Big Damn List wants you to know that power batteries explode.
Title: The Sun Appeared Dark In My Eyes
Fandom: Green Lantern Corps
Characters: Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Soranik Natu, Salaak, Hal Jordan
Prompt: 040 - Sight
Word Count: 2740
Rating: PG
Summary: For the second time in his life, Kyle Rayner has lost his sight, and this time he does not know if he’ll get it back.
Author's Notes: Sequel to 89:work and 10:years, although neither are required to follow this; it’s also set after the Sinestro Corps War event.
“I can’t see.”
It wasn’t the first time.
“I can’t see.”
The first time, he’d woken with his ring on his finger and the world dark. The first time, it had been the execution of a contingency plan (not that there had been a need for the contingency plan, not then), because if Kyle couldn’t see, he couldn’t fight. But Batman wasn’t on Oa, Batman’s contingency plans didn’t reach out here. And probably didn’t involve his power battery.
“I can’t…”
This was different.
Something behind him moved, and Kyle struck out blindly, formlessly, ring generating shapeless energy without thought. There was nothing there, nothing to hit. He’d gone to charge his ring, just like any other day, and the battery had flared into painful brightness. The light had faded almost immediately. Kyle had blinked the spots out of his eyes, and while waiting for his vision to return, had informed Salaak of what had happened. Salaak had confirmed, told him not to move, and broken communication. So Kyle had waited, but the longer he stood in complete darkness, the harder it became to suppress the panic. A power battery misbehaving could be a Sinestro Corps plot, and that was bad enough, but what if he’d done something to sabotage his own battery? Hal claimed he’d pulled Parallax out of Kyle, but some fragment could have remained behind. He couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.
The door was, in theory, easy to locate. Kyle thought he knew where everything in his apartment was, but he tripped twice over something he couldn’t identify and once he walked straight into a table. He hadn’t realized he had so many things. Finally, he thought to instruct his ring to warn him of any obstacles, but by that time he’d reached the door. He groped for the handle, but the door swung outwards before his reaching fingers could do more than brush at it.
“I knew you’d try to pull some dumb stunt.” The voice was unmistakably that of Guy Gardner. “Where d’you think you’re going?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle admitted. He hadn’t thought past getting to the door.
“Yeah, well, stay there. Where’s yer battery?”
Kyle pointed in what he thought was the right direction. “It’s in the -“
“Never mind, I see it.” Guy walked past Kyle, leaving the door open, and his footsteps moved towards the back of the apartment and then returned. Kyle felt a rough hand take him by the arm, just above the elbow. “Okay, kid, let’s go.”
“What’s going on?”
“Some o’ the batteries’ve been going haywire. Couple exploded, a few flashed bright like yours did. Mostly they just fell apart.” The grip on his arm pulled him upward, and Kyle willed his own ring to flight. It was harder than it should have been. He wasn’t sure if the news that it wasn’t just his battery made him feel better or worse.
“I ain’t gonna steer you into a building,” Guy said, still holding him firmly. “Nice’n slow, now.”
“Is anyone else -“
“Might have to take back what I said about Lanterns never getting lucky,” Guy interrupted. “You’re the worst, you and 1501.”
“Who, ah, who’s in 1501?”
“The one whose name I can’t pronounce. The one that’s all wiggly.” That was absolutely not a helpful description. “Her battery exploded. She’s burned, got a broken leg. She’ll be fine.”
Kyle didn’t ask again. Guy led him somewhere, and Kyle was able to follow his prompts - both verbal and tactile - with little difficulty. He appreciated that Guy was trying to create the illusion that Kyle had arrived under his own power, but illusion wasn’t what he needed.
“I see you can’t get enough of me, Lantern Rayner.” Soranik Natu’s voice was light, and Kyle thought she was probably smiling. Maybe.
“I -“ he started, but she grabbed his other arm and pulled him away from Guy before he could finish.
“At least your insides are intact this time,” she said, and now he knew she was teasing him, because she was poking at his freshly healed ribs. They didn’t hurt at all, which was a welcome change from the last time she’d prodded them.
“I’ll be back later,” Guy said, and a gust of wind let Kyle know that Guy had taken off much more quickly than he’d landed.
“I’m all yours,” he said to Natu, trying for a smile of his own. It didn’t feel right, so he gave up trying.
“Lantern Rayner, are you aware that you are wearing your mask and that you’ve removed the openings for your eyes?” Natu asked as she led him inside.
“Sorry.” He hadn’t known; he let the mask vanish.
Several tests followed, time-consuming and periodically interspersed with “Can you see this? Well, how about this, then?” He couldn’t see any of it, although he could sometimes feel the heat on his face. At one point, he could feel Natu fitting something across his eyes and painful warmth flooded out. Kyle tried not to squirm, but the heat and the device both vanished.
“I don’t know,” Natu said finally.
“You don’t know how long it will be?” The voice belonged to Salaak, and Kyle suppressed a violent start. He hadn’t heard the little alien come in.
“I don’t know if he’ll regain his vision at all,” Natu said, and the bottom dropped out of the world. Kyle fought to get his breath and his balance back as Natu laid a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand tilted his chin up, and then brushed across his eyes. He closed them involuntarily and something heavy settled over his closed lids. “Keep that on with your ring,” Natu said softly.
“I see,” Salaak said.
“I’d like to keep him her overnight for observation,” Natu said, and Salaak must have agreed, because the next sound Kyle heard was the door opening and closing.
“Well,” Natu said brightly. “This way.” The room to which she led him was probably normal; Kyle had no idea. Natu brought him around the space once, pointing out where everything was. Kyle thanked her and waited until she left to construct a stick he could use to tap around and re-explore; it was the only way he could think of to keep himself distracted. He learned as much as he could by touch. No matter how much he told himself it was temporary and it didn’t matter if he knew the room or not, he couldn’t stop until someone knocked on the door and told him it was time to turn the lights out.
Sleep refused to come. Kyle sat cross-legged in the center of the bed and used the ring to create constructs of faces. Faces were difficult. He ran his hands over his constructs, trying to translate the tactile information into a visual image. Donna Troy’s face lay beneath his hands, somehow off and refusing to feel right, when a wave of despair swept over him. The construct shattered into shards so sharp he was surprised he wasn’t bleeding before they dissolved. Did I do this to myself? Am I trying to keep the pieces of Parallax in me from hurting anyone else, or did I get caught in my own trap? No, that’s ridiculous. Cut it out, Kyle. He spent the rest of the night with his head on his knees, trying not to think.
Natu arrived some time later. Kyle hadn’t asked his ring what time it was, as if not knowing the time somehow prevented time from actually passing and kept this in the realm of nightmare instead of reality. Someone had come in to bring him breakfast and make sure he could use the shower, though, and broken the fragile illusion, and Natu had come once again to perform tests. Again, he couldn’t see anything, but she sounded more pleased than she had the day before, so he supposed that was something. Then again, she still had no idea what was going on. Kyle could hear voices in the hallway after she left, before they knocked on the door. He could make out Guy’s voice, the words growing clearer as they grew louder.
“-take him back,” Guy was saying. It sounded argumentative, although Guy might have said ‘ornery’ instead.
“You are needed as part of the investigation.” That was Salaak, every soft word precisely enunciated.
“Bullshit,” Guy said. “Point me at something and I’ll hit it, but I ain’t no good at this detective stuff. You don’t need me until you know what we’re up against.”
“This is not a matter up for debate.” The following knock sounded like Salaak, too, soft and decisive.
“Yes?” Kyle answered. He wasn’t sure what it was he was supposed to do, but he ringed his uniform on and was standing when Salaak and Guy entered the room.
“You get a vacation, kid,” Guy said, with the same forced cheerfulness Natu had had the day before.
“You mean I’ve been suspended,” Kyle said flatly. It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected it. He couldn’t fight if he couldn’t see, couldn’t patrol, couldn’t train rookies. There was nothing he could do for the Corps without being able to see, and it was counterproductive to have him sitting around using a ring that could go to someone more valuable.
“Not precisely suspended,” Salaak began.
“No, I’m just useless to you, so you’re going to get rid of me.” Kyle tugged the ring off his finger, feeling his uniform and mask dissolve. “Just take it.”
Someone snatched the ring out of his hand, but it wasn’t Salaak. Kyle had a bare second to process that information before Guy grabbed his other hand and jammed the ring back on. “Quit whining. You’re a senior Lantern. Act like it.”
Kyle turned away, more out of force of habit than anything else, and ringed his uniform back on. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Guy stepped closer to him, and Kyle felt the heavy weight of Guy’s hands descend on his shoulders. “It ain’t safe here, Kyle. Something’s trying to take down the Corps from the inside out.”
“I’m a liability,” Kyle said. Or worse. Why sugarcoat it?
“You cut that out,” Guy said, stepping back. “You an’ me are going back to Earth and I ain’t gonna hear any complaints. I’ll come back for you.”
“Whatever.” Salaak wasn’t saying anything, which meant neither were the Guardians and Guy was going to get his way. Kyle didn’t care. Earth or Oa, it didn’t matter. “Let’s go, then.”
Earth was no more than a few minutes away when Kyle discovered that he did care, very much. He didn’t need to see to travel between sectors - the ring did the navigation for him. It informed him of obstacles in his path and gave him clear enough directions to avoid them. “Without my eyes, I have nothing.” He’d said that, the first time, and he’d never had to disprove it. But he could draw, if he could feel what he drew, and he could paint if he knew what colors he was using. He could create sculptures, assemble objects, express the images in his mind’s eye in three dimensions instead of two. ‘Prepare for atmospheric entry,’ his ring warned him, but Kyle came to a stop instead.
“The hell are you doing?” It had taken a moment for Guy to notice that Kyle wasn’t following him, judging by the delay.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” Kyle crossed his arms. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, he could do, but sitting and waiting wasn’t it. Whether or not Parallax was still inside of him, he was a Green Lantern. Besides, his ring was unique, and only worked for him; it wasn’t like they could give it to anyone else. “This is my job just as much as it is yours.”
“And what are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know! But I have to do something.”
“Kyle…” Guy paused, and was silent for so long that Kyle almost asked his ring to locate 2814.3. “You ain’t any better at detective work than I am,” Guy said finally. “And you gotta see something to hit it.”
“You did not just tell me that I’m useless.” Of all the things Kyle had expected to hear, that was not one of them. He’d thought that Guy, of all people, would understand that he wasn’t going to stand idly by, that just because he’d been damaged didn’t mean he was broken.
“You said it yourself!” Guy shot back, and anger rushed through Kyle.
“So that’s it? So sorry, goodbye, get lost?” Making a guess, he reached out to where he thought Guy was and made a grab for his collar. To his complete shock, his fingers closed on solid material. “I’m not giving up this easily.”
Expecting the next thing he felt to be Guy’s fist in his face, Kyle had already braced himself for the impact when he realized that Guy was shaking. Confused, he let go of the vest. Only then did he hear that Guy was laughing.
“That’s more like it, kid.”
“You…” Kyle exhaled forcibly and ran his hands through his hair to hide the fact that they were trembling. “You did that on purpose,” he said.
“I ain’t got time to coddle you. Besides, you don’ need it.” Guy paused for a moment, and then Kyle felt a hand on his shoulder. “Yer an Honor Guard Lantern.”
“I… thanks.” There wasn’t really anything else he could say.
“Now go down there and stay until I come back fer ya.” The hand on his shoulder lifted away.
“You aren’t serious! You just -“
“Look, I dunno if that’s permanent. You don’t know. Natu don’t know. But you’re part of the Corps whether you can see or not, and that ain’t gonna change.” Guy reached out and physically turned him in a direction that was presumably facing Earth. “I already talked t’Hal. You’re gonna stay with him and see what happens.”
“You talked to Hal.” Kyle had heard him do no such thing. “When?”
“On the way over here. Ain’t no air in space for sound waves, or did you forget?”
“…right.” A deep breath didn’t really change anything, but it helped him feel better. It wasn’t like he really had a place of his own left on Earth, not any more, but he wouldn’t be staying with Hal for long, and if anyone could recognize Parallax, Hal could. “You’ll let me know what’s going on.” It wasn’t a question.
“If there’s anything you can do, I’ll come get you myself.”
“You don’t need to.” He was mostly sure he could make it from Earth to Oa without help, although finding the right place on the planet’s surface might be a little difficult. “Come get me, I mean. Just tell me and I’ll come.” Guy didn’t need to say anything. Kyle knew exactly what he was thinking. “Ring, directions to Coast City.”
The ring tugged him downwards, and he followed the prompting. There were no obstacles he couldn’t avoid on the way down, either, with the ring’s verbal and tactile cues, and as per his instructions, it led him to the sign at the edge of the city limits. Guy had accompanied him, the which he knew because his ring periodically informed him that 2814.3 was approximately two meters away, but he didn’t speak until Kyle had landed. And only stumbled a little. He’d kept one foot on the ground, at least.
“Not bad,” was all he said.
‘2814.1 approaching,’ Kyle’s ring said, just as he heard Hal’s voice.
“Kyle?”
“Hal,” Kyle acknowledged.
“Good luck,” Guy said, and took off so quickly Kyle heard a sonic boom.
“Ow,” he said, rubbing at his ear. “Uh, thanks, Hal, for offering to help.”
“Least I could do,” Hal replied, and there was a long pause. Kyle wondered exactly what Hal was doing, but finally Hal’s hand closed around his wrist. “My car is this way,” Hal said, taking a step and pausing.
“You drove?”
“I didn’t want you to- I mean, I have to protect my identity. If Green Lantern visits the same building too often, people will start to get suspicious.” Hal’s voice was somewhere between reluctant and condescending, all submerged into honest concern.
Kyle suppressed a sigh. This might turn out to be not such a good idea after all.
FINIS
Fandom: Green Lantern Corps
Characters: Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Soranik Natu, Salaak, Hal Jordan
Prompt: 040 - Sight
Word Count: 2740
Rating: PG
Summary: For the second time in his life, Kyle Rayner has lost his sight, and this time he does not know if he’ll get it back.
Author's Notes: Sequel to 89:work and 10:years, although neither are required to follow this; it’s also set after the Sinestro Corps War event.
“I can’t see.”
It wasn’t the first time.
“I can’t see.”
The first time, he’d woken with his ring on his finger and the world dark. The first time, it had been the execution of a contingency plan (not that there had been a need for the contingency plan, not then), because if Kyle couldn’t see, he couldn’t fight. But Batman wasn’t on Oa, Batman’s contingency plans didn’t reach out here. And probably didn’t involve his power battery.
“I can’t…”
This was different.
Something behind him moved, and Kyle struck out blindly, formlessly, ring generating shapeless energy without thought. There was nothing there, nothing to hit. He’d gone to charge his ring, just like any other day, and the battery had flared into painful brightness. The light had faded almost immediately. Kyle had blinked the spots out of his eyes, and while waiting for his vision to return, had informed Salaak of what had happened. Salaak had confirmed, told him not to move, and broken communication. So Kyle had waited, but the longer he stood in complete darkness, the harder it became to suppress the panic. A power battery misbehaving could be a Sinestro Corps plot, and that was bad enough, but what if he’d done something to sabotage his own battery? Hal claimed he’d pulled Parallax out of Kyle, but some fragment could have remained behind. He couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.
The door was, in theory, easy to locate. Kyle thought he knew where everything in his apartment was, but he tripped twice over something he couldn’t identify and once he walked straight into a table. He hadn’t realized he had so many things. Finally, he thought to instruct his ring to warn him of any obstacles, but by that time he’d reached the door. He groped for the handle, but the door swung outwards before his reaching fingers could do more than brush at it.
“I knew you’d try to pull some dumb stunt.” The voice was unmistakably that of Guy Gardner. “Where d’you think you’re going?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle admitted. He hadn’t thought past getting to the door.
“Yeah, well, stay there. Where’s yer battery?”
Kyle pointed in what he thought was the right direction. “It’s in the -“
“Never mind, I see it.” Guy walked past Kyle, leaving the door open, and his footsteps moved towards the back of the apartment and then returned. Kyle felt a rough hand take him by the arm, just above the elbow. “Okay, kid, let’s go.”
“What’s going on?”
“Some o’ the batteries’ve been going haywire. Couple exploded, a few flashed bright like yours did. Mostly they just fell apart.” The grip on his arm pulled him upward, and Kyle willed his own ring to flight. It was harder than it should have been. He wasn’t sure if the news that it wasn’t just his battery made him feel better or worse.
“I ain’t gonna steer you into a building,” Guy said, still holding him firmly. “Nice’n slow, now.”
“Is anyone else -“
“Might have to take back what I said about Lanterns never getting lucky,” Guy interrupted. “You’re the worst, you and 1501.”
“Who, ah, who’s in 1501?”
“The one whose name I can’t pronounce. The one that’s all wiggly.” That was absolutely not a helpful description. “Her battery exploded. She’s burned, got a broken leg. She’ll be fine.”
Kyle didn’t ask again. Guy led him somewhere, and Kyle was able to follow his prompts - both verbal and tactile - with little difficulty. He appreciated that Guy was trying to create the illusion that Kyle had arrived under his own power, but illusion wasn’t what he needed.
“I see you can’t get enough of me, Lantern Rayner.” Soranik Natu’s voice was light, and Kyle thought she was probably smiling. Maybe.
“I -“ he started, but she grabbed his other arm and pulled him away from Guy before he could finish.
“At least your insides are intact this time,” she said, and now he knew she was teasing him, because she was poking at his freshly healed ribs. They didn’t hurt at all, which was a welcome change from the last time she’d prodded them.
“I’ll be back later,” Guy said, and a gust of wind let Kyle know that Guy had taken off much more quickly than he’d landed.
“I’m all yours,” he said to Natu, trying for a smile of his own. It didn’t feel right, so he gave up trying.
“Lantern Rayner, are you aware that you are wearing your mask and that you’ve removed the openings for your eyes?” Natu asked as she led him inside.
“Sorry.” He hadn’t known; he let the mask vanish.
Several tests followed, time-consuming and periodically interspersed with “Can you see this? Well, how about this, then?” He couldn’t see any of it, although he could sometimes feel the heat on his face. At one point, he could feel Natu fitting something across his eyes and painful warmth flooded out. Kyle tried not to squirm, but the heat and the device both vanished.
“I don’t know,” Natu said finally.
“You don’t know how long it will be?” The voice belonged to Salaak, and Kyle suppressed a violent start. He hadn’t heard the little alien come in.
“I don’t know if he’ll regain his vision at all,” Natu said, and the bottom dropped out of the world. Kyle fought to get his breath and his balance back as Natu laid a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand tilted his chin up, and then brushed across his eyes. He closed them involuntarily and something heavy settled over his closed lids. “Keep that on with your ring,” Natu said softly.
“I see,” Salaak said.
“I’d like to keep him her overnight for observation,” Natu said, and Salaak must have agreed, because the next sound Kyle heard was the door opening and closing.
“Well,” Natu said brightly. “This way.” The room to which she led him was probably normal; Kyle had no idea. Natu brought him around the space once, pointing out where everything was. Kyle thanked her and waited until she left to construct a stick he could use to tap around and re-explore; it was the only way he could think of to keep himself distracted. He learned as much as he could by touch. No matter how much he told himself it was temporary and it didn’t matter if he knew the room or not, he couldn’t stop until someone knocked on the door and told him it was time to turn the lights out.
Sleep refused to come. Kyle sat cross-legged in the center of the bed and used the ring to create constructs of faces. Faces were difficult. He ran his hands over his constructs, trying to translate the tactile information into a visual image. Donna Troy’s face lay beneath his hands, somehow off and refusing to feel right, when a wave of despair swept over him. The construct shattered into shards so sharp he was surprised he wasn’t bleeding before they dissolved. Did I do this to myself? Am I trying to keep the pieces of Parallax in me from hurting anyone else, or did I get caught in my own trap? No, that’s ridiculous. Cut it out, Kyle. He spent the rest of the night with his head on his knees, trying not to think.
Natu arrived some time later. Kyle hadn’t asked his ring what time it was, as if not knowing the time somehow prevented time from actually passing and kept this in the realm of nightmare instead of reality. Someone had come in to bring him breakfast and make sure he could use the shower, though, and broken the fragile illusion, and Natu had come once again to perform tests. Again, he couldn’t see anything, but she sounded more pleased than she had the day before, so he supposed that was something. Then again, she still had no idea what was going on. Kyle could hear voices in the hallway after she left, before they knocked on the door. He could make out Guy’s voice, the words growing clearer as they grew louder.
“-take him back,” Guy was saying. It sounded argumentative, although Guy might have said ‘ornery’ instead.
“You are needed as part of the investigation.” That was Salaak, every soft word precisely enunciated.
“Bullshit,” Guy said. “Point me at something and I’ll hit it, but I ain’t no good at this detective stuff. You don’t need me until you know what we’re up against.”
“This is not a matter up for debate.” The following knock sounded like Salaak, too, soft and decisive.
“Yes?” Kyle answered. He wasn’t sure what it was he was supposed to do, but he ringed his uniform on and was standing when Salaak and Guy entered the room.
“You get a vacation, kid,” Guy said, with the same forced cheerfulness Natu had had the day before.
“You mean I’ve been suspended,” Kyle said flatly. It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected it. He couldn’t fight if he couldn’t see, couldn’t patrol, couldn’t train rookies. There was nothing he could do for the Corps without being able to see, and it was counterproductive to have him sitting around using a ring that could go to someone more valuable.
“Not precisely suspended,” Salaak began.
“No, I’m just useless to you, so you’re going to get rid of me.” Kyle tugged the ring off his finger, feeling his uniform and mask dissolve. “Just take it.”
Someone snatched the ring out of his hand, but it wasn’t Salaak. Kyle had a bare second to process that information before Guy grabbed his other hand and jammed the ring back on. “Quit whining. You’re a senior Lantern. Act like it.”
Kyle turned away, more out of force of habit than anything else, and ringed his uniform back on. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Guy stepped closer to him, and Kyle felt the heavy weight of Guy’s hands descend on his shoulders. “It ain’t safe here, Kyle. Something’s trying to take down the Corps from the inside out.”
“I’m a liability,” Kyle said. Or worse. Why sugarcoat it?
“You cut that out,” Guy said, stepping back. “You an’ me are going back to Earth and I ain’t gonna hear any complaints. I’ll come back for you.”
“Whatever.” Salaak wasn’t saying anything, which meant neither were the Guardians and Guy was going to get his way. Kyle didn’t care. Earth or Oa, it didn’t matter. “Let’s go, then.”
Earth was no more than a few minutes away when Kyle discovered that he did care, very much. He didn’t need to see to travel between sectors - the ring did the navigation for him. It informed him of obstacles in his path and gave him clear enough directions to avoid them. “Without my eyes, I have nothing.” He’d said that, the first time, and he’d never had to disprove it. But he could draw, if he could feel what he drew, and he could paint if he knew what colors he was using. He could create sculptures, assemble objects, express the images in his mind’s eye in three dimensions instead of two. ‘Prepare for atmospheric entry,’ his ring warned him, but Kyle came to a stop instead.
“The hell are you doing?” It had taken a moment for Guy to notice that Kyle wasn’t following him, judging by the delay.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” Kyle crossed his arms. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, he could do, but sitting and waiting wasn’t it. Whether or not Parallax was still inside of him, he was a Green Lantern. Besides, his ring was unique, and only worked for him; it wasn’t like they could give it to anyone else. “This is my job just as much as it is yours.”
“And what are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know! But I have to do something.”
“Kyle…” Guy paused, and was silent for so long that Kyle almost asked his ring to locate 2814.3. “You ain’t any better at detective work than I am,” Guy said finally. “And you gotta see something to hit it.”
“You did not just tell me that I’m useless.” Of all the things Kyle had expected to hear, that was not one of them. He’d thought that Guy, of all people, would understand that he wasn’t going to stand idly by, that just because he’d been damaged didn’t mean he was broken.
“You said it yourself!” Guy shot back, and anger rushed through Kyle.
“So that’s it? So sorry, goodbye, get lost?” Making a guess, he reached out to where he thought Guy was and made a grab for his collar. To his complete shock, his fingers closed on solid material. “I’m not giving up this easily.”
Expecting the next thing he felt to be Guy’s fist in his face, Kyle had already braced himself for the impact when he realized that Guy was shaking. Confused, he let go of the vest. Only then did he hear that Guy was laughing.
“That’s more like it, kid.”
“You…” Kyle exhaled forcibly and ran his hands through his hair to hide the fact that they were trembling. “You did that on purpose,” he said.
“I ain’t got time to coddle you. Besides, you don’ need it.” Guy paused for a moment, and then Kyle felt a hand on his shoulder. “Yer an Honor Guard Lantern.”
“I… thanks.” There wasn’t really anything else he could say.
“Now go down there and stay until I come back fer ya.” The hand on his shoulder lifted away.
“You aren’t serious! You just -“
“Look, I dunno if that’s permanent. You don’t know. Natu don’t know. But you’re part of the Corps whether you can see or not, and that ain’t gonna change.” Guy reached out and physically turned him in a direction that was presumably facing Earth. “I already talked t’Hal. You’re gonna stay with him and see what happens.”
“You talked to Hal.” Kyle had heard him do no such thing. “When?”
“On the way over here. Ain’t no air in space for sound waves, or did you forget?”
“…right.” A deep breath didn’t really change anything, but it helped him feel better. It wasn’t like he really had a place of his own left on Earth, not any more, but he wouldn’t be staying with Hal for long, and if anyone could recognize Parallax, Hal could. “You’ll let me know what’s going on.” It wasn’t a question.
“If there’s anything you can do, I’ll come get you myself.”
“You don’t need to.” He was mostly sure he could make it from Earth to Oa without help, although finding the right place on the planet’s surface might be a little difficult. “Come get me, I mean. Just tell me and I’ll come.” Guy didn’t need to say anything. Kyle knew exactly what he was thinking. “Ring, directions to Coast City.”
The ring tugged him downwards, and he followed the prompting. There were no obstacles he couldn’t avoid on the way down, either, with the ring’s verbal and tactile cues, and as per his instructions, it led him to the sign at the edge of the city limits. Guy had accompanied him, the which he knew because his ring periodically informed him that 2814.3 was approximately two meters away, but he didn’t speak until Kyle had landed. And only stumbled a little. He’d kept one foot on the ground, at least.
“Not bad,” was all he said.
‘2814.1 approaching,’ Kyle’s ring said, just as he heard Hal’s voice.
“Kyle?”
“Hal,” Kyle acknowledged.
“Good luck,” Guy said, and took off so quickly Kyle heard a sonic boom.
“Ow,” he said, rubbing at his ear. “Uh, thanks, Hal, for offering to help.”
“Least I could do,” Hal replied, and there was a long pause. Kyle wondered exactly what Hal was doing, but finally Hal’s hand closed around his wrist. “My car is this way,” Hal said, taking a step and pausing.
“You drove?”
“I didn’t want you to- I mean, I have to protect my identity. If Green Lantern visits the same building too often, people will start to get suspicious.” Hal’s voice was somewhere between reluctant and condescending, all submerged into honest concern.
Kyle suppressed a sigh. This might turn out to be not such a good idea after all.
FINIS