Artemis smiles. "Bolivia."
"Are you..? Blowing off class?"
I shake my head. "I'm signed off for another couple of days while my brain fixes itself. Artemis is coming along as my minder."
...Though I suspect there's
some worry of collusion amongst the others, given her emotional connection to him right now.
"Okay, I guess. Does the League even have a zeta tube in Bolivia?"
I shake my head again. "No. We've going to Lima and then flying there."
The joy of a limited budget for global transit devices. And in some cases, governmental reluctance to allow them entry...
"You mean on a plane, or are you using your ring? Because if your brain's still acting up that's probably not a good idea."
Artemis and I hold up our right fists. "I copied Booster Gold's flight ring. Don't tell the Legion of Super Heroes.""
Well, if you gotta steal, steal the
good stuff.
Legion Flight Rings have basically all of what I consider 'bare minimum' Power Ring-style functions of flight, life support aura/shielding and translation.
"Who are-?" He nods. "Time travel, right." He shrugs. "Have fun, I guess."
"We will, thanks." Artemis nods, then turns to the zeta tube opening. "See you later."
Probably knows Booster Gold better than anything he's heard about the Legion.
"Recognized, Orange Lantern, B zero five, Artemis, B zero six."
5th November 2010
10:04 GMT -4
We step out inside an empty corridor in a WayneTech-owned factory, whose sole purpose is to conceal the zeta tube.
I wouldn't be surprised if the zeta tube array wasn't tucked away in a section of the building not listed on its blueprints. Easy way to set up a 'hidden' exit, certainly.
"So how good
are these flight-rings?"
"The force field is pretty good, but the flight is fairly slow." Which fits with what I remember of the League's fight with Doomsday in the comics. Booster Gold got punched in the face, and while
the force field soaked the hit perfectly it overcame the flight system and he went hurtling over the horizon with no way to stop himself. "It would be better to fly-" We both start walking towards the exit. "-using my ring."
And inadvertently came up with the fellow's name in the process.
She nods. "And just use these rings if you have an-. Issue. So how would that work?"
"I can just carry you along." I pause, smirking as she glances at me. "Or I could just bridal carry you. I'm still strong enough to-" She looks away. "-do that."
...Dangit, wish I could find it, but I remember seeing a comic strip or gag infographic of various superhero tandem flying positions.

I always liked the 'hang ten' pose (rider standing on flying teammate's back like a surfboard.)
"Really?"
"Sure. You don't weigh that much, and I'm still in peak human condition. Or I could give you a piggy-."
Honestly, I don't know why you can't be happy with being merely peak human. That's pretty damn
powerful in comics, you know.
"Alright." She pushes the door open and I just stop for a moment. She hear that and turns back. "What?"
"Oh, I just didn't think you'd-."
Huh. Well, 'bridal carry'
is one of the simplest tandem flying poses. Surprised she's feeling that comfortable being seen doing it with him, though.
"You don't have t-."
"No no. I offered." She hesitates, then carries on outside. I follow her out of the building and into the rear area of the factory. A few large bins and a lot of discarded cigarette remains. I take a step closer, the stop as I try and work out how to do this. Okay, so I can-. I half-crouch, and-. Left arm holding her legs is easy, but her quiver is sort of in the way and there's no obvious place to move it. "So…"
Ah, right. the downside of being a tool-using superhero: Awkward equipment. Seriously, some of the quiver designs I've seen for archer types... Like
several Green Arrow designs where he's wearing a double-wide quiver that look like a solid plate across his shoulders...
She holds out her left arm to put it around my back, then realises my problem. "Y-eah, how do you-?"
"If I put your bow and quiver into subspace?"
Well, there's a test of trust, if nothing else.
She nods, and I carefully focus on storing them, causing them to disappear in a ripple of orange light. Then I lean in, right arm going around her back.
"Okay, grab on."
Hopefully you can get them back out quickly if there's trouble.
"Uh-huh." She grabs on, and-. And our faces are really quite close together, and-. She's noticed it too.
Damn it.
Yes, it's called 'bridal carry' for a
reason.
I shift down a little and push my left arm into her houghs, which apparently is the proper name for 'knee pits', and lift.
Okay. Faces aren't so close together anymore, but I'm not sure this is better.
Huh. Well, I guess we learned a new word today!
"Comfortable?"
"Uuuh, yeah."
Awkward. And now I picture him holding her slightly away from him.
"Nice deltoids."
She snorts and lightly slaps my back with her left hand as we take off and head east.
I'm sure his are just as impressive. And as an archer, she's definitely got some muscle up top.
And what the heck am I going to do about that?
Because I remember doing a pretty good job of hitting on her, despite having no capacity for empathy and barely being able to read human expression. I worry what that means for humanity more generally, but… Aside from the Evil Formula… I'm someone she likes, and I got rid of that while a psychopath because she asked me to.
Because
before, it was a challenge, a game, with no emotional connection beyond annoyance at rejection. Now? Now you can be
hurt, and the human mind doesn't like to be
hurt.
I'm trying not to look at her desires, but I can feel how relaxed she is like this, looking down and the Bolivian panorama beneath us. And I'm pretty sure she was blushing under her foundation a couple of times there.
Why couldn't I have been this good with fifteen year old girls when I was fifteen?
Because at fifteen, you don't have
nearly the emotional experience or maturity to handle it this sensibly. All those hormones buzzing about, making boys
dreadfully conscious of their masculinity, and girls suddenly being all mysterious and
attractive instead of icky... Honestly, it's a wonder people get anything
done between the ages of twelve and twenty!
I mean… Ugh. Between her mother being in prison and her father being busy being a supervillain, Artemis basically raised herself for half of her life. She's a heck of a lot mature than I was at fifteen, ignoring the fact that the adults in her life are fine with her bring a vigilante. A bow-armed vigilante.
And my mouth outran my brain and told everyone that I'm sixteen. Which means that as far as she's concerned everything's great now. And… I'm rather.. fond of her too.
Surprised he didn't get stuck in school by the League, but I guess he went the emancipated minor route.
Alright, in practical terms… I don't have to worry about becoming physically old while she's still young. I won't age as long as I have the ring, and I've rejuvenated my tissues and telomeres so even without it I'd probably be younger longer than she will. No need to worry about
sperm quality decay, for example.
Uh.
Not something you should be
thinking about with a teenage girl in your arms, old bean.
I can… Oh. I don't know-. I can remember how it felt, to not… Care about… 'rightness'. The form of my own thoughts, and… I'm pretty sure I could just decide not to care. Ring, check my brain?
Still working normally, sport. Teenage girls don't stop being attractive just because you've got morals again. You could always say you aren't interested in having a relationship for professional reasons.
Which would be
reasonable. And the drawback of an Orange Ring...
You've remembered that you're an orange ring, right?
Yes, and while you do want the hot girl, you also want to be a moral person.
...Is that it's a lot
harder to be reasonable than
most other colours.
Can I just take a bunt? Chances are that this relationship won't work anyway.
You shouldn't, but I'll take what I can get.
But I expect that discussion will continue in future...
Great. Thank you.
We're here, by the way.
Oh, right, the search for the magic mind-control gemstone.
"Going down."
I swoop down into the jungle, hovering in front of an overgrown tank.
Well, that's convenient. Also possibly gross, depending on whether there was any attempt at cleanup by those involved.
Artemis stares. "Is that..?"
Scan.
"Yeah." I land, set her down and return her weapon. "His body's over there. We should-. We should probably get.. someone to recover the bodies. Bury them."
...Guess not.
She nods sombrely. "And what about the Left Eye?"
I've seen pictures of the Right Eye, and descriptions in the memoirs, but I don't know for certain what it looks like. Assuming it looks the same… Ring?
Safe bet, since magical gems that come in pairs are rarely distinct. ...Kind of makes you wonder how they could tell the difference. What if someone put them back in the wrong eye-slots?

Unless they're literally carved with obvious 'left' and 'right' labels or designs.
Orange light runs across the ground in a wave, then bits of crystal begin flying out of the ground to hover in front of me. Gradually, the broken parts of the gem stick themselves back together, and I catch it just as the glow cuts out.
And it occurs to me that I could use this to remove Artemis's affection. Just dial it down-.
No. Nonono
no! Bad Tang! No messing with other people's minds, for good or ill!
...Phew. Close one there, you nearly missed the timing.
"That was easy."
I nod. "Mission accomplished. But I think it would be worth looking at the Temple of Zoltec while we're here. Interested in some sightseeing?"
Document it for posterity, and all that, huh?