“Thanks for the offer, Arty, but I’ll pass all the same. Give Cameron my love and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.” Rebecca Sharpe hangs up the cell phone. The invitation had been tempting, going to New York (via magical teleportation no less) to a party being thrown by her old friend Artemis Crock, her former Injustice Society teammate and more importantly, her best friend since birth, practically for a costume party. She’d been leaning towards going for a few days, she even conned the hotel’s tailor into making her a duplicate of her grandfather’s costume to wear. But for some reason, she didn’t feel like partying on Halloween, which was odd for her since Halloween was always one of her favorite nights of the year.

She knew why, of course. Last Halloween, she had been given the opportunity to speak to her grandfather’s ghost for just a couple of minutes. * And she’d wasted it. She couldn’t believe it was real and wasted her one last chance to say all the things she’s wanted to say to him for so long. She’D put her regrets on the back burner for the most part in the intervening year, but on Halloween night, a year later, the memory had forced itself to the forefront.

* - In the Green Arrow story in last year’s Halloween Special

Her reverie is interrupted by a knock at her door. Like Green Arrow, Rebecca lived in a suite at the Olympian. Rebecca goes over to the door and opens it.

“Well?” Guy Gardner asks her as she opens the door. Guy is dressed in a blue bomber jacket with a large yellow “G” on it and a pair of wide legged pilot’s pants.

“What in the world are you wearing?” She asks.

Guy smiles. “One of my old costumes. A few of the League folks decided to have a Halloween party up on the satellite…”

“Isn’t it called the watchtower now?” She cuts him off with a smile, knowing that Guy has always intentionally avoided mentioning the watchtower since it reminded him of being kicked out of the League.

“Same difference. Anyway, the theme is old hero costumes. Rumor is that Canary’s even going to dig out the infamous headband outfit.”

“That might be worth the cost of admission. Arty once told me, as good as Canary is, that Arty’d have died of shame if Canary had ever taken her down wearing that outfit.” She considers the invitation for a moment. “Guy, I’m not sure that it would be a good idea….”

He cuts her off. “Look, Becky, there won’t be a problem with the League because of your old gig. Everyone, even the Bat, thinks of you as one of the good guys now. You know everyone’s secrets, pretty much and I think most people understand why you did what you did. In fact, Big Blue even said you might be League material one day.”

“Which has nothing to do with the free suite we set up for him for his anniversary.”

“No, it has everything to do with it. You know Superman’s identity and you’ve never ratted it out. Even to your old friends. You’re trusted now and there’s a reason for it.”

“Thanks, Guy.” She responds, genuinely touched by his comment. “But I think I’d rather be alone tonight.”

Guy goes to respond, but stops. He understands what this night means to her. He’d also seen a loved one that fateful Halloween night. But to Guy, going to a League party was the best way to honor Tora’s memory, since she’d loved being in the League so much. He lets it drop.

“OK, I should probably go. But if you change your mind, call my cell. I’ve got the ring programmed to answer my phone calls. Buzz me and we’ll beam you right up.”

“Thanks.” She says. Guy shrugs and leaves the room.

The Sinatra was not helping. It was her favorite album, the Capitol Years, but even the Sinatra and the glass of wine she was sipping were not improving her mood.

“Ah always loved Sinatra.”

Rebecca spins at the voice and sees what appears to be her grandfather. Or more accurately, his ghost. For one second, she gets angry, thinking it’s some joke from Guy or Mac, but then she stops. The year before, she’d wasted the chance, now for a moment, she decided, she’d try to believe.

“Grandfather?” She asks tentatively.

“The very same, Princess.” He tips his wide brimmed hat to her. Seeing that she may not be convinced, he goes on. “Since you’ve been hanging with those heroes so long , you may have gotten cynical, so I’ll say this. When you came to live with me for the first time, you had a Green Lantern doll. When I saw it, I said to you that someday, you’d appreciate the irony of that doll.”

“I’ve never told that story to anyone. It was….” She pauses for a second, finally registering that this was indeed her grandfather’s ghost. “Our memory.”

“And ours alone.”

“How?”

“Am I here? Payback, I suppose. I did them a favor last year helping out, so they gave me this. Since you were in that box, ah was the only one in heaven that could be tied to the earthly plane to plug that breach. So I guess they gave me a few minutes now for good behavior. Personally, I think the guy in the hat and turtleneck may have had a little something to do with it.”

“There’s so much I’ve imagined saying at this point. The things I’ve regretted not saying last year. But now, I can’t think of a thing.”

“I guess we can start with me thanking you for me being in heaven in the first place. I was a bad man for a long time, Princess, and I think it was only you that kept me from ending up down below. You were the only good thing I ever did.”

“I wouldn’t be where I am without you, Grandfather, so I guess we’re even.” She says, smiling.

“I guess we are.” He pauses, as there is clearly something he wants to say. “I’ve got to tell you something….”

She cuts him off. “You went out while you were raising me.”

“How’d you know?”

“Aunt Paula told Arty about the whole caper and she told me. It was the same thing as always, wasn’t it? Bill Zard talked you into some crazy scheme and you went along with it.” **

** Aunt Paula is Paula Brooks, the Golden Age Huntress/Tigress and Bill Zard is William I. Zard, the Golden Age Wizard

“It was a hell of a scheme actually. Bill’d managed to get some comicbook writer irradiated with cosmic energy and…..” The Gambler pauses and shakes his head. “Oh, all right, it wasn’t a great idea. But Bill was my friend and he needed an extra hand. How come you never told me you knew?”

“Because I tried to ignore it. I still do, for the most part. I even tell people you never went out again. *** But mainly because, at the end of the day, it just didn’t matter to me. You did everything you could for me. You gave me everything you could. You gave me the games and that was all I needed from you.”

*** Like she did in Green Arrow #3

The Gambler smiles for a moment and then stops smiling. “I think that they want me to come back now. But let me give you one more bit of advice. If I were you, I’d take that fellow with the bad hair up on his offer. You belong up there, you know. You’re not like I was, you should be a hero.”

“I’m a gambler, Grandfather, and that’s all I really need to be.”

“My time’s running out, Princess. But you make sure tell my good friend Mr. MacDonald that the Gambler sends his respects and gratitude for taking you in. And to those who try to cheat the house and their fellow gamblers, you tell them that the Gambler gives them his Hazard to make sure they don’t.”

The Gambler walks over to where her version of his costume hangs. He runs an insubstantial hand through it. He turns back towards her and sees her crying. “No tears, Princess. I really am in a better place. I’ve got everything I need. And damn if heaven doesn’t have the most beautiful casino you’ve ever seen. I’m taken care of. You need to start taking care of you now.” He stops, knowing that his next sentence will be his last.

“I love you, Princess.”

“I love you, too Grandfather.”

The Gambler tips his hat again and then fades away. Rebecca stares at the place he’d been for a minute and then smiles. Wiping her eyes, Rebecca walks over to a table and picks up a cell phone.

“Hello, Guy? About that party….”

THE END