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Indigo Lantern Diana Pallas joins the Young Justice team
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Superman's busy, again, with a disaster he won't let her near.  She's a little bit miffed, because it's not like she wasn't planning a career in the worst sorts of field for seeing horrors that a mundane human can get into even before The Incident, but then, it's not like he can read her mind and tell that she is as prepared for that as anyone possibly can be, that as much as he hopes to preserve her innocence, it's already long lost due to the nature of the world.

 

She can't exactly read minds either.  She can only ping their feelings, reflected in the faint Indigo luminescence of her Lantern.

 

Still...This hospital is happy she's here, is hopeful that today will be a good day thanks to her presence, and that hope, reflected in her, can spark something wonderful.  It can bring healing that no-one else on this planet can provide.  And so, she strides down the halls of one of the most desperate hospitals in the US, staff tapping against the floor - because, despite her calling to care for the people of the galaxy entire, she does retain enough partiality to the USA that she will give it one guaranteed slot in her biweekly weighted-lottery hospital rota.

 

She doesn't need the mantra she is about to speak for herself.  She needs it for the people who will hear it, for the people who will know that she is here now and they will be whole.

"Lost souls cry out in darkest night,

to see my Lantern shining bright -

With this pow'r I do what's right;

I bring hope, with compass'nate light."

This, at least, is the easiest color to draw upon without another Lantern; hope wants to build itself up.  She's not a proper Blue, with the nigh-effortless healing and bolstering ways they have...but compassion and care and a Ring-grade medical database can fill the gaps as she opens her heart to feel the world's ills once more.

It might hurt, but it's worth it to fix them, and as she walks down the halls of the hospital, staff shining bright, spreading health to everyone she sees, she allows herself to smile, after the tears dry.

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A reminder ping goes off.

There's some meeting at the Justice League headquarters in DC, and she's been invited along with all the other various teenage superheroes and heroes-in-training associated with the League. She hasn't met any of the sidekicks before, or any League members other than the two active Green Lanterns and Superman, so this will be a first. 

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Well, she wouldn't want to disappoint the Justice League.  She extracts herself from the entire pediatric ward after a last few hugs, promises that she'll send them something to remember her by, and flitters HQ-wards.

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When Diana lands outside the Hall of Justice, she's greeted by both of Earth's resident Green Lanterns, known to her as John and Hal. They've been acting as her primary mentors for the last few months, and are a pair of familiar faces. 

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Robin, recognisable from photos in his brightly-coloured costume, is bouncing up and down next to Batman. He looks about thirteen.

When he sees Diana, he grins and waves at her. 

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The boy standing quietly next to Aquaman is unfamiliar, although she vaguely remembers hearing that Aquaman had a sidekick. He looks older than Robin, maybe sixteen or seventeen, and if she's paying attention to her empathy then he's simmering with anxiety about making a good impression. 

He offers a nod that has echoes of a formal bow. 

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"Good morning, everyone."

She lands gently on the pavement, and looks to want to head inside.  "What's on the agenda?  Is there something drastic happening that the League can get out in front of, for once?  I can't imagine there's much other reason to summon everyone here all at once...It's too vulnerable."

(But then, she didn't find anything that would explode or otherwise do something weird on her reflexive 'worried about bystanders' scans, so maybe Batman did whatever he does, however the absolute heck he does it, to make sure the meeting's secure.  There are not enough hours in the day, but he sure uses them effectively.)

 

She gives Robin a small wave, from the wrist, and a small but genuine smile; the boy who did the formal nod gets a look-over and a firm nod in return, and a thumbs-up for further reassurance.

...Hmm, perhaps...

Yes, it would be worth it.

A flick of her unoccupied hand sends Aqualad a note in indigo wireframe: "You're doing good - just remember to breathe.  We're all a little bit nervous, but it's going to be okay."

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"—ah, no, there's no emergency, don't worry," Aquaman says. 

"We just..." He glances at Batman, who remains impassive. "...thought it would be nice for all you young heroes to meet each other? So we thought we'd make something of an event of granting you all access to the private areas of the Hall of Justice—the parts that are normally just for League members." 

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...now she's looking at Batman, as if to say 'really?  You came up with that excuse for whatever your plan is?'

"There had best be cake, then," she intones with mock-seriousness that's almost indistinguishable from the real thing.  "For such an important event, the Junior League Union demands proper catering."

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...Aquaman looks like he's not quite sure how to respond to that. 

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"Oh, I think we can manage cake!" a cheerful voice declares.

Green Arrow, dressed, as usual, like he's cosplaying Robin Hood, enters the scene...

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...followed by his sidekick, Speedy, who's also cosplaying Robin Hood but in red and yellow this time. He looks a little older than Aqualad, maybe around eighteen. 

Like Aqualad, he's a little tense, still on an adrenaline comedown from whatever fight they were just in that held them up. 

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Right on their heels, a pair of red-and-yellow blurs screech to a halt. 

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"Oh, man, I knew we'd be the last ones here!" 

Kid Flash's costume is mostly yellow with red highlights, the opposite of his mentor's. His mind is buzzing with too many half-formed thoughts and emotions for Diana to keep track of. 

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"I believe this is the part where you laugh at my joke, because I'm trying to lighten the mood a bit," she stage-whispers to Aquaman, cracking an encouraging grin, though it doesn't really look at home on her face.

 

She follows up Kid Flash's comment with a solemn "The irony is quite profound.  At least you are here, on time and seemingly in good health.  Speaking of, would anyone like me to check them over for injuries, before we continue?"

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There is a general consensus that, no, everyone is fine, with varying levels of surprise that she offered in the first place. (Batman isn't surprised, but then, he's Batman. Neither are the Green Lanterns, who've worked with her before.) 

"Good. Follow me." Batman turns and sweeps towards the imposing main doors of the Hall of Justice, the others falling into step behind him. 

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Her staff taks against the floor as she falls into step behind him, though she keeps the others in view.

"Would anyone like to do introductions?

"In case you haven't heard of me, I am Indigo Lantern Ila Alexandra; yes, there are multiple colors of Lantern, no, most of them are rather bad for the average user's health which is why there aren't more here.  Blues are, apparently, Ring-level enjoined from combat without a Green, which wouldn't be safe here - but they're healers par excellence if you ever work with one.  Apparently the first one healed an entire sun.  Other Indigo ring-slingers, the Indigo Tribe...have a history they're making up for, but are in a sense reliable.  Unfortunately, that's because their recruiting population is basically nega-Leaguers the Tribespeople brainwash.  Beware a Violet Star Sapphire with a fixation you're visibly obstructing, because...well, the Green Lanterns can tell you more - and run like hell from Reds, who're unparalelled in destruction and grudge-holding, and Oranges, especially the fleshy one; even ring-construct Orange Lanterns are greedy little shits with Light-powered take-whatever-they-want-including-people abilities.  Yellows are...more complicated.  One of these days I hope to meet their founder and bop him over the head with the compassion stick, because the Rings themselves are fine, but his selection criteria...Nonetheless, until then, if you face a Yellow Lantern, be careful, but assured in yourselves.  You are heroes.  You face your fears and win, every day, to do this job.  Hostile Yellows aren't prepared for that; you can outplay them, especially because when they fight Greens they're cheating, and that builds bad habits."

 

"...This concludes the surprise Lantern Safety Briefing.  Whoops?"

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"...yeah, I'm gonna be honest, I caught, like, a tenth of that." 

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"Red and Orange Lanterns are bad news and you should run away, Yellows are hostile but manageable, Blue are helpful, be careful with Indigo and Violet," Robin summarises.

"I knew some of that already—but not the brainwashing, sheesh." 

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"Yeah!  It's really fucked up!  I can get using it as a consensual therapeutic tool, but - well, there's a reason I'm wearing this Ring, instead of someone else, and it's not because I secretly blew up a planet or something!"

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"...I don't really know who has it worse between Indigo-Tribers and Reds, though.  Rage plasma for blood...very bad for you."

 

"Anyway, uh, would y'all like to talk about your stuff a bit?  Since my original intent was to get everyone to know eachother better..."

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"I'd love to talk about myself!" Kid Flash says. "So it all—whoa!" 

As they walk through the doors and into the lobby, he's distracted from whatever he was about to say by the GIGANTIC bronze statues of the 7 original Justice League members: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter. 

"Holy shhhhoot.

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"...That's surprisingly grandiose," she says, assessing the statues with a gaze that almost looks straight through them.  "Perhaps almost too grandiose, if I might say so.  Certainly the opposite of the image Superman tries to project."

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Robin grins and nudges the others.

"Yeah, do you think they're...y'know, compensating for something?" he whispers at a pitch designed not to carry to the heroes in question.

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Aqualad looks disapproving at these comments. He glares at Robin and sidles away from him a little, as if to say, I am not associated with this disrespectful behaviour.

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Diana allows herself a small snrk, hidden behind her mask, at Robin's joke, but shakes her head more visibly.  "No, they're clearly just actual-size representations," she murmurs back.  "It takes big orbs to dress up in spandex-alikes and punch supervillains, after all."

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