Chapter 3

"We-uh…" Connor sighed. He couldn't do this. There was no reasonable excuse and he was not going to insult the man by suggesting something a little more… unusual. "Look, you have two choices; a lie or no answer at all."

Roy gave him a hard look. Connor had seen the look on his son's face on more than one occasion. It was not a good look.

"Trust me on this. You really don't want to know the truth."

"Yes, I do," stated Roy. "Are you a spy or some sort of mystery man?"

"One of those."

He seemed to know that he was not going to get a proper answer out of Connor. "I want you and that girl of yours out of my house by morning and out of the town by dinner."

Dawn sighed. Connor had taken charge. He was making phone calls in the general store, trying to get them back to civilization.

She wasn't really sure why he thought that he could get them a ride, but Dawn was not about to complain. That forest ranger had seemed rather tense and Connor had not acted much better. She wasn't sure what had been said, but Dawn did not think it was good.

"Dawn, come on. We need to catch the train to Phoenix," said Connor.

"Did you get us a ride?"

"Yeah. We're meeting some people in Phoenix. They might be able to send us back home."

"What did you do?"

A look crossed Connor's face. "I talked to some family friends."

They were only one stop away from Phoenix when Dawn brought up the subject again.

"So these friends-"

"Will not be meeting you until I talk to them," stated Connor. "You will go to a library or something until I make sure that they are going to help us."

"Are they really that dangerous?"

Connor looked away. "If they decide that we are enemies, they can be. We'll figure out some place and time to meet. If I don't come back… assume I'm dead or in prison. Don't bother trying to rescue me. I can break myself out of jail just fine. And if I'm dead, it won't matter at all."

"Fine," said Dawn. "There's a public library on Washington Street. I saw it three years ago. It's a museum in our time, but it should still be a museum in this time. I'll be looking at history texts. If you don't come there by closing time tomorrow, I'll be there again all day on the twenty-ninth."

"Agreed."

Connor leaned against the wall, watching cars pass. They would be here soon. He really would have preferred not to call them, but he needed to get himself and Dawn back.

He really hadn't had time to do research on what these people were like in this world. Hopefully this was not a dimension where they were evil. He'd heard about dimensions like that from Kyle. That was the reason he had sent Dawn away. He didn't want to put somebody who may or may not have been a civilian (Connor still wasn't sure about that) in danger.

The two women and the man were in civilian clothing. The man and one of the women kept glancing at each other suspiciously. Rather understandable, all things considered.

"Thank you for coming, Mrs. Lance, Queen Hippolyta, Mr. Blood," said Connor. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself over the phone. I'm Connor Hawke."

"Why did you call us here? How did you know-"

"Mrs. Lance, I think we should move somewhere we be seen by the people on the road."

They walked away from the gas station and farther into the desert. Once the road was barely visible, they stopped.

Connor cleared his throat. "I need Mr. Blood's help, or if he is not able to, Dr. Fate's help."

"Then why demand our presence?" Queen Hippolyta did not look very pleased.

"Because, your lasso will guarantee I'm telling the truth. And if you didn't show, I know enough about Mrs. Lance to convince her of my truthfulness."

"You really want my to-"

"Yes, your Majesty. It's the only way I can be sure that you'll believe my story."

A moment later the lasso of truth had pinned his arms to his sides.

"Who are you and why did you call us?"

"Connor Hake and I already told you why I called you and Mrs. Lance. I called Mr. Blood here because he was the only magic user I had met who existed here and could probably be convinced to meet me. Somehow, a girl and I ended up in this dimension and we need a way home."

"What girl?"

"Dawn Summers."

Before anybody could say anything else, Mrs. Lance asked, "Why do you know so much about me?"

"Your daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance has been dating my father on and off for the better part of a decade," said Connor. "She becomes the Black Canary, just like you."

"And your father is?"

"His codename is Green Arrow. He's an archer, like me. I really shouldn't say much more than that about him."

Mr. Blood started talking before either of the women could continue their line of questioning. "How did you and your companion end up here?"

"I don't know. I pulled Dawn out of the way of some men who were running her down on horseback, and the next thing I know, we're in a dimension that seems to be about thirty years off. I've already met the father of my father's first sidekick. A sidekick that is already in his mother's womb. Roy shouldn't be born until more than thirty years from now."

"I'll see what I can do for you, Mr. Hawke," said Mr. Blood.