Emma still couldn't believe out of all the people the ring had to chose, it was her. If she had known stopping would result in this, she might have kept on going.
As it was, she had to call Clark because there was a dead alien who had been decked out in green with a fancy lantern in her second apartment. She had decided to upgrade from her old one and Lex had been more than happy to give her an entire condominium that she then rented out for extra cash.
He had gotten it when he took over some other business, and he had honestly been planning to spruce it up just a bit before having his people sell it off. Emma's comment about upgrading had come at the perfect time, and she had already proven to be reliable as a landlord to her tenants.
She had nothing but four star reviews or higher in the circles that paid attention to that sort of thing.
Clark took one look at the ring and lantern, before a wicked grin filled his face.
"Oh god, what now?" she asked.
"Try putting the ring on," he suggested.
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just humor me. I swear nothing will happen to you if you do," said Clark.
He was such a boy scout that Emma didn't question him. To her shock, the ring immediately resized itself to fit the finger she put it on.
"What the hell?!"
"Looks like you're chosen," said Clark.
"Chosen for what?!"
"Give me a minute to make a call. Hal can explain this better than I can," said Clark.
"Oh god if this is some sort of weird alien marriage thing, I will put kryptonite-laced itching powder in all your clothes!" said Emma annoyed beyond belief.
Clark partially winced, as he knew damn well Lex would absolutely supply Emma with that sort of thing the second she told him what it was for.
Hal came through the front door and looked very confused. Mostly because Superman was in casual wear, there was a hot blond in the apartment and a very dead alien with a familiar green lantern.
"Uh...Clark? Who is this?"
And why was a dead Green Lantern in a clearly upscale apartment?
"Hal, this is Emma Kent, my younger sister. She found one of yours a few hours ago and the ring apparently chose her," said Clark simply.
"...You have a sister?" said Hal, confused.
"We're both adopted," deadpanned Emma. "Not like we ever cared about that sort of thing. And before you ask I'm human, not alien."
Hal looked to Clark.
"I figured you would be the better person to explain about the Green Lantern corps. She's never been outside the solar system," explained Clark.
"Fair enough. And this means I can transport him to his people for proper burial later," said Hal.
Emma made a face when she found out that the training was mandatory. She had enough on her plate with what she had going on already...she didn't need being the equivalent of an intergalatic cop on top of all that, even if it did bring her closer to Clark in the long run.
On the plus side, being a Green Lantern came with some sort of implied credibility on a galactic scale, since the ring was very choosy about who was allowed to have one.
A few hours later...
Of all the things Lex could have anticipated when he got that text, learning Emma now had superpowers was not one of them.
"...You're a Green Lantern now?" he said in disbelief.
"Believe me, I'm not happy."
"Why come to me?" asked Lex, honestly baffled.
"I refuse to keep something like that secret from you. Look what it did to you and Clark," said Emma flatly. "Not to mention it would be beyond rude if this stupid thing caused me to bail on the time we spend together at those boring galas."
Lex would openly admit to having a mixed bags of emotions. On the one hand, just having that thing was a magnet for trouble and would almost guarantee she'd end up on the opposite side of the hero/villain scale.
But this was Emma they were talking about.
"So our agreement stays the same?" asked Lex, almost hopeful.
"Well yeah," said Emma relieved. "I absolutely refuse to get involved in whatever grand plot you have going, or your grudge against Superman. I already asked the guy Superman called when he found out I had been chosen, and apparently there's nothing in their super secret rules that state I have to be involved like the rest of them."
Lex chuckled. That sounded like the Emma he knew and he would have hated to have to go against her in a fight.
"So what's the plan?" asked Lex, honestly curious.
"I plan to get search and rescue training, and see if the other heroes are open to someone who can fill in for a week or two for them to take proper vacations. Superman looked honestly thrilled when I suggested that after telling the guy he brought in I did not want to be a cop," said Emma grinning.
Lex snorted at that.
"You'd be a terrible cop," he said.
"I know, right? They'd expect me to arrest you for half the crap you pull on a regular basis," said Emma laughing. "If I do join Superman's super secret club, I plan to tell that overgrown furry Batman that anything to do with you is off-limits. No way am I getting involved unless you need a reality check."
"Good to know you'll always be in my corner to bring me back to earth," Lex half-joked.
And with that, the two put the fact Emma had superpowers out of mind. Lex wasn't going to risk the relationship he had with Emma over something this stupid, and there were plenty of people with loose morals and more impressive powers he could recruit instead.
While Emma was away for two months (officially she was on "vacation"), Lex looked Superman dead in the eye while in his new toy. He made sure no one was listening, and Superman shook his head to indicate they were alone and all recording devices were destroyed.
"So we're still in agreement to keep her out of our spats?" asked Lex quietly.
Superman blinked, before a slight smirk appeared.
"She made it clear that if you're involved, she doesn't want to be unless it's to bring you back to normal," said Superman quietly.
And that was that. It was obvious that Emma had told Lex about the ring, but their agreement still stood. It was a relief, actually, to have one true neutral in their long time rivalry that they could rely on.
~*~*~*~*
Superman was so very, very glad he was present when Emma was introduced to the rest of the Justice League...especially Batman.
She eyed him for a moment after being given the usual speech to newcomers, before they widened in shock...and recognition.
"Oh my god...are you telling me that ditzy himbo is goddamn Batman?!" she said a little too loudly.
"Ditzy himbo?" said Batman with a growl.
Nearby Flash was desperately trying not to laugh his ass off, and he wasn't the only one.
"Seriously, that was the best cover story you could come up with?" said Emma without a second thought. "Your cover is so damn fake it's almost painful to watch, and the number of stories I hear are ridiculous. Your kids are better behaved than you."
Superman was shaking, likely from laughter himself. He knew for an absolute fact Lex was likely going to get a hernia from laughing too hard when Emma went to complain about this later.
"Superman, control your sister," growled Batman.
"Wait, sister?" said Wonder Woman. "Is she another Kryptonian?"
"Adopted, and human," said Emma. "You have no idea what it was like growing up with him trying to hide his powers from his thirteen year old sister. Eventually he gave up and this dim-wit honestly thought I'd reject him for not being human."
"Really now," grinned Wonder Woman.
"Oh the stories I could tell you about growing up this dork. Did you know he used to trip around his high school crush?" said Emma with a cackle.
Wonder Woman had a look of dark glee on her face.
"Please tell me there are baby pictures involved."
Emma's grin grew wicked.
"Oh he wishes I didn't have copies of his baby pictures. Mom had me hide them in a secure lock box that he doesn't know the location of," said Emma.
Superman had a resigned look on his face, as Emma gleefully went off with Wonder Woman and a few other females from the League with an evil grin on her face.
"You're not going to stop her?" said Aquaman.
"As Emma would put it, she's duty bound as the younger sibling to embarrass the hell out of me. I might as well get it out of the way."
"What about her relationship with Luthor?" said Batman. That got everyone's full attention.
Superman rolled his eyes.
"Same agreement is still in place. She's a neutral party that wants nothing to do with our rivalry or his plotting, and I won't force her to arrest him despite being a hero now. He already knows she has the ring, but has agreed not to use it against her."
"And you believe that?" said Green Arrow incredulous. "This is Luthor we're talking about!"
"She's also one of the rare people Lex Luthor can drop his defenses around and vent to," said Batman. "Even a man like Luthor wouldn't want to risk that so casually."
"They have a strict 'no work talk allowed' policy when they spend time together," admitted Superman. He made a slight face. "Does not stop her from borrowing kryptonite-laced itching powder from Lex and taking pictures for his amusement."
Flash snickered at that.
"Kryptonite-laced itching powder?"
"Lex doesn't even ask what she needs it for...all she had to do was say it was for a prank against me and he handed it over without hesitation," complained Superman. "Do you have any idea how awkward it is explaining why I can't sit still because someone threw that stuff into my clothes?"
Flash started openly laughing, and he wasn't the only one.
"Sounds like a standard sibling prank to me!"
With the girls...
"No way, is that Paris?" said Zatanna.
"Lex paid for a month-long trip around Europe for graduating law school," said Emma cheerfully.
"Wait...Lex as in Lex Luthor?" said Diana.
"We have a strict 'no work allowed' policy when we hang out, and he often uses me as his date to boring galas because he doesn't feel up to pointless small talk," said Emma. "Clark knows and agrees to honor the fact I'm a neutral in their spats."
"Are you the same Emma Swan who does the Fairy Tale Trials?" asked Kara.
"Yup," she replied. "I wrote the first one as a joke, but then it got insanely popular so now I have a full team of law interns who subsidize their cost of living by doing research into old case that could be used in the books. Hell I got the law degree purely so I would be taken seriously in legal circles, but I've never be in a courtroom in my life."
"Impressive. I have to admit those books were very well written, and I was surprised to find myself sympathizing with some of the villains," said Diana.
"I agree. It was a refreshing take to see things from another perspective without being over the top about it," said Hawkgirl.
"I'm always open to new fairy tales to use," said Emma. "If you have any Greek or Roman ones you'd like to see, let me know and I can see if I can use them later."
Diana perked up at that. It would be interesting to see the old stories her mother told her put to the test by modern laws.
"What about the gods?" asked Kara.
Emma made a face.
"No thank you. I've read enough about the Greeks alone to know that getting their attention is a horrible idea. Zeus alone would likely take offense to being mock-tried in one my books," said Emma.
"Smart," said Diana, sipping her coffee.