Author's note- I know I usually put these at the end but I just want to remind everyone that I love you guys, and I want to stay safe in this rough time in the world! I'm saying for no reason, I felt like I needed to say it! But anyway! I hope you all like the chapter! <3
WATCHTOWER
November 25; 06:54 EST
Hal Jordan was at the Watchtower, grudgingly, as he had to be at a dinner with Marie and her friend's family later that day. But he had League stuff to do, of course, Marie was fine with the whole thing as she had never really celebrated the holiday in her own universe, but he wanted to be there with her on Thanksgiving, unlike the last two times when he was on Oa. But he was on Earth and thought he could finally spend the holiday with her, but of course not because the League needed him this year.
Hal was talking to the other Green Lantern on the Justice League John Stewart when Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman entered the room.
"Our agenda is clear." Aquaman began to speak. "What's at stake should not be underestimated."
"The decision we make today will reverberate for years to come," Superman said.
"And influence whether or not the world continues to put their trust in the Justice League." Wonder Woman adds
"Please take your seats," Batman tells them. " We have work to do."
"Another expansion of the League could generate another escalation of hostilities from our enemies." Martain Manhunter told them once everyone was seated. "No one needs or wants another Injustice League."
"Point taken but the option remains to vote no on all candidates," Superman said. "So... I nominate Icon for League membership." An image of the hero appears in the center of the table.
"Why, cause you suspect Icon might be Kryptonian like you did with Captian Marvel?" Green Arrow questioned him.
"You thought I was Kryptonian?" Captain Marvel repeated with a cheesy smile. "Cool!"
"Icon interest me also." Wonder Woman tells Superman. "As does his protege, Rocket. Athena knows the League could use more female members."
"Agreed." Black Canary said.
"Here, here." HawkWoman agrees as well.
COAST CITY
November 25; 9:04 PST
"Where's your father?" Mrs. Cruz asked Marie as they walked around the store. Marie, Carol, and Hal had been invited to the Cruz's for Thanksgiving this year, and Marie had tagged along with Jessica and her mother to get a couple of last-minute ingredients for the dinner later tonight. "I didn't see or hear him with I went to get you."
"He's at a meeting for work, they have decisions to make for the future of the company," Marie told her with a smile.
"Marie's dad is a test pilot for Ferries Air, he gets to fly fighter jets and airplanes," Jessica told her mom. "Don't you think that so cool!"
"Yeah super cool." Mrs. Cruz agrees with the thirteen-year-old. "And Marie, your dad just leaves by yourself? And doesn't question who you're with?"
"Mom," Jessica warned her mother.
"I'm sorry, it just seems strange to me that you two are best friends and we've never met Mr. Jordan and you're always with us. If I was allowing my daughter to be with another family I would like to know who she's spending all their time with." Mrs. Cruz tells Marie and Jessica.
"He doesn't leave me home alone all the time, and when he's gone. Carol's there with me." Marie tells her, "And don't worry Mrs. Cruz, H-my dad will be there tonight. He just needs to finish a few things with his job."
Back with Hal
"Seriously? The Atom?" Captain Marvel laughed. "Well, how useful could he be at that size?"
"It's the size that makes him useful," Batman tells him.
"Absolutely!" Flash agrees. "Still, we could always use more raw power. And Earth has a third Green Lantern, Guy Garnder."
"No." Both Hal and John refused.
"But we could really--" Flash protests.
"No." The two Lanterns repeated.
Marie
The two girls and the woman arrived back at the Cruz's home. "Jessica, take Marie to your room while I get ready. Marie when's Carol going to get here, is she arriving with your father?"
"Um... I think she will be here before he does." Marie hesitant to answers, as she and Jessica, stop halfway up the stairs up to the upstairs.
"Alright," Mrs. Cruz forces a smile, Jessica grabs Marie's wrist and pulls her upstairs with her.
The two girls enter the room with giggles as they go right up to Jessica's desk where some of her plants are, Jessica, move Massy right up to them with a grin. Jessica's sister, Sara was also in the room, she looked over her magazine and at the two younger teens.
"What are you two doing here? I thought you two were shopping with mom?" Sara questioned them.
"We just got back," Jessica replied, slighting playing with Massy's leaves. Jessica's dog, Hermes walked up to them.
"Yay." Marie cheered as Hermes comes to her, Marie pets the dog on the head with a wide smile. "I want a dog, but Hal won't let me get one. He says the building won't allow us to take any pets."
"What about a fish?" Jessica suggests with a smile.
"I already asked he said that they'll stink up the place." Marie pouts.
"Do you always called your dad by his first name?" Sara asked her, pointing out Marie's mistake.
"Uh, no, maybe not always." Marie scrambles to cover herself up. "It's just when I was getting homeschool, Dad didn't care what I called Dad, Hal? He said that if I got lost what the point of calling him Dad in a sea of Dad, how's he going to know where to find me. If I'm calling him Dad." Marie tries to save herself.
"So why do try to call him dad, now?" Sara questions her further.
"When I started school, Dad told me to try to always call him Dad in front of people, because to other parents calling them by the first name is consider disrespectful and we want to respect other parents' wishes and not give their kids any ideas for them to blame us about." Marie continues with her lies.
With Hal
"If we're considering Blue Devil, then I nominate Red Arrow." Green Arrow tells them. "Roy has more experience and he's no kid anymore. He's eighteen. A legal adult. He's ready."
"Is he?" Aquaman questions. "Red Arrow has been uncooperative and disrespectful. If we reward that behavior what message does that send to the rest of the team?"
"That they can make to the League instead of being stuck in the dark." Hal retorts.
"No. Red Arrow maybe eighteen, but the rest of the team is too young." Superman tells them. "We're not inducting children into the League."
"That seems myopic." Doctor Fate says. " I have been one with Kid Flash and Aqualad. Both are ready."
"And what of Zatanna?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Absolutely not!" Doctor Fate exclaimed.
'That sounded almost protective, doctor." Wonder Woman smiles. "At least we know Zatara's still in that helmet somewhere."
"Why is Dr. Fate a member?" Captain Marvel questioned as he stood up. "You coerced Zatara into giving up his life to you or else lose his daughter instead. Not cool."
"Should such behavior be condoned?" Red Tornado placed Dr. Fate's image on the screen.
"Zatara desires Dr. Fate remain in the League." Dr. Fate tells them.
"Oh please." Green Arrow scoffs.
"It is true." Dr. Fate crosses her arms. " Zatara's trust in Nabu is measured. He desires the League to maintain a close watch upon us."
With Marie
"Whatever you say, Marie." Sara finally gives in with a shrug.
"Marie do you want to go out back discuss what we're going to do for the Animal lover's club," Jessica suggested sending a glare at her sister. Marie nods and the two girls make their way to the backyard.
"I don't think your mom and sister already don't like my dad," Marie tells her. "That's a new record people start to hate within the first seconds of meeting him."
"It's not that..." Jessica goes to lie to her friend but Marie gives her a look. "They think that your dad neglects you. My mother worried about you called HR at Ferries Airways to see what he was like at work, and they say that he disappears for days, weeks, and even months at a time. And I thought and defended you and say that maybe he was with you or something, but when he keeps canceling to have dinner with us, and he's not there most the time I'm there with you, or when we pick you up doesn't help the cause."
"It's none of you and your mom's business what my family does." Marie gets defenses, pulling away from her friend. "My dad does care about me. He presents when he needs to be, he works."
"Marie, I know it's none of business. I tell my mom that all the time, but I hate to tell you Marie but that excuse that your dad is always working isn't going to work when my mom says that he doesn't go to work for months at a time." Jessica tells her.
"He has more than one job, Jess," Marie tells her, kind of lying. "I don't have to tell everyone how many jobs my dad has to take to support us." Marie's heart pounds against her chest, as she tries to make up more lies and covers to keep her family's secret.
"Oh okay," Jessica nods. "I believe you, Marie. I really do. But it's my mother. I'm sorry if she goes all social worker on your dad when he gets here."
With Hal
"Plasticman," Batman suggested and Captain Marvel holds in a laugh.
"I don't know, the guy's got a pretty substantial criminal record," Flash told them. Captain Marvel couldn't hold back his laughs, entering into a fit of giggles.
"I'm sorry, sorry." He tells them, "The guys just crack me up." The League just looks at him unimpressed. And Flash just releases a sigh.
"Maybe it's time we all address the elepant in the room." Flash finally said what everyone was thinking. "Should Captain Marvel stay a member now that we know he's really only ten years old?"
"He does possess an adult body and the wisdom of Solomon." Red Tornado says.
"Wisdom does not equal maturity." Aquaman retorts.
"Niether does age." Hal retorts, with a shrug. "Sorry, Marie would want me to say that."
"Hey, I'm sitting right here." Captain Marvel says offended.
"Then, Billy maybe you should leave until we've hashed this out." Black Canary suggests.
"No, Captain Marvel is a member and is entitled to participate until or unless he's voted out," Batman told her.
"It's not just his age." Wonder Woman jumped in. " It's the fact that he lied about it."
"I didn't lie, exactly." Captain Marvel defended himself. "I just left out the part about being a kid."
"A lie of omission is still a lie. You kept an important secret from us." Woman Wonder told him. "No one in the League knew the truth."
"I did," Batman revealed.
"I shoulden't be surprised since you indoctrinated Robin into crime fighting at the ripe old age of nine." Wonder Woman jabs.
"Robin needed to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice," Batman tells her.
"So he could turn out like you?" Wonder Woman said.
"So that he wouldn't."
"You seem to have reached a consensus that eighteens years is a suitable minimum age for joining the League." Manhunter stood up. " Yet, what of Ms. Martian? Though she is a biological adolescent by Martian standards she was born 48 Earth years ago."
"So what is the deciding factor?" Red Tornado questioned. "Chronology or biology? Take Superboy."
"Exactly, he's less than a year old." Canary joins in. " Does he have to wait for 17 more to stand beside us?"
"Speaking of mess up Chronological age vs biology," Hal spoke up. "What about Spirit, she's powerful and is from Manhunter told us, she has the chronological of about twenty-nine, she's just missing sixteen years of that memory but she's still could run circle these other candidates," Hal says proudly. "She's a good fighter, I mean she had the best mentor."
"Marie has her moments, she struggles with her powers still. She has control, but she doesn't know how to use them in the battle setting or short range." Canary tells him.
"And she has the same problem the rest of the team has she's just too young. She may have the chronological age of twenty-nine, but her body and mind is that of a thirteen-year-old, and not a very mature thirteen-year-old at that." Wonder Woman told him.
"Dang Wonder Woman, what do you have against kids?" Hal crosses his arm with a huff, as they just cut through his suggestion of Marie.
With Marie
Marie and Jessica put their differences aside and forgot their argument as it wasn't worth fighting about it, and not on a day that they were supposed to be grateful for the blessings they were given. Marie and Jessica were talking about how they were going to get more members for the two clubs they were running for school when Marie's phone began to ring, Marie thinking it would be Carol, she took her phone from her pocket to see that who was calling was not Carol but was Dick.
"Um... is it alright if I take this? It just a friend of mine." Marie asked Jessica. "He wouldn't call unless it was important."
"Y-yeah," Jessica replied with a nod. "I'm not your boss."
Marie smile before standing up from the ground, she went a few feet away from Jessica as she answers her phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Marie!" Dick greeted his friend. "How's your Thanksgiving going?"
"It's going."Marie answers. "But Dick why are you calling, It's not that it isn't wanted but I'm--"
"It's that you're with Jessica." Dick finished. "Okay, I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to my best friend, okay?"
"So you called Wally as well?" Marie retorts.
"I'll call him later. But his father isn't at the watchtower yours is." Dick replies.
"So is yours, you can't talk," Marie told him. "But Happy Thanksgiving, thank you for calling, and goodbye I have to go okay."
"Okay, bye. I'll see you later." Marie hands upon her friend and stuffs her phone back into her pocket.
"Marie, Ms. Ferries' here." Mrs. Cruz steps outside to tell the girl. Marie nods before running her fingers through her hair. "Jessica come say hi to our guest. Ms. Ferries said that Mr. Jordan should be here soon."
Jessica and Marie shared a look, "Let the Hunger Games begin."
With Hal
"No other ideas?" Superman asked the League as he, Batman, and Wonder Woman stood in front of them."Then here are our candidates for new or continued membership."
"We've debated origin gender, size, experience, age, temperament, and background," Batman says as the candidates holograms appeared around the League. "But what is the fundamental criterion for membership?"
"When all is said and done the question must be, whom do we trust... trust to fight beside us, trust to have our backs, trust to uphold the high standards and ideals of the Justice League?"
"Time to vote."
With Marie
Marie and Jessica walked back into the house to see that Mrs. Cruz and Carol were talking in the kitchen, when Carol noticed Marie's presence the woman, looked at her with wide eyes and went to her side as Jessica went to her mother's.
"They already don't like Hal do they?" Carol asked her in a whispered. Marie nodded. "Wow, it usually takes people minutes after meeting him to get to dislike, what he does to them before he could meet them."
"It's the fact they haven't met him," Marie whispered back. "They think he's been neglecting me."
"Oh..." Carol said. "... They have a point."
"Carol." Marie whispered yelled.
"I'm sorry but from an outsider point of view. It does look like Hal doesn't take care of you, to the best of his abilities." Carol informs. "But it's okay, text Hal all you the lies you told them, so he's up to speed, send them to me as well just in case."
Marie nods before taking out her phone to message Carol and Hal.
With Hal
"All those in favor of ratifying the results?" Batman asked after the League has finish voting for the future league members.
"'I'" They all said.
"All oppressed? Batman said, he looked around and no one objected. "Then we are adjourned."
With Marie
Hal rushed down from the sky onto the ground several meters away from the Cruz household. He was so late for this dinner with Marie's friend and his family, but Hal speed-walked down the sidewalk as he reads the many text messages from Carol and Marie, which did not help his nerves.
"Why on do I feel like I'm meeting my girlfriend's family?" Hal questioned himself, before shaking his head to get himself out of his nerves. Hal sent Marie a quick text telling her, that he was about to walk up to the door.
In the house, Marie jumped up from the couch, grabbing Jess by the wrist, pulling her to the front door for her open it for Hal. "Marie, what's wrong."
"Nothing, my dad's here." Marie tells her, "He's outside. Now open the door."
"Okay, okay." Jessica said as she opens the front door for the Lantern, revealing Hal who was still reading what Marie sent him.
" Marie, what do mean by don't act like your usual hateable self?" Hal questions her. "I'm the most likable person you'll ever meet."
Another reminder I love you all! <3