welcome to the justice lounge

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 )

The onset of cooler weather plus the topsy-turvy events of late made it harder to get up in the morning to be anywhere. Fortunately, Ollie Queen could set his own hours at work, could work from home, and could decide not to do anything if it so pleased him, which was why he was still in bed when the ringing of the phone dragged him into consciousness.

“You get that,” he mumbled into his pillow, before realizing he was alone in the bed. Right.

Dragging the reciever off the hook (Ollie’s bedroom and office were where technology went to die a lingering death, Mia’d said), he blearily said, “H’lo?”

“Hey.” The voice on the other end was level and calm, if a bit on the cool side. Still…hearing Oliver’s voice after being woken was something Hal needed. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, shifting where he sat. Being on the phone was strange. Usually he handed communication with his ring, but this time he wanted something…’normal.’

“Listen…about the other day..” This was insane, why had HE called OLIVER to apologize? He wasn’t the one who’d screwed up…Be the bigger man, he told himself. “…I thnk i could have handled that better,” he admitted.

( they tumble blindly as they make their way )

“Ollie?”

Hal had sent a message earlier, so he just let himself into the Arrow home, poking his head in the door to announce himself, see where Oliver was.

“Hey, Hal.” Ollie didn’t bother getting up from the couch, idly re-reading The Stand. Not paying attention much, but that was the reason for picking up a book he knew half by heart. Too many thoughts distracting him to attempt focusing on something new. “I’m in here. Grab me a drink on your way in, wouldja?”

“Well glad you’re happy to see me,” Hal said, chuckling. He grabbed a couple of drinks, carrying them over. Leaned over the back of the couch and kissed Ollie’s cheek, handing him a beer before taking a seat himself. “So…how are things?’

The beer was welcome and Ollie popped it open and took a long slurp before scrunching up a side of his face at Hal’s question. “Passable,” he said after a moment. “Working through things. How about you? This second round of Eden Corps was stressful, but whatever those little blue nightcrawlers had you doing was probably on the shitty side as well, I’m guessing.”

“I’ll get to them. Managed to piss them off again, you’d be proud.” He chuckled, taking a long drink from his own beer. He got up and moved over to side next to him, putting an arm around him. “Something’s wrong. What happened while I was away?”

( against the tide )

TXT: change of plans, come up to the Watchtower? let me know when you’re here.

-Ring Txt- Oh, alright then.

That was…both odd and a little annoying. Hal had been looking forward to the chance to finally show Ollie around the new place, and hopefully make him want to be there. Or something like that. But now it was up to the tower. Oh well, maybe that was for the best. It meant he would be able to leave sooner. Salaak had made the whole situation sound pretty urgent and all.

In brightest day, In blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might
Beware my power
Green Lantern’s light!
Ring power level at 100%

No matterhow many times he said it now, those words had a weight and strength to them now that he never wanted to take for granted again. With a simple thought, his uniform appeared, hugging his body in green and black. The trip from the house to the tower already felt routine, leaving him time to just collect his thoughts. He’d made the proper arrangements, Carol knew what he was going to be doing so she’d waved him off almost dismissively. Kyle was coming, and he’d told Guy who would no doubt pass along to John that they’d be gone.

Everything was in order it seemed.

Alighting on the spaceside entry, he punched in a code to close one door and open another once the pressure had equalized. It made no difference to him, since his body shield kept him at a constant ‘Earth-like’ state.

-Ring Txt- Well, I’m here.

( just like you always do )

It was starting to make him insane.

Nine going on ten months they’d been on the road. Nine going on ten months travelling the country and back again, saving people and camping in fields and sometimes bartering for their supper, squabbling and making up and quarreling about new things, and then, oh fucking then.

( no mountain though )

-Ring Txt- Well alright then, hot shot. See you tonight.

Kyle couldn’t wait and flew to Star City, perhaps a bit early. He figured he’d just circle the penthouse for a while, spend some time in the clouds. Not that he didn’t think Hal wouldn’t appreciate his eager-beaverness, but more that it was only polite he showed up on time. He was really looking forward to the next 24 hours of his life.

Hal’s ring gave him a little ping when Kyle got close, glowing softly as it did. amusingly, it seemed that his and Kyle’s rings were attuned to each other, like they enjoyed being close as much as their wearers did. Ringing up his uniform, Hal stopped in to let Ollie know he’d be out for a while, making sure he was ok before he went outside. He watched Kyle, smiling warmly to himself.

Kyle saw a green light illuminate below, and realized he probably looked the same above. He grinned widely. Nightlights, ambulating around in the night sky. He imagined they were probably a helluva pretty sight together. The idea of people seeing them like this excited him more, and he flew down as Hal flew up, meeting him halfway.

”Don’t you look good enough to eat,” Kyle said, wrapping his arms around the back of Hal’s head to kiss him.

Hal’s arms circled Kyle’s waist, holding him close as they kissed. He almsot purred against his lips, nuzzling him a bit when their lips parted. “Ready to go out and have a little fun?” He slowly accelerated them skyward, leaving a bright green trail behind them as they went. “Beholding the beauties of our own solar system.”

“We really are lucky, aren’t we?” Kyle said, enjoying the feel of flying together. It was one of those things like walking together, arms around waists or holding hands…either it was a good fit, or it was awkward. Kyle had yet to try walking closely with Hal, but they flew close often enough now, and they always fell in step, so to speak. He laughed sheepishly.

“I know we kinda take turns saying that, but…really. Going out into space like this, whenever we want, to do whatever we want…” his hand slid a little lower on Hal’s hip. “Damn it feels good to be a Lantern.”

( way up in the atmosphere )

(( this happens after Kyle and Guy talk in the Medbay ))

It really only hit Kyle just how exhausted he was…no scratch that. He’d been feeling exhausted since forever. Since the end of his party, really. And since then, he’d fetched Red Lantern Roy from space, fetched Wally out of his own nightmare, reassured poor confused Jaime, checked on Mia and had a very intense chat with his best friend, mending bridges. Finally. Not counting those hours of nightmaring he’d gone through - Wally was right; it was sleep, but not exactly restful - Kyle now realized he’d been awake for…maybe over three days, now. More? Kyle lost track and he wasn’t really interested in tallying. Good thing he was so young and sparky, right? Riiiiight.

Still, there was another good reason why Kyle had been avoiding sleep. As much as he diverted the line of conversation with Guy, he was aware of what was happening in himself. And he didn’t understand it, except…what was there really to understand? Maybe the fear toxin worked differently for everyone. Maybe…whatever he dreamed and whatever Guy saw - and whatever that goop was that came out of him…maybe that was just a product of the fear toxin. That had to be it. Good enough a reason for now, and so Kyle wasn’t going to think about the why anymore.

What was more important was that he really just…didn’t want to sleep. The idea of going into his bed repulsed him. He was so damned tired and he was bordering between just hysterically keening and passing out right on the floor of the Watchtower. Neither was a good alternative.

( and i will sing a lullabye )

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 )

In Kate’s experience, the usual method for a superhero to tell that they weren’t dead was waking up to find that everything fucking hurt. This was no exception; she emerged, slowly, out of the void of unconsciousness, and the pain came with it.

On the floor. Star City. Nighttime. It was quiet.

She made a wounded noise as she eased herself up to sit/prop against the wall, then tentatively reached one hand up—the arm that hurt less, because it felt like she’d been bitten, slashed, thrown into a wall, concussed. Touching her face, she then hissed as she accidentally brushed an acid burn.

And her memory came back.

When I came home there was a man in my house!

Harrison Ford barked out syllables in the back of her mind, the reference coming forward without bidding. (Admittedly, she’d seen The Fugitive at an impressionable age, it had sort of been inspiring from a legal perspective, wanting to prosecute the fuck out of Big Pharma.) Maybe it was because of the pain, more likely it was a coping mechanism to block her from parsing the chaotic mess that was in her head as What Just Happened, save as abstract.

I can’t have been out for too long, she realized, wiping blood from her mouth onto her bicep, though it could have been long enough to mean Ollie was in far deeper shit than she was (or worse not thinking about worse). Ollie. Roy. Red Lanterns, jesuschrist.

( collection )

The Arrow house was eerie when it was empty. It usually had a steady buzz of noise and activity, between people, stuff, and the dog. But spending a night in it alone had been…strange. Hal wasn’t used to being alone anymore, he realized. Not that he couldn’t handle it, it was just…weird.

Now that Kyle was on board with the whole idea, Hal was surprised at just how excited he was. Of course, securing a little special transport had a lot to do with it, but still. A vacation…a REAL vacation. With the people who mattered most to him. What could be better?

He knew Kyle would be there soon, so he had to finish packing quickly. Ollie had insisted on buying him some new clothes for the trip, mostly to make sure his precious avocado didn’t end up frost bitten. Hal shoved some socks and underwear into his boots, then crammed them into his duffel. The last thing to go in was his lantern. Just because they weren’t planning to use their rings didn’t mean they wouldn’t have to at some point. He had just enough time to put on his jacket and sunglasses before he heard a thump above him. Perfect timing, as always.

Hal headed outside quickly, duffel bag on his shoulder. He grinned to see Kyle, setting his bag down and moving close to hug him. He stole a kiss, grinning at him.

“Good morning,” he said, nuzzling him. “Guess you’re as eager as I am to get going, hm?”

Kyle had barely made his landing on the patio when Hal caught a hold of him, tugging him down to a brief kiss, and gentle nuzzling. It was really one of the things Kyle liked so much about being with Hal - the constant contact; it seemed Hal instinctively knew it was what Kyle craved…or perhaps even more delightfully, Hal enjoyed consistent closeness as well.

“Holy wow do you look good,” Kyle said, leaning back and surveying Hal appreciatively. He wasn’t much into judging what people wore, but he always did appreciate when they looked aesthetically pleasing. Hal in his jacket and sunglasses, bathed in the warming California morning…well. Well.

( with our compliments )