Second Chances: Green Lantern

Chapter 7

James met up with Winn at a local bar in Metropolis and he could tell that Winn wasn't sure if he wanted to hug him or punch him. So he did both.

"Damn, since when do you pack such a punch?" James asked as he recovered from being slugged in the jaw.

"I work out in this reality, not to mention my combat training from the Legion, which I will be teaching you, since one thing I have over you is that I know forms of combat that haven't been invented yet." Winn said with a grin before they hugged.

"Sorry about vanishing on you, but in my defense, I did not plan on it. I was suddenly chosen for a higher calling that took me away from earth for the past few months." James said.

"Yeah, the Green Lantern Corp. Congrats. I remember reading about them in the Legion archives." Winn said.

"Do you miss the future?" James asked.

"A little, but honestly, I did miss my friends more. Though now I need to reach out to our friends in the government about moving my insane father to a more secure facility and also reconnect with my mom." Winn said.

"Do you think she'll be willing to?" James asked.

"If she's anything like she was in the old reality, I think so. She didn't abandon me because she wanted to. She did it because my dad threatened me and he convinced some psycho to help him enforce it." Winn said.

"I could pay him a little visit if you'd like." James offered.

"I appreciate that, but I don't think that Guardian would give off the right image and I don't want you to ruin your Green Lantern rep before you even have one." Winn said.

"Fair enough. But anyways, speaking of that, I hope you know that you won't be making my new suit, since I got a uniform included in my new sidejob." James said.

"I'm aware, all I ask is that I be allowed to offer suggestions for improvements you could make, since I know you can personalize your suit. Besides, I'm sure Metropolis will get other heroes now that Superman is officially gone." Winn said, keeping his voice down about that, since the last thing they needed to get out was that Superman was no longer Metropolis's first line of defense. The criminals would have a field day.

"Deal. But I do hope you've got a place for us to work out of that isn't just an empty office at the Daily Planet, since those don't exist." James said and Winn chuckled.

"No. Another perk of this new reality is that I didn't try to hide my intellect to keep myself hidden from my father. Now I work for Kord Industries." Winn said, much to James's confusion.

"Wait, I thought that Kord Industries was based out in Star City?" James asked.

"They were, but apparently Ted Kord has been trying to gain a foothold here in Metropolis for years, but never had the guts to go up against Luthor Corp, especially when Lex was in charge." Winn said.

"Can't say I blame him? It takes a special kind of courage to go up against Lex Luthor in any kind of competition." James said.

"Yeah. We both know it's no coincidence that Luthor Corp never had any real competitors in Metropolis. Lex scared them off." Winn said.

"But I'm guessing that now that he's supposed to be in prison and Lena's taken over the company and relocated it to National City, Ted Kord finally felt like it was safe to make a move. He relocated his company's headquarters here and I was hired immediately after they saw my resume." Winn said.

"A smart choice. Though I have to admit, I do have some concerns about Lena being in National City, not because of our past, but because of what Kelly told me happened after I left National City." James said.

"What happened?" Winn asked, since this was news to him.

"Lex revealed Kara's identity to Lena in the worst possible way and that led to Lena going down the Luthor path. She betrayed Kara in every way possible before she tried to mind control the whole world." James said.

"Damn, and here I was thinking that the Superfriends would be in good hands tech wise with me here and in the event that Brainy hasn't arrived yet." Winn said.

"I don't know. I mean, I want to believe that there's still some good inside of Lena that she's just lost track of, but every experience I've had with his family, I'm not optimistic. Then again, I'm not Kara." James said and Winn chuckled.

"Yeah, no one is as optimistic as Supergirl. Let's hope that she manages to get through to Lena so that at least one member of the Luthor family tree doesn't go down in history as a villain." Winn said.

"How did she go down in history on the old earth?" James asked him, curious about that.

"If I knew I'd tell you. There weren't a whole lot of records from this time period in the future. Only one I know for sure is Supergirl and how she's still remembered as one of the universe's greatest heroes. Hell, we both know that Mon-El founded the Legion in her name." Winn said.

"True. But who knows, maybe now I can make my own legacy. But now, why don't you show me our new headquarters?" James said, looking at his ring as he said it.

"It would be my pleasure. Drinks are on you." Winn said.

"Of course. I'm just glad that Superman was able to explain my absence from the Planet. Otherwise you'd be paying until I found a new job." James said as he paid the bill.

"Okay, let's go." Winn said.