There wasn't too much chaos in the vicinity of the apartment building when the ambulance, with Margaret and Mrs. Scofield directly behind them arrived. At least not with curious onlookers. The police and this mysterious Justice League must have things well in hand. There were tenants scurrying about with armloads of belongings, searching for family members, roommates, pets and so forth.
Margaret and Mrs. Scofield got out of the car and joined the medics and various members of rescue staffs that were gathering nearby. The chief of the police force, along with one of his deputies, was briefing them on the particulars of this tense situation. The deputy urged them for at the moment just standby because the Justice League is in there and they seemed to have things under control. The best thing they could do at the present time was assist the evacuated people, but staying behind the police barricades.
Moving away from the crowd, Margaret went ahead to begin helping anyone she could find that was looking lost or frightened. She was successful in reuniting a family of four, and helping a young boy find his grandmother. Catching her off guard, a red streak followed by a whoosh of wind nearly knocked her over. And suddenly three people were deposited next to her.
"Sorry, ma'am," two gloved hands caught her before she fell. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I.. I..." Margaret regained her balance and came face to face in a young man attired from head to toe in a red, yellow-accented, formfitting coverall-type suit. "I believe so."
"That's good," he turned quick and was off again in a vanishing trail.
"Ah, who?" Margaret was about speechless as Mrs. Scofield approached her.
"You just got an introduction to The Flash, part of the.."
"Let me guess, the Justice League?" Margaret finished, still in total amazement. The older woman nodded in confirmation. This was a lot to take in. Margaret was curious about the rest of the League, but first things first. She went on around the other side of the building, where there was a little less commotion, but a growing group of scared, confused, and even angry tenants of the apartments.
"Mommy?" Hearing the address, Margaret turned to see a little girl about six years in age looking up at her, her face falling when it registered that Margaret wasn't who she was looking for.
"You don't know where your mommy is?" She bent down to her.
"Noooo.." came the small wail.
"Where did you see her last?"
"In.. ah.. there... " the little girl pointed toward the building. "She's in.. ah.. da ba-troom."
"Well, I'll tell you what let's do, we'll just go and see if we can find her outside, first. Okay? That's where she probably is and will be looking for you." Margaret went to take the child's hand. But frightened, she wouldn't budge. "She's going to be very worried about you. And we can have one of those nice police people or even that Justice League go in to hunt for her if we don't find her out here. Would you like that?" The girl shook her head no.
"My mommy's in ba-troom," she sniffled.
"Okay, but we can't be going back in there," Margaret repeated ever so gently. "We need to.." she turned to see if she could spot qualified rescue personnel close by.
"No," the little girl clutched on to her arm with fierce grip. "Pweez hep me find my mommy!"
Margaret glanced around and there seemed to be no one else available, all police and the rescue personnel around this part of the complex were occupied with other matters. The child pulled at her arm with great strength. But Margaret just couldn't take the child back inside.
"Let me get someone to go in, one who knows what to look for."
"It's my mommy!!"
"Yes, I know," she turned to grab the nearest officer, and when she did so, the girl broke her hold and raced for the building. 'Oh, no!' Margaret's acute training kept her from panicking. "Little girl!!" She yelled, but the child didn't stop. In her snap decision, she took no time in calling for someone else to stop her, instead, she briskly followed the child inside.
'How will I ever find her?' Margaret thought as she slipped into one of the back exits. The fear was immediately answered when she spotted the girl down at the end of the corridor.
The halls were deserted now. Dropped clothing, toys, small appliances, and even food items were strewn everywhere. She watched the child enter a stairwell, and increased her pace. The stairs went up to the floors above, and Margaret could hear little feet clanging on the metal. Taking some of the steps two at a time, she was nearly caught up when the girl ducked inside yet another door. This one was right of the landing. The number on the door was marked with a four, so she took it to mean this was the fourth floor. Margaret hadn't realized they'd gone up that far.
She was able to see the little girl enter one of the apartments about twenty yards away. The door was left open, but the inside was dark. Margaret could hear the child moving around, and then her frantic call of 'mommy!', while she herself looked for a light switch or lamp. There seemed to be no one else in the apartment and now there was no sound from the child. In her frustration, Margaret wiped the sweat that had began to form on her brow, and as both hands neared her face, a brilliant light instantly shone out into the room. She dropped her hands and the light disappeared, but not before she was able to catch a glimpse of the little girl.
"Did you see that?"
Margaret had gotten a good hold on the child and with a loud gasp, she turned to see two figures standing in the apartment's doorway.
"Huh? Who?" She stammered, awestruck. The little girl grabbed onto her and clung in fear.
"Don't be alarmed," the female figure's voice was soothing. "You need to get out of here immediately."
"We are!" Margaret snapped, and with one sure move, she scooped up the girl and quickly stepped out into the hallway. There she was able to get a better look at the rescuers. The young woman was dressed in green with dark accents, with a bit of green on her face and hair. While the young man with her was in mostly blue and some red with a headpiece covering nearly his whole face.
Margaret nodded a little thanks and as fast as she could, she ran with the little girl, at the stairwell door, she glanced back at them to see the man in red she'd seen earlier rush to join them. The Justice League, she just knew it. She heard him say how the last of the explosives had been found and the Green Lantern was now carrying it away from the city and surrounding residences.
Taking a good hold on the little girl with one hand, Margaret flew down the steps, and out the nearest exit. They were instantly surrounded by police, other rescue personnel and finally a frantic woman came pushing through the crowd.
"Mommy!" The child shrieked, and Margaret let go as she ran to her mother's arms.
"Thank you so much, ma'am!" .
"I'm just glad she's safe," Margaret told the mother. "I was scared that..."
It was everyone's turn to shriek as a loud, but thankfully distant blast was heard. Now that last thing she heard from the.. must be.. the Justice League surely meant that was the last explosive. The last one? She wondered had there been other bombs, what had happened to them? Another thing she was concerned about was the Justice League themselves. Her question was soon answered as the woman in green, the guy in blue/red and another young man in green and black, with a mask of matching green, striding quickly up to the chief of police.
Margaret watched and listened for a moment as they explained about the explosives, how the building was now secure and the people could return after the city's bomb squad could do a runover, if they deemed necessary.
"Excuse me, ma'am," the young man in blue and red, whom the chief called the Atom caught sight of Margaret.
"Ah," she was startled when he began to move toward her, and in an instant reaction, Margaret pushed through the crowd and disappeared. She didn't stop until she reached her car. Turning her keyring over and over, desperately searching but not being able to find the one for the vehicle.
"Margaret?" She screamed when someone spoke her name and had lightly touched her on the shoulder. Gushing relief to see it was Mrs. Scofield. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes," she continued the hunt for her car key."It looks like it's over and no severe injuries or anything of the sort, so I guess we can leave."
"Sure. Now, you are okay?" Mrs. Scofield walked around to the passenger side. "Would you like me to drive?"
"Yes, I'm fine. And no, I can drive all right."
On the way back to the hospital, Mrs. Scofield was all aglow about having no intensive injuries. Just superficial ones, like some scrapes and bruises from the surge of tenants rushing to make it outside and away from the building. Margaret was aglow from something else, but she chose not to share it at this time. She sensed the JLA wanted something from her, and trying to deny that she didn't know what was futile. She knew the answer.
The Justice League reconvened as usual in the hidden base of their leader, J'onn J'onnz (aka the Martian Manhunter). The mayor of New Metro, along with the police chief, had high praise for them as they had gotten all the people out of apartment complex safely with no bad injuries. And the tenants could be returning to their homes in no time.
"That last bomb device was a close call." Green Lantern commiserated.
"Yeah, I just couldn't get it fully frozen in before it was set to go off." Ice echoed his lament.
"Don't go there, the both of you," Fire told her team members. "We did good. The main thing is there was no deaths, not even one injury. Now, we have to put our minds to finding out just who this 'Industrialist' is."
"Did any one find any shred of clue to who this madman is and if he'll strike again?"
"And what about that lady?" With a short explanation, Atom and Fire had explained to the rest of the JLA what they had witnessed Margaret do. Touching on how she had moved her hands up near her face and a bright light had illuminated the room and she was then able to get to the little girl and get out of the building. "I think, yeah, this is her." In a couple of presses on the keypad, Margaret's image from the nursing conference popped up on the monitor.
"Hey, that's the one I nearly ran over when I was getting people out of the building." Flash exclaimed.
"J'onn, she's got something..." Atom began, his words trailing off as he noticed his leader's curious fascination with Margaret's photograph.
"It was this light she produced, it could've only come from her. We checked the room and..." Fire stepped up, but Atom stopped her from going further, nodding at J'onn's apparent interest in their subject.
"Is that why you asked me to go over that particular apartment's lighting?"
"And you found nothing?" J'onn spoke at last. The Flash shook his head no. The JLA leader continued. "Just a brilliant burst of light that apparently came from a citizen? That is rather extraordinary."
"We know she has come to New Metro to fill the need for a director of nursing in emergency care at the hospital. Margaret Houlihan is her name, and she arrived just the day before from LA."
"What do you think, J'onn?"
"This requires some looking into, as much as finding out the Industrialist's next move. We might try looking into the initial threat on the airport." He stalked out of the chamber, leaving his JLA team to ponder which would take priority with their leader.
It took Margaret along time to get back to feeling her old self again. After last night she didn't think she would ever get back to being the same. But she had to. She had her work to concentrate on. This was to be her first day at the hospital in that capacity.
"Hello."
"Uh, hi, just a moment," Margaret greeted the fellow who had just walked up to her as she was standing at the nurses' station in the emergency care room, then returned to her phone conversation. "The patient, yes, the young man we had in here with the third degree acid burns on the right leg is out of the ICU and up on six."
"Now, what can I do for you?"
"Nothing really, I just came over to see how you are doing here. With this task at hand."
"Wait," it dawned on Margaret. "You're Paulsen Main? You used to be the emergency care director here."
"That's me.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Thanks, I've heard a little about you myself, so I thought I'd come over here to..."
"To check and see if I'm doing a good enough job? It's my first day here, but..."
"Not exactly." His retort puzzled Margaret. "I'd come to get some files of mine, and wanted to stop by."
"All right." This puzzled her, she didn't know what to think of this guy.
"Ms. Houlihan," Paulsen had started to walk away, but stopped to address her again. "Why do you tie yourself down like this? What this country is, is progress."
"Helping people is progress." Margaret lifted her chin a tad higher. "The best kind."
"If you say so. But don't you think it's kind of funny that more than half your patients are repeats? I mean in the emergency room? They bring it on themselves. Pathetic." He leaned in and lowered his voice. "Nuclear energy. The future."
"Your future, Mr. Main. And no, the people, any people, first timers or repeats in need of care are not pathetic." Margaret felt her temper rise. "If you feel this way, why did you get into the health field?"
"More and less a hobby, Ms. Houlihan. Besides, the money was pretty nice. Until I learned progress is the whole key, and here.." he made a sweeping gesture around the room. Margaret got the sickening feeling this guy had been in health care for the main purpose of feeling superior to those less fortunate. "Here just ain't it."
"You're wrong, here is where it's at. The people, patients, are the most important," She wasn't going to listen to this drivel anymore, and turned on her heel and left the emergency ward.
"You'll see, Ms. Houlihan, give it a month, and you'll see I'm right." He called after her.
When Margaret ran into Mrs. Scofield later, word had spread about the encounter she had with the former nursing care director. "I heard about your run-in with Paulsen Main. Did he try to fill your ear with how nursing care is overrated? And that a person's energies should be put to use in other fields?"
"Something like that." Margaret shook her head. "He's somewhat, um..."
"I think demented is the word your searching for." Scofield said quite naturally.
Margaret could only agree. "He came back for some of his files. It's all right for him to take them?"
"Yes, it was just an idea of his concerning nuclear medicine. Dr. Boyd had wanted to look them over is why they remained here. But he really found no point to it as of yet."
Two days after the New Metro Downtown Apartments building was under the bombing attack, the person calling himself The Industrialist announced that a second structure was up for annihilation. This time it was to be the New Metro Electricity and Power Company. Again, it was targeted just after dusk set in, and law enforcement and especially the Justice League were given an hour to get everybody out.
Again, the hospital was put on alert. Margaret was drawn to going over to the power company, as she had done with the apartments. Like the other evening, she dispatched herself to go, just in case. But as the reason for her coming from the hospital in a medical capacity was the same as the time before, there was another, equally powerful motive for her need to be there, and though she knew why, she couldn't admit it to herself. Anyway, she couldn't think about that now, the only thing she felt sure about was nursing, and that's where she needed to focus.
Mrs. Scofield, who was at her own clinic, informed Margaret that she would be meeting her at the site, and again be available in case if any emergency did arise. This time, hopefully, it would be easier, for most of the company's employees and the ones in the adjoining offices had left for the day, leaving some late-workers and the custodian staffs. Meaning there would be fewer persons to evacuate and less chaos. Hopefully.
Not waiting for Scofield, Margaret walked around the immediate area of the power company, and as before assisting ones coming from the building to get to safety. In doing so, she made a note of how this building faced the waterfront, just like the apartment complex had. She wondered if there was any connection. Just then, the whole building went dark. Electrical outage? But other structures had electricity, it seemed to only be the electric and power company without it.
Margaret didn't know what the think about this strange occurrence. When she heard something else quite strange. Laughing. Muffled, maniacal laughter. She discovered it coming from a police officer's radio as he held it out and others were gathering around to hear. Margaret moved closer.
"How do you like that?" The man's voice crackled through. It must be the Industrialist. "Don't you think it's kinda funny for the only building to be out of power is the power company?" More laughter. "Let's see your dutiful Justice League be the heroes again. Oh, that's right, you can't see. You people are pathetic."
Fear was filling Margaret, and she jumped when she felt someone take hold of her arm. "We need you." She looked around at the young man in the red formfitting, masked suit.
"What? I.." At first she balked, but with it meaning helping people, she slowly acquiesced and went with the Flash. Before Margaret had time to blink, they were inside the building. "Why am I in here? I would I think that I could be of more use.. out.. "
"No, Margaret," the green-masked man whom she saw the other evening spoke, nearly jolting her out of her skin, she hadn't seen him come up. He had a green, neon coil of light illuminating from a ring. "We need you in here, with this power out."
"What can I do? I'm not a electrician."
"Nope, you're something better," the Green Lantern took her arm and ushered her through the dark foyer.
"Wait," she stopped abruptly. "I know what you're after, and I can't do this."
"Yes, you can," came another voice out of the darkness.
"No! I can't do anything just by.." Margaret put her hands to her face in frustration and in that split moment, the room, an open office area, was brightened with a soundless explosion of light. "What...?"
She heard running footsteps coming up from behind her. "I got it!" Ice exclaimed as she ran past Margaret. She stood in shock for a minute, witnessing the girl emit a freezing ray, silencing the black ticking box. "Oh wow, same as last time, nuclear activity is in this."
"Thank you," Atom in the masked blue and red suit, quickly grew before her eyes. "We wouldn't have found the last detonator without you."
"Yeah, I.. Wait." Margaret remembered a previous conversation, two in fact. Hers, and someone else's. She glanced down the hall where she'd come in. "Paulsen. Paulsen Main." In a brief couple of sentences she blurted out the conversation at the hospital, and then what she'd overheard on the police radio minutes ago. "It couldn't be tied in, could it?"
"It's a possibility." The Green Lantern agreed. "We'll check into it."
"Yeah, well, good luck," It was all too much to absorb, Margaret fled the building before anyone could stop her.
'Is this going to happen every time until this madman is caught? And could it possibly be Main?' She thought as the cool night air hit her face. How she welcomed it.
Margaret moved away from the milling crowd outside, desperately needing to catch her breath, and wanting to just get home. She had done what was right, now to get home and not think about it anymore. Edging towards her car, she took one last glimpse at the dark, but safe New Metro Electric and Power Company. When she went to continue on to her car, she came face to face with Corporal Tate, the young man who had brought her to New Metro (at least most of the way).
"Oh, hello, has the hospital already discharged you?"
"Ah, yes... ah, I've got a clean bill of health. So they say."
"That's great, but what are you doing here?" Margaret stepped back to look him up and down, before reaching up to put her hand lightly at his cheek. "No lingering fever or headache? Any discomfort?"
"None whatsoever." He moved his hand up to cover hers for the moment. "I just couldn't stay away."
"I'm so glad there's no lasting affects," she smiled. "Now, what's next for the Corporal? I'll bet your commanding officer is snapping his heels the have you back at Fort Irwin. Do you have to leave right away? Can't you stay, rest up and take some leisure time before going back?"
"I suppose he is. But first, Ms. Houlihan..."
"Margaret."
"Margaret." Tate repeated slowly and with a broad grin. "If you have the time, now. I'd love to take you someplace to show you my gratitude with what you did for me."
"I do happen to be on my way home. But really, that's not..."
"Please, Margaret, I just feel the need to do this. Like you've said, I'm going be leaving for Fort Irwin soon. May not get another chance. The way the, ah, General keeps us so busy, we'll probably never see each other again."
Margaret sighed deeply. "Well, okay, but I we can't stay too.. I mean I haven't got a whole lot of time."
"Neither do I." Tate murmured. "I'll get us a cab."
"My car's just over here."
"All right, that'll be easier."
She was puzzled as to where they were headed, a place the Corporal seemed rather anxious about. It didn't seem like a sight-seeing tour. This had a purpose. And made Margaret more and more curious with each block Tate indicated for her to turn down. He soon asked her to a stop near the waterfront.
"Oh? Now what's this?"
"You'll see, it's rather special."
Margaret slowly got out of her car, looking cautiously around her, when Tate led her up closer beneath a huge, older, wellbuilt overpass. She did a double take as others began to join them. The Justice League. She looked at the Corporal. "Tate, what's going on? Do you know them?"
"Yes, quite well," he answered, causing Margaret puzzlement at the fact earlier he'd said he hardly knew anything of them. Tate motioned for the one called Ice to come closer.
"Margaret," the blond girl in a lavender formfitting suit addressed her gently. "This is for your safety as much as ours." She had produced a blindfold.
"Please. Is this necessary?"
"Yes, for now. Trust us, Margaret." Tate instructed her. He suddenly let out a sharp, visceral gasp.
"We need to go, now!" The Green Lantern pressed the matter.
"Trust? Us?" Margaret felt a shiver go through her, when the blindfold was tied over her eyes.
From there, she was carefully walked a few paces, or it could have been quite a few. She wasn't exactly sure. A metal door scraped open and she was urged inside. The only sounds she heard were that of metallic clangs, no voices. The standard question running through her mind was where in the world were they taking her? Or was it into the world, for she soon felt the drop of an elevator.
Still there had been no words exchanged the whole journey downward, perhaps a couple of heavy breaths from Corporal Tate, making Margaret feel like maybe he was released from the hospital too soon. The elevator finally came to a thudding rest after what seemed they had dropped through to China, or even Korea. As soon as all motion had come to a complete halt, Margaret's blindfold was removed and the large doors slid open to reveal a spacious, sparsely lit chamber, with monitors and similar devices scattered throughout.
With the Justice League's urging, she cautiously stepped out into the dim room. Margaret's gaze followed Corporal Tate, demanding answers, as he moved around in front of her. Then, at that moment, a whizzing light furiously circled him. She instinctively backed up as it wasn't Corporal Tate any longer, but a taller, broader, and a bit green... being?... man? dressed all in black standing before her.
"Now, we can be properly introduced," he began. The voice had deepened immensely, to an almost hypnotic level. "I'm J'onn J'onnz, leader of the Justice League. Of whom, I believe you have already met."
"Ah, yeah," Margaret's voice was weak, as she glanced at the Flash, Fire, Green Lantern, Ice, and Atom all in turn, then back to J'onn.
"My apologies for the deception, Margaret," he continued. "But as you can see it was a necessity."
Margaret slowly nodded in agreement. "What about Corporal Tate? Was he always you? I mean, were you him to begin with.. I mean... I don't know.."
"No, don't worry," Atom broke in and indicated for her to check out the monitor. He made some adjustments on the keyboard. "See, he's still in the hospital. Doing well and all set to be released in the morning." Margaret looked carefully at the screen. Sure enough, the records he produced gave that exact information."
"Okay, that's very good," Margaret turned from the monitor. "But what do you want from me?
"We what we want and actually need from you," J'onn began to explain to a very disquieted Margaret. "Is for you to develop and use your gift. It's as simple as that."
"My gift? I have no gift. Except my love of nursing," her words came out shakily. "But that's why I'm at the hospital. Do you require nursing here?" She looked around the vast chamber.
"No, not quite."
"I thought along the same way," Ice, the girl in lavender, informed Margaret. "But once you embrace that gift, accept it as part of you and use it for it's purpose."
"Purpose?"
"To benefit mankind."
"You're kidding?"
"Like you did for that little girl."
"But anyone would..."
"Maybe. Maybe not. But what's important is that it was you."
"So that's my gift? The helping of others? That's nursing." Margaret was exasperated, felt like she was going around in a circle.
"Your other gift."
"I have no other.." she had a feeling as to what they were referring to.
"Yes you do."
The light. The brilliant light that shone out almost every time her hands neared her face. Margaret spent the next hour trying to convince the Justice League that it was peculiar, and will more than likely be disappearing soon.
"I doubt that," J'onn wouldn't defer from his analysis. Neither would the rest of the JLA team. "In fact, it seems your abilities have only gotten stronger. Haven't you noticed it's coming more frequently and perhaps brighter?"
"I tried to deny my gift, not embrace it," Ice broke in. "When I was first endowed with it."
"This is a gift, a blessing, something of that sort?"
"Yes," J'onn was hoping it was finally beginning to dawn on Margaret.
"And I can use this 'blessing' for the benefit of others?"
"Yes!" The whole Justice League cried in unison.
"As you have already done so," Atom reminded her. "Quite admirably."
"Thanks, but.. uh, you all seem so sure about me. You trust me that much?"
"You tret.
"And I can use this 'blessing' for the benefit of others?"
"Yes!" The whole Justice League cried in unison.
"As you have already done so," Atom reminded her. "Quite admirably."
"Thanks, but.. uh, you all seem so sure about me. You trust me that much?"
"You trusted us. Tonight."
Margaret was silent as she let this realization penetrate. A blessing. A gift. What happened to her was a gift. Her life was changed, she was different now, but as the JLA informed her, like them. How they had come upon their gifts similar to her. Ice and the Flash had been in caught in lab accidents, Fire was born a firestarter, Atom was exposed to radiation deposits in the desert and the how Green Lantern located his ring.
"You and Ice have something else in common," Flash told them as Margaret and Ice looked at each other, puzzled then back to him. "You both received your powers here, in New Metro."
"Yeah, it's like you two were brought here for this purpose," Atom picked up the topic thread.
"That's really nice. Only, where do I go from here?"
"You learn how to properly use this gift."
"How?"
"I will teach you. I taught all of them." J'onn said proudly. "Then, you join us. And become part of the Justice League."
Part of this team. The actual Justice League. Margaret felt like she should be waking up at any moment.
"Just try it, first." J'onn encouraged. "You accomplished it the other times. You can do so again."
"I don't really know what I was doing then, and I won't know now."
"Neither did any of us at the start." Green Lantern spoke for all of them.
This really frightened Margaret. Not only the alleged power she held. But the exact thing, the exact principle she had tried ever so hard to deny, would be in fact, a reality. One she would have to accept.
No time to hesitate. She gulped in a deep hold of air, and brought the flat of her hands near her face, on either side of her cheeks. A warm, painless sensation trickled through her palms, and there was only the briefest, split-second of light. Then, darkness.
"I can't do this, it's useless!"
"No, it isn't!"
"Yes, it is! Watch!!" Margaret brought her hands up again and suddenly a bright light illuminated from her, and kept its steady intensity. Gasps echoed in the metallic chamber.
"There!"
"So, I do this when I get angry?" The light diminished once her hands dropped to her sides.
"No, you learn to control that."
She didn't know how much time she had spent at this. Learning. Frustration. Accomplishing. Further frustration. Until finally, with an abraded slowness, Margaret got the focus on her light-power. Much to the rejoicing of the Justice League. And J'onn's admiration.
