[LYNCH] Twilight IX: Of Wolf and Man!

[Draxx]

Green Arrow
The limousine stops behind him, in front of the pileup, and the door opens. A hand beckons him in. He stares a moment, then shoulders his bow, clipping it to the side of his harness next to the quiver, then crosses his arms, and steps into the limo.

A different Ollie, younger and less embittered by all that life had thrown at him, would have been trusting. He'd have stepped into that limousine expecting a friend, someone who wants to help him. That Ollie had believed in the desire to do good present in every human heart. But the world has mostly beaten that out of him.

He gets in, seeming calm and relaxed, then moves. Their is a blur of motion, and the man is on the floor, a knee pressed to his back and Ollie's left arm wrapped around his neck, his throat resting in the crook of his elbow. The man is helpless, and Ollie is in control. If he applies pressure, the other person would be in considerable pain, and has no leverage or easy way out of it. At least he was reasonably sure. Dinah swore by this hold, and he trusted her judgement about martial arts.

Green Arrow leans close, so that his beard tickles his ear, and speaks softly. "Now, I'm a bit confused. I have questions, and maybe you have answers. If you do, then sorry, but it's easier to apologize then fight, so this is my way of dealing with unpleasantness."

He looks up. "Drive."

Then, leaning close again, resumes speaking. "Here I am. Unfamiliar world. I've been here all of ten seconds, and you arrive. Suspicious, huh? But I'm sure you're going to set my mind at ease, and tell me there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Right?"

He hated to be like this. Once he'd lived on a world where kids flocked around him and his friends in department stores, asked for autographs, and played with the Green Arrow toy arrow kit? The days of the Arrow Cave, and Arrowcar. Where fighting crime alongside kids was fine. Now he can't even take something as simple as a lift without expecting an ulterior motive. And the worst part? If he didn't, he'd be dead by now.

He'd been a child. Dressed up and playing cowboys and Indians with real bullets and real arrows. Sometimes he wondered if he'd really stopped being the spoiled brat who washed up on that island. He just stopped looking for that rush in the usual places and started looking somewhere else. Well, he didn't ride a white charger, exactly, but say what you like, he did a lot of good. Made a real difference. Inspired people to stand up for the little guy.

That was worth something. He really missed it.

He eased the pressure a little, in a somewhat apologetic manner, but he didn't let go. "Look, this isn't exactly my idea of a fun way to spend a vacation. Hell, I never claimed to be sane. At least not while I was in my right mind. So just tell me what you know, and I can let you go."