Chapter Text
The sky was clear on his flight back home to Coast City; a long and slow flight after the Justice League’s monthly meeting, letting the fresh air clear his mind, relax his body. It hadn’t been as bad as it usually was, all things considered. Batman had a few choice words to say to Superman, as per usual, but Hal hadn’t been on the receiving end of the Spooky guy’s frustrations, this time. Hal could barely follow what the issue was, since he’d been off-world for the better part of the month, and he definitely didn’t want to get dragged into it, so the most he’d contributed to the meeting was a bit of digging at Batman’s scheduling, since Barry hadn’t even made it to the meeting, and Wonder Woman had been four minutes late, which wasn’t very long, obviously, but still worth pointing out to the Bat just to get under his skin.
With Barry absent, though, that meant the bulk of the meeting took less than an hour, though the argument between their leaders lasted… well, as far as Hal knew, it could still be going as he flew home, and knowing those two, it probably was.
It was barely after noon when he was flying over the Missouri border into Kansas. His watch started beeping incessantly, so he slowed until he was at a standstill, hovering above the clouds.
Answering the call, he watched Batman flicker into view, signature frown adorning the only visible part of his face.
“Hey, Spooky. What’s up?”
“Lantern. I meant to make a request before you left, but I was…”
“Distracted by your pure, passionate, and shameless rage at one super-powered alien?” He offered helpfully.
“…preoccupied.” Bats grunted, and Hal could only laugh, shaking his head. “There’s a meta-human hero in Detroit, codename Vibe. He’s currently a member of the Justice League of Detroit, as well as employed by A.R.G.U.S. for superhuman and, almost especially, extra-dimensional trouble.”
“Alright, that’s cool. Where’s this goin’, Spooks?”
“The JLA’s annual Hero Examination Week is in two months, and as I was going over the reviews from last year and recent footage, I realized an oversight in Vibe’s skill-set. I would like you to extend an invitation to him for the assessment.”
“So, I’m just a messenger for your poorly planned outreach methods, is that right?” Hal’s eyebrow crept higher, and his grin grew ever wider when Batman turned his head away, the only signal that Hal was, for once, right in his digs at the detective. “Don’t worry, Spooky, I won’t spill your secrets. And I’ll make a trip to Detroit-”
“Thank-”
“-if you ask nicely, that is.” Hal added, and received a very thin white-lens glare before the call cut out. He threw his head back and laughed, changing his flight path to make a quick detour towards Detroit.
He only realized after descending onto a rooftop in the Renaissance Center in Detroit that Batman hadn’t given him any direction or instruction on how to find Vibe. For obvious reasons, civilian identity was kept a secret, and even still, years into the Justice League, Hal only knew Barry’s identity, and had vague speculations of others. So, he wasn’t surprised that Batman had left Vibe’s identity out of the equation, but any other kind of direction would have been helpful.
Assuming A.R.G.U.S. would be his best bet, he took off again, soaring through the skies of Detroit, trying to locate any building that looked like a government organization, though his search was cut short by an explosion near the outskirts of the city.
Hal flew into action, soaring through the skies until he could see the fight. There was the destruction, that was the first thing he could see, but through the dust and smoke he saw a figure on the ground, using an overturned car as cover. Across the way, Hal could see a construct of some kind, robotic in nature but with an eerie glow to it, though Hal was confident it wasn’t a Lantern’s glow.
“Green Lantern!? The hell are you doing here?” The figure under cover shouted up at him, and Hal made a nosedive towards him, dropping into a crouch behind the car.
“Looking for someone! But I can help you make quick work of this guy, if you want!”
The other hero didn’t get a chance to say anything before the car was thrown over their heads, an explosion sending them backwards a few feet. Hal caught himself with his ring, shooting upwards into the air before making his way back around, quickly finding the other hero, who was in the midst of dodging debris that the robot threw his way, and knocking them out of the air with some sort of energy blast.
“Lantern! Can you get a hold on this guy?”
“Sure thing!” He threw his arm out, sending a construct of chains to wrap around the robot’s legs, anchoring it to the ground. The other hero ran forward, jumping onto a car and using the momentum of an energy blast directed beneath him to land on the top of a truck.
“When I say so, drag him down!”
Hal, confused, glanced at the ground where he was holding the mech in place. Solid, only partially cracked beneath the combined weight of the construct and the pressure Hal was keeping on it with the glowing green chains.
“Down where?”
“Now!” The hero threw his arm out, another wave of energy shooting out from his hand, and Hal did as he was told, pulling the chains down. He watched in awe as the blue energy circled the ground and expanded beneath the mech, forming a massive circle of bubbling energy that Hal, as requested, pulled the mech down into. It took an immense amount of strength and will, as the robot struggled, grabbed at the ground for leverage and dug up pavement beneath it’s metal claws, but Hal constructed more chains, wrapping them around the mech’s upper body to fully yank it down, watching it disappear beneath the bubbling energy of the hero’s portal, which fizzled out of existence once the mech was gone.
“Okay. Where’d it go?” Hal touched down next to the hero on the truck, dragging his gaze over the wrecked pavement, preparing for the mechanical construct to burst out of the ground.
“A.R.G.U.S. facility,” the hero panted, and when Hal glanced over, he saw the man hunched over, hands on his knees. “Big, wide A.R.G.U.S. cell. Pretty sure I know who built that robot, but I dunno where he’s located. Hopefully A.R.G.U.S. will get some answers when they tear into that thing.”
“A.R.G.U.S., right. You wouldn’t happen to be Vibe, would you?” Hal finally let his guard down, leveling his gaze on the other man, who was still trying to catch his breath, but looked up at Hal with surprise and, more importantly, intrigue.
“How’d you know that?”
“Would you believe me if I said Batman told me?” Hal shot the man a grin, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn’t see Vibe’s eyes behind those goggles, but he could see his eyebrows creep up, and the way his mouth dropped open in shock was, honestly, kind of adorable. “And that he’s extending an invitation to you, only if you want, to come to the Justice League’s Hero Examination Week. As a potential candidate for one of the JLA’s newest recruits.”
“Okay, now I know this is a joke. I’m already part of the Justice League of Detroit-”
“Which is probably why Batman’s confident in your skill-set,” Hal gestured towards the torn up pavement where the portal had been. “And, seeing what you can do, I think you’ll do great. It’s in two months, so you have some time to think it over. Hall of Justice, examinations start on Sunday. Knowing Batman, it’s probably alphabetical, so you’ll be… probably one of the last?”
“Oh, gee, great.” The sarcasm bled from Vibe’s words in a sharp bite, but Hal only chuckled, patting the man’s shoulder as he started to hover.
“Relax. Like I said, you got time.”
“Wait, so that was it?” Vibe stood upright, looking up to where Hal hovered over him, about five feet above the truck, now.
“Yup! Was trying to find you, ended up helping you. No biggie. See you!” Hal rapidly lifted up into the sky, only just hearing Vibe’s shout of thanks before only the wind roared in his ears.