Opal City

Jack Knight stirred his fork through the steaming plate of sautéed broccoli rabi and Italian sausage, savoring the aroma of the delicate spices drifting up and about him.  He loved coming to Antonio’s for the Italian cuisine, the atmosphere and the people.  The food was great, as was the service; par excelance’ on all counts, and there always seemed to be a crowd worth watching, from the Yuppie after work group to the actual old school Mafioso’s who were regulars at the candle lit checkered table in the far corner.  And even more so on a holiday.

Granted, Halloween was not an Italian tradition, but the folks at Antonio’s got into the spirit, dressing up and having fun with the patrons.  Usually the waitresses were dressed in a peasant dress; corset and flowing skirt with crinoline below, but tonight they were all decked out in Meta motif.  He saw Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Woman at a glance, and his table was being served by the Catwoman herself, though looking more like the Michelle Pfeiffer version than the real thing, not that he was complaining.

He leaned back, sipping his Valpolicella as the Catwoman ground more pepper onto the dish, watching as his father eased his knife through the thick porterhouse swimming in enough grease to float the baked potato that shared the thick plate.  Jack wrinkled his nose as blood oozed from the slice of beef, his father jabbing the piece that he had cut away and dabbing it in the ample puddle of A-1 sauce he had poured to the side.  He met his father’s eyes and smiled to see his father happy.

“You like?” he asked, stealing a bite of the broccoli as he waited for his father to swallow, washing down his own bite with a swirl of Guinness.

“It’s delicious, Jack.  I can’t believe I’ve lived my whole life in Opal and never come here.”

“If they delivered, AND to the observatory, you probably would have been a regular,” Jack mused, stabbing a bit of spicy sausage.  “David raved about the place too.  That’s what got me to try it.”  His father smiled, but Jack saw a bit of bad memory there.  He still missed David, Jack’s older brother and chosen successor to the Starman mantle.  Hell, Jack missed David, despite their queer yearly encounters.  Missed him more than he ever would have thought.  They were closer in death now, than they were in life.

Jack shivered, shaking his head, trying to force the dark thoughts out of his head.  He had suggested a night out to his father for Halloween, and surprisingly his dad had accepted.  Things were slow in the Opal lately, all the usual weirdness having eased off remarkably the last few weeks.  Jack’s shop was up and running nicely, Knight’s Past actually turning enough profit to enjoy life a bit on the side.  His time and times with Sadie was good of late.  Hell, even the Shade had not been around to complicate things.  He was glad for the break.

And glad for a semi-quiet night out with his father.  Jack stared across the table at Ted Knight, watching as the man that he admired most in the world savored another chunk of sirloin.  His father seemed happy, at peace with the world, such as it was, more than content to sit at his telescope for hours on end and log star time.  Which was fine for him, if it made him happy, but Jack had never been able to do that.  Certainly he loved space; the vast black dotted with blazing fireballs and clouds of gas, but to make a life and living of it all, well, Jack could never see it.

But dad loved it, and if he was happy, that’s all that mattered.  Jack knew he was too, despite a longing that he sensed when word came down of the latest incarnation of the Justice Society of America.  It was a raw deal that some of the members got rejuvenated a bit, like Jay Garrick and Alan Scott, and lord knows it would have been fantastic if that had happened to the original Starman, but that was not meant to be, apparently.  Ted Knight was well into his eighties and enjoying retirement however, despite a certain longing for past glories.

“Glad you wore the shirt, Dad.”

Ted Knight smiled at him, unconsciously glancing down at the star-emblazoned red shirt that he wore beneath his blazer.  Jack had tried half-heartedly to get his father to come out in full regalia, but the elder Knight had declined.

“Seemed a happy compromise, Jack.  It is Halloween after all.”

Jack nodded, watching his father eat, drink and be merry, the long sleeves of his old costume rolled to the elbows, looking like a man in his forties again by the glow in his skin rather than the receding hairline and wrinkles.  Hypocritically, Jack had not dressed beyond a loud Hawaiian shirt, Levi’s, MC boots and leather mid thigh jacket complete with the Texas Ranger’s badge that was his mark.  His goggles dangled from the post on the back of his chair, mimicking his father’s beat up fedora on the old man’s.  He usually dressed up a bit for Halloween- and would do so more when he visited Sadie later- but it seemed almost inappropriate with his father somehow, beyond the family tradition.

“So, how are things with that redhead… Sadie?”

Jack grinned, surprised that his father remembered her name as he had not mentioned her but once or twice.  “Good, Dad.  Real good.  Seeing her tonight in fact – “

Jack winced as the pain bit into his shoulder, hot and sudden.  He glanced down stupidly and saw the quarrel sticking out of his shoulder, blood oozing with the multi-colored blues and greens of his shirt.  He could feel his arm going numb as shock set in.

“Jack?”

He saw his father rise, his chair falling back and away as he dipped a hand into his inner pocket and withdrew a Star Rod.  Jack blinked as the world slowed, surprised to see his father whirl about, sparks flying from the tips of the short, golden staff.  He saw something flutter overhead, draping over his father even as the eld Starman fired, blasting a hole in the wall of the restaurant.

People started screaming then, and he saw the woman with the small crossbow aiming in the shadows…