Update in record time! Woohoo! We're back to the good old wackiness of Q/H and GA/BC. Enjoy and review!

Chapter 4

Both the Question and Green Arrow were immediately shocked senseless, frozen in their respective positions. Their full names still echoed around the stadium.

"How long have you been up there!?" yelled Helena, whose glare was fixed on a certain blank face.

The faceless man brought his thumb and forefinger up to his chin. "Well, you see…it so happens that--"

"Get your butt down here!" she interrupted, obviously not in the mood for Vic's sweet talk.

"Yes, ma'am," he grumbled, jolting his legs to life and starting down the stairs obediently.

Arrow still stood at the top, attempting to defy Dinah's glare. "Umm...heh, hi Pretty Bird!" he waved innocently.

Canary placed both hands on her hips. "You're pathetic."

"Terrific," muttered Ollie. "Into the lion's den we go." He too started down the stairs. When he caught up with Question, he whispered, "You come up with a brilliant escape plan, yet?"

"I can weasel my way out of many situations, Queen, but I don't believe this is going to be one of them."

"Why not!?"

Vic sighed in defeat. "Because she knows all of my tricks."

"Wow. So she's just as bananas as you."

Ollie looked over in time to find a truly frightening nonexistent glare coming from the blank face. "Funny," said Vic.

The two of them reached the fighting cage and entered the ring, each coming face to face with their girlfriends.

"I hope you two were enjoying yourselves," said Canary. "Because you won't be for long."

"Look, we were just coming to make sure you were ok since you didn't come out with the others," Ollie protested.

Helena stepped closer to Vic and reached into the inside of his jacket. "And I suppose betting on us like circus animals is the same as making sure we're ok?" Sure enough, Helena found the fifty-dollar bill and snatched it from Vic's pocket. "Some heroes you are." Vic looked bashfully down at his feet, but Helena took no notice. She handed the bill over to Dinah. "Here ya go. Probably his," she said, motioning toward the heir of the Queen fortune.

But Dinah waved it off. "No, you keep it. You won." Helena shrugged and slid the bill into one of her own hidden pockets. Canary once again fixed her scowl on Ollie. "But fifty bucks? That's it?"

"We just had hundreds of slimy old bastards betting fifty grand on us," Helena finished for her. "But fifty dollars was the best you could do?"

"I was planning to take you out to dinner," cut in Vic quietly, still staring down at his feet.

For a moment, Helena looked pleasantly surprised. The moment soon passed, however. "Were you now?" she said mockingly, cupping her hand under his chin and angling it up. "That's very thoughtful. Dinah?" Helena beckoned for the blonde and the two women moved to the other side of the ring, where they started to converse in private.

"Nice job on the improvising," Ollie whispered to Vic, winking at him.

"Who said I was improvising?"

Ollie blinked. "You didn't just make all that dinner bullshit up?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Because no sane man would automatically think to take their girlfriend out to dinner with the money they just won from betting on her."

Vic said nothing; just stared.

Ollie slapped his palm to his forehead. "I keep forgetting. You're not sane at all."

"Alright, here's the deal boys," said Dinah as she and Helena approached them again. "Since you got to watch us fight, we want to watch you fight."

"Ermm, excuse me?" asked Vic.

Helena poked a finger at his chest. "You are going to fight Arrow. First one down for three seconds buys everyone dinner."

"Hang on a second," said Ollie, holding up his hands. "How is this even going to be a fair fight? I kicked his ass last time!"

"Only because I let you kick my ass. If I wanted you unconscious, I would have knocked you out with the first punch."

"So you're telling me you were only pretending to fight like a girl because it was all part of your elaborate scheme and you would later need my help in catching that whale Mandragora?"

A muffled giggle escaped Vic's hidden lips. "He's not as dumb as he looks."

Arrow's face turned beet red with rage. "Fine. I'll be sure to take you down for good this time."

"Whoa, hold on there," said Dinah when he started to warm up. "We have a few more…conditions."

The ever-suspicious cynic in Vic narrowed his eyes. "And they are?"

Dinah grinned widely. "No shoes…"

Helena did the same. "No masks…"

"And no shirts."

Vic groaned. "You're just doing this for your own pleasure and entertainment, aren't you?"

Helena shrugged. "I'd say it's a fair trade."

"Consider it your punishment," said Dinah.

Ollie clenched his fists. "This is ridiculous."

"Scared, Queen?" Vic challenged.

"Of you? Yeah right," he scoffed.

"Then prove it."

His jaw tightened. "Oh, I will."

The seething archer made his way to the edge of the ring, Dinah following.

"I'll show the fool who should be afraid of who," he growled, ripping off his mask and hat in one fluid motion and flinging them to the floor. "This is gonna be fun."

"Yeah, have a ball babe, but could you make it quick? I'm starving."

"Please. We'll be outta here in no time, Pretty Bird."

"Don't underestimate him. The guy survived torture for an entire week."

"Tell ya what. If I lose to this nutjob, you can beat me to a pulp yourself. But only if you're shirtless too," he finished.

Dinah delivered a hard punch to his arm. "You're such a pervert. Just keep your head in the fight."

As Ollie prepared for the match, Helena followed Vic to the other side of the ring.

"Geez baby doll, you really know how to provoke people."

"I know. It's what I do."

"So, are you ever going to tell me what the thirty second flavor was?"

Vic removed the fedora and gloves before pulling out the can of aerosol and spraying it over his face. As soon as his hair was a natural red color and the mask had been peeled off, he smiled at her. "That's top secret information."

"Oh really?" she teased. "And what is this information going to cost me?"

"Hmm," he said, scratching his chin. "A trip to my apartment."

"Don't tell me you lugged that thing home with you, Vic."

"It may or may not be sitting in my freezer as we speak," he said proudly, slipping out of his jacket.

Helena set her hands on her hips. "So you thought stealing a barrel of ice cream was more important than investigating my lead?"

"Uhh…" he hesitated, suddenly caught off guard. "It's really good ice cream."

She looked skeptical. "How good?"

He leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "Good enough to give you an orgasm without the sex."

For a moment, she gaped at him. "Well, where's the fun in that?"

Vic's mouth dropped open. "Touché," he laughed.

Helena helped him unbutton his shirt and when it was off, she placed her hands against his bare chest. "If you win this fight, how about we have ourselves a little victory party later tonight? And we can have some of that top secret orgasmic ice cream."

Vic seemed to be in a daze, letting his imagination run wild over the idea. "I am the luckiest man alive," he said after a moment.

"You have to beat him first," she reminded him.

"No problem," he said as he kicked off his shoes.

Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Are you actually wearing orange socks?!"

Vic looked down at his own feet. They were most definitely covered with bright orange socks. "It seems I am," he smiled.

She just rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork."

Now that both the male Leaguers were maskless, shoeless, sockless, and very shirtless, they stepped into the center.

"Shake, please," said Helena. Vic and Ollied glared at each other, but reluctantly shook hands. "Good. Remember, three seconds."

"Loser pays for dinner. Ollie? Vic? You ready?" asked Dinah. A silent nod from each gave her the signal. "Let's go."

The women retreated to the edge of the ring to watch and enjoy. Very slowly, the redhead and blonde started to circle, staring each other down. Blue eyes were locked with green as each tried to read the other.

Ollie made the first move, eager to induce as much pain as possible onto his opponent. The plan backfired when Vic dodged Ollie's charge, spun around and slammed his elbow into his back. After a small grunt in pain, Ollie turned back and glared.

"Alright pal. I'm through being nice to you."

"Bring it on, Blondie."

Again, Ollie flung his body at Vic. This time, he managed to catch the redhead's jaw in an uppercut, sending him stumbling backwards. He then took advantage of Vic's unguarded state, swinging his leg at his upper body. However, Vic was not so unguarded at all, and he caught Ollie's leg with his hands and twisted until the archer was forced to go tumbling onto his stomach. Instead of staying there, he rolled over and shot to his feet.

This time Vic attacked, slamming his fist into Ollie's ribs, only to be knocked off his feet when the blonde hooked his leg behind Vic's knees. Instead of going down alone, Vic grabbed Ollie's shoulders and brought them both careening to the ground with the momentum. While Vic agilely rolled on his back and up onto his feet, Ollie felt his face smash into the ground. Ignoring the searing pain in his nose, he pushed himself up. Mostly out of frustration, he tackled Vic with such force resembling that of a large football player.

Now that Vic was pinned to the ground by a man slightly heavier than himself, he too became frustrated. He drove his knee into the man's kidney and felt the weight give, allowing him to shove Ollie off. The archer went rolling onto his back as Vic sat up and drove his fist toward his face. But Ollie rolled over once more, causing Vic's fist to smash into the ground instead of his already aching face.

The redhead, who was still stationary on his knees, recoiled from the shooting pain in his fist. Ollie took the opportunity to slink behind him and grab his neck in a chokehold. But suddenly the commlink in his ear went off.

"Arrow, this is Shayera. Did you and Question find Canary and Huntress?"

Disoriented by the voice floating around in his head, he responded with, "What?" while tightening the chokehold. But he soon comprehended. "Oh, yeah yeah, we found 'em."

Vic took advantage of the distraction to consider his options. Without the leverage from his feet on the ground, he couldn't just fling his assailant off of him. Instead, he decided to use his head. Literally.

As soon as the back of Vic's head connected with Ollie's nose, he went stumbling back, allowing Vic the time to get to his feet.

"Is everything ok? You sound like you're in pain," continued Shayera.

Dizziness set in for the archer. "Ah damnit…" he groaned, putting a hand to his head. "Yeah everything's fine…Can't really chat now, in the middle of something…"

The dizziness didn't dissipate quickly enough for him to notice a roundhouse kick coming toward his shoulder. It impacted and sent him backwards. "Ow you son of a…" he growled. Now he was furious.

To show it, he swung the arm that hadn't been kicked at Vic's head. His knuckles blasted into his cheekbone, and he was surprised not to hear a crack from the blow. Nevertheless, he kept throwing his fists when Vic didn't crumple from the first hit. Now, to Ollie's surprise, the redhead was blocking each and every one. Arrow swung his left fist, and Vic quickly wrapped his fingers around Ollie's wrist in a vice grip, so he swung his other fist in hopes of freeing himself.

But Vic seized that wrist too. Unsure of what would happen next, Ollie tried driving his shoulder forward, which Vic had expected. Tightening his grasp on the blonde's wrists and using his opponent's momentum once again, he yanked him over his head and slammed him onto his back on the ground with all his strength.

Apparently it was enough, because Ollie didn't get back up right away. The blonde remained on the floor for much longer than three seconds, staring up at the ceiling, eyes wide. Not only was the wind completely knocked out of him, he was in shock from losing to the Question of all people. Somewhere off in the distance he could hear applause, which he assumed wasn't from Dinah. Then the redhead came into his field of view. Vic leaned over Ollie, looking down at him with a mixture of pride and concern.

"Owww…" wheezed the archer, unable to get much else out as he struggled to take in oxygen. It made him feel slightly less pathetic when he noticed a swollen purple bruise already starting to take form over Vic's cheekbone.

The Question gave a small chuckle before wincing slightly from the pain in his cheek. He held out a hand to help Ollie up. Arrow took it and rose slowly to his feet, promptly descending into a fit of coughing as his lungs rearranged themselves. Dinah flew to his side and supported him despite the irritated scowl on her face.

"That wasn't one of your most shining moments, hon," she said, patting him on the back.

"At least my face is still pretty," he coughed and laughed at the same time, pointing to Vic's face.

"Pretty is in the eye of the beholder, Queen. And as far as I know, chicks dig scars."

This was affirmed when Helena ran her fingers along the scars on his back and shoulders from the electrical burns he had received at the hands of Cadmus. "Got that right, baby doll. Must be why I like you so much."

He looked at her inquisitively. "Hmm. And all this time I thought it was my eccentric charm."

Ollie forcibly cleared his throat. "If you two are going to stand here and making googly eyes at each other all night, fine. But we're gonna go eat."

"Nah, we can do that over dinner," said Helena. "Besides, it's not every night a billionaire pays for your food."

Green Arrow rolled his eyes and grabbed his discarded clothes and quiver before starting out of the ring with Dinah. Once Vic had done the same, he and Helena left the ring as well.

They began ascending the stairs when Vic wrapped an arm around Helena's waist. He smirked at her as his imagination once again went to work. "I don't know about you, but I'm more excited for dessert."

x.x.x

So, I haven't decided what the 32nd flavor should be yet. I'm curious to know what you all think it is? Remember, in the show it was pink with red swirlies in it. And it has to be something outrageous if it's a big secret turned conspiracy that Vic has to uncover. So please let me know your ideas =) And sorry if I seem partial to the Question/Huntress pairing. They're just so kinky and weird and hilarious!