"I love airports," Techie sing-songed, poking at one of the hanging sculptures—large, blue, round and probably not meant to be poked at. Dulles International had been a commute and a half, but it was well worth it. Even more so than buses and subways, airports were the place to people watch.
"We know," Al responded without enthusiasm, also poking at one of the sculptures. It swung back and forth like a pendulum and Al surveyed the steel cables that kept it suspended above the ground, idly wondering what it would take for one of them to snap. Would it support her weight, perhaps?
Techie had been insufferably cheerful since their arrival, declaring that of all the places everyone else had ever hated, she loved airports best of all. "Look at 'em, all those people, all on their way somewhere, all taking a communal break between movements but still in motion."
"It's called 'waiting', Ops," the Captain said with a smile, "and you spend like, three years of your life doing it, all told."
"Still," Techie muttered, gently touching the sculpture again, "All of them sitting in anticipation of going home, or to the people they love, or—"
"To funerals or tax audits or divorce papers," the Captain continued, "or…ugh, family reunions."
"Bubble burster," Techie sighed.
"S'what I do."
They stayed silent for a few minutes and then Techie piped up again: "Hey, can we go someplace?"
Al glanced at the Captain, who stared over the balcony's edge, watching hundreds of travelers as they hustled and bustled and bumped into each other. She said nothing, absorbed as she was, which left Al to reply with a shrug. "You hate to fly."
"I don't hate to fly," Techie said, her voice a defensive screech.
The Captain made air quotes, not looking away from the people she had been watching. "'Panic attack of William Shatner proportions.'"
"That was like ten years ago," she dismissed. "I could handle it now."
This time, the Captain looked at Al. "You said—the moment we got on the ground—and I quote: 'Don't ever let me talk myself into doing this ever again.'"
"I didn't mean it."
"You said we had permission to restrain you."
"I don't remember that…"
"You made us sign a contract, Ops." The Captain turned her back to the railing and leaned back a little further than was probably advisable. "I still have it."
"Oh." Techie frowned momentarily and then broke out in a bright smile. "I don't care. Let's go somewhere."
"Where, pray tell?"
"I don't care. Pick a spot on the map and awaaaay we go." She made a 'zoom' sound and gestured with one hand, slicing it through the air. "Just go somewhere, stay a night and then come back. It'd be neat."
"Yeah, you have fun with that," Al and the Captain answered together, both turning to stare over the railing again.
"You're no fun," Techie grumped.
"Nope," Al said.
"No fun at all," the Captain concurred.
Techie sighed, looked over the railing and then thought better of it, taking a step back. "Don't you guys ever get sick of Gotham?"
"Bite your tongue, heathen," Al said. "You love it just as much as we do. Besides, we spend plenty of time on the road. I mean, we're not in Gotham now, are we?"
"Yeah, what's gotten into you, Techie?"
"I don't know," she replied, genuinely perplexed, brow furrowing as she frowned. "I'm just all…wander-lusty. And also mood-swingy. Cranky as hell a couple hours ago, on top of the world now. Doesn't make any sense."
"You're a girl," Al said soothingly, patting Techie on the arm. "It makes plenty of sense. Do you need ice cream?"
"Probably."
"Uh, Ops, you're going to need a lot more than ice cream."
"What?"
"Don't look now," the Captain mumbled, her mouth barely moving, "but your boyfriend's back."
"And there's gonna be trouble," Al burbled, following the Captain's gaze.
Techie dared to get close enough to the railing to stare over the edge and scanned the crowd. Sure enough, a shock of red-orange hair stood out in the swarm of travelers and the garish emerald leather confirmed that her worst nightmares were coming to pass. "Oh, smeggity, didn't I lose him once already?"
"Relax, I don't think he sees us."
Al peered down, eyes skimming over the multitudes. Guy was standing on tip-toe, searching the mob of commuters himself. "Looks like he's looking around for somebody. Maybe he's meeting his girlfriend here."
"Yeah, right," the Captain breathed, trying not to cackle and draw undue attention to herself. "That guy's never been laid. Parole officer, more likely."
Guy lifted his arm above his head and two men in the crowd sullenly did the same. One wore a navy blue suit, his hair a nondescript shade of brown and the other, a blonde, in a tight fitting black t-shirt and designer jeans.
"Well, looks like he's found 'em," Al remarked casually, "and may I just say, hubba-hubba."
"Which one, the blonde or the dark haired one?" the Captain asked, eyeing the two with interest.
"Blonde," Al said with a sigh. "Who do you think they are?"
"My best guess? Given the company they keep? Probably con artists."
Tempting fate and a nasty case of vertigo, Techie leaned further over the railing and squinted. "The blonde, I don't know, maybe…but the other one…he looks…"
"He's cute," the Captain said with undisguised admiration. "Whoo boy, is he ever."
"Wait. No. No fucking way." Techie gasped hard enough to set off a coughing fit and sputtered, "Do you know who that is? That's…that's Ted Kord!"
The Captain tipped her head and studied the man in the suit more intently. "What, the technology guy? With uh…you know, K.O.R.D? That one whatever-it-stands-for?"
"Technology guy? Whatever-it-stands-for? K.O.R.D.: Kord Omniversal Research and Development. Ted Kord's one of the most brilliant inventors and 'technology guys' in the history of ever," Techie groaned, longing clear in her voice. "And Guy is friends with Ted Kord? God, I'd kill to meet Ted Kord."
"You might not have to kill," Al said easily. "How attached are you to the idea of never, ever going out with that Guy guy?"
Techie recoiled. "I'm not that desperate to meet Ted Kord."
"Are you going to keep saying his name like that?" the Captain asked. "It's really distracting."
"Saying his name like what?"
"TedKord," the Captain whispered. "Alloneword. TedKord."
"Well, what am I supposed to call him?"
"'That Guy I'm Never Going to Meet Unless I Suck Face.'"
"Or other things," Al chimed in.
"Come on, even if I flagged him down…" Techie turned thoughtful and bit her bottom lip. "Do you think he'd actually introduce me?"
"Before or after the mauling?"
"Screw you guys, do you think he'll introduce me to Blondie with the Arm Pron over there?" Al asked.
"Al!"
"Hey, I am willing to put your body on the table as a bargaining chip if I get to meet that."
"And it is…" the Captain wriggled her fingers at Techie, "TedKord."
"I…it is," Techie muttered, making a face. "God, does my self respect really come so cheap?"
"Yes," the Captain said, patting her on the back comfortingly. "Yes, it does."
"I'm going to regret this in the morning," she groused.
Techie took a steadying breath as the Captain and Al gave each other identical smirks and leaned over the railing as far as she could without feeling sick.
"Hey, Moe!" she shouted. Several travelers looked up to the source of the call, Guy among them. He glanced her direction, scanned the balcony and finally, his gaze came to rest on Techie. She rapidly patted her head with one hand. "Woob-woob-woob-woob-woob-woob!"
Al grinned. "Oh, so that's what the asshole mating call sounds like."
"I'd always wondered," the Captain replied.
The Captain, Al and Techie all let out a tremendous screech of surprise when Guy suddenly lifted off the ground and flew up to meet them, seemingly held up by nothing. The Captain and Al were smart enough to stagger back, but Techie, poor thing, was rooted to the spot in a mix of horror, awe and epiphany. She remained bent over the railing, staring up at Guy, blinking dumbly.
"Well, fancy meetin' you here, babe," he said smoothly, hovering towards her.
"Wait. Guy. Guy Gardner? Guy Gardner of Earth?" Techie's jaw dropped so far it could have conceivably fallen right off her face. Her eyes rolled in her skull and for a second, she thought she might faint dead away, but she regained her composure and barely avoided swooning. Once she was sure she wasn't going to pass out from shock, she looked him over and her eyes hung on the chunk of green on his right hand—an Oan power ring, granting its wearer the gift of flight and the ability to give form to anything they could imagine. "You're a Green Lantern?"
"Don't let the hype throw you off." He hovered closer, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him, dragging her right over the railing. She screeched and clung to his jacket for dear life until she realized a small, green disc was holding them both aloft. "I'm the only Green Lantern."
Sure of her footing, she put her hands on his chest and kept him at arm's length as best she could without risking plummeting to her doom. She gulped, looked down at the cluster of people below, staring up at them and then tried to focus on something, anything to distract her from the fact she was floating two floors off the ground. Her coping mechanism took the form of snark. Very, very weak snark. "Uh…huh. What about the black haired kid with the stupid mask? I suppose he's, what, a hologram?"
"Meh," Guy dismissed with a shrug. "Wannabe."
"And the Green Lantern who used to guard Gotham? The one with the cape?"
"Eh, old fart." Techie ignored the way he clasped her hands where they fisted in the leather of his jacket, cementing her hold on him.
"And the one who was around right before you?"
Guy growled. "Small potatoes."
"How 'bout—"
Guy snarled and tightened his arm around Techie's waist. "Now look, I like a…vocal babe as much as the next guy, but yer lips are doin' entirely too much flappin'. I mean, it's been a whole six hours since you saw me last—you must be dyin' if you followed me all the way here. Howzabout you quit grillin' me and…"
He swept her into his arms more fully, and dipped her so deeply that she nearly lost her balance. "Gimme some sugar, baby."
Techie blinked.
She blinked again.
She blinked a third time, just for good measure.
Guy dove for her face and, against all instincts to the contrary, she didn't slap him.
Well, she reasoned, he did just quote Bruce Campbell. I can throw him a bone…
"Ahem."
Techie's eyes popped open in time to see Guy screeching to a halt just a few centimeters away from her lips. His eyes were open as well, though they were focused to his left and he was glaring. Techie followed his gaze automatically. The Captain and Al had been joined on the balcony by the two men Guy had just met up with.
"Nice of you to remember we're here, pal," the blonde remarked, arms folded over his broad chest. Al ogled him shamelessly from behind, eyes raking from the top of his head to the soles of his shoes and back again at least three times before she shot both her friends a look that screamed I approve. A lot. Boy oh boy, do I ever!
"Get lost," Guy growled, pulling Techie even closer. She fought the urge to push him away on instinct, mindful of the two floor drop. "Can'tcha see I'm busy?"
"Busy scaring your girlfriend out of her skin?" Ted Kord commented casually. The Captain's appraisal of him was far more discrete than Al's had been of the blonde, but she briefly lifted her thumbs in a gesture that said she definitely appreciated what she was seeing just the same.
"I am—" the words 'not his girlfriend' seemed to get stuck in Techie's throat and they altered themselves without her conscious thought, changing the end of her sentence into something less angry and far more manipulative. "—pretty scared up here."
"C'mon, Ted, she's not his girlfriend," the blonde said with a quirk of his upper lip. "She doesn't seem to be brain damaged."
"Hey!" Techie exclaimed, and then stopped herself, puzzled. "Wait a second, why am I upset?"
"It might have something to do with the altitude," Al suggested. Like a cartoon character, Techie's head jerked instantly and she looked down. On being reminded just how high up she was—and just how dizzy that made her—she yelped and buried her face in Guy's shoulder.
He smirked the smirkiest smirk to have ever been smirked and patted her back. "There, there, sugar, nothin' to be scared of when ya got me."
In perfect synchronization, the Captain cringed, Al covered her eyes, Ted Kord pinched the bridge of his nose and the blonde shook his head…as Guy's hands drifted from the small of Techie's back and traveled lower. He slid both hands into her back pockets and gave a little squeeze.
Guy didn't even see the fist barreling towards his face until it was too late. Hell, Techie didn't even realize she'd thrown a punch until the deed was done and she was falling backwards off the green construct she'd been standing on, having flung herself terribly off balance.
She didn't have time to so much as scream as she twisted through the air for a maximum of point zero two seconds, ground rushing up to meet her face. She came to a halt foot and a half off the ground, eyes scrunched shut and arms outstretched in preparation to brace for impact, held up by a giant, transparent green hand.
"Gotcha!"
Upon realizing she'd miraculously stopped falling, Techie opened her eyes and glanced at the construct holding her. Instantly, she went limp and groaned, "Great. I'm Fay Wray."
At least three people applauded as Guy pulled Techie up again, righting her and allowing her to step back onto the green disc she'd fallen off of. She grabbed hold of his jacket once more as he floated them to the balcony, then up and over the railing. Once she was back on solid ground, she flung herself away from him and glared, even as he leaned over and called to the crowd, "No autographs. Well, nah, what the hell? Autographs!...ten bucks a pop. No, better make it thirty."
"Are you okay?" the Captain asked, putting an arm around Techie's shoulder and patting her back comfortingly.
She shrugged out of her embrace, still irritated. "I'm fine."
Guy turned back to his new best girl and looked at her sternly. "Aren'tcha even gonna thank me?"
In one fluid motion, Techie's knees cocked inward, her toes pointing towards each other, she clasped her hands together under her chin and cocked her head to one side, sighing dreamily. "My hero. Gosh golly, I think you're just about the swellest fella I ever met. Wanna go steady? I'll wear your letterman jacket and you can pin me and everything!"
And just as quickly as she'd fallen into the stance, she shifted back out of it again, feet shoulder width apart, hands on hips and disapproving look back in place. "Satisfied?"
"Not remotely," Guy said with a smile, "but the day is young."
Simultaneously, Al grabbed Techie around the middle as she lunged for Guy, Ted Kord mumbled something to the blonde and they both snickered, and the Captain took this opportunity to bring the topic of conversation around to something more productive than 'How Many Ways Can Techie Possibly Murder Guy Gardner?'
"Now, Pola," the Captain said reasonably. "He did just save your life."
Techie stared at her friend. "Yeah, right after putting it in jeopardy."
"Still. I'd say we at least owe him lunch," she jerked her head ever so subtly in the direction of Ted Kord, delicately reminding Techie what the point of this whole exercise has been in the first place. "And his friends. Don't you think? Hm?"
"Great idea, Legs." Guy gave her an oily grin—the sort of grin that made her want to take a bath. "I always work up an appetite savin' damsels in distress. And after all, babe, the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
The Captain, teeth clenched at being referred to as a body part and not as a person, but smile still in place, responded quietly, "Personally, I've always found through the ribcage to be the more direct approach."
Ted Kord coughed into his hand, concealing a chuckle.
Techie straightened up, tugging her shirt down and brushing herself off with as much dignity as she could honestly muster given the highly undignified circumstances. With little difficulty, she slid into the persona that Al had derogatorily nicknamed "The Kirk." She flashed Guy a smile that passed for genuine and batted her eyes just enough so it wouldn't be comical.
"All right, handsome—" Al noted that Techie's left eye twitched ever so slightly. She coughed delicately. "—since you saved me from certain doom—"
"Knew you'd come around," Guy grinned widely, but tilted his chin down, giving him the appearance of someone both sleazy and sinister. Once more, he tugged Techie against him and without ceremony dove for her lips. There was a muffled sound that resembled a cross between "Mmph!" and "Urgh!" and she flailed her arms the way she might have if she'd been forced to kiss a cockroach full on the mouth. It spoke to her credit as an actress that she didn't flinch away immediately and let the kiss continue for a few seconds before pushing Guy off.
"Okay, okay, down boy. I'm not big on the whole…PDA thing." He still didn't release her, keeping her trapped in his arms, but she at least got to breathe a little bit. She gathered her wits and turned her attention to Ted Kord and the blonde. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Ya want me ta introduce ya to these two jerks?" Guy asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"It's only polite."
"Fine, fine, fine," he waved dismissively at his two companions. "Ted Kord and Michael Carter, this here's my new main squeeze."
He punctuated the word squeeze with an action in the same vein. Techie's eyes went wide but she contained the squeak that would have otherwise accompanied being manhandled.
She muttered under her breath, "Why me? Why always me? How do they find me?" and tried to extract herself from Guy's embrace so that she could shake their hands like a civilized human being. She failed—Guy was deceptively strong under all those layers of jerkface—and with a sigh of resignation, she opted for a verbal introduction alone.
"I'm...Pola. Pola Kavalchick," she said uncomfortably, fairly sure that her awkwardness with the name was palpable. "And these are my friends—"
The Captain smiled brightly and cut in, "Shatzie."
"Gesundheit," Ted said politely.
"It wasn't a bodily function, it was my name," the Captain said with a giggle, offering him her hand. "Shatzie Paige."
"What, like the dice game?" Ted asked as he shook it. Techie glared at their handshake with obvious envy.
"No, not Yahtzee, Shatzie," the Captain replied with a roll of her eyes, completely oblivious to Techie's jealousy. "How about you just call me Miss Paige?"
She went to shake Michael's hand but Al slid artfully between them and grinned up at him.
"Hi there," he said, taking a step back—Al never had gotten the hang of that whole 'personal space' thing. "And what's your name?"
"Loco," Al said with a grin, bringing up one finger to circle next to her temple. "It means crazy, you know?"
"I can believe it," he answered with a nod and a slightly too-wide, too-bright smile—the 'humor the crazy lady' smile. It was a smile she knew well.
Al giggled. "But seriously: my name is Ding-Dong."
"Al…ice," Techie scolded clumsily, "behave yourself. "
"Yeah, Alice," the Captain chirped, covering her friend's graceless gaffe. "Be good."
Al took her new moniker in stride and simply continued grinning at Michael. "I shall do my utmost to conduct myself with decorum."
Michael didn't look the least bit convinced, but he shook her hand just the same, and then took another step backwards.
"So, where shall we have lunch?" The Captain asked brightly, clapping her hands together and smiling at Ted warmly. He smiled back just as sincerely.
Instantaneously, Techie's eyes flashed and then narrowed. Resentment was starting to bubble beneath the surface of her outwardly cool appearance, but the Captain paid absolutely no attention, even though she knew the warning signs. It was possible she simply didn't notice—possible, but unlikely.
"I got the perfect place," Guy volunteered. Everyone looked at him expectantly and he finished with a flourish, "Charlie's Chili Dogs."
Techie's face fell briefly, but she covered it with false cheer. "Sounds good to me. Lead the way."
Guy broke away from Techie, but hung a possessive arm around her waist, leading her along. The Captain and Al fell into step at Techie's side, while Ted and Michael did the same on Guy's.
"Pola, are you okay?" The Captain asked with authentic concern.
"Are you kidding? I'm going to eat chili dogs with a Green Lantern," Techie responded flatly. "It's a dream come true. Somebody pinch m—eep!"
Techie turned furious eyes on Guy, who whistled innocently, surveying the ceiling. She looked to her friends for sympathy but it wasn't forthcoming.
"I know you've only known the guy for six hours, but really, did you expect anything less?"
"Even I saw that one coming," Al added with a shrug.
Techie took a breath and then leaned around Guy to look at Ted. "So, Mister…erm…I mean, Ted? I'm a big fan of your work. I just have to say that the proposed design of the Octium cybernetic implant was a masterpiece."
"Yeah," the Captain added. "I read that LexCorp beat you out for the government contract it was designed for, though. You were robbed."
"Oh," Ted said with pleasant surprise. "Thanks, ladies. I'm blushing."
"You—" Techie began.
"You shouldn't be," the Captain interrupted. "The relay circuits were some of the most advanced I've ever seen—like, sci-fi caliber high-tech stuff. Star Trek caliber stuff. May I have your autograph?"
"Oh, stop," Ted dismissed with a wave of his hand. "All this ego stroking is going to go to my head."
"It's true," Michael offered. "It'll swell so big he'll float away with it."
The Captain tittered. In response, Ted grinned at her and joked, "Now, tell me more about me."
In perfect sync, both the Captain and Ted fell out of step with Techie and Guy, lagging behind by a few paces, side-by-side. They started chatting amicably—the Captain giggling appropriately, if a little girlishly, at Ted's jokes and tossing what little hair she had flirtatiously. Almost immediately after this, Al complimented Michael's magnificent mane of golden hair and they too paired off, leaving Techie, for all intents and purposes, alone with Guy Gardner and his dazzling wit and intellect.
She could hear the crickets inside her head as silence descended.
"Uh…so…" She groped for a topic and after a few painful seconds of wracking her brain, came up with a very lame one. "So…Ted Kord, huh? How does a—the Green Lantern get to know Ted Kord?"
Guy gave her a measuring look. "If yer gonna be askin' me questions, babe, I demand turnabout of the fair play variety."
"Huh?"
"For every question you ask me, I get one."
She didn't like the mischievous look on Guy's face one little bit, but she reluctantly agreed. "Okay…so how do you guys know each other?"
"That's one. Those two are both old drinkin' buddies of mine," Guy responded, "you know the type."
"If all your drinking 'buddies' look at you the way they do, I'd hate to see what kind of look you get from your enemies."
"These two losers're just jealous, that's all." Guy pointed to himself with both thumbs, digging them into his chest self importantly. "I got me a sweet gig workin' private security, you know."
Techie's expression didn't change. "Is that so?"
"That's two. Yeah, that's so. Just so happens," he said with a smug leer, slinging his arm around Techie's shoulders, "I'm on a job right now."
Techie didn't attempt to remove Guy's arm, but she did turn to look at it impassively as the fingers started creeping towards her shirt collar, which was admittedly low enough to allow a grope if one got ambitious—and suicidal—enough. "Feeling me up is in the job description, is it?"
"You know you love it," he murmured, leaning in so close she could feel his breath on her neck. His fingertips brushed a little bit below her collarbone and she grabbed his hand, halting its movement. "And that was three. My turn."
He leaned in even closer, as the chili dog stand came into view-surrounded by a bevy of metal tables and chairs-and whispered his queries. With each passing second, Techie's face got redder and redder, going from a slight pink, to a bright crimson, until she was finally nearing the purple end of the spectrum. She sputtered for several seconds once Guy pulled back and tried to regain her composure, failing utterly. If she hadn't been so stunned, she might have slapped him.
"Would you look at that?" Ted remarked, jabbing the Captain in the side with his elbow in a chummy manner. "Her gag reflex is weaker than I thought."
Techie didn't register that Ted had spoken, she merely continued sputtering nonsensically. "I...that...you...what? What in God's name...what?"
"Didn't hear me the first time?" Guy tried to lean in again and she stopped him, grabbing him by the chin and keeping him as far away as possible.
"I heard, I just couldn't believe."
"You gonna answer?"
"What are you, cracked? Hell no, I'm not going to answer!"
"S'alright," Guy said benevolently, raising his hands to show there were no hard feelings. "You'll make it up to me."
Techie fumed. "Oh, fuck you!"
Guy smirked. "Maybe later."
"Five bucks says she's going to belt him again," Al and Michael said simultaneously. Then they glanced at each other and smiled, having found common ground.
"Ahem!" The Captain instantly abandoned Ted and stepped between Techie and Guy. "Look at that. There's the chili dog stand. Who's hungry? I'm hungry. Are you guys hungry?"
"Famished." Guy made a point to run his tongue over his lips wolfishly. Techie's eyes bulged out of her skull to such a degree that one had to wonder if they might fall out of their sockets.
"Pola?"
"I seem to have lost my appetite," Techie mumbled, grabbing one of the nearest food court chairs and flopping down in it, finally escaping from Guy's grasp. "You guys go ahead."
"You sure?" Al asked, leaning over Techie and batting her eyelashes. "You really, really suuuuure?"
"Yes," Techie snapped.
"They have Chicago style hot dogs..."
Techie glared at nothing in particular and sullenly nodded, getting back up and joining the others as they walked to the chili dog stand.
The fellow who manned the cart-Charlie, presumably-smiled brightly at his customers and took their orders in turn. The Captain ordered a Tofu Dawg on a whole wheat bun, everything on it but the kitchen sink; Al, a classic hot dog, ketchup and mustard only and Techie, a kosher beef dog, smothered in saur kraut, extra onions and extra relish. The men were not quite so diverse in their tastes, each ordering a chili dog, extra chili, extra cheese, extra onions, extra-heart-attack-please.
Once the food had been procured, the six companions snagged the nearest table and began eating. Unsurprisingly, the Captain went right back to flirting shamelessly with Ted and Al-after building a small toothpick fort and defending it against Michael's invading straw-man army-continued trading friendly barbs with him. Techie spent the majority of her time staring listlessly at her hot dog between bites and deflecting the advances of Guy, while sending smoldering glares-which went pointedly unnoticed-at the Captain and Ted.
When Al finally shoved her hot dog wrapper aside, Techie's head jerked up like an excited animal with all the desperation of a cat faced with the sound of a can opener in use.
"I'm going to go dust my eyelids, or whatever the vernacular is," Al said, getting up from the table.
"I'll come with you!" Techie exclaimed desperately. She shrugged out from under Guy's arm and then looked at the Captain. "Coming, Shatzie?"
"I have faith in your ability to go to the little girl's room all by yourselves," the Captain answered—but at the 'We need to talk' look Techie gave her, she reconsidered. "Then again, maybe I don't. Excuse us, will you, gentlemen?"
Both Ted and Michael stood as the girls left the table, signifying that they had some training in etiquette. Guy remained seated, but tipped his head and appreciatively inspected the retreating henches. Before the door to the women's restroom swung shut, the words, "The little one's got a terrific—" filtered in.
The moment the door was closed, Al headed for one of the bathroom stalls, but Techie turned on the Captain, shoving her none-too-gently in the shoulder. Ah, the ladies-room-girl-talk-ritual.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Ted! That...that...that!"
"I'm just being friendly," the Captain said innocently.
"'I read that LexCorp…blah, blah, blah.' You did not," Techie hissed, barely above the range of human hearing. "I read that and told you about it."
"I can read too, Ops," the Captain whispered back. "Believe it or not, I can and do accomplish things without your permission, knowledge or help. Besides, it was published in the New York Times, it's not like it was some obscure technology journal article that only you could decipher—and even if it had been, you're not the only one who's smart enough to understand techno-babble."
"'Oh, Ted, can I have your autograph?' You didn't even know who he was twenty minutes ago."
"You've got Guy," the Captain said. "What have you got complain about?"
"Do…do you hear yourself? I've got Guy, what have I got to complain about?" Techie squeaked in disbelief. "The fact that I've got Guy, for starters!"
"Well, you don't need two."
"Captain-"
"Could you two keep it down? Some of us didn't come in here to gossip," Al shouted from her stall. "It's rude to-"
"Techie, not everything that goes on is about-"
A scream pierced the air, coming from outside the restroom. Techie and the Captain immediately ceased bickering, while Al's bathroom stall door slammed open. She stepped out, instantly ready for a fight, despite the toilet paper clinging to her boot. The other two henchgirls traded a look that said they'd set their differences aside in the middle of a crisis, but pick up their conversation at a later, more appropriate date. Al washed her hands and then, the three girls poked their heads out of the door.
Somewhere beyond one of the stands that sold overpriced bottles of water, extremely overpriced snacks and every Stephen King/Tom Clancy/John Grisham novel ever written, a blast of blue light and a strange white substance that couldn't be identified at first glance shot out and caught one of the security guards. When the blast ended, the man was encased in ice.
A woman screamed and people scattered as more icy blasts erupted, trapping several fleeing travelers and sheathing them in frost, like flies caught in amber.
"Craaaaaap," the girls said in perfect unison.
"You don't think it's-"
"It couldn't be-"
"He's not that-"
In moments, Guy was off the ground, his street clothes disappearing in a wave of green energy, replaced by his Green Lantern uniform (which was even more fashionably questionable-but only just). He was, admittedly, a sight to behold-what with the neon aura surrounding him and power simply pulsing off his form-and he whizzed by like an emerald bullet, heading towards the source of the ice beams.
"Find cover, babe," Guy instructed firmly as he passed the three girls in the doorway. "Things are about to get ugly."
Afterthoughts to think about: First off, I totally forgot to thank Checkerboards in my author's note. It's actually very much her fault that this story came to be: the scraps that eventually became this chapter were started whilst waiting for her flight at Birmingham International, way back in May, 2008.
Second, I hope you'll pardon a few creative liberties taken on behalf of the architecture when it comes to Dulles Airport—this Dulles is a composite of three of my favorite airports.
And finally: Never fear, Canon Nazis: I know about Blackest Night, I know about Ted Kord and Maxwell Lord—dammit, Didio!—and I know about Guy's…ahem…color change. So don't worry, this isn't a fanfiction author disregarding canon because she doesn't know her shit, this is a fanfiction author disregarding canon that, in all honesty, probably won't last past 2012—because DC Comics is DC Comics, and all things eventually return to the status quo from whence they sprang.
And besides, since the CATverse is slightly alternate from the real DC universe (let's call it 'Earth One-and-Five-Sixteenths'), I couldn't resist bringing three of my favorite characters into the fold, just this once.