âObviously you arenât obligated to join the League, but weâd be happy to have you.â
Kyle was going to die. He did not, despite the obvious facts, consider himself to be possessed of great will. It did not occur to him that the fact that he could make himself stand there and pretend to be casual spoke volumes.
âIâll have to think about it,â he said, hoping that his voice didnât shake, turning down the thing he would have liked most in the world. âIâm a pretty private person.â
Superman considered this. âThatâs fair,â he said, âbut maybe I should mention that the League doesnât require you to disclose your civilian identity.â
âIt doesnât?â Shit. He shouldnât have sounded so excited.
âNo. Some people choose to disclose to close friends, but it isnât on file and no one has to share anything theyâre not comfortable with.â
âOh.â Maybe⌠maybe no one would have to know. Maybe he could do this. âIâll still have to think about it,â he said, even as he made up his mind, âbut I am very interested.â Superman smiled, suddenly, and even though he had been nothing but kind Kyle was terrified. âWhat? Did I say something funny?â
âNo, no, youâre fine,â Superman assured him. âUsually Green Lanterns are a little more candid, is all. Thereâs nothing wrong with it.â
âI, uh.â Kyle faltered. âItâs not that I have anything to hide. Itâs just⌠before I got the ring, I⌠did some things Iâm not proud of.â Superman nodded in a manner warily sympathetic. âThings are different now, though. Very different.â
âI believe you,â Superman said, and it was absolutely killing him how nice he was. He was so nice. Kyleâs only saving grace was that he was wearing the classic costume. âThe ring chose you, thatâs all I need to know.â
Oh, god. Superman thought he had reformed from a life of crime.
He wasnât entirely wrong. Right? Right. This was fine. Everything was fine. Kyle would join the League and never tell anyone his name and no one would ever know the depth of his sins and he would meet Batman and that would end well.
⌠he needed to go find Jimmy immediately.