Work Text:
Legacy
by Perpetual Motion
"I don't know about this."
"You don't think I can do it."
Roy leans back in his chair and points a finger at Lian. "That's not what I said."
"It's what you meant."
"Settle down," Hal cuts in. "You agreed to a rational discussion about this."
"I can't turn it down," Lian says, arms crossing. "It came to me."
"You can always turn it down." Hal meets Roy's raised eyebrows with an eye roll. "I could have."
"But you didn't. And that's part of the problem."
"This is my fault now?"
"It's bad enough she wanted to be a superhero."
"Hey!" Lian slaps her hand on the table. "I'm still here, thanks."
Roy shakes his head. "Sorry, kiddo. The point is, what you're deciding is more than getting to fly around and save kittens from trees."
"Dad, you're an idiot."
Hal bursts out laughing. He doesn't even bother to look apologetic when Roy glares at him. "God. I'm sorry. She just sounds exactly like Ollie."
"You are not. Helping." Roy says through gritted teeth.
"My point," Lian says in a peevish tone that Hal recognizes as Roy's, "is that I actually have working knowledge of what superheroes go through." Lian's bottom lip twitches just a little. "I've seen your scars, Dad."
Hal puts his hand on top of Roy's while Roy stares hard at the tabletop. "The ring blocks a lot of injuries."
"Again, not helping." Roy looks at Lian and then at Hal. "You want her to do this, don't you?"
Hal can't help but grin. "It's about time the Earth Lanterns got a legacy in the Corps." He sighs when Roy tries to pull his hand away. "Oh, calm down. You're acting like you haven't been training her for some form of this for her whole life."
"I haven't!"
"Two black belts," Lian points out. "I can shoot a drop of water off of a water hose hook-up, and I can memorize a credit card number when someone sets it down to pay the bill."
"I was hoping you'd be a super villain and break the mold."
Lian scoffs, and Roy thinks she sounds like Hal. "Oh, please, Dad."
Roy sighs from down in his diaphragm. "You can try it on," he says after a pause. He clenches his hands when Lian jumps up from her chair. "You're just trying it on."
"Sure. Yeah. Totally." Lian bounces on her toes. "Can I have it?"
Hal opens the green bubble where the ring has been suspended and hands it to Lian. "You don't put it on until we get to the Watchtower."
"Sure."
*
Roy puts a hand on Hal's shoulder once they teleport, and Lian runs down the hall towards the training room. "I just want to thank you for not helping in this situation."
"Shut up," Hal says with a smile. "I'm not going to pull macho stupidity just to convince my kid not to try and save the world."
"Fuck the world," Roy says with a touch of anger. "You're asking her to save the whole damned universe."
"The ring," Hal stresses, "is asking her to keep an eye on the Earth."
"I'm going to kill Guy."
"Yeah, it's a pity he finally retired. He was such a well-spoken, easy-to-please ambassador." Hal catches the edges of a grin on Roy's face. "You can't say you didn't prepare her for something like this."
Roy looks at the very nice marble floor of the hall for the JLA. "Kilowog's still training, right?"
Hal knows not to count the question as a victory—at least not where Roy can see or hear him—"He hasn't been fired, yet."
"If she doesn't shoot her eye out," Roy shakes his head at Hal's snort, "I may be willing to settle on a maybe."
"You're so noble."
"Shut it, "Roy says, but there's a smile at the edge of his tone.
Hal decides that keeping quiet is the best option, and just holds Roy's hand as they walking towards the training room.
"This is awesome," Lian says when Roy and Hal walk into the room. "Dad, watch this!" She points the ring and concentrates; an arrow flies out of the ring and into the center of the target at the other end of the training room. "Isn't that awesome?"
Hal smiles when Roy can't quite meet Lian's eyes. "Looks good," is all Roy says, and Hal knows it's only his grasp on Roy's hand that keeps him from turnig away.
"That's our girl," Hal says quietly, and he and Roy share a smile.
"This is your fault," Roy says after a moment.
"Sure," Hal says, and smile back.
Across the room, Lian hits center on another target.
end