first fight

[bossymarmalade]

Dick looked over the list of emergency procedures and reordered them, already planning out how he was going to tackle them. Since it was just review, it shouldn’t take too long to get everything done, but he still wanted a partner there to review with him and keep him company. He smiled over at Bette, holding the checklist in his hand.

“So, I was thinking we could pretty much combine everything and make it all flow into one. Why don’t we start with some weightlessness drills, then put on the suits, do some damage control drills and spacewalking, then come back in and work the escape pods. Once that’s done, we can get out of the suits, take a break, then put the suits back on with normal gravity.” He frowned down at the list. ”Or maybe we’ll do that first, then change out and start weightless…”

“W-wait, I’m confused, are we doing the weightlessness in or out of suits?” Bette held up her hands to make him go over it one more time. It was a lot to take in, and she wasn’t sure how he planned to teach her all this in one day. She had been slated to be trained by Guy Gardner in early December, but when he was kidnapped all of that was forgotten…quite literally. Her instructor no longer knew Watchtower safety procedures himself, and would have to be re-trained, but because of his ring it was really a formality - he was in no danger of being unable to cope with a hull breach aboard the space station, or an emergency evacuation.

As to her own training, she’d meant to bring it to their attention that she needed someone new, but clearly it had been taken care of, since Dick had approached her about doing it today. Perhaps it wasn’t as difficult to learn as she thought? ”It’s your show, whatever you think is the best way to go about this, Dick.”

( because we're us )

princess and the frog

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle is shocked at the sight before him. Zee is in the Watchtower lounge area, writing in the air with magical sparkle cursive. Backwards, she spells out ‘meh’.

“Meh? Meh!” he exclaims.

Zee shrugs, “Meh.”

“Really? Meh, huh?” He sits back, looking out into outer space. “Meh. Hn. Maybe you’re right.”

Zee stretches her legs out over the opposite arm of her chair, “Yeah, just eh- meh. Nothing special really. Why, did you think today was more than meh?”

Kyle creates a tennis ball and floomps into a chair opposite to her, lobbing the construct ball at her and cupping his hands for when she throws it back. “It was…kind of a good meh for me? I dunno, I think I’ve just been in a real good mood lately, and I plan to take full advantage of it. Until I crash again.” He grins. “Which is inevitable. Damn artistic temperament. How about you? Quiet day?”

( hey presto )

(no subject)

[bossymarmalade]

It didn’t take long for Ollie to spot Mar’i in the arboretum — how many purple-haired girls were there among the League who could nonchalantly fly up to the crown of a tree to inspect its foliage? — and he trotted over, waving as she spotted him.

“Hey there, kiddo!” he said brightly. “Wanna come down here and give up flying for a while to talk with me? Unless you’d prefer to fly me up there and lug me around the arboretum with you!” Ollie heard Mar’i laugh, and hurriedly added, “That second option was a joke, by the way — being hauled around like a sack ‘a potatoes is bad enough when it’s Green Lantern ring, worse when somebody picks me up.”

He watched in fascination as the young woman moved around atop the tree, flashes of purple and orange. Ollie hadn’t known Starfire much, just seen her around (you couldn’t really miss or ignore a statuesque golden woman who was mind-blowingly beautiful), but he got the feeling from how fascinating Mar’i looked that she took after her mother quite a bit in that respect.

At the sound of the older man’s voice, Mar’i glanced down, still holding the branch she had been examining. She smiled widely and landed beside him, smoothing out the wrinkles in her trench coat.

“Sorry,” she laughed, motioning to the tree trunk beside them, “I was taking a look at this Rainbow Eucalyptus and ended up flying all the way to the top.” She held up her phone to show him a picture she had taken. ”I got a pretty nice picture of the color variation on the upper branches, which are obviously the newest part of the tree…” She trailed off, flipping through the smartphone for another picture. ”I swore I took one of that really nice bonsai out in the lobby…hmmm…”

Suddenly realizing her own distraction, she pressed a button on the top of her phone and shoved it into her pocket. ”Sorry!” She apologized again, giggling lightly. ”I get really distracted by plants. My mom used to say it was my worst trait. She couldn’t take me anywhere on Tamaran without my getting lost because I stopped to look at some alien flower.”

“Oh, don’t be sorry. I could stand to spend some more time appreciating the wonders of the planty universe that we’ve got kicking around this place.” Which Ollie really only realized while he was saying it, finding that the photographs Mar’i had briefly shown him on her phone of the colours of the … Rainbow Eucalyptus? Was that an Earth species? He didn’t even know — were lingering in his mind.

“In fact,” he elaborated as they started wandering under the trees, “it’s coming up on almost a year since I had a very important conversation with the woman I love under some sakura trees in a Star City park. I’ve never been able to think of cherry blossoms the same way since.”

( banchan )

beach bun

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle made sure to have Pellengrino - Limonata and Orangina. And plain, but really: everyone knew plain Pellengrino was pretentious.

Right?

Well, he assumed Zatanna would, anyway. He trotted upstairs, scooping Ribbit up and dusting the bits of dirt off her fur just as Zatanna materialized on Hal’s rooftop zeta pad.

“Hey Nance! Welcome to Coast City.” He leaned back from his hips, making Ribbit wave a paw at her as the bunny cradled in his palm.

Zee waved back to Ribbit with her free hand, the other one holding the small carrier that she’d used to transport Top and Tah. “Hey girly, and hello Hardy Boy! Oh my god the weather here is gorgeous!” she stretched out her arms to the warming sun, “Love it.”

She cooed over Ribbit for a moment, ruffling her dusty fur and pecking kisses on her ears before removing her own rabbits from their carrier. “Ribbit’s going to get you girls so dirty…” she mused as the bunnies happily explored the garden habitat. Dusting off her hands she looked to Kyle excitedly, “So, tour time?”

Kyle deposited Ribbit back in her garden, and she immediately joined her rabbit friends, snuffling together of a few leaves of lettuce in happy harmony. Kyle let out a small sigh as he regarded the rabbits and then looked up at Zee brightly.

“Ahaha this is considered cold, by California standards!” He motioned for her to come downstairs, showing her a choice of the sparkling fruit sodas. “You sure you don’t want a cardigan or anything? I was thinking we’d hit the beach first, then go into town for lunch and then there’s this cool entertainment district walk-pier thingie as well.”

( behind the scenes )

daisy rose

[bossymarmalade]

The purple petals of the rose tucked in Damian’s breast pocket brightens his dark ensemble with a shock of rich color. He’s dressed in all black as Lian instructed, his slim-fitting pants and oxford shirt shrouded by a high-collared trenchcoat. His polished shoes reflect the garden lights as he crosses the grounds in silence.

A ladder leans against the house where Lian resides with her grandfather, and Damian knows it was meant for him. Clutching the handle of the basket he bears in his teeth, he climbs to the roof and peers over the ledge. The jungle gym stands tall in the moonlight just as Lian indicated, and she’s there already, swinging upside down with her knees bent over a bar as she hums a song Damian doesn’t know.

“Lian,” Damian calls to her, tiny stones crunching underfoot as he crosses the rooftop terrace. He holds his basket aloft in one hand, brimming with all the things she said she loved: fruit gummies, soda bottle candies, nougat and hazelnut chocolates and a strawberry cupcake he baked himself. There’s a badminton set, small plushies in the form of a whale and a horse, and an orange gerber daisy. Damian removes the daisy from the basket and the purple rose from his lapel and presents them to her in offering. “I’ve come to play with you on your jungle gym, just as you asked.”

( let the negotiations begin )

sauce for the goose

[bossymarmalade]

It was a few days after their initial meeting, and Kyle was expecting Bette over at Hal’s home in Coast City. He’d made sure to set the little stage in studio up (utilizing Hal’s enjoyment of being moved about like a living doll) with the best lighting and background for a light-skinned person, as well as providing a little bench for Bette to perch on while he took his sketches.

Everything was pristine. Kyle wanted to alleviate Bette’s nervousness as much as possible, perhaps distill it into more excitement for her commission.

“Let’s see…easel and newsprint, conte and rags. Lots and lots of ice water and those tiny little cakes that I’m fairly sure all ladies like. From Goldberg’s Bakery, naturally. Ample cushions, a blanket, a robe in case she forgot one, slippers, 74-degree room…I think that’s it!”

“You’ll be fine.” Hal assured as he put on his jacket. He kissed Kyle on the temple and smiled. “Have a good day at work, honey.”

“You too, nene,” Kyle said absently, but he briefly held Hal’s hand before the pilot left for work.

The new zeta pad was installed on the house, and Kyle heard the house system announce Bette’s arrival. In a spontaneous moment, Kyle realized maybe he could give Bette some further ease about her eventual nudity….

…he bounded up to the roof to greet Bette, half-naked. The cool ocean wind hit his bare chest and arms, and goosebumped it before the green light shield thinly slid over him. Kyle spread his arms out to greet Bette, grinning widely.

“Hola chica! Perfect timing.”

( insert Titanic joke here )

titans of a different tower/lovers' leap

[bossymarmalade]

Dick rocked on his toes as he waited for Bette to arrive at the Manor. He felt a little guilty about calling her over the day before, but he needed the time to prepare. They both would. This was going to be the best Valentine’s gift ever, he was sure of it!

Bette was a little curious why Dick wanted to get together. After all, they would be seeing each other the following day, she assumed, since it would be Valentine’s Day, and Calendar Man was locked safely in Blackgate. Still, it didn’t take much to convince her to put down the books and put off working on her paper another night or two. Alfred let her in with his usual aplomb, but she could swear he had a twinkle in his eye, like he was part of a secret…well, more than usual, that is.

Dick all but pounced on her as soon as Alfred showed her into the downstairs parlour. “Bette! Bette, Bette, I’m so glad you came. I’m so excited, I—” He took a breath and kissed her firmly, calming himself through the kiss. “Happy Almost-Valentine’s Day.”

She couldn’t help but squeak just a little as he grabbed her arms and kissed her with such enthusiasm. “Happy Almost-Valentine’s Day, Dick,” she echoed with a giggle in her voice. “I can tell you’re excited! What’s going on? What’s happened?”

He beamed. “I got you the best Valentine’s present ever! Well, it’s kinda for both of us, but it’s really awesome!” He led her over to the couch, sitting as close to her as he could in his excitement. “What’s the one place everyone wants to go for their most romantic dates? Where in the whole world?”

( twu wuv )

scars

[bossymarmalade]

They were curled up in one another’s arms in Dick’s secret alcove aboard the Watchtower. After escaping the media zoo the previous night, followed by a romantic night in a Parisian hotel, it was nice to Zeta beam back to this the next morning. It was still the wee hours of the day on the station, since it was synced with Eastern Standard Time, so things were quiet, and they were wide awake.

Bette rested her head on his chest, pleased that for the moment, he was back in his Nightwing costume. His hand caressed her shoulder absently, and she craned her neck to look up and see a far-away look on his face. Something was on his mind…

“Tell me what you’re thinking?” she asked him softly.

His hand gently rubbed her shoulder, but that was the only reminder that he was with someone; in his thoughts, Dick was back to a series of cold, rainy Bludhaven nights that blurred together into one mass. It had been a long time since he’d really held a lover, longer since his lover was female. He felt vulnerable not being held and sheltered by someone else, but it was a good vulnerable. Not /that kind/ of vulnerable.

That kind of vulnerable meant so many worse things.

( Read more... )

you always hurt the ones you love

[bossymarmalade]

Gotham University’s library was a pretty dull place to spend a Saturday, but to be honest, Steph wouldn’t be accomplishing diddly squat if she tried typing up a paper right now. Chemistry just wasn’t interesting enough to beat out her desire to catch up on this season of Supernatural, so here she was. Slowly dying. Of sheer boredom. And her eyes felt so heavy. And it was actually pretty cozy in this computer chair … She broke from her reverie to the sound of another group’s conversation.

“-I thought he was dead, dude.”

“Nah, Cain’s just the waiting-and-watching types.”

“That’s friggin’ creepy. Like Gotham needed another psycho out on the streets.”

“Hey, at least this guy’s a legit assassin and not a schticky clown or ice cube-“

Steph froze. They were talking about David Cain, lunatic assassin extraordinaire. In other words, her best friend’s daddy dearest was out on the loose from Belle Rev. Anxiety gripped her cold and hard over the impending inevitable reunion between Cass and her dad, a cluster fuck of childhood issues and conflicting emotions no one would be equipped to handle. Giving the two students who’d been talking the side eye, she saw that one of them was clutching a newspaper, the headlining story splashed across the front page with a none too friendly mug shot of Daddy Cain.

Finding the display of free papers the library left out, she took one for herself to confirm what she’d heard and pulled out her phone.

[Text]: Hey, can I come over? It’s important.

Cass decided to sleep in through the afternoon as her patrol during the night had crept into the early hours of the morning. Curled up beneath blankets, with Olive lazily batting her paws against her side, Cass awoke to the buzz of her phone.

Shuffling out of bed and into the living room she replied to the message.

[Text]: I’m home, come on over.

( crosshatch )

dear guy:

[bossymarmalade]

You may or may not remember writing this, but you did. At the end of 2012 Darkseid erased the last six years of your memories. You probably just got some or all of them back. I’m you, from six years ago, back when you were in New York and with the JLI, and I’ve been living your life, among your friends for the last ten or eleven weeks.

Look, you’ve been messed up. I’ve read your journal. You were on a hard road. But you really do have it okay, it’s not as bad as you think, Guy. First, you need to listen to me, and believe it. Second…if you’re still feeling all this crap, if your head is still in this bad place, you need to talk to someone about it. Ollie, or maybe Kyle if he seems to be doing okay himself, or a professional, but don’t let it go on and don’t keep it to yourself, because you’re hurting yourself and everyone around you, even if you can’t see it.

So, here’s the stuff you NEED to believe…

1) You have a lot of friends, and they care about you, even when you can’t feel it. This isn’t the same League as the JLI. These guys actually like you, and you gotta stop doubting that. Just stop. If you need proof, get your ring to play back your last birthday party.

2) Kyle’s wants everything that’s best for you, and that’s why he’s still being awfully careful around you sometimes, because he hasn’t forgotten there was a time when you doubted that. You’re just going to have to wait it out, until he believes that you believe, and lets it go or some shit like that. Just support him in all he does, support the hell out of him, because he’s probably the best support you got, Guy. You owe him. He’s stood by you through all this memory loss, every inch of the way. Make sure you’re always there for him when he needs you, okay?

3) You CAN do things right. I think you just got to give up TRYING to do them right. Remember back when you didn’t give a shit what other people thought? Do that. I have been, and they like me just fine. If you make a gesture and it blows up in your face…blow it OFF. It’s not your problem if they react badly when you thought it was the right thing, it’s theirs. Not everyone is going to appreciate your good intentions. YOU know you meant well, and that’s all that counts. Tip: LET them be pissed about it. Defending your actions only invites them to get in your face and argue more about how wrong you were, and you don’t need that demoralizing shit. Just let it roll off you.

4) Ollie’s your friend too. He even said it a bunch of times to my face, about you, or us, or however you want to look at it, that he loves you and you’re one of his best friends. Even when he’s really mad at you, he says that’s kind of a form a love for him. He’s not just gonna stop just because you two have a fight, no matter what he says. He’s going through his own shit too, you know. Just stop stressing about your friendship with him. Sure he can be a jerk sometimes, but at least he already knows it. You know it about yourself too. We all have that in common. Go see him. Talk to him. Relax, and do both of you a favour and don’t make it hard for him to talk to you, either.

5) Dick…I know you truly loved him. You need to understand that you had forgotten him. It wasn’t fair to him to hold onto him or give him false hope that everything would return to normal. If you need to hate me for how I dealt with it, fine, but YOU didn’t do that to him, I did. He’s with Bette Kane now, I don’t know how well you knew her before you lost your memory but, you need to know, Dick is happy. He went through a rough time and she helped him through it. Think really, really, carefully before you waltz into his life and ask him to come back to you and screw up what they have. You chose the Corps over Tora, for fuck’s sake. If you’re being really honest with yourself, would you really have chosen Dick over the Corps when the time came?

6) If you show these people some love, they’ll give it right back, and that’s a damn good feeling. You don’t have to be Mr. Nice Guy, but you don’t have to put on the tough guy act, either. Even when you do, because I know you will, because I still do it too, they know. It’s okay to go off and smash asteroids, but don’t think they can’t see your pain, because they can. Especially Kyle. He can read you like a book, like he can read your mind. You can’t hide how you feel from him, so don’t try…unless he’s hurt you. Try not to let him see that. He’s having guilt issues or something. But my point is, if they can tell you’re hurting anyway, then you might as well talk about it.

7) You might still be missing a hand. The ring can show you what I managed to accomplish without it. You can form a construct hand and live a normal life. Don’t start whining about it now, because you have your life. Everyone’s real supportive about it, and they’re used to it. It’s not as big a deal as you might feel at first.

8) Guy, you’re not too big. You’re not scary, and I think you have a great body. Honestly, no one is staring at your chest or arms, they don’t even think about it. Those arms, that back, that muscle has saved lives, Guy. You know it’s not always ring power. Seriously look at yourself next time you’re in the gym with Ollie or Clark. You’re no bigger than they are. You’re not a monster. You’re loved, Guy! If you still have problems with that, then get your ass back to that counselor Kyle set you up with, because from what I could tell from your journal, she was helping. Your ring’s got the info. I caught myself being a little self-conscious sometimes, maybe that’s the root of it, but seriously, you’ve got a great body. You’re in better shape now than you were at 18. You’re TWICE that age now. Be proud of yourself!

9) TELL Ollie.

10) Let go of the past. If you get a clean slate, so should they.

Guy, you’ve got a lot to give others. Don’t let yourself forget that others have a lot to give you too. That includes love, trust, and second chances. If they can all give you that… then you can give yourself those things too.

Yours truly and literally,

Guy

earth to oa

[bossymarmalade]

“Yours truly and literally, Guy.” He finished what was perhaps the last letter to his possibly future self: the Guy who had experienced and remembered the previous six years. If all went as well as Kyle planned tomorrow during their visit to Oa, his memories and possibly even his hand would be fully restored.

He was finally getting comfortable in “Modern Guy’s” life, among his new friends, and old ones he hadn’t always gotten along with six years ago. Wasn’t that always the case, though, that just when you get used to something, everything changes again?

It wasn’t exactly that he feared change, but people messing with his mind always had made him nervous, ever since Sinestro warped and twisted and damaged his brain so badly it had put him into a coma. Then a handful of others over the years, friend and foe alike, had “tinkered” with his mind, finally ending with Darkseid erasing the last six years of Guy’s life. Now Kyle hoped either Soranik Natu or Ion itself could fix it. As far as Guy knew, he’d never met either of them, and his hopes were reserved, at best.

In fact, the one thing that to Guy seemed as normal as ever, he’d experienced the least chance to analyze: his relationship with Hal Jordan. It didn’t strike him as odd that his contact with Hal had been minimal over the past two months. It wasn’t as though they’d been close six years ago. From what little Kyle had told him, they hadn’t been close in the last year, either, ever since Hal and Kyle started seeing each other. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out why, either, assuming what Ollie had told him about Modern Guy once having feelings for Kyle had been accurate.

What a fucking mess. And no matter how hard he tried, it felt like Modern Guy was a different person, even though he couldn’t expect anyone else to understand that, to react to him with that in mind. He was stuck with a legacy of someone he never wanted to become. And God knows what he would be if Kyle and Soranik were successful tomorrow. He’d be that Modern Guy again, the one who made this mess, and then the person he was now, the one he knew now, would be effectively dead, a memory.

If there was one thing he wanted to do before he became that man again, it was to talk to Hal. He still couldn’t believe all he’d read and seen through League records - Hal becoming Parallax, whatever Parallax really was. Resigned to face it literally now or never, Guy flew north in the direction of Coast City.

[Ring Txt] Hey, Hal. You home? Was hopin’ we could talk.

Hal closed his eyes as he laid back on the couch, throwing an arm over his eyes. Too much had been going on lately, and all of it was confusing beyond measure. Kyle feeling off and almost flighty, arguing with Oliver over something that wasn’t even an issue, lying to himself, and feeling out of touch with reality…What was happening to them? More importantly, what could they do about it?

All of his thoughts derailed with his ring pinged with a message from Guy. As if he didn’t have enough to sort out…Still, he owed it to the other man. He’d been avoiding him a bit on purpose, not sure how to react to the whole losing his memories thing and what not. Well, now was his chance to make up for that.

[Ring Txt] I’m at home. The balcony door’s unlocked, come right in.

( space and soranik )

oh yes you're skin and bones

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle barely had time to breathe between charging through the Battery and reaching…some unfamiliar place. This was not the core of the Green Lantern Central Battery. This was not what he remembered, the last time he - as Ion - became one with the combined might of the Green Lantern Corps.

This was much different. He was on a planet, or something. Everything was black and craggy, hideous and bleak. He turned back, and saw nothing but a shimmering portal that had propelled him through, and now it wouldn’t let him back to Oa. He was sure he could hear Guy’s voice on the other side…

“Guy?” Kyle yelled back, not caring if anyone on this side heard him. “Guy! I’m fine, I. Can you hear me? The portal, it won’t let me back, won’t let me —”

- …..ffffffssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-

He slowly turned to the right, his eyes following that growing hum of noise and saw a surge of yellow. Yellow, buzzing, like gnats…creatures of all sizes and grotesque shapes, rolling towards him like a tidal wave. The noise they were making was getting louder and louder, almost to deafening proportions.

“Fucking hell,” Kyle breathed, unable to tear his eyes away. His voice was practically drowned out by the din and clatter.

“Yes, Alley Rat, a low voice drawled, almost right in his ear. Kyle spun around, ready to fight even though his ring only barely sputtered, pathetically weak from all the yellow. He looked up…and Sinestro floated behind him, a small smile only barely touching his thin lips as he haughtily stared down at the Green Lantern. His hand unfurled out in front of him, a yellow vice grabbing Kyle around his neck and lifting him into the air.

“I do believe this is your hell.”

( it was all yellow )

all that glitters

[bossymarmalade]

“So these prints should be ready to be picked up by…looks like Friday. We’ll send them straight to the company, and they’ll let you know which ones they’ll use, just sign this release form.”

Mar’i tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded while leaning over to quickly scan and sign the form. She stood back up straight, towering over the secretary at her desk.

“Well, then,” she said cheerfully, “I’ll see you next week Keisha.” She turned around and started rummaging through her bag for her lipstick as she walked towards the door.

Your fake cheer is nauseating. Why don’t you just drink yourself to death, party girl. Make Ibn proud, if he was even bothering to try and look for you. Which - mmm -he’s probably not doing, is he.

The purse fell off her arm and hit the ground, its contents scattering all over the floor. Mar’i looked down at it, at the little articles, a sharp chill shooting from her knees to her head. The secretary said something, but she couldn’t understand what it was. She reached over to support herself with on the door frame, trying to soothe the influx of emotions that was flowing over her. Sharp fear, then confusion. ’Kyle?’ she thought. ’Was that Kyle?’ Confusion, then anger.

She nearly tore the door off the hinges as she ran out before the secretary could notice she had burnt through her contacts. Normally she would have just ridden down the elevator to the base floor like a good little normal, but this time she flung the staircase down open and flew all the way up to the roof, where she did, in fact, rip this locked door off as she walked outside. The San Francisco wind whipped her hair around wildly as she tried to make out any visible problems around her. After a few seconds, she started to calm down, her rage subsiding into irritation. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket, trying to decide who to call first. Ollie, maybe, since she didn’t exactly have Hal’s number to call him up and ask him if he knew where his boyfriend was. ’That was definitely Kyle’s voice,’ she thought to herself as she began to type out a text, ‘but something sounded…wrong with it.’ She was thankful for the warm ray of sun coming down on her, calming every cell in her bod—

Hey! Better yet - how about I lock you in a tiny dark place where no sunlight’ll reach you? And then eventually you’ll be put out of your misery and die! You’d like that? Being dead? You’re just an inconvenience around here, anyway.

The phone fell and she had to grab the nearest railing to keep from toppling over. Her stomach spun and for a split second she thought she was going to vomit. Her memory was already reaching back to the few times she had burned through her energy in a dark place, that feeling of cold fear, the feeling that there was no one to save her, only herself and that dark place. She fell to the ground, dry-heaving, gripping the pebbled granite that covered the rooftop. Suddenly she was angry again, then scared again, then angrier than ever. Her mind hadn’t felt this uncontrollable since she had been on Okaara, where they had purposely provoked her feelings to break them from the human molds she had attempted to control them under. Her emotions were fluctuating so badly she could barely remember where she was. ’Kyle,’ she thought, ‘that bastard, no, he’s my friend, no why would he say that, why would anyone say that, no you don’t talk to me like that, do you know who I am, no Kyle wouldn’t, yes he would, he did, he did.’

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” she yelled, standing up, her mind racing between paralyzing fear and uncontrollable rage. ”GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!!”

NO MAR’I

I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU

I LIKE IT HERE, YOU TASTE AND SMELL AND FEEL SO GOOD. WARM AND BRIGHT. YELLOW.

YELLOW. BRIGHT. YOU TASTE LIKE SUNLIGHT. I WILL CONSUME YOU.

I WILL BE HERE INSIDE YOU UNTIL YOU BURN FROM THE INSIDE

are you angry yet?

do you want to fight?

you will die.

Mar’i doubled over onto the ground again, clutching her stomach with one hand as the other gripped the gravel so hard her knuckles went white. In her mind, the Wayne Family Memorial was blossoming before her—gravestone after gravestone of people who had died long before her life. Grandparents, great-grandparents, quasi-uncles, her people each time Tamaran was destroyed, stepfathers, generations of bodies laying cross-armed under cold dirt. She gasped, warm bay air filling her lungs as she writhed on the ground. ”Goddammit,” she hissed, “goddammit, goddammit, GODDAMMIT!”

She attempted to get up on her knees as another wave of fear covered her, choking her. She coughed heavily as Ibn’s face came floating into her mind, floating in the void of a destroyed universe. She reached out, grabbing at nothing, trying to reach him. The void between their bodies closed slowly until she managed to grab his sleeve. Suddenly his eyes opened and he smiled, his lips falling from his teeth, the muscles under his cheeks rotting, and his arms came around and suddenly she was choking under his embrace. ”No,” she cried against his invisible grip, nearly tossing herself off the roof in an attempt to free herself. ”No, you love me, you LOVE me!” Her chest gave way and she found herself still laying on the warm gravel. She attempted to stand again, small shockwaves of fear still shooting up and down her body. But this time her feet found balance and she wiped the thick sweat away that had piled up on her forehead.

“Fucking Tamaranean emotions,” she muttered to herself, still completely unsure of what was going on except that Kyle Rayner was somewhere sounding fucked up and he had figured out how easily her emotions could be toyed with. The image of Ibn’s rotting face appeared in her head again and she stumbled for a second, grabbing her temples, forcing herself to remember how his arms felt wrapped around her, how he smiled when she walked into the room. And now there was someone who had figured out how to pull that string. The rage burned back into her throat like fire. It took all her strength not to break her cell phone when she grabbed it from the ground. The screen was shattered, but it still seemed to work. Her half-written text to Ollie was still glowing on the screen. Instead of finishing it, she hit the ‘call’ button and listened as the dial tone rang. The anger welling up in her body made her too impatient to wait on the roof, and she flew up high into the atmosphere, floating in the direct line of sunlight.

The last three sentences of Kyle’s voice floated into her mind and that same stream of emotions flew over her head, ending in unadulterated pure rage. The dial tone rang once more, and suddenly she snapped the phone in half on accident, staring at the two pieces in her hand in complete rage, and dropping them down, watching them slowly fall to Earth. She had no clue where Kyle—or whatever it was that sounded just like Kyle—was. She had broken her best way of finding out if other people were okay. She didn’t know what was going on, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here and twiddle her thumbs. The only course of action was to just fly until she saw something. ”Okay, you want a fight,” she growled, setting off towards southern California where Star City, Coast City, and Los Angeles, in that respective order, all lay, figuring all the Lantern activity centered around those cities would be able to help her figure out where the fuck that voice was coming from. ”Fine, then, you’ve got one.”

stem the tide

[bossymarmalade]

[TXT] I’m here Ollie!

He came down to the front lobby of Queen Towers, nodding Mia over to follow him to the hidden high-speed elevator that required a retinal scan to operate. “I’ll code you in once we get up into the control room,” he assured her, “although mostly when you come here it’ll probably be using the zeta pads.”

“Come here to your work?” Mia asked with a frown, putting her hand out as the elevator stopped suddenly enough to make them bounce on the balls of their feet. Ollie looked over at her, one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Something like that,” he said. The elevator doors slid open into an expansive room that was bright with satellite photo feeds and news updates on holographic projection screens. “Welcome to the Watchtower Adjunct, Speedy.” His phone played the tone he’d set for Kate just then, shivering insistently in his pocket, and Ollie let Mia explore the headquarters more closely while he checked it. Palpable relief flooded him as he read Kate’s message. She wasn’t okay, not really, not yet, but she was safe and that was enough for now.

(and you don’t want to think about if she wasn’t, because without her you’d be no good to anybody, you’d go right off the fucking deep end)

[TXT] Speedy and me in QT where I showed you. Come here if ur not engaged, keep in touch if ur working with somebody. Love you. Will check in with u every hour if ur not coming.

Ollie sent off the text — it was woefully inadequate, he wanted to have Kate with him like Mia was, where he could see her and be sure she was safe — but they were, after all, superheroes. And LA was being shitcanned, from the looks of it. La Rojita would probably want to stay close to home and protect her city, just like Green Arrow wanted to do with Star.

His phone suddenly gave a violent shake, indicating that a call had been trying to come in, and Ollie frowned and stared at the notification — Mar’i? — as Mia raised her voice from over in the middle of the projection screens. “Ollie you’re gonna want to see this,” she said, and as he went over she pointed up at one of the feeds from the San Francisco area. Nightstar was clearly headed down the California coast, her energy contrail burning behind her in a flash of purple and orange.

“Get on the horn with her,” Ollie instructed Mia, “on the League frequency, and I hope she’s got her comm on her. Let her know where we are, where Queen Tower is, and tell her she can land on the helipad. From the looks of things…” he glanced around at some of the other screens, images of people swarming up from Coast City, fleeing the dense yellow wrapping around that area and up to Star. Moving north made sense, what with LA swirling into more unrest with each moment. Coast City people had bad history with Lantern business, with Parallax, with all of the fear. And people who were that scared inevitably started getting violent.

He looked over at the area where the costumes were hanging, his and Speedy’s, brand-new ones waiting for them. “We’re gonna need some help.”

( slash and burn )

battle warnings

[bossymarmalade]

As John followed the Sinestro Corps toward Coast City, he caught the messages coming over the League commlink. If Superman was heading to the Watchtower, he’d want to be involved. The more non-Lanterns involved in this, the more trouble there’d be for everyone.

“All League members and heroes in the Coast City area—do NOT engage the Sinestro Corps. Do NOT attempt to reach Coast City. This is Lantern business. Most importantly, do NOT engage Kyle Rayner under any circumstances.”

He switched communication over to the Watchtower alone. ”Superman, J’onn, stay on the Watchtower and keep it secure until Guy or I give you the all-clear. Stewart, out.”

“Acknowledged,” Clark replied with only mild reservations about not being on the front lines. He trusted John as one of the League’s most capable leaders. Even still, he added, “If you need me, I’m there in less than a second. Keep me posted.”

The Watchtower is quiet, despite screens and electronic bulletin boards flashing the warnings about their current lockdown status. The civilian staff is on edge, whispering nervously to each other in the corridors as they go about their routine tasks, cooking dinner in the cafeteria, changing linens in the residential wing, vacuuming the rugs in the lounge. A handful of the more bold among them question Superman, demanding answers, and he responds to each with his usual patient sincerity. But he can’t tell them how long the situation will continue, and the air of burgeoning dissent continues to thicken.

( billy )

the parallax event

[bossymarmalade]

Hundreds of miles to the north of John Stewart, Guy cursed loudly as the battle between Parallax and Ion had turned skyward once again was raging above him and the rest of Coast City. Brave, aggressive, even a little reckless he may be, but he wasn’t stupid enough to get directly in the line of fire of two emotional entities while they battled each other.

Still, he was ready for anything, standing by in any way he could as support for Hal and Ion. They had to stop Parallax, naturally, but they had to get Kyle back somehow while doing it. If anything hurt Kyle…

Guy was doing what he could to keep the onlooking residents of Coast City from the areas suffering the worst from their attack, until the police could take over crowd control. He hovered over the city, vigilantly keeping himself between the fight and the innocent bystanders, when John’s call came in; ”Guy? What the hell’s going on? We’ve got Sinestro Corps headed somewhere, I’d say the whole damn lot of them.”

“Goddamned yellow bastards,” Guy growled, “…Okay, Johnny, I’m on my way.” There was nothing he could do here. If Hal Jordan and Ion together couldn’t overpower Parallax, one Lantern would hardly make any difference. Even if he stayed, would he be able to bring himself to go full-power on Kyle?

( decisions and realizations )

thicker than water

[bossymarmalade]

Steph had been doing laundry, waiting for her pizza rolls to come out of the oven. The whole ‘normal’ girl on a ‘normal’ school night was getting oddly routine as of late. It was nice, having Gotham this tame (as tame as it can get, mind you), gave her a chance to nurse some bumps and bruises and have a shot at passing some classes. She heard the timer go off on the oven and she set down the jeans she’d been -

Awww mi hermanita. As if you could do anything to help your little amiga anyway. You and your daddy are more alike than you’d like to admit: both utterly useless, wastes of space, that no one wants around. That’s what Cass was trying to tell you.

The voice rang through her ears as though it were coming from right beside her, but she saw nothing. Steph whipped her head around and it registered. “Kyle? Where are you?” she called out tentatively, talking to the air. She tried hard not to think about the sharp words he’d crooned in her ear, though her chest grew tight in anxiety. His words cut deeply, effectively, and she couldn’t tell where it had come from. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

What the fuck is wrong with you, what the fuck is wrong with you.

The words echoed back at her, smarmy and taunting, amused at her struggle. It grew louder and louder, a droning buzz of a voice she thought she loved.

( warped )

adventure time

[bossymarmalade]

“Plastic Man!” J’onn shouted. “You are getting too close to the fight! The power from those two beings are enough to wipe you from existence. Back away now.”

The Martian punched another button. “Huntress! Argent!” he shouted, his voice ragged. “Get those civilians to safety! We can clear rubble later.” J’onn turned back over his shoulder. “Zauriel. Was Blue Beetle able to put that fire out?”

“Yes!” the Angel answered. “Booster Gold is assisting him now! They seem to be working well together, all things considered.”

“We will make time for social hour later” J’onn said. “Right now, find someone to subdue those looters and get them out of the danger zone.”

“On it!” Zauriel shouted and turned back to his screen.

( straight from the monitor womb )

aftermath

[bossymarmalade]

It took a couple hours for the Sinestro Corps to truly and completely flee. Other than the Earth Lanterns, the GLC that Guy had called in from Oa made sure of it, taking the captives Maash and Flayt as well as a few others. It took a couple hours, but it really only seemed like minutes to Kyle.

Everything happened fast, and then Carol was summoned by the Star Sapphires, god knows why. But at the same time, Ganthet appeared on Earth, and spoke with Kyle.

Or maybe it was at Kyle. The high he rode off of trouncing Parallax through sheer willpower was fading, Kyle was starting to fill in all the things that he’d done. No - that Parallax had done - but as him. The lengths that Sinestro had gone to make sure that Kyle was targeted to be host to that disgusting parasite…his hearing blanketed over with a white noise and eventually he stopped speaking or reacting to Ganthet’s words. His vision blurred and his hovering stilled. He felt exhausted.

A tiny blue hand rested on Kyle’s shoulder. “I understand,” the Guardian said gently, before he transported back to Oa.

( settling dust )