maskormenacelogs | ( closed ) go be a criminal somewhere else

WHO: Hal Jordan and Jaime Reyes
WHERE: Heropa residence #15
WHEN: at NIGHT
WHAT: Lanterns and the Reach don't mix
WARNINGS: n/a

[Hal had more or less settled in for his first night in Heropa blissfully unaware of who lived next door and what lay in store for him. Certain events had made him reluctant to take his ring off so it wasn't long before a certain piece connected with the Reach entered his range and made itself known to his ring and therefore Hal.

Couldn't he just get a normal warning that there's a bad guy out there? What was with the splitting headache as well? He's never had the ring react this strongly to something before and regardless of whether or not it's possible for him to be on-duty when in another universe he's still got to deal with this.

He's reluctant to go in guns blazing when there was a high possibility of civilian casualties if things escalated. So Hal trudges over next door in uniform, his mood soured by the constant nagging to completely blow up the house. The Guardians may have given him a license to kill, but he wasn't going to abuse that power no matter what the ring wanted him to do.

He bangs on the door.]

Hey! Are you aware that you're harbouring a dangerous fugitive!?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Guy would vouch for anyone just to mess with me.

[Guy is the worst Lantern reference he could think of, but when it came down to it Hal did put his faith in Guy. They may not always see eye to eye, but he always knew Guy would come through for him.]

But okay, let me get this straight. You somehow managed to get your hands on some alien tech and you're using that to fight crime?

[This sounds like your standard superhero origin story.]

Not if I was worse than Darkseid, [Jaime points out.

At least he's pretty sure Guy wouldn't. He's definitely on the spirited side - which is a really nice way of saying that he's crazy - but he's got his limits. And he seems to like the Blue Beetles all right, which is, as far as Jaime's concerned, a point in his favour when it comes to good taste.]

But, uh... yeah, that's pretty much it.

[Superhero origin in a nutshell indeed.]

[The longer this conversation goes, the easier it becomes to ignore the ring's insistence that he destroy him. He's just so reasonable, his villains are never reasonable. Space appears to make people less subtle or maybe it's because of the kind of powers they sling around.]

Okay.

[...]

I guess you're free to go then. If I find out you're lying, I'll definitely shut you down, but you look like you at least deserve the chance.

Ring, mute notifications.

[And then blessed silence in his head.]

You can shut it off? [Jaime squawks in utter indignation, something like envy in his voice. The closest he can get to that is telling the Scarab to knock it off, and when he tries, it generally ignores him in lieu of insisting to him that whatever it is he's facing probably needs a plasma beam in the face, Jaime, as if he's the one at fault.]

Okay. Great. If I go full supervillain please, by all means, shut me down.

[He's clearly unhappy with Hal's tone; it sounds as if the guy's practically waiting for him to go rogue so he can get a giant green fist to his face, or whatever it is this particular Green Lantern uses.]

One last thing: don't tell anyone about me. I know you know what secret identities are all about.

[He's not really in the position to be making demands here, but he can darn well try.]

It's just a computer. [More advanced than anything on Earth, but it functioned more or less the same.]

I don't even know your other identity yet, but if I figure it out, I won't say anything.

[There's about a second's hesitation before the glow fades completely and Hal's standing there in his civies. From what he's heard, Jaime won't be able to bring this information back to their world so even if he decides to leak the information it won't affect his brother's famiily. There's really no reason for him to have done it, but he's extending a hand to him so he might as well go all the way.]

Now you know I'll keep my word.

[Jaime's mouth falls open in open shock, not because he knows who Hal Jordan is - he would be hard pressed to recognize even Bruce Wayne through sight alone - but because he knows how big of a gesture that is. Jaime may have spent the entirety of their meeting giving Hal the stinkeye and muttering grumpily underneath his breath, but this is enough to have any trace of hard feelings melt away almost entirely. He's still frustrated at being hauled out here like some criminal, and he's already halfway ready to text Booster just to complain about it, but it's hard to stay too mad when they're swapping secret IDs. His shoulders relax, and the look he sends in Hal's direction is a warm, considering one, far from the sullen animosity he had worn before.

It feels a lot more like himself.]

I appreciate it. [There's only a moment's hesitation before he extends his hand out for Hal to shake.] And it's Blue Beetle, when I'm in uniform. We'll probably see each other out there.

[Disasters are certainly frequent enough for that to be the case.]

[Hal gets as far as grasping the hand before Jaime's shock is mirrored by Hal.]

You're the new Beetle? Why didn't you say so? We could of skipped this altogether! Br-- Batman already gave you the okay. I was gonna congratulate you about Brother Eye... that's probably why you took off isn't it?

[Now he feels really bad about harassing a kid when they've already been vetted.]

I didn't know that saying anything would make a difference! Or that you were the Green Lantern that was on the team! I was a little, um...

[Scared shitless. He was suddenly surrounded by people who he had only seen on television, something was growing out of his spine and robots were trying to kill them and they were in space and he had just been sleeping and wanted to go back home -- ]

...distracted. My tech likes you guys about as much as your ring likes me. I didn't really run away; it just dimension shifted me.

[Hey, at least he didn't try to shoot him like it had wanted him to.]

[He's instantly on alert again. He doesn't switch back into uniform, but he silently braces himself.]

You don't have full control over it?

[He believes Jaime wouldn't try anything, but the same couldn't be said for the tech he's using.]

[Ugh. Jaime resists rolling his eyes, but just barely. He's used to people doubting the Scarab, but it's starting to get real old.]

I didn't back then. That was literally my first day on the job. I didn't even know what it was.

[He would be lying if he said he has total control over it now - the Scarab could stop his heart at any moment, and there's nothing he could do about it - but nobody needs to know that. Not even Brenda.]

You don't have to worry about it now.

( closed ) go be a criminal somewhere else

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject