've investigated it properly. "I'm in, J'onn," she said. "Any chance we can meet up with Batman?"

"He's unfortunately away at the moment speaking to the diplomats of one of our ally planets," J'onn replied.

"No worries. We can handle this," Booster said confidently. "No need to pull Batman away from that meeting."

"It is a very important meeting," Skeets said.

Midnight Hope nodded. "Alright," she said. "Let's do this."

Looks like Midnight Hope and Booster Gold are teaming up, but will the mission go smoothly? We shall see. :)

Please leave Redbat132 and myself a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418