Disclaimer: The Characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman, & Flash their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from The Justice League Animated Series episode: Hearts and Minds written Keith Damron.

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This is in response to Merlin Missy's challenge which was..." to flesh out some incident or another in John's past prior to the formation of the League. Could be a family setting, could be the incident that influenced him to join the Corps (either one), could be a date with Katma, whatever. There's no reason it can't be something where he's telling the story himself, so it's set in the present/future with flashbacks or something. What made John the man he is today?"

 

 

Slightly damaged

Rating: (G)

 

(Twenty-eight years ago tomorrow -Detroit)

 

Walking up the front steps, Loretta Thompson could hear the phone ringing inside her house on Canfield Street. She hurriedly fumbled for her keys to open the door. She knew something wrong because her nephew, John Stewart, should have been home half an hour ago. And he should have answered the phone.

 

Once inside her home, she ran to the phone dropping her pocketbook at the door. "Hello? Yes, John Stewart lives here. This is his aunt -what did he do? Oh no. Dear God no. Mrs. Cooper, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do? I don't know if John is here. I just walked in and I haven't seen him yet. Yes, ma'am I'll tell him. I'm so sorry. Yes. Goodbye."

 

"John!" Loretta called out. There was no answer. She started up the stairs to the young boy's bedroom. This boy has had so much sadness in his life. Now this.

 

John had not been with her long. Her sister, John's mother, had recently died of cancer after a long illness and none of the other relatives wanted to take the boy in. He was head-strong like his father but Loretta thought she saw more of his mother in him than anything else. She treated John, not as an unwanted relative but as the son she didn't have. She loved the boy and in time thought the boy would love her as he had loved his mother.

 

She knocked on the door to his room. There was no answer. She was about to open the door when she heard a small voice from inside the room call out, "Please go away."

 

"It's your Aunt Loretta, John. I'm going to come in now." Without waiting for a response, she opened the door and saw the twelve year old lad sitting on his bed crying.

 

Tears welled in Loretta's eyes as she sat on the bed next to John. The boy suddenly threw his arms around her and sobbed into her lap.

 

Over and over, he cried, "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry."

 

Loretta rubbed the boy's back and then pushed him away from her slightly and looked down into his tear filled brown eyes. Her smile was weak. "It's okay John. It was an accident. Mrs. Cooper just called.

 

"John, Delores died. I'm sorry, son. But Mrs. Cooper wanted me to tell you that she knows it wasn't your fault. She doesn't want you to blame yourself."

 

"She died?" the boy asked and then burst into tears without waiting for an answer.

 

Loretta let the boy cry and then softly asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

 

The boy said nothing but continued to cry, shaking both of them as he did so.

 

With tears in her eyes, Loretta said, "Go ahead, John. Let it all out. We're all sad right now." She sniffled as she added, "But you'll feel better if you talk about it. Okay? Your Aunt Loretta is listening."

 

The boy looked up into her face and said softly, "She was the only one that liked me. Everyone else at school called me dumb or stupid or said I didn't belong but she didn't. She helped me with my homework and even gave me some of her lunch. She helped me learn how to do fractions."

 

Loretta wiped her eyes with her finger, cursing to herself for forgetting to bring tissues into the room. "Sounds like she did like you, John," she said, wiping away the tears from the boy's cheeks. "She believed in you."

 

John sniffled.

 

"We were walking home," he continued. "And I don't know why I did it but I pulled on her pigtail -not hard. I was trying to tell her I liked her. She made this sound like she was crying and laughing at the same time. Then she hit me and laughed at me and started running down the street. I ran after her."

 

John looked into his aunt's sad face as his voice broke. "I wasn't going to hurt her. I was running after her to tell her I was sorry. Why did she run like that?"

 

Loretta didn't answer but instead asked, "What happened next, sweetheart?"

 

John wept. "I could have caught her but I didn't. I was faster than she was. I don't know why I didn't catch her. I just chased her. Then she ran out into the street.

 

"I didn't see the car...Aunt Loretta; I swear I didn't see it. I don't think she saw it either. I just stood on the sidewalk with her lying there in the street. I couldn't even go near her."

 

He started sobbing again.

 

Loretta let the boy cry as she rocked him back and forth with a gentle, "It's okay, John, it's okay."

 

She lost track of the time but soon the young man stopped sobbing. Loretta rubbed the top of his head and looked the distraught boy in the eyes. She smiled warmly. "Go ahead and cry, son. But remember, John, it wasn't your fault. It was her time. God decided it was Delores' time. We never know when our time will come.

 

"But if you're born on this planet, John, you will die. And you want your life to have some meaning... some value. Delores was your friend and you give her life value and meaning by remembering she believed in you even when the other kids in school didn't.

 

"You honor her if you will believe in yourself and never allow others to tell you who you are or what you can be."

 

She hugged the boy tighter as he started crying again.

 

(Two years ago as the House of Lantern (the Green Lantern Corps, Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter) and the Flash prepare to battle Despero)

 

He cleared the firing chamber and set the laser rifle down on the armory table. Then Stewart strapped on the web gear containing the laser power cell packs. The click of the buckle fastening was reassuring and at the same time unsettling. Despero had tampered with his mind and broken his will. The veteran ring wearer was not able to reliably use or command the massive power of his ring.  He would have to do it the old fashion way. A way he'd learned many years before. One shot, one kill.

 

He would later say he didn't hear her approach, but that was a lie. He'd made knowing where she was his business for the last couple of months. Without seeing her, he could sense her presence.

 

"Are you going to need all those power cells?" she asked. Her tone was soft.

 

He didn't turn around to face her. He couldn't face her. When he left her on Earth, he'd been one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now he was just a human preparing to go into a battle with weapons that were probably going to be ineffective against the enemy.

 

"If that's what it takes," he said as he added a hand grenade to his web gear. "I can still pull my weight you know."

 

He looked down at the armory table. There was sadness and an air of resignation in his voice as he added, "There's more to me than just a fancy ring."

 

Softer than before, she replied, "I've always known that, John."

 

He turned around and smiled at her. Delores.

 

END