update and ficlet (DC- Red Arrow (G))
Title: Fade to Light
Characters: Red Arrow, small amount of Green Arrow. Mentions Of Lian Harper and Cheshire
Summary: Trapped and injured, Roy's mind wanders.
Rated G
DC owns all characters.
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The world closes in, trapping him with the smell. Smoke and dust, melting plastic, burnt flesh and fear all rolled into one suffocating mass that presses in on him from all sides. His vision greys at the edges and his lungs burn like they’re about to explode from his chest, Roy thinks they just might, that’d be just his luck.
He chuckles at the thought; lungs popping like a balloon pumped too full of smoke and fear and shattering into a thousand crimson pieces, but then the coughing hits and the grey starts to go black and he forces himself to focus...focus on...something...
Broken bits of masonry press into his side where he lays. It should be uncomfortable but it only registers vaguely at the back of his mind and he can feel Lian’s sharp knee digging into his ribs as she scrambles over his bed, “C’mon Daddy, it’s my birthday. Gúp lazy bones!” and yeah, he probably should get up because he’s pretty sure the curtains are on fire and Lian shouldn’t be toasting those marshmallows by herself. “Lian, stay away from the campfire!” but she’s not listening so he may as well go back to sleep. He sighs and does just that, letting the darkness take him.
When the darkness next fades he can hear a roaring sound; the sea is rolling in, foamy white breakers crashing on the sand. Lian’s tugging him towards the water chattering constantly but the wind is snatching the words and whisking them away before they reach him. He doesn’t need to hear them though, he knows she’s happy that he’s there and his heart warms with joy at that. He pauses at the water’s edge, Lian racing off to follow a gull that swooped low over them.
He looks out towards the horizon and spots a small boat, it carries a solitary passenger floating towards them. He watches as the boat draws near and sees a woman’s dark hair flutter in the breeze. She's beautiful, eyes glinting cool green and looking so exotic and exciting it makes his heart race. She raises one hand and beckons him towards her with long, perfectly painted nails that flash in the sunlight.
He looks away from her, glancing down at the water and frowning. The water now looks...strange, dirty. It smells bad. A wave splashes over his foot and...god! It burns! It’s hot like acid and he tries to pull his foot away but it’s holding him there...no...worse, it’s pulling him in and...Lian... ”Stay away from the water!” he screams, but the sound is torn away and he knows she can’t hear and that makes him panic even more, pulling at the sea, at the sand, fighting them both, screaming at them to let him go...
And there’s laughing. He’s laying on his back in the dark, pebbles and rocks digging uncomfortably into his skin and Ollie’s laughing at him. He’d know that laugh anywhere, it’s the “You’re an idiot! You’re nothing but a failure! You’ll never be any good!” laugh. He’s heard it before a long time ago. “I’m trying, Ollie.” he moans. “I’m sorry.” and he is because no matter how hard he tries he just can’t get it together enough to do good.
The laughter’s softer now, intermingling with words he can’t quite make out. The darkness is lifting too, if he looks hard enough he can see brightness spilling through the cracks in the door. He struggles to reach door handle, turning it and tugging hard. It won’t open though.
“Stay still!” He frowns at the words. The laughter is gone and now the words are beginning to make sense. “Don’t move. You’ll be okay.”
“Ollie?” and finally the door opens and the light floods in making his breath catch convulsively in his chest, he groans because it hurts. It’s fire and acid and flame searing it’s way through his head and nerve endings and forcing him to stifle a cry.
“Hold on, Kid. We’ll have you out of there soon.”
And he blinks, ignoring the grit and burning in his eyes because it is Ollie, and he’s not laughing. In fact the face peering down at him shows not one hint of mirth or scorn. And then he remembers where he is and how he got here; a fight, new villain of the week, explosions, standing in the building while it fell down around him. Yep, that about covers it.
He moans, tears of pain trekking down the sides of his face are brushed away by a green gloved hand. He can see fear in his mentors’ eyes and he can’t help but want to chase that look away. “Hey,” he croaks and tries for a smile. “think I earned a....” he hisses as pain shoots through his side “...day off tomorrow?”
That gets the grin he’s after. “That’d be right Harper, always looking for the lazy way out. ”
Ollie's quip lacks its usual humor, but there’s relief in his voice and that’s enough. Roy closes his eyes and lets the darkness creep back in. There’s no laughter this time, just relief.
.
.
Characters: Red Arrow, small amount of Green Arrow. Mentions Of Lian Harper and Cheshire
Summary: Trapped and injured, Roy's mind wanders.
Rated G
DC owns all characters.
.
The world closes in, trapping him with the smell. Smoke and dust, melting plastic, burnt flesh and fear all rolled into one suffocating mass that presses in on him from all sides. His vision greys at the edges and his lungs burn like they’re about to explode from his chest, Roy thinks they just might, that’d be just his luck.
He chuckles at the thought; lungs popping like a balloon pumped too full of smoke and fear and shattering into a thousand crimson pieces, but then the coughing hits and the grey starts to go black and he forces himself to focus...focus on...something...
Broken bits of masonry press into his side where he lays. It should be uncomfortable but it only registers vaguely at the back of his mind and he can feel Lian’s sharp knee digging into his ribs as she scrambles over his bed, “C’mon Daddy, it’s my birthday. Gúp lazy bones!” and yeah, he probably should get up because he’s pretty sure the curtains are on fire and Lian shouldn’t be toasting those marshmallows by herself. “Lian, stay away from the campfire!” but she’s not listening so he may as well go back to sleep. He sighs and does just that, letting the darkness take him.
When the darkness next fades he can hear a roaring sound; the sea is rolling in, foamy white breakers crashing on the sand. Lian’s tugging him towards the water chattering constantly but the wind is snatching the words and whisking them away before they reach him. He doesn’t need to hear them though, he knows she’s happy that he’s there and his heart warms with joy at that. He pauses at the water’s edge, Lian racing off to follow a gull that swooped low over them.
He looks out towards the horizon and spots a small boat, it carries a solitary passenger floating towards them. He watches as the boat draws near and sees a woman’s dark hair flutter in the breeze. She's beautiful, eyes glinting cool green and looking so exotic and exciting it makes his heart race. She raises one hand and beckons him towards her with long, perfectly painted nails that flash in the sunlight.
He looks away from her, glancing down at the water and frowning. The water now looks...strange, dirty. It smells bad. A wave splashes over his foot and...god! It burns! It’s hot like acid and he tries to pull his foot away but it’s holding him there...no...worse, it’s pulling him in and...Lian... ”Stay away from the water!” he screams, but the sound is torn away and he knows she can’t hear and that makes him panic even more, pulling at the sea, at the sand, fighting them both, screaming at them to let him go...
And there’s laughing. He’s laying on his back in the dark, pebbles and rocks digging uncomfortably into his skin and Ollie’s laughing at him. He’d know that laugh anywhere, it’s the “You’re an idiot! You’re nothing but a failure! You’ll never be any good!” laugh. He’s heard it before a long time ago. “I’m trying, Ollie.” he moans. “I’m sorry.” and he is because no matter how hard he tries he just can’t get it together enough to do good.
The laughter’s softer now, intermingling with words he can’t quite make out. The darkness is lifting too, if he looks hard enough he can see brightness spilling through the cracks in the door. He struggles to reach door handle, turning it and tugging hard. It won’t open though.
“Stay still!” He frowns at the words. The laughter is gone and now the words are beginning to make sense. “Don’t move. You’ll be okay.”
“Ollie?” and finally the door opens and the light floods in making his breath catch convulsively in his chest, he groans because it hurts. It’s fire and acid and flame searing it’s way through his head and nerve endings and forcing him to stifle a cry.
“Hold on, Kid. We’ll have you out of there soon.”
And he blinks, ignoring the grit and burning in his eyes because it is Ollie, and he’s not laughing. In fact the face peering down at him shows not one hint of mirth or scorn. And then he remembers where he is and how he got here; a fight, new villain of the week, explosions, standing in the building while it fell down around him. Yep, that about covers it.
He moans, tears of pain trekking down the sides of his face are brushed away by a green gloved hand. He can see fear in his mentors’ eyes and he can’t help but want to chase that look away. “Hey,” he croaks and tries for a smile. “think I earned a....” he hisses as pain shoots through his side “...day off tomorrow?”
That gets the grin he’s after. “That’d be right Harper, always looking for the lazy way out. ”
Ollie's quip lacks its usual humor, but there’s relief in his voice and that’s enough. Roy closes his eyes and lets the darkness creep back in. There’s no laughter this time, just relief.
.
.