Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Blue Lanterns were some of the most valuable allies to the Green Lanterns in the galaxy. Combining their power rings provided a boost in power that had turned the tides of many battles. Even without that, they did good work throughout the galaxy, often focusing on peacekeeping efforts along with aid missions. So when John Stewart saw a swarm of supercharged missiles headed for a group of them, he didn’t hesitate to swoop in. 

“Watch out!” He constructed a tank around them, subconsciously visualizing all the working parts of the machinery. The outer shell protected him, along with the other lanterns, and the gun part blasted away as many missiles as possible. Soon he saw beams of blue light blocking whatever threats he missed. 

In less than a minute, the threat was over. Though adrenaline was still racing through his system, preparing him for the possibility of a second wave, he was free to look to the Blue Lanterns he’d just saved.

Brother Warth and Saint Walker were there, not much of a surprise. They were easily the most active members of the corps. But there was also a member he didn’t recognize. A lantern that looked suspiciously like a red haired, freckle faced, human teenager. 

Then again, there were plenty of humanoid species throughout the galaxy. Assumptions wouldn’t do anyone any good. He needed to clear this up right away. 

Walker floated over to him, no doubt to thank him for the swift rescue. But John interrupted before he had a chance to open his mouth. “I want to speak to your latest recruit.” If this was all a misunderstanding, he’d apologize for being accusatory. But if not, the two of them were going to share words.

“By all means. Brother Wally has been quite excited to meet a Green Lantern.” Wally. That sounded like a human name to him. Walker waved the possible kid over.

This time John was the one who didn’t get a chance to open his mouth. “Was that a tank?!”

“It-”

“Do you have the blueprint memorized or something?”

“That’s-”

“Because Razer says you can only construct things if you know how they-”

“Kid!” John took a deep breath “What planet are you from?”

He didn’t need to hear the answer. Not after seeing the kid’s phase morph from excited rookie to hand caught in the cookie jar. But at least he had the sense to not immediately lie. “Earth.”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.” He was smiling too widely.

Walker tilted his head. “You said you were sixteen, yesterday.”

“Shuddup!” John took back his internal praise of Wally’s earlier honesty.

A child soldier. John spent a lot of time questioning the corps’ choices, weighing when it was important enough to speak up. But this kid was still legally required to go to school. He wasn’t going to look the other way for this one. “That’s still a child on Earth. He can’t be fighting in galactic wars.”

“Hey!” Wally protested.

Walker chuckled. “Believe me, he won’t be fighting in galactic wars any time soon.”

“Hey!” Wally protested again.

“But the ring chose him.” The blue lantern’s face darkened, almost imperceptibly. But John had known Walker for just long enough to recognize the way his nostrils flared. “We cannot interfere with that judgement.”

The two lanterns stared each other down until John decided he was getting nowhere. Not by himself anyway. Muttered a half-hearted goodbye, he flew back to Oa. Time to call in reinforcements. 

As he flew away, he could just hear the kid complaining to Walker. “I’m not a kid! I can drive a car. Those are dangerous too!”

“Hal, I’m serious. Kids shouldn’t be lanterns.” The mess hall wasn’t exactly known for its good food, most of it wasn’t even fit for human consumption, but it was one of the few places lanterns weren’t required to be on duty. Hal usually took the opportunity to try alcoholic beverages from other planets, but John managed to convince him to have a serious discussion.

To his credit, he seemed to be listening. “I know, but we can’t jeopardize things with the Blue Lanterns. We’ve got enough problems with the Star Sapphires. And the Red Lanterns. And the Sinestro Corps. And the-”

“I get it.” John raised his hand to stop him. “I’m not asking you to start a war. I’m asking you to put in a good word. Walker’s your friend. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“Tape the Coast City Shark games for the next month and we’ve got a deal.” Hal grinned.

John returned the smile. “If you’re that desperate to see them lose.” 

“Hello?” He called out. The caregiver was doing dishes. That was a good sign. If today was a bad day, she’d probably be busy keeping an eye on his mom. But today she walked up to him with a smile, complete recognition in her eyes.

“How was work?” She asked.

“Which one?” He plopped down onto the couch. Sometimes he was tempted to move in with her, to personally see to it that she was well taken care of. But with how often he got called away, the chaos might be too much for her. And she'd made him promise at the beginning of all this that he wouldn't quit being a green lantern on her behalf. She said he had a chance to do something amazing. It would break her heart if he told her how little he believed he was the one who could do all that.

Maybe if she got worse. Maybe if she needed help that she couldn't have anticipated at the beginning. But for now, he had to honor her wishes.

“Well you saw me swearing over those blueprints.”  She chuckled. “As for the other one-”

He shook his head. Telling her about child soldiers wasn’t exactly small talk. “I’ll tell you in a few days.”

It had been about a week since he asked Hal to talk to Walker. If any more time passed, he would assume the request went to the place where all of Hal’s other personal responsibilities went. But bright and early in the morning, Hal came flying to his apartment. 

“John!” He slapped John on the back. “Good news.”

“It better be.” He muttered.

“I talked to Walker, and we came to an agreement.”

Before he could ask about the vague warning, a second lantern came flying down. A blue one. A human, blue one. 

John’s eyelid twitched.

“Wally, will you wait outside for a moment?” The kid did a mock salute as John forced Hal inside. “Will do, captain!”

Hal didn’t waste any time. “You’re gonna be mentoring him for the next few months.”

The last time they spoke, John was sure that Hal was a fully functioning adult with the normal number of brain cells. Now he was less certain.

“John?” Hal’s voice became more uncertain, rightfully so.

“I didn’t think I was being vague or confusing when I told you I didn’t want a kid to be on dangerous missions. Clearly I was, though. Because somehow you came to the conclusion that I want to teach him how to get into danger.”

He turned around and pinched the bridge of his nose. Now the kid was going to be put in life threatening peril, AND John would be actively helping it happen.

Hal sighed. “Look, we were never going to get him off the corps. But now there’s another human nearby who knows the limits of teenagers. Plus, the proximity of the green and blue rings will give both of you a power boost.”

“Then you do it! I’m busy enough as is.” Between his duties as a lantern, his job as an architect, keeping an eye on Detroit, visiting his mom, and keeping himself in peak physical condition, he didn’t have much spare time.

“Believe me, I would if I could. I already asked the guardians if I could swap out with someone on the cbsx’qipyh mission. Besides, the guardians will give you some time off to train him.”

There was no getting out of this, or getting around it. It was happening. John sighed for the millionth time. Maybe there was a bright side to this. Maybe he could convince the kid to quit of his own accord. Or at least train him so well that there was less danger to begin with.

“Fine. But you owe me. Big time.” Hal grinned and started the flight back to Oa. “Last time I try to get you to solve a problem!” John muttered, before opening the door and coming face to face with his new apprentice. He was going to get Hal back for this. He was going to get him good.

He held out his hand for a handshake, already thinking of the freckled face in front of him trapped in the trenches. “John Stewart.” He said, skipping all pleasantries and theatrics. This was going to be unpleasant. For both of them.

Chapter Text

The training would start at Oa. Mostly because there less chance of collateral damage, but they also had some of the best equipment in the galaxy. Not just for physical training, but simulations of tense diplomatic scenarios, medical knowledge for over two millions species across the universe, and mind puzzles to keep any lantern’s intellect sharp.  

Now that they had properly met, John noticed the lightning bolt insignia on Wally’s costume, along with the bolts around his waist and arms. It resembled the hero in Central City, Flash. John had only worked with him a few times, but Hal had nothing but good to say about him. 

“I guess it’s not just the Blue Lanterns.” His new apprentice mused. 

“Excuse me?”

“Everything was Blue over there. Blue buildings, blue robes, blue lakes too, but that’s pretty standard.” He explained, making hazy constructs to demonstrate his points. “And everything here is green.” 

Not exactly the question he’d been expecting, or a productive one, but at least it was one he could answer. “Some colors amplify or dampen our rings’ power.”

“Is that how it is with all the corps? Is everything on Shard red? Do the Star Sapphires all wear pink?”

“Wally.” John tried to interrupt politely.

“Also, why are they called the Star Sapphires? Do they even have sapphires in space? Even if they do, most sapphires are blue. I guess that might be different here but-”

“Wally.” John interrupted, impolitely.

But the new lantern didn’t seem to mind. He laughed it off and stood to face him. “Right. Sorry, John.” He bounced slightly in place, eyes wide with excitement. “What’s first on the agenda?”

“While I’m training you, it’s Lantern Stewart.”

Katma would have spent the first week making him meditate, learning mental discipline. That’s what she did with him, anyway. But Katma was trying to train a long-term warrior for the corps. John was hoping this one wouldn’t make it that far.

“Basic construct creation. We’re going to see how quickly you take to it.” 

He created a glowing green briefcase. After all this time, the act was easier than walking. Even when he added the extra details, like the shine of the leather or the name embroidered on the front. “Just picture in your mind what you want to create.”

A wobbly blue model of a wrench appeared in front of him. No details, just the vague shape of it. John suppressed a sigh of relief, this would be easier than he thought.

“Try again.” He commanded. Wally followed suit, briefly making a more detailed wrench before it fizzled away. 

“Again.”

Wally’s face turned sour. “Come on, that one wasn’t bad.”

“It wasn’t good either. And if you’re going to throw a fit at the first sign of criticism, you’re in for a nasty surprise.”

For the rest of the day, they stood there watching Wally’s constructs flicker into existence before dying. Each time the constructs got a little fuzzier, lasted a bit shorter,  looked a bit less solid. 

By the end of the day, the excitement had long since been washed out of his eyes. He didn’t say a word to John, or anyone else, as he flew away.

His first thought was to just copy the training he’d done for the marines. That would probably scare him away, if nothing else. But, A: This was still a sixteen year old. A sixteen year old who had just been thrust into an unfamiliar world and given immense power. Traumatizing him wasn’t exactly an ideal solution. 

And B: The Green Lantern corps weren’t just soldiers. They were wandering knights who watched for signs of distress. They were diplomats who tried to broker peace between warring planets. They were firemen who stopped disasters before they could claim lives. The flashiest parts of their job included fighting warlords and apprehending intergalactic criminals, but relatively speaking, they were few and far between. 

No. No matter what, John was going to stay honest about the corps. He didn’t need to lie to make his point. Besides, there were other ways of making things hard for Wally.

“Rule 1 of the core code?” The Green and Blue Lanterns, being close allies, agreed to share some base rules. Of course, the guardians couldn’t visualize anything important not being as long winded as possible, so there were over a hundred rules all lanterns needed to be aware of. A hundred main rules, at least.

Last night, Wally had been tasked with memorizing as much of it as possible. As well as completing his nightly exercise, reading a brief history of the corps, and trying to make at least fifty constructs.

He needed to get used to having no free time, fast.
Luckily, he’d read at least some of the rules. “Lethal force is only permitted when the lives of innocent bystanders are in immediate and unavoidable danger.” Wally recited.

“Rule 3?”

“Never use violence unless all other options have been exhausted.” He smirked as he repeated the rule verbatim. Clearly, he was the first one to memorize the first ten rules for lanterns.  

“Rule 57.” John watched as the cocky expression on Wally’s face fell away. His mouth opened, then closed again.

He spoke slowly and deliberately. “Don’t leave your lantern unattended?”

John shook his head. “That’s 37.”

“If possible, brush up on a planet’s culture before arrival?”

“23. And it specifies that you need to examine a planet’s macro and micro-cultures.”

That was the wrong right thing to say. The kid crossed his arms and muttered under his breath, “I got the gist of it.” Most trainees would have spent the night polishing latrines for a comment like that.

It still wasn’t out of the picture for Wally, but John wanted to push a bit more.

“The guardians want you to have these rules memorized.”

“I do!” He shot back. 

“Do you know what rule 57 is?”

The silence would have been enough, but he still managed an eventual reply. “Not off the top of my head.”

“Maybe a lap will jog your memory?” Wally let his head roll back and his shoulders slouch forward. He was fine with floating around, and pretty decent at the obstacle course. But flying precise laps around a course took a toll on him. Not to mention the embarrassment every time he fell.

He didn’t follow John to the track. “Does it matter if I know the number of all the rules? I mean, I know what not to do and stuff.”

John rolled his eyes. “If numbers mean so little to you, then you can do ten laps instead of five.” 

Maybe Wally should have been a red lantern instead. It would have matched his hair, and the death glare he gave John as he went to fly his laps.

John decided that cleaning the latrines would be a good part two for the punishment.

They went on like that for about two weeks. John set harder and harder tasks and watched as the kid got more and more frustrated. Something was about to break, that much was obvious. Now, the question was just when.

Construct duration was easily the worst for Wally. He could keep a construct in existence for a couple minutes before getting distracted and letting it disappear. “I need you to focus!” The constructs were shorter lived every time Wally made a new one. Now they blinked into and out of existence within half a minute.

“I am focusing!” He snapped back.

John shook his head. “Clearly not enough!”

“I’m trying!” 

John chuckled. “That’ll look nice on your tombstone, ‘Wally West; He Tried’.” The kid’s upper lip twitched. He hid his face by looking to the side, like there was something interesting was just around the corner. John did the same, refusing to look the kid in the face. “But just trying won’t do you any good in the corps.” 

“You may very well be facing off against entire armies by yourself. Creatures that can extinguish stars. Enemies who have trained for hundreds of years. Even the best of the best have died in ways your nightmares couldn’t conceive of.” Glowing blue eyes stared up at him. Both their hands were shaking now. 

Not letting himself stop to think it over, John said the final word. “You’re not cut out to be a lantern.”

Wally’s eyes widened. He took a shaky breath, and he flew away.

And that was that, wasn’t it? He’d made a teenager cry and give up on his dreams. What a hero.

No. That was unfair. Better to be disappointed for a few days than to lose your life before you’ve had a chance to live it. Even if he didn’t die on his first mission, he’d lose everything that made him.. Him. Here was a fairly happy kid, curious and satisfied with himself. If he became a lantern, the atrocities of the universe would beat any joy out of him until he was…

Like John. 

He smiled sadly at the thought. He made his choice a long time ago. Now, Wally was making his.

Soon, John imagined, he’d receive word that Wally wouldn’t be continuing training anymore. Then, with as disappointed of an expression as he could muster, he’d go up to Walker and tell him that his newest recruit had simply failed training. That he wasn’t suited to be a lantern. That is, if Wally hadn’t told him already.

It would be a tough blow for the kid. But maybe before he left, John could tell him just how rigorously they test their lanterns. That it was impressive how he’d made it this far at all. Then he could go home, somewhat upset but not devastated, and he’d live out his life in relative safety. 

Ideally, Hal could have just convinced Walker to send him home right away. But they’d gotten there eventually. Now they could put all of this-

A blue figure was doing laps around Oa. A boy with a face full of freckles, red hair, and tears pouring down his face. 

John flew up to him. “What are you doing here, kid? It’s late.”

“Training.” He answered, short enough that John might have missed the quiver in his voice. Might have, but didn’t.

But there was something else there too. A silent dare to try and pull him away from his goal. A raw determination to continue even as the tears blurred his vision.

John sighed. “Like I said, it’s late. Training will be easier if you’re well rested.” His head shot up like a dog that was just called. “Come on.” They went back to earth together. 

He wasn’t going to quit. Now, that was obvious. So John was going to give him the best possible chance of surviving to adulthood. Did the freckle faced teenager belong in actual star wars? No. Just the thought of that was enough to make John sick. But damn it, he was going to survive those wars. At least until he could legally rent a car. 

Just for now, they’d train on earth. Maybe the familiar sights and sounds would calm his mind, let him focus just a bit more. He’d offered to take it one step further and train Wally in his home city, but the kid had adamantly refused.

So they stood in the outskirts of Detroit, somewhere they probably wouldn’t break anything if something went wrong. 

“Stop tucking your thumb in.” John adjusted his student’s stance before he even made a move. “It’s just going to get broken.” 

After struggling through some basic moves, he landed a wimpy blow on John.

“Lean into the punches.”

He landed a slightly less wimpy punch.

“That wasn’t terrible.” He acquiesced.  But he amended the statement before the kid’s dopey grin could get any further. “But you haven’t been keeping up with your physical training.”

“C’mon Jo- Lantern Stewart! We have magic rings, what good are muscles gonna do?”

“They’re not magic.” Granted, John didn’t know exactly what they were. But the guardians were never pleased when someone made that comparison. “And you never know when your ring will run out of power. You need to be prepared for anything.”

Wally pouted.

“You wouldn’t have lasted long in the Marines.” The green lantern chastised him.

“You’re a marine?”

“I was, during college.”

Grinning faux-innocently, he looked up at his mentor. “Technially, next year I could join the Marines. That’s about as dangerous as being in the corps.”

“One, Marines don’t have to deal with creatures larger than skyscrapers. Two, you’ve still got a year before any branch of the military would allow you to join. And three, I only joined the marines so I could get a degree in architecture. I never intended to fight in any wars.”

Becoming a green lantern had never been part of his plan. But he couldn’t deny that the military training was useful for that. “It wouldn’t hurt you to do some research on that either. Might help you visualize-”

Water splashed against his heels. The pair of lanterns levitated slightly into the air, watching as the water whipped past them. As the street was drowned in a river of mud.

“Flood.” Had it been a flash flood, coming too suddenly for anyone to notice? Or had he been too distracted to see the signs of its arrival? No matter, now there was only one thing to do. 

John imagined aqueducts, lifting the water into the air, moving it into the sewers, stopping it from getting into the city, storing it somewhere it could be relocated later. The constructs built themselves from the inside out, too quickly for anyone but John to see the intricacies.

It was taking all his energy to maintain, and he’d need to expand it to make any sizable difference. But even so, there would still be people in the nearby neighborhoods in danger. People in no shape to make it to emergency evacuation sites. Luckily, he had assistance. “Wally, make sure everybody’s in a safe place.” And for once, he followed instructions without a word. John could feel the excess power fade away as the blue lantern left, but he managed to maintain the construct.

The flood ended faster than he’d worried but slower than he’d hoped. Granted, he didn’t have enough focus to think of anything but the aqueducts, but the ticking clock was at the back of his mind. Either way, the flow of water eventually abated. John took the water he’d directed and flew it a good distance away from the city. 

A blue glow shone from behind him. “That was-”

John cut him off. “We need to do a thorough sweep. Do you remember how to scan for life?”

The kid looked at him with wide eyes. He looked much more like, well, a kid. Much later, John would recognize his expression as the look of wonder Wally had worn when he’d first arrived at Oa. “Yes sir.”

“Do that.”

The next day, Wally’s suit design was rearranged. John couldn’t place exactly how, but it was obvious that it had happened. John supposed it didn’t matter. New lanterns were allowed to adjust the suit’s design, John himself had done it plenty of times. He’d just assumed that the kid had been proud of the original design. 

They were at Oa again today, taking advantage of their equipment. He’d been tempted to give him the day off, he had done pretty well helping the civilians in the flood, but ultimately decided against it. 

Once again, they started out with construct creation. Wally hadn’t made much improvement, but there was a noticeable difference. 

“Do it again.” John instructed, almost absentmindedly.

“Again.”

He did it. No complaining, no second guessing.

“Allright then.” Something was going on. “Let’s keep the momentum going with a few laps.”

He didn’t do much better than before, but he did it without saying a word. That was… Good. 

That’s when John noticed exactly what had changed about his costume. It still had lightning bolts on it, but they were less prominent than before. There were blue rings around his forearms as well, and most of his costume was black now.

Wally had redesigned his suit to look like John’s.

Chapter Text

Wally’s shift in perspective came with good and bad, as most changes did. 

The kid had never had a bad attitude about training. He’d done the work, but he’d done it begrudgingly. At the time, John had been able to consider that as one of the main factors in his failure. Proof that he was still a kid who wasn’t ready to take on this responsibility. 

But now, Wally was willing to do, or at least try, anything John told him. Even if John didn’t tell him anything, Wally would watch John’s technique and try to copy it himself.

It wasn’t working.

He wasn’t improving any faster than before. The attitude shift didn’t fix anything. But it made the problem clear. It wasn’t that Wally wasn’t willing or didn’t realize how important the lessons were. It was that the lessons didn’t work for him.

Now that John knew Wally wasn’t quitting anytime soon, he shifted away from trying to scare him off and focused on what made the kid a better lantern. That kind of thing didn’t exactly come with a manual, but John had a knack for figuring stuff out. He wasn’t as creative as some of the other lanterns, but he kept a cool head while he worked out what was productive and what wasn’t. Through trial and error, any problem could be solved eventually. 

Training at earth instead of Oa: They finished twice as fast with half the frustrations. Only if they went to a quiet spot though. Any nearby distractions slowed them down exponentially. 

Partnering up with other lantern trainees: Mixed results. Wally was a sociable kid, but had the tendency to blurt out the wrong thing at the wrong time. He’d have to get good at working with others soon though. So he kept at it. 

Trying to get him to sit still for once: A failed endeavor from the start. At least the Blue Lanterns were less strict about that kind of thing. 

The trickiest part was how to get around the concentration issue. He was getting better at maintaining his constructs, that was for sure. But his best was still worse than most other lanterns. 

By now he was making and maintaining simple constructs well enough. Probably good enough to make it through most fights. But one of a lantern’s most important assets was their versatility. And right now, Wally couldn’t make anything more complex than a cube or a sphere. Otherwise the shape warped and distorted the moment he looked away.

At a glance, he hid it well. A cocky smile, a lighthearted laugh, and jokes about how he’d have to beat his enemies by throwing rocks instead of constructs. But the moment he thought nobody was looking, he would take quivering breaths and tremble with frustration. 

John chose not to comment on the matter, chose not to pry. But turning a blind eye became impossible when his apprentice tried once more to create a simple net. Something invaluable for any chase. And once again, it failed.

Wally tore his ring off and threw it onto the ground. His uniform dissolved as he turned to walk away.

The ring lay on the concrete. A splash of blue against gray, though it was dimmer when not in use. John picked it up to return it, feeling the subtle difference in texture from the green lantern ring.

He caught up to the kid, despite him being far faster than he looked, and dropped it back into his hands. “Easy there.”

Wally huffed, but slipped the ring back onto his finger. He looked at it with disgust. Then resignation. “I don’t get it. Why can’t I just do it?”

If he’d known the answer, he would have told him. But he’d figure it out the way he figured everything out. It would just take time. For now, they just needed to get away from the issue
“I need to pick up groceries.” It was true. His mom’s pantry had been unacceptably bare the last time he visited. Couldn’t let it stay that way. “But you can walk with me. Talk me through the issue.”

For a split second, Wally looked like he was about to decline. To go home and wallow in his own misery. But then he trudged along after John. 

As they walked, John realized that he’d just passed up the chance he’d been looking for since this whole ordeal started. He’d just had his opportunity to get the kid to quit the corps. And he’d put the ring back into his hands.

If he’d have quit now, the kid never would have forgiven himself. He’d have spent his whole life thinking he wasn’t good enough to be a lantern. Inferior to the rest of them. John couldn’t let that happen.

Or maybe that was just what he told himself to distract him from the fact that the kid was almost safe. 

Wally, unaware of the weight of the decision, was still ruminating on his failures. He ranted, not looking at John. Maybe he wasn’t even talking to him. “It’s just so many moving parts. Even if I can keep focus on one piece, the others just get lost.”

He nodded, splitting his attention between a possible solution and the groceries his mother would need for the week. She liked tea in the morning. Did they still have the brand she liked? Sometimes they ran out early in the week.

Wally caught on quick and did his best to help. There wasn’t much he could do besides holding the basket, but the thought was there.

“You need some bread?” He asked.

John shook his head. “The bakery downtown sells for cheap at the end of the day.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. No sense letting the bread go stale.” He said, though he only gave a fragment of attention to the response. His mind was focused on a possible solution. “How about this, next time you’re making a construct, make a smaller version of it to keep in your hands. Maybe if you don’t need to think about visualizing it, maintaining it will be easier.”

“Is that what you do?” That was the bad change. Every time Wally saw John do something, he’d do his best to copy it. From the way he built his constructs from the inside out, to the way he carried himself while he flew. Years ago, this wouldn’t have bothered him. Even back in high school, middle schoolers would follow him around like he was a celebrity. Mama always said it was because he talked to them like people, not kids. At the time, it was flattering. A responsibility he was happy to take on.

Now? Wally couldn’t have picked a worse role model. He needed to be imitating real heroes. Heroes who didn’t fail when people needed them most. Heroes who came through. That wasn’t John. Not anymore.

“No, but all lanterns imagine their constructs differently.” Maybe if the kid found his own identity, this whole mess could be swept under the rug.

On instinct alone, he started walking towards his mom’s house. It wasn’t until they reached the front door that he realized he never took the grocery basket back from Wally. And never told him to go home.

Great.

Better yet. His mama was in the front yard, gardening. Something she wasn’t supposed to be doing without help, but he’d given up on that particular battle long ago.

She was face down in her daisies, shoveling out weeds. “John? Have you seen my keys?” He winced. They’d had multiple conversations last week about how they’d be kept on a hook in the kitchen. But before he could remind her of this, she turned around. “Who’s this?” She asked, panic creeping into her voice.

“He’s the kid I’m tutoring, you’ve never met him before.” He’s not someone you’ve met and then forgot. He mentally added. 

He let himself inside, putting the groceries down as he did so. Sure enough, the keys were on the hook. He tossed them to her “Here’s your key, mama.”

Wally was left lingering by the door, not having been invited in. “Hi Mrs. Stewart!” He waved. 

“I hope John’s not tutoring you in English. He used to come home bawling about how much he hated commas and sentence diagrams. Had me half convinced his teacher was a sadist.” Of course that was the story she led with. And of course Wally laughed.

He tried changing the subject. “Do you want anything special for dinner?”

“No. I’m in a boring canned soup mood tonight.” She turned around and gave him a warning glare. “And I can get it myself. You sleep at your apartment, where you belong.” She said in a strict voice, but she was smiling. No point in arguing further. John might end up winning, but it would make for an unpleasant night. 

“You sure?”

“Go home. And get some groceries for yourself next time!” They hugged goodbye and John did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. 

And there was the kid to deal with too. “It’s getting late. Go home and be at Oa before six.”

“School won’t mind if I show up late.” Wally suggested. 

John just stared him down until he left. 

Finally alone, John started back to his place. He briefly considered going to the gym for some extra muscle building, but decided the sleep deprivation would only make him less effective.
After he got home, everything fell into routine. Plug in his phone, get a quick dinner, get to bed. But when his phone came back to life, he saw no less than five missed calls from Hal Jordan. 

Strange. Hal wasn’t the type to blow up someone’s phone. He’d call once, send a quick text to summarize what he wanted to say, and then forget about it until he got a response. 

Curious, John called back. Then he called back again. No answer. Not out of the ordinary for Hal. His phone was dead more often than not. But if he’d been so desperate to reach him, wouldn’t he have the option available? 

If he’d called John, maybe he called Guy Gardner too. Maybe he could explain this. So he scrolled through his contacts and called him.
Still no response. But that wasn’t as alarming. Frankly, it would have been more concerning if he’d answered right away. But if Guy didn’t respond by tomorrow afternoon…

Well, he’d have to figure something out. Because there was a strong possibility that something was terribly wrong.
The light in his apartment turned purple. Like someone had put a paper over all the lamps. But the only light was coming from the window. And it wasn’t going away. It was getting brighter. 

He was climbing out of the window before he even made the decision to investigate as Green Lantern. There was an indigo light in the sky, shining too bright to make out any details. But the beings flying from it were all too clear.

Sure, it was suspicious. But there was no evidence that this was malicious. Maybe they were just- 

He narrowly dodged a beam of purple energy. The surrounding heat nearly scorched him, but he kept his head. First, he made a green bubble around himself. Enough to protect himself from most of their blasts. But he still had to keep moving. His shield wouldn’t last forever.

There wasn’t exactly time to analyze his opponents. He could gather that they were humanoid, but two degrees away from looking human. Some sort of symbol was painted on their foreheads. And they only seemed interested in him. Not the town below. That was preferable, of course, but not ideal. 

Now that he was closer, he could see that the purple light was a portal. Probably where they came from. If he could push them back into it, maybe he could send them back to wherever they came from. 

A blue beam of light knocked one of his enemies away.

“Wa- Blue Lantern! What are you still doing here?” John scolded his apprentice, watching as he weaved through his opponent’s attacks. This was exactly the situation he had been trying to avoid.

“I was gonna get the cheap bread you told me about!” Of course.  

If he couldn’t get him away from the fight, which John was fairly sure he couldn’t, he could give him a safer job. “Can you contain them if I knock them towards you?”

The kid gave a hesitant nod. But John didn’t have time to assure him. An enemy swung a spear towards his throat, the swipe close enough for John to feel the air. 

All battles were chaotic. No matter how many schematics people drew up, no matter how many times they searched hearts and minds, people were unpredictable. Especially in danger. The trick wasn’t to know what was coming, it was knowing how to adapt to it. 

One foe that was tearing through his constructs like paper? Evade him, wear him down until he’s no better than any other enemy. Multiple foes coming at him from all sides? A pulse of energy to knock them all back. And after each micro-victory, he’d plop them into the cube of blue energy Wally had created to contain them. 

But for every clever trick you had up your sleeve, there was a chance that your enemy had one in turn. She feigned a dodge, baited him into pursuing her. And while he was still thinking of attack, she took advantage of the lack of defense. 

The purple energy hit him right in the face. Like what he imagined it would be like to be hit by a truck. Shock came before the pain though. And it was strong enough to break his concentration. He was falling.

And then he wasn’t. A mesh net kept him from plummeting more than ten feet. A net made of blue.

Wally was above him, pure joy lighting up his face. In his hand was a miniature blue net. Despite himself, John felt a prick of pride. Maybe because his trick had worked, and maybe because it was his apprentice who was using it.

Of course, Wally felt more than a prickle of pride. And he wasn’t at all shy about his accomplishment. “It worked! Did you see that! It was a construct, a real one!”

It would have been a nicer moment if the makeshift prison Wally made didn’t dissolve from his diverted focus. Luckily, John noticed (and made a new one) before any of his enemies could escape. “Uh-huh. That’s nice, kid.”

And there was that look again. That puppy-dog, star struck look. Like he’d done something more than any other lantern would have done. John tried to force the thought away. There were bigger problems to deal with.

Now that they weren’t moving around the battlefield, John could see his attackers’ faces. But they weren’t angry. There was no hate in their eyes. Detachment, at worst. Maybe even a hint of sadness. Enough to make John suspicious. “If you don’t come up with the universe’s best explanation for why you attacked me, I’m sending you back through your portal.” They at least deserved a chance to explain themselves. That had been drilled into his head pretty hard at lantern training.

One of them shook her head. “It does not matter.” She said, no trace of anything but duty in her voice. “You will see us again.”