Brave New World: Stargirl

Chapter 25

"Who are you?" the girl asked Pat.

"I could ask you the same question. How'd you get in here and where did you get that ring?" Pat asked.

"How do you know what this is?" the girl asked.

"Okay, easy. My name is Pat Dugan and I know that ring belongs to and should only work for the Green Lantern." Pat said.

"AKA Alan Scott, who's my father. Or well, he was my father." the girl said.

"Wait, Alan was your dad? Who are you?" Pat asked, wondering how he seemed to be finding all the JSA legacies. Courtney was Starman's daughter, Rick is Hourman's son and now he seems to have found Green Lantern's daughter. Now he was tempted to try and track Wildcat's son, even though that mantle had already fallen to the girl that he had a feeling would be his daughter-in-law some day.

"Yeah, and you're Stripesy, I can't believe I just blasted Stripesy." the girl said.

"Who are you?" Pat asked.

"Right, sorry. My name is Jenni Lynn Hayden and my dad was the Green Lantern." Jenni said.

"You know, as much as I'd like to say that's not possible, I think I've learned by now that all the JSA members had families they never told the others about." Pat said.

"Sounds like the JSA alright. At least what little my dad told me about them." Jenni said.

"But he told you about me?" Pat asked and Jenni nodded.

"You're Stripesy. The man who built the Star-Spangled rocket, a mechanical genius." Jenni said and Pat had to admit, he was flattered that Alan had spoken so highly of him.

"It's an honor to meet you." Jenn said.

"Thank you." Pat said, a bit unused to a teenager showing him respect like that.

"You said that there are other kids of the JSA you know?" Jenni asked.

"Only two. At least they are alive and that I know the whereabouts of." Pat said.

"Who?" Jenni asked.

"Hourman's son Rick Tyler, who has his father's hourglass. And more importantly, Starman's daughter, my stepdaughter, Courtney Whitmore." Pat said.

"Does she have?" Jenni asked.

"Yeah, she has the Cosmic staff and how exactly did you get your father's ring? I searched all over the battleground once the smoke cleared and while I found a lot of JSA relics like the Flash's helmet, Dr. Fate's helmet, Wildcat's suit, the Thunderbolt and your father's lantern, I never could find your dad's ring, I thought it was destroyed." Pat said.

"Somehow, before he died, my dad made arrangements for this to come to me when I turned 16. I don't know why, but I was given this on my birthday, right before I had to leave the group home I was staying in. I've been crashing here ever since." Jenni said.

"Why?" Pat asked.

"Trying to find my brother, Todd." Jenni said.

"Okay, clearly we have a lot to discuss." Pat said.

"Yeah, like what brings you here?" Jenni asked.

"I came here because I finally tracked down the ISA and Courtney has begun rallying a new generation of the JSA to fight them. I came here for the artifacts the new members will need." Pat said.

"And what artifacts would those be?" Jenni asked.

"If you come back to Blue Valley with me, I'll tell you. I get that you want to find your brother, but that will take time. We'll help you find your brother and you can help us get justice for your father and the other members of the JSA." Pat said.

"I have to admit, that is tempting. But I mean, I'm guessing it includes a new Starman and new Hourman?" Jenni asked.

"Yeah, but technically, it's Stargirl now. Jenni, I get that you want to find your family, but do you even know where to start looking?" Pat asked.

"Not really." Jenni admitted.

"Exactly. So come back to Blue Valley with me, work with the others, learn to use your powers properly and then I promise we'll see if we can help you find your brother." Pat said.

"Okay. If I can't find Todd, at the very least, I can punch the people responsible for us being separated, since it was dad's death that caused us both to be separated." Jenni said and Pat smiled.

"Okay then. The other members are some fresh blood. Our new Wildcat's name is Yolanda Montez and we have a new Dr. Midnite named Beth Chapel." Pat said.

"Can't wait to meet them." Jenni said, right as Pat's phone rang he saw it was Barbara.

"Barb, what's up? Yeah, my trip is going well, I'm bringing an extra surprise home with me." Pat said.

"Really, what?" Barbara asked.

"You'll see when I get home, but I'm guessing that there's a reason you called." Pat asked.

"Rick's uncle was arrested." Barbara said.

"Wait what? And I wasn't there to see it?" Pat asked and Barbara chuckled.

"Believe me, I was disappointed I didn't get to see it either, but Courtney texted me earlier and said that apparently when Rick came into school today, he had a black eye." Barbara said.

"So that bastard finally left a noticeable mark on Rick." Pat said and Barbara nodded.

"That, combined with our suspicions was enough for me to finally call the police on Matt. He's in custody now and Rick is staying on our couch until he can make other arrangements." Barbara said.

"First Yolanda, now Rick, I don't think we have room for anymore strays Barb." Pat said.

"Actually, I had an idea I wanted to run by you. Something that I'm not sure about, but I think could work." Barbara said.

"What is it?" Pat asked.

"What if, we let Yolanda move into Courtney's room with her and let Rick stay in her room." Barbara said.

"How do we know that the girls won't abuse that privilege?" Pat asked.

"Because they just acknowledged their feelings for each other, they're not going to take that step yet. Besides, Courtney's room is big enough for two beds and Rick's situation would only be temporary until we can make other arrangements, since I don't like the idea of him being in the foster system." Barb said.

"Wait till I get back to talk to them about it, since I think this is a conversation that requires everyone affected to be involved in the discussion." Pat said.

"Agreed. Get home safe." Barbara said.

"I will." Pat said.

"Sounds like an interesting conversation." Jenni said.

"Yeah, and not one I'm going to let you in on, only because we just met." Pat said.

"That's fair. Want a hand with those artifacts?" Jenni asked.

"Please." Pat said as they headed upstairs.