It was the annual League check in, a big meeting they had once a fiscal year at the Hall of Justice to check in on everyone’s progress and how things were going after major events that happened that year. Usually Kyle didn’t like League meetings, but having his friends who weren’t 10+ years older than him around for this meeting always meant that the meeting wouldn’t be boring.
Kyle was standing near Hal’s seat with the rest of the Lanterns (besides Guy who was sitting down on the floor next to Hal) minus Kelli who was with Titans West. The Titans and Young Justice were also in attendance and standing with one another, and the people who didn’t have a team but were still in the League database stood behind the League member they correspond to or near a friend.
“- a painting that went missing in -xx23” Bruce was saying.
“What does a painting that went missing 40 years ago have to do with our case?” Gar asked. Rachel side eyed him and Kyle almost laughed at the severity of it.
“So, that's not how math works,” Vic pointed out and Gar rolled his eyes.
“It’s close enough,” Gar argued. Rachel’s side eye continued.
“No it’s not? It’s 24 years, you're off by like 16 years” Jaime pointed out. Tim shook his head.
“No it’s not,” Tim said and Kyle was confused.
“Yes it is? I was born that year and I’m 24” Kyle said. Tim started to analyze him and Kyle was unsettled. He wasn’t that dumb, damn Tim, but Kon was also looking at him weird.
“So I know how math works,” Wally said slowly, “and yours is off. Do you not know what year you were born”?
Hal reached back and tapped Kyle on his knee, a sign to be quiet. But Kyle wasn’t going to start another brawl with Wally in the Hall of Justice or anything, and Bruce (who was one of the few people that kind of cared about keeping the meeting on track) seemed interested, so Kyle didn’t get what Hal was so worried about.
“I know what year I was born Wally, I’m not stupid” Kyle argued. Hal tapped his knee again.
“You clearly are. You weren’t born in -xx23” Wally said. Next to him, Donna, Roy and Garth looked amused but Dick looked worried. Kyle didn’t get it. He and Wally talked like this all the time. Hal being worried about his nephew getting into a fight, okay sure, but Dick knew Kyle and Wally talked to each other like this.
“Wally, I know what year I was born. It’s basic information that I use all the time” Kyle said gently in order to hopefully placate Hal and Dick. It didn’t work, as Dick still looked worried and Hal tapped his knee again.
“You were born in August” Wally said slowly, as if Kyle was stupid or a child, and that kinda pissed Kyle off.
“Yeah” Kyle said in the same condescending tone. “August 20th, -xx23. I just turned 24”.
Hal tapped him again and Guy slapped Hal’s away.
“Let him talk Hal, he’s a big boy,” Guy said quietly. His laugh and tone of excitement made Kyle realize something was wrong.
“That’s impossible. That was the year I was born and I was born in January while you were born in August so you would be a grade behind me instead of being in the same grade as me. Meaning you would have just turned-” Wally paused, eyes widening in horror when he saw Kyle had gone rigid, realizing his mistake. “Wait a fucking second, have you been lying about your age”?
Kyle opened his mouth and then closed it. He was stupid after all. He had been so used to saying he was a year older than he was, that he hadn’t realized his birth year didn’t match. He has been lying about his age for so long that he completely forgot he lied about his age in general. Everyone was looking at him now.
“I tried to warn you,” Hal said, looking up at Kyle in amusement.
“How old are you really?” Wally asked desperately.
“Older or younger?” Roy joined in as Donna looked panicked.
“Why would you lie about your age and what year you were born, but not make sure that they worked together?” Bart asked, his hand raised. Next to him, Kon was looking between Kyle and Wally like one would a fucking tennis match.
“I didn’t lie about the year. Just now” Kyle said weakly and Wally bent over, hands on his knees as if he needed to catch his breath.
“Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait” Wally cried out before looking back up at Kyle. “You’re a year younger than me?”?
“No! I mean, we’re the same age until your birthday in January?” Kyle offered and Donna relaxed.
“NO-”!
Guy burst out laughing at the same time as Kon. Guy had accidentally found out a bit after Hal, and Kon didn’t know until now and was just a brat. Connor was whispering something to Kelli who had this look on her face that made Kyle nervous.
Well, more nervous.
“I told you,” Hal said again. “Play stupid games”?
“Win stupid prizes” Kyle said sadly, hanging his head in defeat.
“Wait a second, you were 20 when you became a Lantern” John asked and Kyle nodded. “Kyle, we went out drinking with you plenty of times before August -xxx2”.
“Yeah” Barry said, wide eyes with realization. “We did too”!
Uh oh.
“Who cares about that!” Wally said. “He was 20 when he joined the League! You guys said you have to be 21”!
Oh yeah, Wally hadn’t been old enough to join the League when he first became Flash, having still been 20. He was never officially a part of the League team since Barry “came back to life” before he turned 21, but Kyle had said he was 21, so he was an official Justice League team member. And Wally wasn’t.
It was a beautiful day.
“Revoke his membership” Roy joked.
“I agree!” Wally said seriously, looking like he was losing his mind. “I’m older than you? You graduated university before me”?
Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing.
“You have a fake id,” John said looking very amused. Kyle nodded. “Let me see it”.
Oh wait no, this actually sucked.
Kyle pulled it out and handed it over, and the other Lanterns and Barry and Ollie (who sat on either side of Hal) looked at it.
“I mean- it looks legit” Simon offered and Jess laughed, not even bothering to cover her mouth with her hand as she elbowed a smirking Jo lightly..
“I don’t use it anymore” Kyle said and Guy slung an arm around Kyle.
“I’m gonna make fun of you for this for the rest of your life” Guy laughed, despite the fact that he already knew. Kyle rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, I saw that one coming”.
“And you knew about this,” John said to Hal. At least if Kyle was going down, Hal was going down with him.
“Yeah, but he stopped after I found out. That’s why we didn’t go bar hopping as a group for like, four months” Hal said. John looked like he was trying not to laugh and Kyle knew he was done for. He was getting bullied for the next month at least. He hated them all. “What?“
“Hal. He still went drinking, just when you weren’t there” John said. Hal paused before doing a slow turn in his chair, looking offended.
Kyle knew Hal was more offended that Kyle was hiding it from him than him actually doing it. Oh also there was the reason Hal recommended Kyle didn’t drink for a bit, but Kyle didn’t want to think about that.
“Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?” Kyle asked sheepishly. Wally was leaning on a laughing Garth, wailing at the unfairness of the world and something about Kyle graduating University way before him, but Kyle couldn’t even enjoy it.
From “Just Close Your Eyes, You’ll Be Alright” or the fic where Kon dies.
Kon closed his eyes and rested his head on Cissie’s chest, letting his hand drop onto his chest.
He didn’t move again.
Clark started to sob and Cissie wailed as Cassie finally let Tim go, going limp on him as she cried. Cissie rocked Kon back and forth as she screamed. She begged him for forgiveness that Tim knew she would never earn, and he would remind her of that for the rest of her life.
Kon was dead.
Kon, who just recently graduated high school. They had planned to celebrate that weekend. Kon, just three weeks shy of his 18th Birthday. Kon, who barely got to experience life. They only had him for four years. No, not even four years.
Tim remembers the night of his 15th birthday when Kon took him flying for the first time over Metropolis. He remembered Kon’s first time at the mall, and how much fun they had getting him civilian clothes. Tim remembered their first YJ sleep over, and how they met Reddy for the first time. Tim remembered dancing with Kon at Cassie and Cissie’s homecoming dance. He remembered Kon’s first baseball game, his first soccer game, how excited he was when he started getting the hang of the Kryptonian language and its culture, how he smiled, how he laughed, how-
There were fires and debris and screaming around Tim. He could feel it with all his senses. People cried out in pain, in fear, for their loved ones. But Tim didn’t care.
The entirety of Metropolis could burn. Tim just wanted Kon.
“The results have arrived. He appears to have a severe allergy to strawberries” Alfred read before handing Tim the papers, but Tim didn’t take them.
“Strawberries? But we weren’t-“ Cassie stopped, eyes widening in realization as Tim clamored to his feet, almost falling over as he did.
“My milkshake,” Tim said.
Or Kon goes into anaphylactic shock and Tim blames himself
It had quite possibly been the worst year of the Titans lives, but they would bounce back. They just had to complete this case and they could prove to the League (and each other) that they were fine.
Kyle would rather not work with the Titans again, not after what happened, but he’s so tired of being alone. What the worse that could happen from one case?
Or
The Titans try moving on after tragedy and show the League that they aren’t the same kid heroes they were when they started, and Kyle tries to find his place on Earth amongst heroes after the Sinestro Corps War. He’s not the only Green Lantern anymore.
Sequel to Fear and What Follows, but you don’t have to read that to read this fic.
-
They went to the door of Roy’s room and Wally used his fingers to count down from three before zipping out of the room, through the kitchen and behind the intruder. Wally was about to hit him when-
“Uncle Hal?” Wally and Roy said at the same time and Uncle Hal jumped out of his skin.
Read on Ao3
Chapter Notes
- For the flash back, Fab 5 teen Titans was founded late May that year, so they’ve been a team for about 5 months in the flash back
- Their ages in the flashback! Donna is 14, Dick is 13, Wally is 12, Garth is 11, and Roy is 10
- The silly arrows thing was to show that they were still young and learning. They are kids! Its okay! also used to show that Roy is the youngest and newest member of the group since he joined a couple weeks after they started the group. And the other four have been super heroing a bit longer than Roy (Dick doing it the longest)
- Whenever they have sleepovers not at Titans Tower, Garth sleeps in the bathtub. Dw he’s chill with it, and when they were younger the adults would only be skeptical the first few times
- I love the Hal Barry and Ollie being eachothers families so much like, you will see throughout this that Wally, Roy, and Connor all refer to Hal as Uncle Hal. And of course to the three of them Barry is also Uncle Barry, and to Wally, Ollie used to be Uncle Ollie.
- The whole thing that hppened between Ollie and Roy broke up the Ollie Hal and Barry trio for a couple of years, but they became friends again after Parallax. But the point is, Hal and Barry are looking out for their nephew!!!!
- For my Fear and What Follows readers! You should recognize this part from chapter 4!!!
- Kyle and his several nicknames
- Gis? Dangling the Titans A v Torchie incident infront of you guys? Nooooooo I would never-
- Ghostt hc’s that Wally is really good at cooking and took an interest in it when he was younger after he got his powers since he needed to eat more. I also hc that he can’t bake for his life. Ty Ghosttie!!
- Lantern nicknames!!
- John being Problem Child because he was the youngest at the time and Hal thought he was a problem when he first joined
- Guy being One-Hit is a double thing. Hal claims to non lanterns that its because Guy can take people out in one hit but John and Hal like to tease him about being knocked out by batman of all people in one hit. They go to war with anyone else who dares mention it, but they tease Guy about it
- Simon is Vroom because he stole Cars
- Jess is braincell bc Hal believes shes the only one of them with a braincell.
- And Hal being Captain Crybaby is a play on his rank in the air force and the thing that happened with Barry. That i wrote out if anyone is interested-
- Making Dick an EMT was something I got from a friend! Don’t remember which friend, but I wanna say Ghostt again?
- Yep the current batfam (Bruce, Dick, Tim, Babs, Cass) have yet to reveal their identities to any of the League or people within the Leagues database. And recent events made it less likly
- Connor and Kyle friendship :D Always
- Dick goes by Bird because hes no longer Robin but still hasn’t shared his identity. It’s also a bit of a nod to my lovly amazing friend, love, and Beta reader Birdie. Ily my Birdie!!!
- Absolutely love Dick and Kori they are endgame in my au guys
- Also yes, she doesn’t know hes secret Identity but doesnt really care. He’s never given her a reason not to trust him
- That ending line had my friends yelling at me hehehhe
Next time on Of Fear and Falling Apart!
“I didn’t mean to hurt you- especially with what I said” Wally continued and Kyle couldn’t help but cut him off.
“Then why did you say it?” Kyle asked. Wally stared at him, surprised, but didn’t say anything. Roy was looking between them with a blank face. Kyle nodded.
From one of the Whumptober 2024 prompts I did, Day 6
The first person Roy made eye contact with was Jason Todd. He was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, right across from Roy’s bed. He was wearing a hat, probably to cover up the white part of his hair, and looked relieved when he made eye contact with Roy.
“Oh you’re awake” Dick said suddenly from his left, causing Roy to look at him lazily. He was sitting in a chair and holding Roy’s hand. Standing behind him was Ollie.
Roy couldn’t look away from Ollie, suddenly 15 years old again when Ollie found his stash. He shouldn’t care what Ollie thought anymore, he was an adult now. He didn’t need Ollie.
But then what was he waiting for?
Ollie smiled softly at him, and Roy was taken aback. Dick squeezed his hand and Roy automatically squeezed back.
“I’m not mad Roy” Ollie said softly. “No one is mad at you”.
The Volleyball Incident that was referenced in my fic Fear and What Follows.
-
Guy was starting to get really annoyed. Like, he was happy the Corps were back and he could be a Green Lantern again, but everything was different in the most annoying way possible.
Guy, John, and Hal hadn’t really been well liked before this since they were from Earth and seen as lesser than, but they had worked hard to prove themselves and had been more or less accepted before the whole Parallax thing. But now they were hated and right back to- no they were worse from where they started.
It was frustrating, putting in all that work just to be back to square negative one in an instant. But Guy didn’t really care about what they thought of him. They didn’t really matter so why would their opinion? It pissed him off that the negative treatment was extending to Jess and Simon, their new rookies. John was used to it since he’s been a Lantern for years, and while Guy was worried for Hal (not that he would admit it) he knew Hal could take care of himself. But Simon and Jess just started and were already being put at a disadvantage because of it.
It was really fucking annoying.
“Guy, stop glaring at the Lost Lanterns” John said, sounding tired. Guy rolled his eyes but didn’t take his eyes off of the Lost Lanterns.
“I’ll stop after they stop” Guy muttered. John sighed loudly, and Guy could tell he was at the end of his rope.
“I don’t think they will Guy” Hal mused from his seat next to Guy. “There’s more of them than you, they can rotate shifts”.
“Then help me out” Guy shot back.
“Help yourself out and stop being near me. You won’t get glared at then” Hal said. Guy’s eyes darted away from the Lost Lanterns to John.
Hal didn’t say it bitterly or sadly, he just stated a fact. He didn’t seem bothered by it when Guy glanced at him, instead just looking back at Guy in confusion.
“What?” Hal asked and Guy rolled his eyes.
When Hal had first gotten out of the Sciencells when he was cleansed of Parallax- it wasn’t good, but now he seemed fine. But Guy knew that what happened to Hal wasn’t something u just shrugged off. You weren’t just suddenly okay.
“If this was your fault I would’ve gladly taken the excuse not to be near your ugly mug Jordan” Guy scoffed, even though they all knew that wasn’t true. “They just hate us because we’re from Earth”.
Hal nodded, looking lost in thought. He was always thinking about something nowadays.
“Maybe we should take a walk” John suggested, glancing at the still glaring Lost Lanterns.
They had nothing to do today. They weren’t assigned any missions and they weren’t allowed to train any rookies, not even the ones from their own planet. Jess and Simon were training with their group leader at the moment, so it would just be the three of them for a bit.
Guy expected to just walk in silence for an hour, John trying in vain to use his “aura” or whatever to try to calm Guy down while Hal just stared off into space, thinking way too much once again, but noise caught their attention.
“Another fight,” John said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Guy could feel John’s incoming migraine and he almost felt bad.
“Let’s check it out” Hal said, not waiting for either to reply as he started to stroll over to the noise. Guy and John quickly followed.
It was probably rookies again. Guy really thought these guys didn’t know how to act, but there were so many of them they couldn’t set Kilowog on all of-
Oh. Well it was certainly rookies, but they weren’t fighting.
Guy just stared at the green construct volleyball net, a couple of rookie and senior lanterns gathered around cheering. And of course the people playing volleyball were the only people who could get away with it.
On one side was Sodam Yat and Soranik Natu, Natu getting ready to serve the construct volleyball. On the other side was Tomar-Tu and Torchbearer, ready to receive the ball. Laira was in the middle, almost like a referee, and Arisia was close by her, hand over her mouth as she tried not to laugh.
Guy watched them play, and the point went to Natu and Yat, as Tomar dived for the ball but missed.
“What?” was all Hal said, the first one of the three of them to speak.
“If I had to guess, I’m thinking Torchbearer taught them how to play,” John mused. Guy tilted his head.
“Don’t they have training?” Guy asked.
“Maybe they have a free block?” John suggested.
“Rookies get free blocks now”?
Guy thought the four of them got away with way too much, but Torchbearer was the golden boy, and the other three were friends with the golden boy so they reaped the benefits. But honestly, he wasn’t going to complain about it. Guy knew Torchbearer since the kid first became a Lantern, and even though the kid avoided Guy and the other Earth Lanterns at all costs now, Guy could see he was doing well.
When Guy had first been contacted by Dinah to meet the new Green Lantern, the last and only Green Lantern, the kid had been sick looking. Guy could see it even though the kid’s mask had been on. He was thin, pale- he wasn’t doing good, and Guy understood why with what the kid told him happened. But he got better, and Guy likes to think he and John helped, but then he had left Earth in a hurry. When Guy saw him again on Oa when the Corps had started up again, the kid was once again thin, pale, and quiet.
Torchbearer wasn’t really the quiet type.
But now he looked healthy, and Guy could often see him laughing with his friends. So whatever, let him have special privileges. With everything he’s been through as a Green Lantern, let him have his-
“Guy mo-“!
Something smacked Guy in the face so hard that he stumbled back a bit, dazed. Guy looked down at the construct volleyball at his feet, then back up at the four players.
They all stared at him, wide eyed and open mouthed. Yat had a hand in the air, basically admitting whose fault this was. It was then Guy noticed that everyone, Rookies and Senior Lanterns alike, were silent and looking at him. No one said anything, no one moved.
The silence was broken by Hal bursting out laughing. He was laughing so hard that he doubled over. It was- Guy hadn’t heard Hal laugh like that since before-
Several Senior Lantern’s started laughing too. Guy could see Torchbearer and his friends hadn’t moved or changed expressions, except for Yat who gave Guy an uneasy smile when they locked eyes.
Guy didn’t really care. However, he did have a reputation to uphold.
“Hey”! Guy yelled at the group as he stalked towards them.
“Scatter” Laira told them before walking over to meet Guy, and the four of them ran off.
“Nope” Guy said, side-stepping Laira and running after them. By the direction they ran, he could tell they were running to the other three’s shared room. Rookies.
He knocked on the door loudly.
“I know you’re in there! Come out! I just wanna talk” Guy said, banging on the door several more times until it finally opened.
“Senior Lantern Gardner” Iolande greeted with a smile that was a bit too sugary sweet. “How can I help you”?
“I know they’re in here,” Guy said, narrowing his eyes. Iolande tilted her head.
“Who”?
“You know who I’m talking about”.
“I can assure you Senior Lantern Gardner, I don’t”.
They stared at each other for a bit before Guy sighed.
“This isn’t over” Guy called into the room before spinning on his heel and walking away. Having a staring contest with Iolande wasn’t going to doing anything, but they had to come out at some point.
John and Hal were still smirking when Guy returned, but they were now standing with Simon and Jess who looked confused.
“You find them?” John asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You give them hell, Guy?” Hal added, pressing his lips together afterwards to keep himself from laughing again. There was joy in his eyes that Guy hadn’t seen in a while.
“Am I missing something?” Simon asked, eyes darting between Hal and John and Guy as Jess nodded.
“Guy got hit in the face with a volleyball,” Hal explained. “Torchbearer and his friends were playing”.
But Guy had been way too nice today.
“Lantern Jordan, 50” Guy said and John gave him a look, but Guy ignored him. Hal looked offended.
“Pulling rank on me Gardner?” Hal asked, but he didn’t look hurt, and Guy could still see amusement in his eyes. Hal didn’t need someone to coddle him, so Guy wouldn’t. Yeah Hal was stripped of his rank, but there was no reason tro treat him like it was fragile. Better tank be thrown around with his friends than someone like a Lost Lantern.
“That’s Senior Lantern Gardner to you,” Guy replied.
“Yes sir Senior Lantern Gardner sir!” Hal mocked, saluting him before getting on the ground and starting to do push ups. Guy stared at him for a second before sitting cross legged on his back, Hal not breaking his pace. “Damn you’re heavy! Lay off the beers”!
“50 more Lantern Jordan”.
“Well fuck you too”.
“50 more Lantern Jordan”.
“Of course Mr. Senior Lantern Gardner sir”!
“This’ll be you if you don’t fall in line” Guy said, pointing between Jess and Simon, who looked amused. Other Lanterns were staring at them as they walked by, but this was the kind of shit they should’ve been staring at them for.
Later that day Guy was walking with Jess to the Mess Hall when his opportunity for revenge came. He had been answering some of Jess’s questions, the two of them sent ahead to snag a table for dinner, when he saw Torchbearer and his friends sitting at a table laughing.
There was no way they were escaping him now.
“Watch this Jess” Guy said gleefully before making his way to the table. They noticed him when he was almost there.
“Senior Lantern Gardner!” Yat said with wide eyes and an awkward smile. “I-”!
“Attention!” Guy called, and the three rookies stood at attention. Guy looked around for Torchbearer but didn’t see him, which was strange because he had just been sitting with the other three. “Report”.
“Trainee Lantern Natu, 1417.2 reporting”
“Trainee Lantern Yat, 1760.1 reporting”!
“Trainee Lantern Tomar, 2813.2 reporting”!
Guy grinned. He could see they weren’t afraid of him or anything, instead just awkward. He could respect that.
“Which one of you rookies hit me in the face?” Guy asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
“Me, Senior Lantern Gardner” Yat answered immediately. Guy stared at him for a second.
“Trainee Lantern Yat, 200”. Yat’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he saluted.
“Sir, yes sir” and Yat got down in the middle of the Mess Hall and started doing push ups. Much more respectful than Hal.
“Trainee Lanterns Natu, Tomar. 50” Guy said, feeling merciful. They both saluted him.
“Sir, yes sir!” and they both got down on the floor and started their pushups.
There was no use in looking for Torchbearer since Guy couldn’t make him do pushups, the kid was unfortunately a higher rank than him. Guy instead chose a table that he could clearly see them from and sat down.
“A beautiful sight really” Guy mused. “Still wonder where Torchbearer went. He was sitting at the table when we were walking over”.
“Oh I saw him dive under the table” Jess said. “He really wants to avoid us. I wonder why”.
“Me too” Guy said, resisting the urge to lean over and look under the table. He’d let the kid be for now.
Torchbearer had been on very good terms with John and Guy before restoring Oa. What had happened to change that?
“Wow, our number one ranking rookie group is in trouble?” Hal asked as he sat down with his food. “What did they do? And who dished that out”?
“Me!” Guy said proudly before cackling. By now Tomar and Natu were finishing up but Yat still had more to go even though he was going at a decent pace.
Guy felt better. Happy even.
That night, Guy was surprised to see Torchbearer in their room when he walked in with John and Hal. He shouldn’t have been, since he knew Iolande was on Oa so the kid couldn’t hide in his friends’ room.
Usually they roomed in twos on Oa, but since the place had been destroyed, they were still rebuilding. Training the rookies and defending the Universe were the priorities, so the barracks were only halfway done, leaving four to a room. The rooms were grouped up in either Rookie groups (since it was four to a group) or a set of sector partners with another set of sector partners from a neighboring sector. because there were so many Earth Lanterns, Hal, John, Guy and Torchbearer had been put together but Torchbearer was avoiding them so he didn’t sleep in their room often.
Right now he was in his bunk, which was on the right side right above Guy’s, curled up on his side and facing the wall so they couldn’t see his face. But Guy didn’t need to be looking at him to know he was awake still. Guy walked to the side Torchbearer’s head was on and slapped the side of the bed twice.
“Torchbearer”. There was a moment of silence, and Guy thought he was wrong and that Torchbearer actually was asleep, but then-
“Senior Lantern Gardner”? Guy grinned.
“Next time you teach your friends an Earth game, make sure they know how to play right before you set them loose”.
It had quite possibly been the worst year of the Titans lives, but they would bounce back. They just had to complete this case and they could prove to the League (and each other) that they were fine.
Kyle would rather not work with the Titans again, not after what happened, but he’s so tired of being alone. What the worse that could happen from one case?
Or
The Titans try moving on after tragedy and show the League that they aren’t the same kid heroes they were when they started, and Kyle tries to find his place on Earth amongst heroes after the Sinestro Corps War. He’s not the only Green Lantern anymore.
Sequel to Fear and What Follows, but you don’t have to read that to read this fic.
-
“What are you up to?” John asked. Torchie wouldn’t look at her, and she felt bad cornering him like this in front of his friends, but she had to.
“I was actually wondering if I could talk to Torchie before I talk to the League?” Donna asked, eyes darting to Torchie who was now looking at her, eyebrows high on his forehead. She expected him to say no, and she would respect that-
“Uh yeah. Sure” Torchie said before turning to the other Green Lanterns. “I’ll be right back”.
Read on Ao3
Chapter Notes
- Yes that flashback is from Fear and What follows hehehhe
- Absolutely fell in love with the idea that Hal Barry and Ollie spent the holidays together, adding on their families as they grew. Its tradition!!
- Need you guys to know this isn’t Ollie bashing I love Ollie, but he relationship with Roy hasn’t healed yet even though Ollie really wants it to. Roy has the right to take it as slow as he wants. Also like Wally, Ollie was a jerk to Kyle at first (not that Kyle didn’t give it back lol)
- No one asked, but please know in this au, Don’s middle name is Hal
- I made Linda a comp sci major because I’m a comp sci major and we have too many reporters sorry not sorry
- In my Au, hal and dinah are good friends. She was friends with Hal before she was friends with Ollie! Dinah takes Kyle under her wing becuase she was friends with Hal, and she knew Hal would’ve wanted someone to
- Connor is with Ollie younger in my au, becuase if I didn’t then he would join way later and I NEEDED him in my au becuase I love him
- once again, Tomar-Tu, Sodam Yat, Kyle and Soranik Natu are all rookies at the same time due to timeline constraints. Timeline constraints :(((((
- Funfact! Kyle’ Birthday in my au is August 20th. It’s also the same day he got the ring
- Torchbearer is a rank and title kyle keeps even after Ion. The ranking system is
- Guardians
- Monitor Lanter (Salaak)
- Torchbearer (Kyle)
- Honor Guard (John, Guy, Hal)
- Senior Lantern
- Lantern
- Lantern Trainee
- While Kyle is NOT perfect, he is much better than Donna’s ex’s because they all suck. It’s not a high bar. She’s usually really bad at picking, and maybe it’s because she has a need to care for others to feel useful-
- The A and B codes are for adults and then people under 21. So that way if they mass ping for something, they don’t have to take the younger onesout of school or put them in super dangerous adult only sitations if they don’t have to. They recive their A codes when they are 21
- The League working together to raise Fab Fuve becuase no one had any idea what they were doing! Before all the horrible things that happened in the year OFaFA, the League was much closer and more family
- Fab Five called eachother mentors aunt or uncle with the exception of Batman, who while he cared about the kids he was a bit more distant with it and later Ollie becuase of what happened with Roy
- Dinah became Auntie a bit later, and Hal is only really Uncle to Flashfam and Arrowfam, but the others in Fab 5 do sometimes call him uncle. Usually when he helps them out as seen in this chapter, if they want something, or they are pissed off ag their mentors (dick does this and taught Jason to do the same)
- Kyle standing his ground and saying no is important to me becuase hes not a door mat just becuase he’s nice and he cares. And Donna respecting that becuase she not a bad person, and she loves him enough to let him go. She respects all kinds of strength, not just physical
- Hi hello, in My League Superman and Wonder Woman are the leaders, with Superman haveing the code A-1, and Wonder Woman having A-2. Batman is A-3 and the teams strategist, he doesn't care about being the number one leader bc why would he?
Next Time! On “Of Fear of Falling Apart”!!
“Roger that” Nightwing responded and Wally could just imagine him hacking into the security cameras, having seen it hundreds of times before. “Gosh their security su- uh oh”.
“N?” Troia’s voice came immediately and Wally felt himself tense up without meaning to. “Respond”.
“Fuck” Red Arrow groaned. A new voice came over comms.
It had quite possibly been the worst year of the Titans lives, but they would bounce back. They just had to complete this case and they could prove to the League (and each other) that they were fine.
Kyle would rather not work with the Titans again, not after what happened, but he’s so tired of being alone. What the worse that could happen from one case?
Or
The Titans try moving on after tragedy and show the League that they aren’t the same kid heroes they were when they started, and Kyle tries to find his place on Earth amongst heroes after the Sinestro Corps War. He’s not the only Green Lantern anymore.
Sequel to Fear and What Folllows, but you don’t have to read that to read this fic.
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“I think it's obvious who’s doing this” Roy said, eyebrow raised. Dick sighed.
“I know, but we can’t really move in without any evidence, and we have nothing linking him to the attacks,” Dick explained, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. “Luthor hasn’t tried anything since he got out of prison last year. Even his business is clean”.
Read on Ao3
Chapter Notes
- Origin of Kyle and hats revealed!
- Donna not knowing what Nine Inch Nails is
- Also really wanted to show how Donna and Kyle were before the Titans A V Torchie incident! Wanted to write them as they both had amazing chemistry, but they both think they aren’t good enough for the other heheh
- On this same note! I feel like Donna is a very strong person! But I also wanna write her like- human! She isn’t some one dimensional girl boss! Yes she strong and she’s pretty and is powerful! But she can get butterflies when she likes someone! She can get flustered and feel unworthy sometimes! That’s okay!!!! It doesn’t make her any less strong!! Same for Kyle!! Doesn’t make him any less strong if he gets flustered by Donna or if he thinks the world of her!!!!
- Joey being the Titans baby after the accidentally kidnapped him lol
- Ik Joey is supposed to be more towards the older Titans age, but I decided to pull him more towards Connor and Jason’s age so he could better fit within the Titans in this au
- I know Wally isn’t from Central, but when he moved in with Barry he can’t really continue going to hs in another state
- Someone yell at me to show the Titans floors room floor plans!!! Please!
- One of the first scenes in this fic that I thought of was them dancing to Basket Case lol.
- Garth the cockblock. He knows what he’s doing. Let him have his fun
- Oops death of a prince arc oops
- So ik Arthur canonically is kinda sorta a bad parent to Garth and I think currently? Isn’t even a parent to him? I don’t even know dc confusing. Anyways, in my au Arthur is a good parent he cares. Not perfect!!! But Garth is his son. He’s actually had Garth longer in my au than he did in canon
