Bludhaven
September 30, 11:40
Did you ask Metron they said.
Why in the hell would I go to that creep? I'd only met him once and even that was one too much for me.
Being the creator of Mother and Father Boxes, he recognized me and what I'd done to one of his creations and myself on sight.
His robotic expression and eyes lit up as he looked me over mechanically, like he'd opened a cadaver to examine its insides. To make matters worse, he called me his grandson, because and I quote "you are the child of the child of my intellect."
That fact that I could understand him did fuck all to ease my discomfort. That short meeting was enough for me to deduce the New God's entire psychological profile. It wasn't that hard, since he didn't care to hide it nor his motivations.
Knowledge was his whole deal. He lived it, worshiped it, pursued it. He and Brainiac were two sides of the crazy coin, just that Metron was less obsessed than the Couluan. And it wasn't even that great of a distinction.
Because while Brainiac would engineer the fall of an entire civilization just so he could obtain another hit of favourite drug, Metron would be content to watch the atrocity unfold and glean what he could.
He rarely took direct action, instead staying in his chair and engineering his ploys from there. And it was exactly this reason I chose not to go to him. If I went to him for any information on the Omega Effect, it wouldn't be hard for him to connect the dots on my true intent.
And I'd rather not alert the enemy or give the knowledge addict incentive to shift things for maximum knowledge acquisition. That could involve giving Darkseid a tip for all I knew.
So fuck that guy.
Walking down the halls of the Nelson Memorial Hospital never failed to uplift my spirits.
The idea of a free hospital was not a new one, but one that provided services and premium healthcare—that even the world's richest and most influential people did not have access to—to every patient was called many things when the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony first aired.
People who had no business commenting on the topic and those whose responsibilities involved making something like this possible all had something rarely positive to say. Four years in and all those naysayers were nowhere to be found. Some of them had come to this place and benefited from it in fact.
Oh, there had been a ton of questions and even some inquisitive parties snooping around to find out just how Rath International financed the whole thing. They found exactly what they were supposed to find and had no choice but to back off.
It was hilariously easy to make anything not only look legit but actually be legit with my unrestrained and uninhibited access to the online world.
Back on the topic of the hospital, I obviously divulged the reason behind the name, citing how the previous Doctor Fate saved the world by undoing the split, killing the being responsible, and saving me and many others in the process.
As the one behind the crazy inventions popping up and being disseminated across the whole world—The Light was gone so I finally stopped running defense on my identity—I'd been the guest on many shows and conducted dozens of interviews over the past years, explaining all sorts of things.
Chief of them was the inventions I pioneered, the hospital, and the work my company did in restoring the planet.
Medscanners were so cheap there wasn't a home in any country that didn't have at least one. Stimpaks had dropped accident and violence related injuries to a record low, globally, and police related shootings in America were practically a thing of the past.
People, mostly Star Trek fans had taken to calling them phasers, but the ICERS were an improvement on the incapacitation firearm patent I sold to Batman. Instead of solid rounds, they fired a beam that simply turned the conscious part of the brain off, regardless of body armor, pain tolerance, or willpower.
There were higher output versions of the firearms, but those were reserved for SHIELD agents and for use on metahuman brutes since they were lethal to baseline humans. This is where the comparison with phasers arose.
There were a lot more changes, some the world was still adapting to, but they were all good. At least in my opinion. Some people in high places did not appreciate my dissemination of the reality that we had too many crazy neighbours in space, most of which were eager to put collars around our necks.
But the people who found out did. And it boosted my favourability in the eyes of the public even more. That's why I had to disguise myself in my own hospital, among other reasons.
If I walked in here with my real face, work would never get done.
Having timed my stride perfectly, I arrived at the elevator at the moment it opened. A couple walked out of it with their daughter, the little girl's arms a bright pink with a plastic sheen, drawings of flowers and animals on them.
All four of us shared genial smiles with one other as I took their place in the elevator and chose my destination floor. While the doors closed the little girl looked over her shoulder and I waved.
It didn't take me long to arrive at the secluded wing and find the room I was looking for. Well, it was more of a suite, but hey, these were my friends. If I could give people I didn't know beyond world class healthcare, why would I skimp out on people I actually knew.
"Hey," I kept my movements quiet upon entering the room.
"Elrath," Wally stood up alongside Artemis. We shared a couple of hugs and next came Paula Crock, who seemed to be on the verge of tears as she crushed me with her arms, making her daughter embarrassed.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome, Paula," I patted her back and rubbed it. After a certain point, you just give up telling people not to thank you, that it wasn't a big deal, that anyone would do the same. You just let them let it all out.
Once she calmed down and retook her seat, Roy stepped forward and held out his bionic arm. I met him halfway and we did the predator handshake (silently of course).
"Hey man."
"Hey."
"How'd it go with the Guardians?"
"Eh, same old same old. They gave me something though."
"Are you guys seriously talking about work stuff?"
"Nope," I answered Wally. He'd taken a break from superhero stuff along with Artemis. "Just catching up."
We were sort of in a waiting room/lounge space, with the door to the actual hospital bedroom at the very opposite end from where we were gathered.
So when Will opened the door, we all heard it.
"Go on," said Artemis. "We've all seen her. You're the only one left."
"~Hooo… Okay," I shook my shoulders, exhaled and joined Will and Jade in the room.
The first thing I noticed was the baby in the cot, swaddled and laying there like a loaf.
Jade, looking nothing like a woman that had just pushed out the cute bundle, wore a gown and lay in the bed, monitoring devices displaying her and the baby's vitals.
"Hello sir."
The solemn mood with which I entered the room fizzled out and I gave her a deadpan stare. "Really?"
"You are my boss," she smirked.
"Alright you two, quit it," Will whispered before gesturing to the tiny bundle of cuteness. "This is Lian Nguyen-Harper. We would like you to be her godfather."
Oh, that was… wait.
"Didn't Oliver already call dibs?"
"Nobody is calling dibs on my daughter."
"And there's no rule that says she can't have more than one godfather. Wanna hold her?"
Wow. Tears, go back in. "Sure."
Will gestured for me to go ahead and I utilized every ounce and lever of control I had as I wrapped my hands around her and lifted.
"Great form sir."
Jade's words failed to register as I brought little Lian close to my chest and began to bob lightly. "This… she's so amazing."
"I know right."
Time passed as I held her and thought about the idea that came to me the moment I heard Jade was going to be delivered of this perfection today.
"Do you guys mind if I bless her?"
"Like… blessings, from a god?"
"You can think of it that way."
The couple shared a look and I felt the need to make something clear. "Hey, this is your decision. And it's not as crazy as you're probably imagining. The blessing is just a fancy way of saying I'm giving her watered down versions of my powers. So if you guys are interested, just think about it and get back to me. You can even bring a list of what powers you want her to have."
"Just like that?" asked Jade.
"Yes, just like that."
.
.
.
.
Bludhaven
September 30, 13:04
My nose twitched when I entered Felicity's office.
There was an aroma of something she'd been unable to stomach for a few months in the air. She damn near vomited every time she caught a whiff of it, so it had me wondering if she'd had a guest or if something had changed.
She was currently in the bathroom, so I restrained my curiosity and removed my gloves, tossing them onto her desk and dropping myself into her couch. The softness took me and I rubbed the metal band on my ring finger to let her know I had arrived.
Turns out that wasn't needed because she came out of the bathroom that same moment, looking down at her finger where her own jeweled band sat snugly.
"Hey," she said like a kid that had been caught hiding evidence of wrongdoing. "When did you get back?"
"Just now," I patted the spot beside me. "You're acting weird."
She moved over to join me, resting her back on my chest. "Ugh, is that obvious?"
"Honey, simply looking at any kind of meat sends you to the bathroom. Every time."
"Not anymore," she looked up at me.
"I can tell," I kissed her, and continued to do, going down her cheek and neck area.
She snuggled closer to me, moaning lightly as she locked her fingers with mine and wrapped them around the bump hidden beneath her clothes.
"Come on, spill," I stopped and gently cradled her belly. "How'd it happen?"
"Mmm… it was just like the ice cream and chocolate. One second I'm putting finishing touches on a reforestation project in Brazil and suddenly, the image of Mike's meat stir fry wouldn't leave me alone. I could smell it and taste it. I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm not salivating is because I'm not a dog."
I chuckled. "That explains things. I'm assuming he delivered it to you and ate everything so quickly you were wondering what you'd turned into."
"No."
My doubtful look caused her to cave easily.
"Okay fine, it's a teeny bit true. But that's not why," she paused. "Remember that place in Florya, the one with the kebabs?"
I gasped. "You didn't."
"I did," she tried to hide her face from me. "I went and got ten of them. Mike was taking too long."
"Wow, you forced all that down?"
She nodded. "There wasn't much force. I practically inhaled those things."
"I'm just happy you enjoyed yourself."
"Mmn… me too. What about you? Enjoy yourself in space?"
"A little bit. It's always fun to mess with the Guardians."
"Yeah. You said you were going to see them, but you didn't say why."
"They had some info I needed. Shield stuff…"
Ever since we found she was expecting, I spoke to Felicity less and less about Shield. It was primarily out of worry that stresses of the job and the nature of things we dealt would carry over to her.
It was irrational, but I needed her to be as safe and healthy as possible. However, she'd been present for a few of the assassination attempts, so I felt she needed at least the truth of this matter.
Still though, did she need to know?
"I can't believe I'm saying this to you of all people, but you know you can tell me anything right?" she said, drawing me out of my head.
"Yeah, of course. Wait," I narrowed my eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
She looked up at me. "You really think I haven't noticed?"
"Okay fine. I didn't want you to worry. You heard what the doctors said about how our mental and emotional state can affect him."
"I know. I know. It's just, rationally, it makes sense. But then my emotions go the other way completely and it feels like you're leaving me sometimes. Which, I know, sounds crazy but…"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because… it's stupid, and childish, and irrational."
"And? Hell, I'm like that some days. You know this."
"...Most days."
I gave my wife another look, eyebrows raised. "So you knew I was a bonehead and you proposed anyway? I wonder what that says about you…"
She laughed. "It says I'm a bonehead too. It just took five years and my hormones going haywire for me to understand."