trans_9 | Look at the Colors! Old School JL in the Sensoriums

Tora had been pining..not for the fjords... well not completely anyway. But she had been pining for the good old days. he days of The Global Guardians and Justice League International. Things seemed so much happier then, so much more vibrant and full of life. Now things just seemed bleak and everyone was sad or tense.

Where were the days where Booster and Beetle used to hide J'onn's cookies? What happened to those times when Guy could be the sweetest man known to anyone, ever? Or even the days where they fought together as a team for what they knew in their hearts to be good and right?

Tora missed those times sorely, too much darkness and death had taken hold over them all, and for once she refused to let it damped her spirits. That was what had lead her here, to the Sensoriums, to this recreation of the League headquarters. It looked exactly as it had so many years before...even the colors had a sort of nostalgic quality to them.

In another moment the place bustled with the comings and goings of holographic versions of the members. Scott Free offered her a wide grin and wave as he wriggled in the latest contraption designed to be inescapable. Kimyo Hoshi was looking sternly at someone asking if she could change a light bulb on the second floor...apparently she did not find that funny at all. And Nathaniel Adam was sitting by himself sipping tea, his metallic skin glinting somewhat in the light of the lamp on the table beside him.

It wasn't really her past, but it made her feel a bit more at ease, especially seeing a certain emerald haired woman striding toward her arms open for a hug. "Bea!" Tora exclaimed and wrapped arms around her friend and nearly sister.

"Tora, you're late. I was going to have to fire up the Jacuzzi all by myself and you know how I hate to have cold champagne and hot bubbling water all to myself." Bea wagged an admonishing finger at her and looped an arm around her shoulder to guide the demigoddess to the hot tub. "Oh! Bea.... "Tora's hand went to cover her mouth in a moment of worry. "I don't have a swimming suit."

"Tora,honey...as if that's going to be a problem?" Fire threw her head back and laughed loudly, yes this place might not be real, but it was still accurate.

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He hadn't been planning on indulging in the Sensoriums and was simply passing by when he heard a chorus of old, familiar voices. Voices that hadn't betrayed that much levity in a great many years.

A dark cloud is gathering around the deck's entrance, a pair of eyes glinting amid the silhouette of Batman. It's as if they're frowning on the behalf of a mouth currently masked by shadow. That's right, the party guest that no one looks forward to has arrived.

"Hn..."

Something was lurking in the corner, something dark and...oh.

Him.

Tora knew there were a fair few people who found the Dark Knight's personality off putting, but she herself tended to find everyone pleasant in some way.

"Hello Batman!" Tora waved as Bea lead her off for the hot tub.

He bats off her good natured salutation with a withering look as he walks deeper into a room which he hasn't laid eyes on for a great many years.

No Scott, he will not test drive your revolutionary new straitjacket design. No J'onn, he could not go for a choco right now. No Kimyo, he will not smack a clue into this wiseass...

He ignores an attempt from Captain Atom to engage him in conversation. He isn't real, "Don't you think this is a little unhealthy, Tora?"

"Unhealthy? Why? Are their toxic fumes? Radiation?" She looked fearfully around, hoping her choice of settings had not caused some catastrophic disaster to occur. The idea that perhaps her moment of nostalgia might be construed as emotionally unhealthy had not even crossed her mind.

So many other used these room for far less noble purposes, why should this be so different?

Oh yes. Now he remembers what it was like being with the JLI. A day rarely went by without him striving to get a point across only to be met with complete and utter obliviousness. Even worse, most of the time whoever he was lecturing simply fell asleep.

But that's not what's bothering him. Oddly enough, the JLI's tenure was probably the last time Bruce ever felt close to content, if he were capable of feeling such a thing at all. Sure, they were a pain to work with and things invariably went wrong, but no one died. No one was tortured or abused. Hell, they actually saved the day occasionally, and these days a clean victory was an even rarer sight than Guy Gardner following Batman's instructions.

He turns the old rosters over in his head. They read like a war memorial. Ted, J'onn, Scott, Dmitri... Even Tora herself until recently.

"Half of these people are dead," is his only response.

"To you, maybe." Nightwing was passing by to start up the gymnasium program. He always thought better during a workout and, recently, he's been needing the focus more than ever.

But when he overhears that? Well, he can't help but come in, nodding to Tora. "To some of us, it's just recounting old times with people we care about."

Not that Dick has ever brought up the Titans. It's not really his cup of tea. Though any tea or snacks that showed up after his workouts were almost always Alfred's make.

Tora nodded to Dick's comment. "I think not all of us come from the same time or place. If what the ship said is true we've all lost enough already. I don't see the harm in just enjoying a little bit of home."

"Just be careful who sees this," obstinate Batman is obstinate, "Something was going on back home. The dead were rising."

Not that Bruce had seen it himself, he was busy cave painting with Anthro, but Guy and Ollie had both informed him Blackest Night upon arriving on Stacy. And neither took kindly to a dead man walking. But then, few people ever took kindly to him back when he was an alive man walking.

"If they can't figure out the difference between the Sensoriums and the actual dead walking?" Dick raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty certain Ice can set 'em straight." Possibly straight out the door with a swift kick to the hind quarters.

This scene was pretty similar to some of Guy's more pleasant dreams. Bea and Tora had always been close. And Guy wasn't gonna deny the appeal of two hot women in a hot tub, naked.

He watched them, leaning against a wall, thinking about better times. They hadn't been great times, and he had as many bad and humiliating memories from the JLI as good ones, but Tora had been there and happy, and that was worth remembering.

Finally, he sauntered forward."Don't let me stop whatever's going on here," he said, grinning.

"Nice Gardner, really..very smooth." Bea rolled her eyes in an exact replica of the Fire they all knew and loved. Well Guy might not have loved her but the two had, usually, a grudging respect if for no other reason than Tora.

The demigoddess smirked and even blushed a bit with a pleasure at seeing her main squeeze. "Oh, Guy." He was really incorrigible, but she loved him none the less. "You will join us, wont you?"

"Tora!" Bea practically choked on her sip of champagne and paused handing a glass to the white haired woman as well.

"Well.." Tora rubbed at the back of her neck and took the glass offered to her. "I thought he could...I mean it isn't as though you are modest about things..and well..he knows me well enough..." She looked to Guy to see what he thought of it all.

"Yeah, and it ain't like you're real, anyhow," he said, looking at Bea.

Guy put his hand on her cheek and gave her a more serious look. "Everything okay, Tora?" he asked. He understood wanting to live in the (relatively) good times, but it was also a lie. Not facing reality. Not really a healthy thing to do.

Even synthetic Bea seemed offended by the remark but shrugged it off a moment later and stepped off around the corner toward the tub.

With Gardner's comment the room seemed to dim slightly, as if reflecting the hit to her own spirit Tora had taken. "Batman said the same thing. I'm not trying to hide, Guy. Honestly I'm not. I just....well I missed people. Is it wrong to want to see some of them again? I know it's not real, I'm not stupid. But with all we've lost can you say you don't want just a few minutes of it back?"

Look at the Colors! Old School JL in the Sensoriums

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