It had been a good day for Officer Stewart. Nothing particularly bad had happened. Special Victims was usually a hellish beat, full of rape victims and abused children, but today had been good. One of his "Victims" kidnap victims had turned out to be a hoax from a dissatisfied foster child (Best possible outcome) He had finally gotten a search warrant for a pedophile's house and best of all, the lady at the sandwich shop slipped an extra gherkin into his sandwich without charging. Walking into the station, he nodded to the secretary and smiled as he headed to the elevator. Getting inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was going to be a quiet evening of paperwork, the best kind. The lift played the latest cheesy top-40's pop song that had been annoying him for the last 2 months, but he was determined to not let that spoil a perfectly good day. The door opened and he saw, charging towards him, a beaten and bloodied teen. "4532! GET THAT KID!!!" Yelled another officer. 4532 was the code for escaped suspect. Stewart lunged forward, spearing the kid almost out of his shoes and getting him on the ground.
"OOOOOOOH!!!" The kid wheezed "Ya got me..." John began to get up, before realizing who it was he had just brutally tackled.
"Hal?" He asked.
"Sorry, officer, i didn't get the plates..." He groaned as a pair of officers ran up and turned him over, putting cuffs on him.
"Look, Hal, i'm sorry, instincts. Look, boys, what did he do?" He asked. One of the officers looked at John.
"Vigilantism, Theft and resisting arrest."
"Ok, i did 1 and 3, but-" John glared at Hal
"NOT ANOTHER WORD!!!" He grunted. "I'll book him in, i'll get him talking. For the love of god, tell me you read him Miranda?" He asked. The officers nodded. "Again, Hal?" He asked as he pushed Hal towards the booking office.
****
Hal sat in the interrogation room, looking around at the four walls and the 2-way mirror. He had a pair of bloodied tissues up his nose, blood dried on his forehead and a blackening eye and an ice-pack on his head. "COME ON!!! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!!!" He yelled. The door opened and John walked in.
"For crying out loud, Hal, what did you do this time?" He asked, walking over and sitting down. Hal just stared.
"Look-"
"Hal, i can't keep protecting you like this. Vigilantism, despite what the Media would have you believe is a crime."
"Bu-"
"Hal, look at me!" John ordered. Hal looked him in the eye. "Is your name Batman? Is your name Captain America? Is your name Supergirl? When it is, then i'll start looking the other way on these Vigilantism charges. As for Theft-"
"No!" Hal slammed his fist on the table. "Look, i have done a lot of shitty things in my 15 years on this planet, but i have NEVER stolen anything from anyone!"
"The officer who you lifted the keys from in that Steve McQueen impression begs to differ-"
"Besides the point, i didn't steal anything other than that today" He sighed.
"The report says that you were found with an... Emerald ring?" John asked.
"Yep, and i didn't steal it." Hal replied, burying his face in his hands.
"You found it?" Laughed John.
"Nope..." Hal replied. "It found me." John stared at him with a face that said
Well, that's a new one for me "Yeah, i wouldn't believe me either..." He groaned. "But i've got proof." John continued to stare, his poker face not relenting. "That ring was put in evidence, correct?" John flicked through the report.
"Yyyyyyyyes." He replied.
"Then would you kindly explain why it's in my pocket?" He asked, pulling it out of his pocket. John got up and instinctively grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and closed it around the ring in Hal's hand. .
"THE HELL DID YOU DO!?!?!?" He roared. "YOU BROKE INTO EVIDENCE?!?!?" John was clearly fuming, despite Hal not changing his face.
"Nope, i was locked to that chair for half an hour, then i got the keys and immediately bolted for the door. I never had any time to break into evidence. Plus, how many locks are on that door?" He asked. John's face was now just confused. "Alright, now put it in your pocket and walk out..." He said. John was confused, but complied, wrapping up the ring, he put it in his pocket, before walking out. He then looked in through the mirror and saw Hal hold up his hand, dangling the ring in it. John stormed back in.
"How did you do that?" He growled.
"Magic." John looked at him with angered disbelief this time. "Alright, let me tell you the story."
****
2 Hours Ago
Hal walked down an alley on his way back to his current squat, whistling. It was a little cold at this time of the year. He heard someone yelling around the corner and immediately set off at a run. Rounding the corner, he saw an old man being beaten by a man whilst the other one grabbed his wallet. "Hey, leave him alone." The 2 men looked at him, one of them grabbed a pipe. "You want to take on someone, try me, i got more cash than him." Hal yelled. The 2 men ran towards him, Hal ran towards them as well.
Dodging under a swing from the pipe, Hal pressed his feet firmly on the ground, before pressing forward and lunging into the mans chest, tackling him to the ground. As he leaned up and punched the man he tackled across the face, he was grabbed from behind, under his arms. He instinctively went limp, letting his hands flail a little as he tried to slip through the grasp, but it was futile and he was dragged off, before the man he tackled got back up and punched him in the face, before grabbing the pipe and delivering one last blow, leaving Hal on the floor, blood spirting from his forehead, he coughed heavily, a hoarse cough. He tried to crawl to the wall, trying to get up.
"STAY DOWN!" The man called, smacking the pipe into Hal's back and he fell down the wall, before trying to get up again. "Tell you what, this kid doesn't quit. Think you're fucking Iron Man or something?" He asked. He tried to get up again as the pipe went into the back of his skull, smacking his nose into brick, he fell down coughing again, this time, a little vomit came out. Blood spraying from his nose. Hal tried to get up again, the world going dark. Then suddenly bright.
"So this is what death feels like..." He giggled in his throes. Then it went Green "Wait, that's different..." Suddenly, everthing felt good... The pain started to melt away.
"HAL JORDAN, I SENSE GREAT WILL IN YOUR HEART! SAY THE OATH AND JOIN OUR RANKS!!!"Hal opened his mouth as his eyes started to glow
"In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No Evil Shall Escape My Sight
Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might
Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light!!!"Hal suddenly was stood, staring at the men,
his clothes were different. One of the Men began to run. Hal put his hand forward and, bursting from the ring, was a giant hand that streamed forward and wrapped around the man, before pulling him back and hitting his partner in crime with him. The two men sprawled onto the floor. One got up and swung the pipe at him, A Green sword appeared and shattered the pipe in his hands, before another fist appeared and the mugger was down for the count. Hal stood shaking, he looked at his hand and saw the green ring. He pulled it off and the light disappeared, his clothes going back to the bloody, slightly vomit-soiled mess they were previously. At that point, a pair of police rushed into the alley.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Yelled one of them, pointing his gun at them. Hal threw the ring down and one of the cops grabbed it with a handkerchief and put it into a ziplock bag, before cuffing Hal. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions..."
****
John stared at him again. "What the fuck was that?" He asked.
"Well, if you let me put the ring on, i can prove it-"
"NO!" John grabbed Hal's hand. "Do NOT put that on... Look, i don't know if it is Magic or not, but if you put that on then there's nothing i can do to protect you..." John buried his face in his hands "Alright... Here's the deal... I can reduce the Vigilantism to Defense of Another, i can get the Theft dropped, but you shouldn't have run. Resisting Arrest is only a Misdemeanor, so nothing that will keep you out of the Military, but i will need to turn you over to your foster parents-"
"No deal!" Hal yelped.
"It's that or bye-bye Air-Force." John growled. Hal flexed his fingers in thought.
"What if-"
"You don't get it, do you?" Asked John "There's no negotiation in this, i'm handing you a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. You can take it or leave it."
"I can't go back to them..." Hal groaned. "My "Dad" is going to kill me because i set his weed plants on fire."
"Weed as in..."
"Cannabis, Ganja, Kush, Hash, whatever you call it, smokey-feel-good." John stared daggers at Hal.
"If you're lying-"
"It's Bye-Bye Air-Force, i know." Hal leaned back and crossed his arms. John got up and walked to the door, looking out and seeing that nobody was watching. He walked back to the desk and sat down.
"Mention this ring to no-one. There are some fucked up stories going around with what happens to people with things like that..."
"What about the other guys, they'll say i-"
"It was Supergirl... Or The Flash... Claim it was anyone else, do not let anyone else know who you are and what you can do. In the meantime... I'm going to get on to investigating your fosters. You'll be held in custody whilst we decide the next course of action." He got up and walked out. "Chin up..." He replied, as he was closing the door.
****
2 weeks later
Hal sat in an office. Today was the day that he would meet his new Foster parents. He sat at the desk and let out a sigh. He was already making plans for an escape. The door opened. "Hal, this is Thomas." the Social Worker said. "We know that you have had a real problem with multiple authority figures, so we thought that a single parent might be more your speed." The man that walked in was
not what Hal expected.
"Hello, Hal. It's nice to meet you." The man said with an emotionless face. "Can we have a moment alone?" He asked. The Social worked smiled and nodded, before leaving the room. Thomas walked over to the door and made sure the woman wasn't looking in. She had gone to get a coffee "Alright, Hal, let me level with you, i'm not a foster parent." He said.
"Thank god?" Hal asked with a confused expression. "Or is this one of those "Waking up in a bathtub full of ice without my liver" things?" Thomas stared at him, not understanding what he was saying.
"I'm like you." He said, completely ignoring what Hal had just asked. He showed him the
Golden Ring"I... Don't know..."
"In brightest day, in blackest night..." Thomas said.
"You know? Are you a Green Lantern too?" He asked.
"No, you are THE Green Lantern. I'm the Gold Lantern."
"Gold is so much cooler than green..." Hal sighed.
"I was the leader of the Lanterns until recently, when your predecessor was killed. The Rings look for those most worthy to wield them. You have been chosen. If you want to know more, then you tell that social worker that you're happy to come home with me... If you want me to take the ring and give it to someone else, give you your life back, I can do that... Your choice." For Hal, time stopped. What the hell was he supposed to do? If he went with this man then he was opening up the pandora's box that he couldn't close... The door opened and Hal launched himself into Thomas' arms, embracing him in a hug.
"I love you, daddy!" He yelled. The Social Worker dropped her coffee.