[Closed] Walk Away

[wintershepherd]

Characters: Jack Frost, Oliver Queen / PART TWO: + Kyle Rayner / PART THREE: + Connor Hawke / PART FIVE: + Zatanna Zatara
Date: Following this showdown and Jack's horrible excuse. Exact length of time to be determined.
Location: One of Tu Vishan's abandoned villages (as outlined here) near the shell's edge, a few hours outside Keeliai and by the mountains.
Situation: Taking issue with Oliver's plan of action, Jack has brought him outside the city to see if he can't get his head on straight. Part Two & Three: After their return, there are still some things to answer for.
Warnings/Rating: Ollie's probably not happy, so associated warnings there.


Jack had been out to these areas several times since his arrival, so he flew straight and unerring across the barren landscape, stirring up heavy storm clouds in his wake, pregnant with snow that was only partially intentional, reacting to his emotions. When they finally touched down at the outskirts of a burned husk of a village, Jack dragged Oliver's unconscious form into the most complete building. It wasn't great, but it had four walls and most of a roof and that was good because Oliver was heavy and it didn't help that Jack couldn't stop replaying their conversation in his mind, over and over.

"What if someone starts coming after you the way you're going after these kedan?!"

"Then I kill them."

"Wrong answer."

So when the man awakes, he will find himself under a blanket but sans boots (and said footwear being nowhere to be seen) and Jack sitting in the windowsill, looking out at a thick curtain of falling snow and humming something of a song under his breath.

Comments

[wintershepherd]

Jack's voice sharpens, tone commanding that Kyle's not done having to listen quite yet.

"And he said that you two had argued. That you had said if he didn't stop that you and he were done and that you'd stop him, and that was why he'd tried to do those things. When we were in that alley and we were fighting I asked him what he would have done if someone had gone after him like he was doing to those kedan, and he said he'd kill them if it happened."

[imaginate]

Then it hits him - that Oliver had internalised the parts of the conversation that he shouldn't have.

'That idiot.' He doesn't sound angry or confused any more, just tired. And the conversation is over at this point, there's no more he wants to hear. He's done having to justify himself, especially if his words were taken out of context like that.

No you don't, says his bitterness. You don't have to do anything. You're not his babysitter. If he wants to push people away, let him. You're not responsible for his well-being.

I. Owe. Hal. he hisses back at it. He'd have done the same for me.

'Where is he? I have to smooth this out.'

[wintershepherd]

"No," Jack says, standing from the swing. "There's more. He said that everyone knew a different Oliver, not him; the one you mentioned, your friend's father. That he thought that Oliver was better, could do a better job than him, that being this Oliver wasn't good enough."

Jack's hands curl into frustrated fists. "He said that people were afraid of him because he killed but he's the one who's afraid, Kyle. Because he isn't the person everyone else is expecting him to be, he's afraid."

[imaginate]

Of course Oliver's the one who's afraid. Kyle knew fear. Kyle could see it in Oliver almost constantly. What he'd been afraid of... it was becoming clear. Maybe he'd already known this, in his heart, and now it was being processed properly.

Inhale. Exhale. Stay calm, Rayner. You can handle this.

You're way out of your league, kid. and he doesn't want to think about whose voice that is. He shuts it away. Not afraid. Not the one who's afraid.

I'm not afraid. I can make this work.

His fist clenches. 'I'm going to talk to him.'

[wintershepherd]

"I think," Jack retorts, his voice brittle as his namesake, "that maybe should try getting to know this Oliver Queen first, before you try to make things better."

[imaginate]

'I am getting to know him. I'm used to meeting alternates, especially younger ones. I know two Zatannas, for crying out loud.' Why did she like him? He suddenly realised maybe it was because he really thought of them as two separate people, alike in only certain ways, but not enough for him to make assumptions about her personality.

He had been the one who'd helped out younger Hal when that incident had happened (he'd made a mess of it, in hindsight, but it had been him who took charge).

He was used to it. Maybe not as well as he wanted to be, but he was used to it.

[wintershepherd]

"Well then maybe you should start by not thinking of him as 'an alternate'," the teen shot right back.

But then his hands uncurl and hang limp at his sides, and he releases a long sigh and there's more than a trace of distress in his tone.

"Kyle, please. I think of you both as friends and I'm not mad, I'm worried. I know you wouldn't have meant to hurt him but you did and it's never going to be something you can fix if you keep seeing him as 'the other Oliver'. He's just... Oliver, okay? That has to be good enough."

He offers the Lantern a weary attempt at a grin, causing the papery blisters around his eyes to crinkle. "He could use a friend like you, I know he could. Now you... you can be his friend for both of us, right?"

[imaginate]

I can make this work.

'It is good enough.' He sighs. 'Look, I'm not mad either. You really shouldn't have taken off like that.' He cuts off, remembering the last time he'd been kidnapped, what he would have done to someone if they'd sprung that on him. It's an unpleasant thought. 'Next time... just call me, okay?'

He needs light. Kyle looks at his ring, and the weight of the title Lantern feels heavy. He should add something to this. An explanation. A truth. Something.

'Can you keep a secret? I like him better than the one I'm used to.' He doesn't know why he says that, even if it is the truth.

[wintershepherd]

"I know," Jack answers, and there's a genuine note of contrition in his voice. "I didn't think-- well, of anything, really. Other than to get him somewhere safe. I... was afraid too."

But he glances back up at Kyle, the tremulous beginnings of an actual smile appearing. "Really?"

[imaginate]

He nods in sympathy. Being angry about that only seems completely pointless now.

'Really.' He smiles back, weakly, wondering how the hell he's going to explain that to Connor. Even if his friend would understand (and forgive, if need be), it was still not something you said out loud.

It wasn't something you said when the other Oliver - G.A. Dick van Dyke version - was dead.

'I'm going - to let him be for a while. He needs to recover. I can't really talk to him right now if it's going to make things worse.' A pause. 'We'll sort this out.'

[wintershepherd]

"Thank you Kyle," Jack replies and feels a weight he hadn't realized was still sitting in his chest finally lift.

"I'm-- I'm going to leave him alone. I don't think... he wouldn't, not after-- i-it's just better if I didn't bother him again."

[imaginate]

'Give him time.' He smiles, wider. Tries to, but he can't help looking at the burns and the neck injury, and he points to them. 'Do you... want me to have look at those?'

[wintershepherd]

He starts to shake his head but it becomes a nod without his consent. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea."

Jack reaches up to the side of his neck, cupping it across the ice formed there and it falls away to reveal a fairly serious cut... and one that seems as though it should have had much more serious consequences.

[imaginate]

Kyle looks closely at it. It should really have injured him worse. 'Does it hurt?'

[wintershepherd]

"When I press on it," Jack answered, feeling rather self-conscious. "The burns hurt worse than the cut though."

A small quiver passed through him as he remembered the shock and pain of having the ash and embers thrown in his face, instantly searing where they'd touched. He'd put fresh snow on the blistered areas but they're stubbornly remained red and raw, only just barely gaining a paper-thin covering of skin much like a peeling sunburn.

[imaginate]

'Hey,' Kyle's voice is soft. 'You'll be okay. There's a doctor - another Lantern, like me - in EA-2B. If you're ever in trouble, go straight to her.'

[wintershepherd]

"Okay," Jack answered, committing the suite number to memory. "Do you think she'll be able to see me like you can?"

[imaginate]

Considering what the Green Lanterns fought on a near-daily basis - 'I don't think that's going to be a problem.' And then he cautiously tilts his head in curiosity. 'Will I get frostbite if I try to ruffle your hair?'

[wintershepherd]

The question makes him stop, blink, and pries a bubbling laugh from him. "No," he says and remembers how good it feels to think about silly things. "Only if you hung onto me for a while with bare skin."

[imaginate]

He laughs, and then ruffles Jack's hair anyway. After such a heavy topic, it's good to lighten up. It's good to do it in general, he thinks. He's been too tense these past few days.

[wintershepherd]

Jack tolerates the ruffling with better humour, more relieved than he can express that Kyle isn't angry with him. When the man pulls away he reaches up to give the side of his neck a fresh icing over, and the layer melds to his skin as effective as any bandage.

"I have to get back before Zatanna breaks into my room," he said wanly. "I had to ask her about stains. I don't know what I'm going to tell her though."

[imaginate]

'You'd better come up with something,' he says worriedly, putting his hand in his pocket so it can warm up. 'She's pretty sharp.'

[wintershepherd]

"I know," the winter teen responded. "I don't want to lie to her, either. She's helped me a lot, but if I tell her..."

[imaginate]

'Oliver's as good as turned into a frog. Yeah.' A pause. 'Really enthusiastic tomato juice?'

[wintershepherd]

Jack's head met his palm. "Maybe I can fix it myself."