Walking Dead
Disclaimer: We can't even vote yet, how could we own anything? Honestly…
Aloysha: Well, to be fair, the American government is really pissy out Canadians trying to vote… Otherwise I'd so go to Washington and…vote for stuff.
Dimitri: Hear that? That's the sound of millions sighing in relief because you can't fuck anything up on this side of the border.
Aloysha: Like you need my help.
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Chapter Three
Never Really Know a Killer From a Savior
Shimmer- Fuel
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Richie blinked wide-eyed, looking between Flash and Lantern, neither of whom was actually who they were…normally. Flash had taken down the hood to show off strange black and blue hair which, to be honest, didn't look terrible. It did give him a sort of 'Goth' look that didn't seem to fit the almost manic personality of the older hero.
And then Lantern had touched him. Well…his hair, actually. None the less Flash's pupils contracted until blue-green was almost overtaking black completely and Richie was pretty sure he heard his breath hitch while his hands become fists at his side.
Lantern seemed oblivious and some sarcastic part in Richie's mind wondered if maybe that's where Virgil had gotten his lessons from. Bright green eyes carefully examined Flash's hair, as if looking for a flaw or error. The tension in the room seemed to be taking on an almost psychical presence and Richie wouldn't have been surprised to see another body in the elevator.
Part of him wanted to wave his arms frantically and point out that there were two very impressionable teenagers in the area and that Lantern wasn't just making Flash nervous as hell, but them as well. Or at least he was nervous, knowing Virgil he didn't even realize something undeniably strange was taking place not five feet from him.
Then Lantern's lips quirked and his hand dropped away. "Nice job Kid. I knew I could count on you."
Flash let out a long breathe and just stared for a few long moments before blinking slowly. His eyes flashed with some emotion Richie couldn't place before he sighed and rolled his eyes heavenward.
"Whatever. I look ridiculous."
"You look like Jayce." Richie couldn't help but notice that Lantern seemed to be neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Flash's statement.
Before anything else could happen the elevator stopped. It opened not to a hallway but directly into a room. It was furnished richly with things that looked so expensive Richie was wary of being within five yards of them. The room they were in was big, bigger than the entire downstairs of his house period, and four doors lead to other rooms, which he imagined were just as big.
It seemed this suite took up the entire top floor of the hotel and it made Richie wince just thinking about how much this place had to cost a night.
Before he could put much thought into it his attention was drawn to the group of people sitting in various places around the room, all looking somewhere between tense and annoyed.
Oh, and all wearing variations of the costume that Lantern wore. Usually wore at least. It seemed he was going for the 'I can break your spine without breaking a sweat look' at the moment. He looked…well, threatening to say the least. Richie was beginning to see how he was going to pull off the bodyguard thing. He was still worried about Virgil though. He was far from built like Lantern and, though he certainly wasn't skinny and awkward like when they'd been younger.
In a strange way Richie missed the clumsy kid who'd been his best friend growing up. But not so much that he couldn't appreciate the toned figure that his friend presented now.
He was in denial, not stupid.
Flash was the first to react as a wide smile curved his lips and he all but tackled one of the other Lanterns, a man with black hair and the same glowing green eyes as their lantern(1). Richie could feel a headache coming on at the prospect of keeping all of these lanterns in order. The other Lantern looked a little surprised but it didn't last long.
"Hey, Wally. Long time. Nice hair."
Flash scowled. "Don't make me hurt you Kyle. I'd hate to have to kill you."
"Only because you'd only have one friend left and no one wants to boast having John as their only friend." The Lantern, Kyle it seemed, smirked lightly. "I figured John would call you in for this one. You do look almost identical to that…well. Donnie was asking about you by the way John."
"Fantastic." Lantern actually shuddered. "Virgil, Richie these are some of the other Lanterns. Kyle's the one Wally's harassing. The green woman is Jade, the pink one is Kilowog, and the guy over there is Guy."
The aforementioned Lanterns offered hellos and waves in their general direction. Lantern inclined his head toward one of doors, seeming to ask a silent question. Kyle nodded slightly and, motioning for them to follow, Lantern headed towards the door.
He opened it then stepped aside so they could go in. Richie had barely gone in two steps before he came to a halt. Sitting on a king sized bed and leafing through a magazine sat…him. Only not him, because he was obviously standing right there.
But damn close.
Virgil apparently didn't notice he'd stopped and ran into him. He stumbled forward, surprised, and probably would have fallen flat on his face if Virgil hadn't grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back against him. Against him. He went still for a moment, wondering why exactly whatever higher power there was hated him so much.
Why else would he keep ending up like this, so close to Virgil he could probably guess what brand of soap he used. Life was so unfair. He put his hands on his friend's chest and pushed himself away, trying to keep from blushing, stuttering stupidly, or falling over again.
Someone snorted. He turned away from Virgil in time to see his double close his magazine and sneer at him in obvious contempt.
"Not exactly graceful are you?" He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching some. "I don't know how you're supposed to be me if you can't even stay on your feet. You're going to have me branded a klutz if you're like that all the time."
Richie frowned. He hadn't even been in this guy's presence for five seconds and already he didn't like him. What an asshole.
"Watch it." Virgil said and Richie could picture the glare he must have been wearing in his mind perfectly. "You should be nicer to someone risking their neck to you."
Donnie sniffed. "Please, you aren't risking your neck for anything other than staying on good terms with my mother's people." Richie had to confess he had a point. "And don't get mad at me because your friend is fucking up already. I would have thought John would have picked someone better."
Richie bit his bottom lip, considering. He really wasn't klutzy in the least but still. Donnie undoubtedly know what he moved and acted like and if said Richie was doing a poor job then Richie was probably doing a bad job.
"Your faith in me is outstanding." Lantern muttered low enough that Donnie probably didn't hear it. "Where's your brother Donnie?"
Almost as if the blond had just noticed the older man his look of contempt dropped away into something that would have been pleasant if Richie didn't already dislike him. He smiled broadly.
"John! I was so afraid we'd leave before I got to see you again."
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John sighed, eyeing the younger prince. Donnie looked like Richie, so much so it was very nearly unnatural. Especially considering that Donnie's features were inherited from his mother and not his father and were supposed to be unique because of that. The entire Chandian race were all fair skinned with blue eyes and blond hair of various shades, lithe but seemingly delicate builds and aristocratic facial features. All of that combined with their naturally high intelligence (by human standards at least) had them considered 'great beauties' of the universe. In the humanoid sense at least.
John chose to just plead the fifth. His tastes had never run towards blond and delicate anyway.
Not that Richie really seemed delicate in the least, but he was more of a mind over matter kind of guy which meant that, unlike some heroes, he'd never been one for spending his entire life training to be bigger and stronger than anything that came his way. Even if there had been anyone else who bore the same resemblance to Donnie they probably would have been too big to fit the bill.
Still, while Donnie and Richie had similar looks, they were very much different. For example, John had no problem with Richie and liked his company as much as he liked anyone's company but he wanted to strangle Donnie.
He would like to say he wasn't a violent man by nature but the prince had a way of worming under his skin, in an extremely negative way.
Case in point Donnie practically bounced over to him, forgetting about Richie, and grabbed his arm. John twitched but allowed himself to be dragged inside. It would be very unproductive at this point to kill Donnie, as he doubted Richie would appreciate having to impersonate someone for the rest of his life to keep the world from being destroyed.
This was one of the few downsides of protecting Earth. He had to keep tabs on people like Donnie and any other non-humans on the planet in contact with the Corps. The princes were fairly public figures so he didn't have to drop in on them often, maybe once every few months, but he never enjoyed it.
Jayce wasn't so bad, aside from being a brat. It was Donnie who annoyed him.
"You look nice John. You should get out of the uniform more often." Fingers drifted over his arm and he glanced over at the other Lanterns who had all become very interested in the floor or ceiling. He wasn't surprised. What was his personal discomfort compared to the risk of offending the Chandians.
Still he felt a flash of annoyance towards them. Why exactly Donnie felt the urge to harass him instead of one of them was beyond him. All he knew for sure was that he wasn't fond of having some barely-legal kid try to flirt with him.
He tried to think of a polite way to get the little leech off of his arm when he noticed from the corner of his eye that Wally was…blurring. He blinked and turned his head slightly to make sure he was seeing things correctly and yes, he was. Wally was standing in the doorway, but seemed to be shaking fast enough that he was just a multi-colored blur.
John opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but Kyle, who had apparently followed them, reached over and grabbed Wally's arm and the other man went still. Before blushing lightly and coughing.
"Sorry. Nervous." He shrugged lightly. "Maybe we should hurry up with this?"
John nodded his agreement and pulled his arm free, ignoring Donnie's apparent disappointment. "Where's Jayce at?"
Donnie pouted. "Does it matter? He's probably in there pouting." He pointed to a closed door off to the right. "He's such a downer."
John refrained from pointing out that Jayce may have been a downer but at least he wasn't known for screwing everything that moved. Instead he stepped around Donnie and headed deeper into the area the other Lanterns had placed the princes in. He walked through the door Donnie indicated into a room that was nearly pitch black, save the last few rays of sun filtering in.
Jayce was sitting next to the window, head bowed. There was a faint blue glow near his face; a cell phone if the soft whispering the prince was doing was any hint. Jayce stiffened then looked up at him, blue eyes wide. Then he sighed and unfolded his legs.
"I'm going now Ray. That's the end of it." He closed his phone and tossed it to John who caught it easily. "I canceled all of the shows for this month."
John nodded, scratching that off of his mental list of things to worry about. "Thanks."
Jayce blinked then frowned. "I didn't do it to make things easier for you. I just don't want this guy making me look stupid or anything."
John smirked. "Of course." Jayce tried entirely too hard to be as cool and indifferent as his younger brother. Unfortunately, or was that fortunately, he tended to fail at it.
Jayce glared then pushed past him. John followed after tucking the phone away. Donnie was glaring at Virgil who was standing behind Richie and glaring back heatedly. Richie just looked thoughtful. Jayce stopped and looked Wally over seriously.
Wally frowned, clearly expecting Jayce to treat him like Donnie treated Richie. Instead Jayce said, in a calmly factual tone:
"He's taller than I am. And his eyes are a different color."
John waved that off easily. "I doubt anyone will notice. It's not that much of a difference."
Jayce seemed a little skeptical but nodded none the less. "I suppose."
Donnie abandoned his staring match with Virgil and rolled his eyes. "It's not like you let anyone get close enough to notice how tall you are, let alone your eye color, anyway."
"Well it's not my goal to prove to the world that I'm a natural blond, one random encounter at a time, so I think I'll survive." Jayce snapped.
John rolled his eyes. Another sibling spat. As amusing as they usually proved to be they didn't have the time for it. He put a hand on Jayce's shoulder, once again ignoring Donnie's dark look, and pushed him towards the door.
"We've wasted enough time so you two can argue on the way to Chand." As in 'far far away from him and his already fragile grip on sanity'. He handed Jayce off to Kyle who just smiled wryly. "Donnie-"
"How about a good-bye kiss?" Donnie's smile was almost innocent. If John hadn't known what kind of pervert lurked beneath he may have been fooled. But, in lieu of being fooled, he was just momentarily struck silent. Thankfully he didn't have to answer.
Wally grabbed Donnie and had him out of the room before John could blink. He looked out in time to see Wally saying something to the prince that made him go very pale before he, once again, seemed to vanish only to reappear next to Richie and Virgil.
John pulled the doors shut and sighed. He'd fought some of the worst things known to man, and a few things not known, but somehow Donald Catalina always wore him out in a matter of moments. Then he arched an eyebrow at Wally who shrugged.
"I didn't like him."
"Right. You two have to change and study up on those two before we can get out of here." As he spoke he tracked down the two suitcases that must have belonged to the princes.
"Where're we going?" Virgil asked as he moved away from Richie for the first time since…well, since John had seen them.
"Jayce's apartment in Gotham Heights. Party for Donnie." He handed one suitcase to Wally who ran a hand through his hair before wrinkling his nose in disgust. Then he headed for the room Jayce had been in before.
Richie took the other one but hesitated. "Why didn't we just go there instead of doing all of this?"
"Whoever is after Jayce and Donnie is probably watching the apartment but wouldn't know they were going to be here because I made sure it was a last minute decision. Besides," He added with a frown. "You can never be too sure who's hanging around."
Richie nodded his understanding before going for the door John was pretty sure led to the bathroom. That left him with Virgil who flopped onto the bed and smiled at him mildly.
"So. Do I get a suit too?"
John decided to just ignore that for the time being and leaned against the desk behind him. "Refresh my memory, how are you at finding electronic frequencies?"
"Pretty good, I think. It's not one of my 'in demand' abilities." Virgil tilted his head off to the side. "Why?"
"You're going to need to be on alert for any bugs or cameras so we know when it's safe for those two to drop the act and when it isn't. I'm pretty sure you know to not call them by their actual names in public already."
"Yeah, I got that. What should I call you?"
John's lips quirked. "John. We get to keep our names; I didn't want things to be too complex. Wally's easily confused."
"I heard that!" The touch of anger to Wally's voice just made his smile wider. A moment later Wally was back and scowling at him. "Could you lay off just a little? I already look like an idiot. Why does this guy wear so much black anyway?"
Indeed he was wearing black from head to toe. It was funny how the look had never seemed out of place on Jayce but seemed completely wrong on Wally. It was like it…clashed with the person John knew was under the hair-dye and peeved off expression.
"He's depressed. Being rich, handsome, and standing to become king of your own country will do that to a person." John deadpanned. It had the desired effect as Wally snorted.
Maybe it was the freckles. Both Wally and Jayce had them but Wally's were more noticeable and seemed to throw the whole 'dark and gloomy' look off. John briefly entertained the thought of telling Wally he was going to have to do something to cover them up then winced slightly. As a general rule he liked all of his various limbs where they were and so he would try to keep from annoying Wally anymore than he probably already had.
Instead he reached behind him and into the desk for the folders he knew were there. His own copies were still in his hotel room and he made a mental note to grab them later, but he'd made sure Wally and Richie could have their own. He offered the slimmer folder to Wally who took it before sitting on the bed next to Virgil. He flipped it open and began to scan the contents in his usual way.
Which was to say: Fast. He went through in five minutes what had taken John an hour, but John didn't have any doubts that he'd gotten it all. He closed it then arched an eyebrow.
"Somehow I expected him to be interesting."
"Jayce is pretty basic. It's Donnie that…" John trailed off and looked towards the bathroom. Virgil followed his gaze as well before getting up and walking over. He knocked on the door and a crash came from inside followed by a muffled curse.
"Uh. Rich?"
"There is no way in hell I'm coming out of this bathroom in that guy's clothes." His words were muffled by the door but didn't lack in conviction.
Virgil blinked. "You've got to be kidding me? Bro', now is not the time to be picky about your appearance."
John had a pretty good idea what Richie's problem was but decided to keep his theories to himself. Virgil was going to be spending more time around the blond, best to let him sort Richie out.
The door opened some and Virgil's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. John went out on a mental limb and assumed his idea had been correctly. He really should have mentioned that Donnie tended to dress like he acted.
Virgil pulled the bathroom door shut and shook his head. "He can't go outside like that. He'll be…mobbed or something."
"That's what you're here for, to keep him from being mobbed."
Virgil's lips pressed into a thin line as if he was thinking about something very seriously. Then he sighed before opening the door and walking in. It shut after him.
John kind of felt bad for Richie. Pretending to be Donnie, who was everything except meek and shy, was going to be rough on him.
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1) Kyle Rayner. Comic: Lantern after John Stewart. Cartoon: Seems to be John's back up guy.
2) Jenny Hayden or Jade. Daughter of Alan Scott, the original Lantern, Kyle's lovely girlfriend.
3) Kilowog, as seen in both comics and the cartoon.
4) Guy Gardner, Another post John Lantern.
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TP96: Well…if you're sure you want more we can oblige.
Mechante: Dimitri: Yeah…I've been lazy. Iris is being re-done and Heroes is being a bitch but…well, Spring Break. Lots of time to write. And we like the Unresolved Sexual Tension both couples have, so trust we love them not being together yet as well.
Losha: Virgil refuses to admit to any amusement at seeing Richie in awkward situations but we think he's stolen Wally's camera for potential future use.
Snake: Yes, poor Richie…being Donnie is going to be really out of character for him. That's why it's fun. Same goes for Wally, though to a lesser degree. His guy isn't his polar opposite like Richie's.
Ghene: We're glad you like the wit of the story, especially since we're fond of stopping every so often and arguing about how things are flowing. And Richie and Wally are certainly hormonal, but they're trying to keep it under control.
Silver: Dimi: Have Richie as the shyer boy? And miss the change to torment him? Surely you jest… I'm glad this has you squirming along with the boys, that means we're doing our jobs.
Aloysha: I'm glad you approve of the characterization. Makes me all warm and tingly, since this is the first time I've attempted this fandom.
Jade: Thank you. We're glad you like it so much.
Estel: Wally's last name is West and he has red hair, so black and blue is a big change for him. He doesn't like it much, as I'm sure you saw…
Keeosu: You can be sure that there will always be humor, no matter what happens. We can't rightly turn off the humor for some strange reason…
Saturn: Dimitri: See what happens when you try to attend to the real world? I hope you realize the error of your ways now. Heh.
Aloysha: And no, you aren't the only one who wants to shake Virgil. In fact you'll probably want to move up to full on smacking with blunt objects before this is over.
Leev: Dimitri: I also like the Chemistry between John and Wally, which is probably weird since I'm writing it…but those two just amuse me to no end. They have such sarcastic minds. The bus scene was all Aloysha. I, once again, just sat off to the side and went 'Wow…'. What can I say, the guy knows how to write his deliciously tense moments.
Lotus: Aye, we hate such things too. Sometimes ffdotnet is stupid. The meeting could have been more…interesting I suppose but Donnie annoys us to no end. Jayce isn't so bad. Wally got off pretty lucky.
Dea: Short and to the point is fine; we're glad you think we rock. Warm fuzzy feelings abound.
Princess: Aloysha: Tension is my middle name. …okay, not really. But I do okay at it, so thanks.
Dimitri: Nitpick is noted and shall be fixed…eventually. In theory.
Fantasy: We try to keep everyone in character for the most part and, we swear, Virgil will eventually have his say.
