sick bird

[bossymarmalade]

Bai came over with ginger ale. Her stomach was queasy — never a good thing for a speedster, she had to cut her speed on the way so she wouldn’t need to replenish calories so soon — but ginger ale and the saltines she’d grabbed might help. They seemed like Timfood anyhow.

“You look bad,” she blurted when Tim opened the door. “Weshould. Get all cosy and just take. Turns taking care of eachother?”

Tim had dragged himself out of bed when the door went, moving as fast as his stomach and head would let him. He leaned against the doorframe, stepping back to let Bai come in.

“I feel bad.” Tim shrugged a little. He wandered back into the apartment, almost falling onto the sofa. He left enough space for Bai next to him, head falling back on the couch cushions. “That sounds nice.” He said, tugging a blanket out from a hamper by the side of the couch. He fell asleep there way too often…

Fetching a couple of glasses from the kitchen, Bai poured them both some ginger ale (from a height so it would go flat quicker) and then snuggled in with Tim, opening her own box of saltines and passing one to Tim. “These are supposedto settle your stomach?” she said, shrugging, and munched down three of them without thinking.

( gingerale and talkies )

to my son r__, on the occasion of his madness

[bossymarmalade]

I know it’s probably not your fault, in a dozen different ways.

I know that people will think I’m dreadfully cruel for not giving you a chance. When you come back — when you’re *brought* back — and this is all over, and you’re purged of the red madness. And ostensibly a different person, one with less rage.

But honey, I can’t do this tarantella anymore. We’ve been dancing it for years now and it’s finally time to admit this poison’s never coming out.

For all intents and purposes, you’re my first born, my original of the species, and you got every bit of my enthusiasm along with every lapse in my parenting. I know I didn’t do as well as I could have by you. I’ll always regret that. You’d think that since I didn’t do such a hot job raising myself that I wouldn’t subject some other poor orphan kid to the same haphazard drag, but we were all a little bit foolish and optimistic in those days. And you really did bring me so much joy.

Still, you deserved more than to be subjected to that. I’m sorry. I’ll be sorry every day of my life.

Now, though. It’s time for me to stop trying. Every attempt I’ve made has been rebuffed, every olive branch broken, every apology rejected. You say you’ll always be in love with me, and I can’t give you that, so then you say you’ll never be happy. I would’ve kept on trying, despite that, but …

But. How can I — okay. You know how much I love all the King Arthur stories, how I had all those books and you’d look at the Howard Pyle illustrations all the time? Well, I always thought the most tragic part of the Arthurian legend — apart from all his fuckups in ruling England, apart from Guinevere and Lancelot, apart from the breaking of the Round Table — was Mordred. His son Mordred, killing him by that hot dark lake, and Arthur dying with his work unfinished knowing his son hated him that much.

I’m no King Arthur. But what I’m saying is that you did a helluva job on me, Roy, my endlessly seething first-born. You nearly took me away from the rest of our family. And you broke up more inside me than just bones.

You told me before that I could never fix things between us, and after seeing the lucid, greedy satisfaction in your eyes while you nearly crushed the life out of me, I finally believe you. I won’t try any more.

Love always,

Dad

and now the news

[bossymarmalade]

Jogging to a stop, Wally grinned and waved at a few kids on the sidewalk, reveling in their smiles and excited tugging at their mom’s hand to point him out. He needed this. He needed some time with his city, away from the League, away from the drama, away from everything. He needed to center and just…be.

Picking up a jog again, he raced around the city just slow enough to be seen. People liked being reminded he was there, that he was looking after them. They felt safe knowing the Flash was always just a few steps away. On his way around, he stopped a couple of robberies, snatched a kid chasing a ball into a busy street, and diffused a hostage situation by replacing the perp’s gun with a banana.

All in a day’s work.

As he turned back at the bridge to Central, he swore he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t all that uncommon, really, sometimes when he got up to speed he just missed things. But…he saw it again, a black blur just out of sight. His heart picked up, part of him knowing what he saw but unable to believe it. The acrid smell of ozone and decay slapped him in the face as he took off again. It was there.
It was behind him.

The Black Flash.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the black clad wraith, claw like hands out stretched and lipless mouth bearing yellowed teeth. Wally sped up, gold and red lightning licking off of him in arcs. The ghoul kept pace black lightning sparking off of it with a deep roar like thunder.
As he looked around, the world moved in slow motion, but he could still see pandemonium all over. People were running, screaming, crying out in terror. Could they see it, too?

No time to think about it, he told himself. Just run, run, RUN!!! If he slowed at all, Black Flash would catch him, and it would be all over. The road ahead of him seemed to stretch on forever, and yet he couldn’t make himself go any faster. His legs ached and his lungs burned, the stink of death choking him.

Don’t stop, don’t stop!

The speed blur around him brightened and fluctuated, then dimmed and seemed to slow down. What was going on? Looking back, Wally almost screamed to see the Black Flash was almost on him. Willing his legs to move, he took off again. He was starting to feel light headed, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t go faster.

Run, RUN!

He didn’t know where he was anymore, running blind in the mad rush of colour and sound. He just knew he couldn’t stop, he couldn’t slow down. His legs wobbled and he lost his footing. His hands came out in front to catch him, arms jarring as he hit the ground and rolled.
He had crashed into a side alley, alone amid the rising pandemonium in the city. The Black Flash was there, looming over him. Wally screamed as the clawed hand reached down, clutching the lightning bolt on his chest.

And everything went dark.

( fast-spreading disease )

changing minds

[bossymarmalade]

“Why do you argue husband? You know it’s true.”

“No” J’onn answered. “It can not be.” The Martian Manhunter sits alone in his quarters, the only light coming from a small desk lamp in the corner. He is visibly distraught. Arguing with the disembodied voice of your long dead wife can do that to a person - or a Martian. “I have been a part of the League for years.”

“You’ve been the League’s mascot for years! They don’t trust you. They don’t consider you to be one of them. They only keep you around to watch over you. You’re their lap dog. You’re their errand boy. To them, you’re nothing more than an alien toy. They don’t know your power. They don’t know you can destroy them all.”

“Stop!” he cries. “M’yriah, stop! I loved you. You were my wife. Why do you torment me like this?

“I don’t torment you husband. I tell you the truth.”

“M’yriah. Please…”

“They say they love you. But they’re so quick to turn on you. Don’t you remember your first year with the newly formed League?”

“How could you know about that? You were not alive when -”

“And again when the Hyperclan first attacked? And were they not quick to judge you on Rann?”

“Those were special circumstances beloved. They were just -”

“They were just what J’onn? Isolated events? How many times are you going to have to prove yourself to them before you realize what I already know? They don’t trust you. They don’t even like you. You should kill them all now before they destroy you.”

( remember that it's all in your head )

nobody's secretary

[bossymarmalade]

KATE: *half-simpers* 'Mr. Queen, it says there's a paper jam, but I got all of the paper out of there...'

OLLIE: *grins* You're such a good secretary, Miss Spencer. So attentive to your boss's needs.

KATE: Oh, I'm nobody's secretary. Every corporation needs a legal counsel. *pushes glasses back up her nose with one finger to the bridge*

OLLIE: ahhhhhh, so much for that poor jammed copier.

KATE: Hey, we need to make copies too, Mr. Queen. And my PA's out of town this week. *reapplies lipstick*

OLLIE: Well, I could take the damned thing apart, if you like. But I'd rather take you apart, to be honest, Ms. Spencer.

KATE: *lifts a brow, raising above the rim of her glasses* And how do you propose to do that? *eases back in her chair, kicking her heels up onto the desk, skirt riding up a little*

OLLIE: Piece by piece. Why don't you come sit up here-- *pats the desk* -- and I'll demonstrate?

KATE: *skeptically lets her legs down, then gets up to sit on the desk, brow cocked even higher*

( take a memo )

forever foodies

[bossymarmalade]

STEPH: Brownies = legit love. True facts. Ooh, want to go catch some lunch now, actually? I’m starving!

“Yah yah yah!” Bai stopped rushing them around and waited as Steph scraped her hair out of her mouth and eyes and back into order after being speedstered. “What you wanna eat? I could go for anything. Likeliterally. If you don’t feel like eating at a place and you want ohIdunno pizza from Naples or something, I could go get it and we could eat inthepark although I’m good with going somewhere to eat too!”

Righting herself, Steph grinned excitedly at Bai, grabbing her hands and asking seriously, “Really? Could you run us to London for fish and chips? We could have chocolate truffles for dessert!” She locked her arms around Bai’s neck, not sure what the protocol was after never having been ran anywhere before. “If that’s okay, I mean. We could check out all of the cheesy touristy stuff while the Olympics are going on.”

“You never gone Speedster Express?” Bai widened her eyes and started hopping up and down, jogging in place, building speed. “You’re infora treat, Steph! As long as you don’t get like motion sickness or anything because thathappenedonce and it was super disgusting and I don’t wanna repeat that again.”

By this point there were little silver-blue sparks and lightnings crackling around Bai’s shins, and she impulsively kissed Steph on the cheek before jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “Climb on my back!” she directed, “and keep your armsandlegs tucked inside my speed envelope, that’s the MOST IMPORTANT thing!!”

( girlfest )

inside his broken heart

[bossymarmalade]

When he’s as young as he is, anything and everything can take him. He’s not strong enough to fight sickness or physical problems yet and so he has to be protected. His parents do their job. They’re strong enough until his mother wasn’t anymore to fight her fever. Roy’s little boy mind tells him that if he was stronger he could have protected his mother.

It isn’t until Roy’s father follows in death that Roy believes he can’t save anyone.

Brave Bow takes him in. Treats him like he’s his own and everything is happy again. But as Brave Bow explains, there are evil spirits still hanging around, just waiting for the opportune moment to make Roy sick. That’s why he has to keep himself clean. Why he does exercise and practices his aim with a bow so that when the spirits come, he’s ready for them.

It’s a little hard adjusting when his idol comes from out of the sky and offers to take him in. It’s the dream of a life time and he can’t imagine it going any other way. He couldn’t be happier and Brave Bow is so proud that Roy cries just a bit when he hugs his dad goodbye, turning to be the new sidekick to Oliver Queen. The Green Arrow. The white man of buffalos, because if there’s anything Roy learns being Queen’s underling, it’s that he’s stubborn and strong.

Just the way Roy is supposed to be.

( sickness )

purge of the soul

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle got the message from Hal just as it seemed Kate was starting to drift asleep, just a bit. Enough for him to be able to leave her. If Hal was ready to Lantern, it meant Ollie was okay. If Ollie was okay, it meant Kate would want to see him. And if Kate and Ollie were together, then it meant it was time for him to get back to work.

Kyle paused on the way there, floating mid-air as he looked at himself in a reflective surface along a hallway. He was fine. Guy was fine. Kate and Ollie were fine. Which meant Hal was fine. And as for Roy…well. They’d make him fine, whether he wanted it or not. He nodded and kept going, flying faster when he saw the two familiar green glows in the airlock.

“Sorry for being late,” he apologized by rote, and looked from one to the other. “Time to go?”

Guy shoved his fists is his pockets and glanced at Hal. “Time to go,” he agreed, briefly thinking back to the last time he and Kyle had to get all official like this before rolling out; it had been to track down and arrest a SeRVE member who had broken his parole terms, and one they’d both grown to like, personally.

Now, they had to go after an ally-turned-Red Lantern. A friend. The son of a close friend. When was their work as Green Lanterns going to start becoming satisfying, if not enjoyable, once again?

Hal had charged his ring up, and had been waiting for the other two at the airlock. Hands clasped behind his back, he floated just off the floor in a sort of parade rest, his mind working a hundred miles a minute. They had to find Roy, clean him up, and bring him how. Someone needed to chain that boy to the wall, and Hal himself had a good mind to, with all the grief Roy had caused Ollie of late.

When the other two had joined him, he nodded and punched the panel to open the lock.

“Let’s go.”

( earth lanterns ahoy )