AU_ABC: Pirates of The Emerald Dawn - Chapter 9
Title: Pirates of The Emerald Dawn - Chapter 9: Brightest Day, Blackest Night (9/11)
Author: Aranel Took
Fandom/Claim: DC Comics, Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Rating: NC-17 (explicit sex and violence)
Prompt: P - Pirates for au_abc Challenge.
Words: 3,547
Summary: Elseworlds. Kyle Rayner is captured by the notorious pirate Captain Hal Jordan.
Chapter 9 - Brightest Day, Blackest Night
John rowed the boat close to the beach near the Port Royal docks - hopefully unnoticed by any soldiers - and Kyle got out, stepping into water up to his knees. He reached over and grasped the handle of his trunk. “Want to give me a hand?” he asked Guy.
Guy stepped out of the boat and took the other side of the trunk. “Be right back, Johnny.”
“Good-bye, Kyle,” John said, reaching out to grasp Kyle’s hand. “I hope…” The man sighed. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, John.” Kyle hoisted his end of the trunk and he and Guy walked to shore.
They set the trunk in the sand, then Guy stepped back, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, kid,” he said. “I really am.”
Kyle fought a smile. Guy was setting this up perfectly. He forced himself to glare at the man. “I’m sorry, too. I’m sorry that you’re a coward who will leave his friend to die.”
Guy’s face went red. “Now you listen to me-”
“No! You listen to me!” Kyle stepped forward and gave him a shove. Guy snarled and took a swing at him.
Kyle flinched, hoping to avoid a direct blow. He didn’t even know if this would work. But a transparent green wall flared between him and Guy, stopping Guy’s fist.
Guy jumped back, clutching his hand. “What in blazes…?”
Kyle pushed his finger at the wall of green. It was solid, like touching solid light. And it had stopped Guy from hitting him. “It worked…” he whispered. He grinned at Guy. “It worked, Guy! It worked!” The green wall faded away and he ran forward to wrap Guy in an embrace. “We can save him!”
Guy shoved him back, scowling. “What are you talking about?”
“This!” He held up his hand to show Guy the glowing metal band. “It’s a ring! I think it’s made of the same metal as the lantern. I got it yesterday, from this old man, he said I was the Torchbearer and I think I’m meant to save Hal! And it can make things! I wished I had a pistol and it made one, right in my hand! And I wanted to see if it would protect us like the Lantern does, but away from the ship. So I got you to take a swing at me. And it worked! Even better than I expected!” Kyle gasped for breath, dizzy with excitement.
“You wanted me to hit you?” Guy scratched his head. “So you don’t really think I’m a coward?”
Kyle shook his head. He’d just discovered an amazing new weapon that could also protect them, and all Guy could think about was that Kyle had called him a coward!
John came up next to him and grabbed his arm. “What did you do?” he asked.
Kyle wrapped John in an embrace, too, needing to share his joy. “I’ve found a way to save Hal!”
* * *
Marshallsea Prison loomed before them, a massive fortress of stone. Kyle took a deep breath and looked at his companions. Guy shrugged. “We’re following you, kid.”
Right. ‘When times are dark, they will look to you.’ Hopefully Uncle Mogo’s oracles weren’t mistaken. “Let’s find a door, then.” They crept around the edge of the building until they found two guards standing at a doorway. Kyle clenched his fist and ran his thumb over the ring around his middle finger. He lifted his hand, pointing the ring towards the men, and let his imagination take over. Rocks, flying through the air...
Two green rocks shot out from the ring, each one smashing a man on the side of the head. Both of them fell to the ground, unconscious.
Kyle looked back at Guy and John. They were both staring in amazement at the guards. “Unbelievable…” John whispered.
“Sure wish we had more of those,” Guy muttered.
“I wish we had more as well,” Kyle sighed. He looked down at the ring on his hand. He could really use the help. But he needed real rings, not rings made of light.
“Ow!” He jerked his hand up when the ring suddenly flared and grew hot.
Two metallic objects bounced on the cobblestones. Guy crouched down and picked them up. There were two rings, identical to Kyle’s, lying on his palm. “I think you got your wish.” He handed a ring to John, then slipped the other on his finger. He held the ring up. A burst of raw energy shot out, arching over the harbor and falling into the ocean. He nodded and grinned. “Nice!”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Keep it under control! We don’t need to draw attention.” Even though it was the middle of the night, there were still people about. Hopefully anyone who saw it would think it was shooting star. Or a drunken hallucination.
They crept further along the wall, then stepped over the unconscious guards to enter the fort. They ended up in a bare hallway, with no indication to where prisoners might be kept. “Now which way?” Kyle said, despair creeping into his mind. Some ‘Torchbearer’ he was turning out to be.
“To the left,” Guy said. “We need to go down a level, then make our way to the north side of the fort. It’s going to be tough, though, because there are a lot of soldiers prowling around down here.”
Kyle frowned. “How do you know that?”
“I was in the Navy, kid. I dragged my share of pirates down here before becoming one myself.” He sighed. “I figure their ghosts are already lining the walls, just waiting with big grins on their faces for me to die here in the end.”
“This won’t be the end,” Kyle said fiercely, pushing away his despair. He took off to the left, with a new resolve that they would succeed, because he was the Torchbearer and he was going to prove to everyone that he could live up to that title. “We’re going to get Hal and get out of here.”
They met more soldiers along the way, and Guy and John got a chance to test their new weapons. John did the same as Kyle, only forming cannon balls rather than rocks, but Guy’s ring just exploded with green light. The last guard he hit wasn’t going to be getting up again, as half his face was splattered on the wall. “Suppose I should tone it back,” Guy muttered as they stepped over the body.
They found the jail cells and knocked out the guards. When the prisoners realized what was happening, they started pleading with Kyle and the others to set them free. But they didn’t have time and the shouts and sobs were going to attract more guards. Kyle held up his ring, pointing at the row of cells, and every man inside suddenly had a bright green gag over his mouth.
“Good idea,” John said.
Kyle ran down the row of prisoners. All of them now frantically clawing at the gags, fear in their eyes. But none of the cells held Hal. “All right, so where’s Hal?”
“Through there,” Guy said, pointing at a door on the end. “They’d most likely keep him in solitary.”
Kyle blasted the door open and went inside.
The room held four more doors, each with a small, barred window. He looked inside the first one, into a tiny cell. It was empty. He ran to the next, but it was empty as well. He found Hal in the third cell.
“Here.” Guy pushed him aside, a ring of keys in his hand. “Got it off the guard.” After trying a few keys, the door swung open and Kyle ran inside.
Hal was battered and unconscious, but he was still alive. He had new bruises over old ones, and blood matted his hair from a still-bleeding gash on the side of his head.
“Hal? Wake up!” Kyle patted his cheeks, but Hal only groaned slightly. “Hal?” He bent down and kissed Hal’s bruised and split lips, not caring that John and Guy were there. “We’re going to get you out of here,” he whispered.
The prisoners started shouting again - the gags must have worn off. Kyle looked up at John and Guy. “We’ll have to carry him out.”
John and Guy each slipped an arm under Hal’s, lifting him to his feet. Hal just sagged against them, his head resting on John’s shoulder. Kyle took a deep breath. They were going to get out of here. They had to get out of here. “All right, let’s go.”
He stepped out of the room and back into the row of cells. “Quiet! All of you!” he shouted. “You’ll alert the guards.” He tossed the ring of keys to the prisoners in the first cell. It was up to them to save themselves if they wished. Kyle was only concerned with getting Hal to safety and the escape of the other prisoners would provide a good distraction.
They went back the way they came, slowed now by Hal’s dead weight. At the end of the final corridor before reaching the outside of the fort-and freedom-Kyle heard the voices of soldiers coming towards them. There was no way they would get out of the fort and away from their pursuers when Hal was still unconscious. He made his decision.
“Go!” Kyle shouted. He shoved Guy and John out the door that led to the entrance they’d come in at. “I’ll hold them off.”
“We’re not leaving you, Kyle,” John said.
Kyle looked at Hal’s bruised face and reached out to touch his hair. According to Mogo’s legends and oracles he may be The Torchbearer, but Hal was The Greatest One. Kyle was sure of it. He was the one who rallied them all together, who saved people from slavery and gave them hope. And maybe it had been Kyle’s entire purpose in life just to be here to return the favor and save Hal.
His hand drifted down to touch Hal’s bruised cheek. I love you. He looked up at Guy. “You have to get him back to the ship. The Emerald Dawn needs her captain. Get him back to the ship and get away from here.”
“He’ll never forgive us if we leave you behind,” John said. “I’ll stay.”
“No, John,” Guy said, shaking his head. “We can’t lose our navigator. I’ll stay.”
Kyle took advantage of their argument to slip back into the hallway. “The ship needs all of you.” They looked up at him just as he slammed the door and slid the bolt into place. “Tell Hal it’s for the good of the crew,” he yelled through the door.
“Kyle!” John shouted from the other side.
Kyle ignored him. He ran back down the corridor, towards the soldiers that were following them.
He waited for them at an intersection. When they spotted him, Kyle held up his fist. Arrows, he thought, and a flight of bright green arrows shot from his ring towards the soldiers. The first few men went down screaming. He turned and ran, deeper into the fort. He had no idea where he was going, but he knew it was away from Hal.
He ended up back in the jail. All of the cells were empty now. He was in a dead end and there was no escape. Hands grabbed him and he tried to twist away, but it was no use. He clenched his fist, pressing his thumb against the ring. He couldn’t let them find it. He had to hide it somehow.
He doubled over, briefly pulling out of the grasp of the soldiers, and in a swift movement slipped the ring from his finger and into his mouth. He swallowed hard and the ring slid down his throat.
A hand grabbed his hair, pulling him upright. “How did you kill those men? Are you a witch?”
“Of course he is,” another man said. “He helped Jordan escape. He’s from that cursed ship.”
“Jordan made a pact with the devil,” another man said. “Maybe he’s a demon?” He crossed himself.
“A demon, are ye?” the soldier holding him said in his ear. “Well, you feel flesh and blood to me.”
Something heavy cracked across the back of Kyle’s head, knocking him unconscious.
* * *
Kyle woke to excruciating pain all through his body, but his head was the worst of it. Throbbing pain pounded in his skull, radiating down into his neck. He lifted his hand to touch his head and found his hair sticky with blood. He rolled on his side and had to take a deep breath to fight down the nausea. He must have been hit in the head, but he couldn’t remember it happening. He couldn’t remember how he got here. The last thing he could recall was pushing John and Guy out the door with Hal…
He looked around the the room. There were a few chairs, some paintings of important looking people on the walls, but it was the desk that drew his attention. Bruce Wayne sat behind it, scribbling away with his quill.
Kyle tried to sit up, but he couldn’t move very far without pain stabbing through his body. His groan got the attention of the man at the desk.
Wayne stood up and walked over to him. The dull expression was gone, replaced by a cold glare from intelligent eyes as he looked down at Kyle. It was like he was a completely different man. “Where is Hal Jordan?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice.
“Dunno,” Kyle mumbled. He let his head sink back to the floor. “Long gone, I suppose.” At least he hoped so. He squinted up at Wayne. “What do you want with me?”
“Nothing. It’s Jordan I want.”
Kyle frowned. “You made a deal! For the maps! You said you wouldn’t go after him! Or has the Crown lost all sense of honor?”
Wayne laughed. “You need to learn to pay attention, boy! I promised the ship and his crew would go unmolested. I never promised a thing about Jordan.”
Dammit! Kyle closed his eyes for a moment, his battered head trying to come up with … something. “He’s not going to rescue me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Kyle said, trying to make his voice bitter, as if he despised the Captain for abandoning him. “I’m not important.”
The man laughed. “I think you are important. You are his lover.”
Kyle flinched. How did the man know that? He wrinkled his nose. “You’re disgusting! I’m not a sodomite!”
“You really need to work on your lying as well, boy. It’s the eyes that give it away. And you look at Jordan with lust in your eyes. As he does to you.” The man sneered at him. “So you are the perfect bait to get him back.”
Kyle let his head drop back to the floor. “He’s not coming back,” he mumbled. “He won’t risk the ship for one man.” Part of him wanted to believe that, that Hal would leave him behind and get away safely. But another part of him really wanted Hal to burst in and save him in time, because more than anything in the world he wanted to see Hal again.
“Oh, he’ll come back for you,” Wayne said. “It’s his weakness, always putting his own needs first.” He turned to the guards and gestured towards Kyle. They came forward and picked Kyle up off the floor, pulling him to his feet. “And I’m going to leave him a message, about what happens to those who betray the Crown, who break the law and choose to become criminals. A message he’ll understand far better than the threat of his own hanging.”
Wayne reached inside his coat and pulled out a small silver knife. Kyle sucked in his breath and shrank back. Oh, hell…
“I’m part of the crew, you know,” Kyle blurted out, trying to appeal to any sense of honor the man had. “Isn’t this cheating?”
Wayne shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’re part of the crew. You’re Jordan’s whore.” He studied the knife, running his thumb along the blade. “So where should we start? Something Jordan values, I think?” The man reached towards Kyle’s face and when Kyle tried to jerk away, Wayne roughly grabbed his chin, squeezing hard enough that Kyle was sure he’d end up with more bruises. Wayne brought the knife up and pressed it to Kyle’s left cheek, just below his eye. “Your face will certainly feel my blade.”
He jerked his hand away and Kyle hissed as the knife slid across his cheek. His eyes watered and he felt a warm trickle of blood roll over his skin, but he ground his teeth together, determined not to cry out.
“But perhaps we’ll start somewhere that Jordan values even more?” Wayne stepped back and looked at the soldiers. “Remove his clothing. We’ll see if Jordan still wants him if he’s a gelding.”
“No!” Kyle twisted in the grip of the soldiers and managed to kick out, kicking the knife from Wayne’s hand.
One of the guards punched him in the gut and Kyle doubled-over, out of breath. Wayne retrieved the knife and grabbed Kyle by the collar, pulling him close. “Very well. If you prefer, we can skip the prelude and get right down to business.”
Cold pain bit into Kyle’s belly, but it didn’t feel like the punch the guard had given him. He looked down. Wayne’s knife was impaled to the hilt in his gut and a blood stain was growing on his shirt. No…
Wayne jerked the knife out. “It can take hours for a man to die of a belly wound. Days even, if you manage not to bleed to death first.” He wiped the knife on Kyle’s shirt. “But the one certainty is that you will die. Slowly and painfully.” He jerked his head towards the soldiers and they let Kyle go.
Kyle staggered back against the wall, grimacing in pain, his hands pressed over the sticky wetness. Wayne wasn’t lying. Kyle had read about belly wounds in Soranik’s books. It was probably one of the worst ways to die - pain and fever that could last for days as the wound turned septic and slowly killed you. And there was nothing any doctor could do about it. His only hope was that Wayne had hit an artery and he would bleed to death quickly. That would be far preferable to a slow, agonizing death.
His belly felt strange, a tingling spreading out from the wound to the rest of his body. He felt burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. Is this what it felt like to die? He slid down the wall to sit on the floor and looked up at Wayne. “Hal was right,” he said weakly. “You’re a bastard.”
Wayne laughed. “I’ll be sure to remind him of that when he’s dying on the floor next to what’s left of you.” He stepped towards Kyle. “Now, let’s see what we can do with that pretty face.”
Kyle watched him come closer, the knife in his hand. The world started going gray and he tried to fight it, tried to scramble away from the man coming towards him, but his limbs wouldn’t move...
A streak of green light smashed through the door and then Hal was there. He flew into the room, smashing Wayne into the wall. John and Guy followed, taking out the guards. Hal pressed his forearm into Wayne’s neck, pinning him to the wall. “Don’t you touch him!”
Bruce smirked through his bloodied mouth and held up the knife. “Too late.”
Hal grabbed the knife and whirled around. His eyes widened when he saw Kyle. “Kyle!” He ran over to Kyle and dropped to his knees next to him. “Let me see.” He pulled Kyle’s hands away from the wound and tore the shirt open. He grimaced. “Oh, Lord…”
For the first time since Kyle had met him Hal looked frightened and that alone confirmed what Kyle already knew. “I’m going to die, aren’t I Hal?” Kyle mumbled. Hal didn’t get here in time to save him, but at least he got his wish to see him again, even if it was for the last time. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now, when all he wanted to do was look at Hal and try to burn his face into his memory for … well, wherever he was going when he died.
“No.” Hal shook his head and ran his fingers through Kyle’s hair. “No, love. I’m not going to let you die. You’re not going to die.” He looked up. “John! Get him back to the ship!”
“Hal…” Kyle whimpered, trying to grab at Hal’s shirt but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate. He felt other hands on him, then he was looking into John’s worried face.
“I’ve got you,” John said. He stood, lifting Kyle in his strong arms.
Kyle looked back over John’s shoulder at Hal through a haze of gray. The last thing he saw before the world went black was Guy holding Wayne and Hal walking towards them, the silver knife glinting in his hand.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
My au_abc Prompt Table
Author: Aranel Took
Fandom/Claim: DC Comics, Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Rating: NC-17 (explicit sex and violence)
Prompt: P - Pirates for au_abc Challenge.
Words: 3,547
Summary: Elseworlds. Kyle Rayner is captured by the notorious pirate Captain Hal Jordan.
Chapter 9 - Brightest Day, Blackest Night
John rowed the boat close to the beach near the Port Royal docks - hopefully unnoticed by any soldiers - and Kyle got out, stepping into water up to his knees. He reached over and grasped the handle of his trunk. “Want to give me a hand?” he asked Guy.
Guy stepped out of the boat and took the other side of the trunk. “Be right back, Johnny.”
“Good-bye, Kyle,” John said, reaching out to grasp Kyle’s hand. “I hope…” The man sighed. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, John.” Kyle hoisted his end of the trunk and he and Guy walked to shore.
They set the trunk in the sand, then Guy stepped back, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, kid,” he said. “I really am.”
Kyle fought a smile. Guy was setting this up perfectly. He forced himself to glare at the man. “I’m sorry, too. I’m sorry that you’re a coward who will leave his friend to die.”
Guy’s face went red. “Now you listen to me-”
“No! You listen to me!” Kyle stepped forward and gave him a shove. Guy snarled and took a swing at him.
Kyle flinched, hoping to avoid a direct blow. He didn’t even know if this would work. But a transparent green wall flared between him and Guy, stopping Guy’s fist.
Guy jumped back, clutching his hand. “What in blazes…?”
Kyle pushed his finger at the wall of green. It was solid, like touching solid light. And it had stopped Guy from hitting him. “It worked…” he whispered. He grinned at Guy. “It worked, Guy! It worked!” The green wall faded away and he ran forward to wrap Guy in an embrace. “We can save him!”
Guy shoved him back, scowling. “What are you talking about?”
“This!” He held up his hand to show Guy the glowing metal band. “It’s a ring! I think it’s made of the same metal as the lantern. I got it yesterday, from this old man, he said I was the Torchbearer and I think I’m meant to save Hal! And it can make things! I wished I had a pistol and it made one, right in my hand! And I wanted to see if it would protect us like the Lantern does, but away from the ship. So I got you to take a swing at me. And it worked! Even better than I expected!” Kyle gasped for breath, dizzy with excitement.
“You wanted me to hit you?” Guy scratched his head. “So you don’t really think I’m a coward?”
Kyle shook his head. He’d just discovered an amazing new weapon that could also protect them, and all Guy could think about was that Kyle had called him a coward!
John came up next to him and grabbed his arm. “What did you do?” he asked.
Kyle wrapped John in an embrace, too, needing to share his joy. “I’ve found a way to save Hal!”
* * *
Marshallsea Prison loomed before them, a massive fortress of stone. Kyle took a deep breath and looked at his companions. Guy shrugged. “We’re following you, kid.”
Right. ‘When times are dark, they will look to you.’ Hopefully Uncle Mogo’s oracles weren’t mistaken. “Let’s find a door, then.” They crept around the edge of the building until they found two guards standing at a doorway. Kyle clenched his fist and ran his thumb over the ring around his middle finger. He lifted his hand, pointing the ring towards the men, and let his imagination take over. Rocks, flying through the air...
Two green rocks shot out from the ring, each one smashing a man on the side of the head. Both of them fell to the ground, unconscious.
Kyle looked back at Guy and John. They were both staring in amazement at the guards. “Unbelievable…” John whispered.
“Sure wish we had more of those,” Guy muttered.
“I wish we had more as well,” Kyle sighed. He looked down at the ring on his hand. He could really use the help. But he needed real rings, not rings made of light.
“Ow!” He jerked his hand up when the ring suddenly flared and grew hot.
Two metallic objects bounced on the cobblestones. Guy crouched down and picked them up. There were two rings, identical to Kyle’s, lying on his palm. “I think you got your wish.” He handed a ring to John, then slipped the other on his finger. He held the ring up. A burst of raw energy shot out, arching over the harbor and falling into the ocean. He nodded and grinned. “Nice!”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Keep it under control! We don’t need to draw attention.” Even though it was the middle of the night, there were still people about. Hopefully anyone who saw it would think it was shooting star. Or a drunken hallucination.
They crept further along the wall, then stepped over the unconscious guards to enter the fort. They ended up in a bare hallway, with no indication to where prisoners might be kept. “Now which way?” Kyle said, despair creeping into his mind. Some ‘Torchbearer’ he was turning out to be.
“To the left,” Guy said. “We need to go down a level, then make our way to the north side of the fort. It’s going to be tough, though, because there are a lot of soldiers prowling around down here.”
Kyle frowned. “How do you know that?”
“I was in the Navy, kid. I dragged my share of pirates down here before becoming one myself.” He sighed. “I figure their ghosts are already lining the walls, just waiting with big grins on their faces for me to die here in the end.”
“This won’t be the end,” Kyle said fiercely, pushing away his despair. He took off to the left, with a new resolve that they would succeed, because he was the Torchbearer and he was going to prove to everyone that he could live up to that title. “We’re going to get Hal and get out of here.”
They met more soldiers along the way, and Guy and John got a chance to test their new weapons. John did the same as Kyle, only forming cannon balls rather than rocks, but Guy’s ring just exploded with green light. The last guard he hit wasn’t going to be getting up again, as half his face was splattered on the wall. “Suppose I should tone it back,” Guy muttered as they stepped over the body.
They found the jail cells and knocked out the guards. When the prisoners realized what was happening, they started pleading with Kyle and the others to set them free. But they didn’t have time and the shouts and sobs were going to attract more guards. Kyle held up his ring, pointing at the row of cells, and every man inside suddenly had a bright green gag over his mouth.
“Good idea,” John said.
Kyle ran down the row of prisoners. All of them now frantically clawing at the gags, fear in their eyes. But none of the cells held Hal. “All right, so where’s Hal?”
“Through there,” Guy said, pointing at a door on the end. “They’d most likely keep him in solitary.”
Kyle blasted the door open and went inside.
The room held four more doors, each with a small, barred window. He looked inside the first one, into a tiny cell. It was empty. He ran to the next, but it was empty as well. He found Hal in the third cell.
“Here.” Guy pushed him aside, a ring of keys in his hand. “Got it off the guard.” After trying a few keys, the door swung open and Kyle ran inside.
Hal was battered and unconscious, but he was still alive. He had new bruises over old ones, and blood matted his hair from a still-bleeding gash on the side of his head.
“Hal? Wake up!” Kyle patted his cheeks, but Hal only groaned slightly. “Hal?” He bent down and kissed Hal’s bruised and split lips, not caring that John and Guy were there. “We’re going to get you out of here,” he whispered.
The prisoners started shouting again - the gags must have worn off. Kyle looked up at John and Guy. “We’ll have to carry him out.”
John and Guy each slipped an arm under Hal’s, lifting him to his feet. Hal just sagged against them, his head resting on John’s shoulder. Kyle took a deep breath. They were going to get out of here. They had to get out of here. “All right, let’s go.”
He stepped out of the room and back into the row of cells. “Quiet! All of you!” he shouted. “You’ll alert the guards.” He tossed the ring of keys to the prisoners in the first cell. It was up to them to save themselves if they wished. Kyle was only concerned with getting Hal to safety and the escape of the other prisoners would provide a good distraction.
They went back the way they came, slowed now by Hal’s dead weight. At the end of the final corridor before reaching the outside of the fort-and freedom-Kyle heard the voices of soldiers coming towards them. There was no way they would get out of the fort and away from their pursuers when Hal was still unconscious. He made his decision.
“Go!” Kyle shouted. He shoved Guy and John out the door that led to the entrance they’d come in at. “I’ll hold them off.”
“We’re not leaving you, Kyle,” John said.
Kyle looked at Hal’s bruised face and reached out to touch his hair. According to Mogo’s legends and oracles he may be The Torchbearer, but Hal was The Greatest One. Kyle was sure of it. He was the one who rallied them all together, who saved people from slavery and gave them hope. And maybe it had been Kyle’s entire purpose in life just to be here to return the favor and save Hal.
His hand drifted down to touch Hal’s bruised cheek. I love you. He looked up at Guy. “You have to get him back to the ship. The Emerald Dawn needs her captain. Get him back to the ship and get away from here.”
“He’ll never forgive us if we leave you behind,” John said. “I’ll stay.”
“No, John,” Guy said, shaking his head. “We can’t lose our navigator. I’ll stay.”
Kyle took advantage of their argument to slip back into the hallway. “The ship needs all of you.” They looked up at him just as he slammed the door and slid the bolt into place. “Tell Hal it’s for the good of the crew,” he yelled through the door.
“Kyle!” John shouted from the other side.
Kyle ignored him. He ran back down the corridor, towards the soldiers that were following them.
He waited for them at an intersection. When they spotted him, Kyle held up his fist. Arrows, he thought, and a flight of bright green arrows shot from his ring towards the soldiers. The first few men went down screaming. He turned and ran, deeper into the fort. He had no idea where he was going, but he knew it was away from Hal.
He ended up back in the jail. All of the cells were empty now. He was in a dead end and there was no escape. Hands grabbed him and he tried to twist away, but it was no use. He clenched his fist, pressing his thumb against the ring. He couldn’t let them find it. He had to hide it somehow.
He doubled over, briefly pulling out of the grasp of the soldiers, and in a swift movement slipped the ring from his finger and into his mouth. He swallowed hard and the ring slid down his throat.
A hand grabbed his hair, pulling him upright. “How did you kill those men? Are you a witch?”
“Of course he is,” another man said. “He helped Jordan escape. He’s from that cursed ship.”
“Jordan made a pact with the devil,” another man said. “Maybe he’s a demon?” He crossed himself.
“A demon, are ye?” the soldier holding him said in his ear. “Well, you feel flesh and blood to me.”
Something heavy cracked across the back of Kyle’s head, knocking him unconscious.
* * *
Kyle woke to excruciating pain all through his body, but his head was the worst of it. Throbbing pain pounded in his skull, radiating down into his neck. He lifted his hand to touch his head and found his hair sticky with blood. He rolled on his side and had to take a deep breath to fight down the nausea. He must have been hit in the head, but he couldn’t remember it happening. He couldn’t remember how he got here. The last thing he could recall was pushing John and Guy out the door with Hal…
He looked around the the room. There were a few chairs, some paintings of important looking people on the walls, but it was the desk that drew his attention. Bruce Wayne sat behind it, scribbling away with his quill.
Kyle tried to sit up, but he couldn’t move very far without pain stabbing through his body. His groan got the attention of the man at the desk.
Wayne stood up and walked over to him. The dull expression was gone, replaced by a cold glare from intelligent eyes as he looked down at Kyle. It was like he was a completely different man. “Where is Hal Jordan?” he asked in a deep, gravelly voice.
“Dunno,” Kyle mumbled. He let his head sink back to the floor. “Long gone, I suppose.” At least he hoped so. He squinted up at Wayne. “What do you want with me?”
“Nothing. It’s Jordan I want.”
Kyle frowned. “You made a deal! For the maps! You said you wouldn’t go after him! Or has the Crown lost all sense of honor?”
Wayne laughed. “You need to learn to pay attention, boy! I promised the ship and his crew would go unmolested. I never promised a thing about Jordan.”
Dammit! Kyle closed his eyes for a moment, his battered head trying to come up with … something. “He’s not going to rescue me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Kyle said, trying to make his voice bitter, as if he despised the Captain for abandoning him. “I’m not important.”
The man laughed. “I think you are important. You are his lover.”
Kyle flinched. How did the man know that? He wrinkled his nose. “You’re disgusting! I’m not a sodomite!”
“You really need to work on your lying as well, boy. It’s the eyes that give it away. And you look at Jordan with lust in your eyes. As he does to you.” The man sneered at him. “So you are the perfect bait to get him back.”
Kyle let his head drop back to the floor. “He’s not coming back,” he mumbled. “He won’t risk the ship for one man.” Part of him wanted to believe that, that Hal would leave him behind and get away safely. But another part of him really wanted Hal to burst in and save him in time, because more than anything in the world he wanted to see Hal again.
“Oh, he’ll come back for you,” Wayne said. “It’s his weakness, always putting his own needs first.” He turned to the guards and gestured towards Kyle. They came forward and picked Kyle up off the floor, pulling him to his feet. “And I’m going to leave him a message, about what happens to those who betray the Crown, who break the law and choose to become criminals. A message he’ll understand far better than the threat of his own hanging.”
Wayne reached inside his coat and pulled out a small silver knife. Kyle sucked in his breath and shrank back. Oh, hell…
“I’m part of the crew, you know,” Kyle blurted out, trying to appeal to any sense of honor the man had. “Isn’t this cheating?”
Wayne shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’re part of the crew. You’re Jordan’s whore.” He studied the knife, running his thumb along the blade. “So where should we start? Something Jordan values, I think?” The man reached towards Kyle’s face and when Kyle tried to jerk away, Wayne roughly grabbed his chin, squeezing hard enough that Kyle was sure he’d end up with more bruises. Wayne brought the knife up and pressed it to Kyle’s left cheek, just below his eye. “Your face will certainly feel my blade.”
He jerked his hand away and Kyle hissed as the knife slid across his cheek. His eyes watered and he felt a warm trickle of blood roll over his skin, but he ground his teeth together, determined not to cry out.
“But perhaps we’ll start somewhere that Jordan values even more?” Wayne stepped back and looked at the soldiers. “Remove his clothing. We’ll see if Jordan still wants him if he’s a gelding.”
“No!” Kyle twisted in the grip of the soldiers and managed to kick out, kicking the knife from Wayne’s hand.
One of the guards punched him in the gut and Kyle doubled-over, out of breath. Wayne retrieved the knife and grabbed Kyle by the collar, pulling him close. “Very well. If you prefer, we can skip the prelude and get right down to business.”
Cold pain bit into Kyle’s belly, but it didn’t feel like the punch the guard had given him. He looked down. Wayne’s knife was impaled to the hilt in his gut and a blood stain was growing on his shirt. No…
Wayne jerked the knife out. “It can take hours for a man to die of a belly wound. Days even, if you manage not to bleed to death first.” He wiped the knife on Kyle’s shirt. “But the one certainty is that you will die. Slowly and painfully.” He jerked his head towards the soldiers and they let Kyle go.
Kyle staggered back against the wall, grimacing in pain, his hands pressed over the sticky wetness. Wayne wasn’t lying. Kyle had read about belly wounds in Soranik’s books. It was probably one of the worst ways to die - pain and fever that could last for days as the wound turned septic and slowly killed you. And there was nothing any doctor could do about it. His only hope was that Wayne had hit an artery and he would bleed to death quickly. That would be far preferable to a slow, agonizing death.
His belly felt strange, a tingling spreading out from the wound to the rest of his body. He felt burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. Is this what it felt like to die? He slid down the wall to sit on the floor and looked up at Wayne. “Hal was right,” he said weakly. “You’re a bastard.”
Wayne laughed. “I’ll be sure to remind him of that when he’s dying on the floor next to what’s left of you.” He stepped towards Kyle. “Now, let’s see what we can do with that pretty face.”
Kyle watched him come closer, the knife in his hand. The world started going gray and he tried to fight it, tried to scramble away from the man coming towards him, but his limbs wouldn’t move...
A streak of green light smashed through the door and then Hal was there. He flew into the room, smashing Wayne into the wall. John and Guy followed, taking out the guards. Hal pressed his forearm into Wayne’s neck, pinning him to the wall. “Don’t you touch him!”
Bruce smirked through his bloodied mouth and held up the knife. “Too late.”
Hal grabbed the knife and whirled around. His eyes widened when he saw Kyle. “Kyle!” He ran over to Kyle and dropped to his knees next to him. “Let me see.” He pulled Kyle’s hands away from the wound and tore the shirt open. He grimaced. “Oh, Lord…”
For the first time since Kyle had met him Hal looked frightened and that alone confirmed what Kyle already knew. “I’m going to die, aren’t I Hal?” Kyle mumbled. Hal didn’t get here in time to save him, but at least he got his wish to see him again, even if it was for the last time. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now, when all he wanted to do was look at Hal and try to burn his face into his memory for … well, wherever he was going when he died.
“No.” Hal shook his head and ran his fingers through Kyle’s hair. “No, love. I’m not going to let you die. You’re not going to die.” He looked up. “John! Get him back to the ship!”
“Hal…” Kyle whimpered, trying to grab at Hal’s shirt but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate. He felt other hands on him, then he was looking into John’s worried face.
“I’ve got you,” John said. He stood, lifting Kyle in his strong arms.
Kyle looked back over John’s shoulder at Hal through a haze of gray. The last thing he saw before the world went black was Guy holding Wayne and Hal walking towards them, the silver knife glinting in his hand.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
My au_abc Prompt Table