Code Vermilion
Title: Code Vermilion
Author/Artist: kerrykhat
Claim: Barbara Gordon
Theme: Vermilion
Theme Set: #6 Colors
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Warner Bros owns DC Comics, Disney owns Marvel, I own my JLU DVDs.
Summary: Barbara calls in a heavy hitter to get her team out of a code vermilion situation - whatever that may mean.
Barbara Gordon was not having a good day. Granted, she didn't have many good days given the nature of her job as the call center of the world's superheroes and the showrunner of her own little group, but this day was ranking lower than most.
"O, we're drawing heavy fire over here," Dinah shouted over the comm. "It's not code red just yet, but we're getting there. More like a code vermilion if anything else. We need backup ASAP if we want to get out of here without any major injuries."
"Give me just a few seconds, Canary," she replied, ignoring Dinah's attempts at humor. Her eyes quickly scanned the list of names before her, trying to decide who she should call to help provide reinforcements for Dinah, Zinda, and Helena. There was only one superhero on the list who could possibly get there in time, but he wasn't one she had worked with before and she had heard some interesting things about him from some of the others who had. Glaring at the blinking script, she sighed loudly.
"Of course, it's not like you have many options, Babs," she muttered to herself as her fingers flew over the keyboard, using several of the satellites she'd converted to her use to try and track him down. Fortunately for her, he was only about ten miles from where her team was trapped. Hoping that she wouldn't freak him out too much, she quickly hacked into Iron Man's armor.
~*~*~
Of all the things Tony Stark expected to happen on a routine flight around Los Angeles, a strange green mask appearing in his helmet and a computerized voice filling his ears was not even close to making the list.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, wondering if he should land.
"My name is Oracle," the voice told him. "Think of me as as a superhero dispatcher. And this was the best way to contact you, Mr. Stark. It's not like you left your a forwarding number for when you're out."
"What do you want?" he asked. "You don't just hack into somebody's armor for kicks."
"Actually, I would do it as a challenge, but I need your help this time," the voice said. "My team of operatives is currently under fire in a warehouse about ten miles from where you are and I've been informed that it is a 'code vermilion.' I need you to help them take care of the human smugglers we've been trying to take down. I'm sending you their coordinates."
"Wait, I didn't even tell you if I was going to do this or not!" Tony protested, wondering what exactly a code vermilion was. Suddenly, his armor jerked and he found himself veering off to the left. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"Tapping into your armor was child's play, Mr. Stark. From there, it's only a short step to taking complete control," Oracle explained. "I'm not about to leave my team that position. I don't want to take control, but I will if I have to."
"I never said I wasn't going to help! Just send me the damn coordinates!" His helmet beeped and he saw a map of Los Angeles with a red dot blinking at him and he felt control of his armor return to him. "Thank you," he said somewhat snarkily.
"You're welcome," Oracle replied, the snark there even through the mechanized voice. "I'm sending you pictures of my operatives so that you don't accidentally shoot then while you're trying to get the bad guys."
"This armor is a precision weapon," Tony tried to explain as he sped towards where Oracle was directing him. "I don't just take out people en-mass."
"There's a first time for everything."
"Aren't you just a barrel of laughs," Tony muttered as he put on a burst of speed. He arrived at the location within moments, quickly spotting the three women whose pictures Oracle had sent him.
"Hey, guys," he said, landing behind the group of men firing guns. "Mind if I join the party?" The men stopped firing for a moment to stare at Tony before some turned on him. The women used this distraction to dart from where they had been taking cover and turn the tables on their attackers. It was over in a few seconds, the human traffickers on the ground moaning in pain if they weren't already unconscious.
One of the women, who he recognized as Black Canary, walked up to him, and gave him a tired smile while the other two began cuffing the men.
"You're the only one Oracle could scrounge up at the last minute?" she asked in a dry voice. "I now see what calling in a code vermilion gives me."
"It not even a real code threat, Canary," Oracle's voice said through everyone's comms. "And I managed to get everybody out alive."
"Skipper's gotcha there," the other blonde woman interjected, straightening up and adjusting her hat. Canary shook her head and began walking over to join her teammates.
"Thanks for the assist, Stark," Canary called out over her shoulder. Tony watched them go until a thought suddenly hit him.
"Is Oracle just some high tech version of Charlie and you're his angels?" he yelled out. "You know, since you are a trio of very beautiful ladies working for an unseen boss." The sole brunette of the group turned around and smirked at him.
"Please. We're no angels," she answered. "And Oracle is definitely no Charlie."
~*~*~
"Iron Man? Really, Babs?" Dinah asked later that evening over a slice of pizza. They had flown back to Metropolis in Aerie One relatively unscathed from their shootout, which Barbara counted as a win for them.
"Code vermilion?" Barbara shot back.
"I thought it worked!" Dinah protested. "Vermilion is somewhere between orange and red after all."
"And I thought Stark would work," Barbara answered, taking another slice for herself.
"He was the only one, wasn't he?" Helena asked with a raised eyebrow. Barbara shot her an annoyed look but didn't answer.
"What I wanna know, skipper, is what code ranks a rescue by Superman?" Zinda asked, grabbing a new bottle of her favorite beer. "I mean, if close to code red gets us Iron Man, how bad does it need to be to get Big Blue to come save our asses?"
"That would be code oh-my-God-I'm-about-to-die."
Author/Artist: kerrykhat
Claim: Barbara Gordon
Theme: Vermilion
Theme Set: #6 Colors
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Warner Bros owns DC Comics, Disney owns Marvel, I own my JLU DVDs.
Summary: Barbara calls in a heavy hitter to get her team out of a code vermilion situation - whatever that may mean.
Barbara Gordon was not having a good day. Granted, she didn't have many good days given the nature of her job as the call center of the world's superheroes and the showrunner of her own little group, but this day was ranking lower than most.
"O, we're drawing heavy fire over here," Dinah shouted over the comm. "It's not code red just yet, but we're getting there. More like a code vermilion if anything else. We need backup ASAP if we want to get out of here without any major injuries."
"Give me just a few seconds, Canary," she replied, ignoring Dinah's attempts at humor. Her eyes quickly scanned the list of names before her, trying to decide who she should call to help provide reinforcements for Dinah, Zinda, and Helena. There was only one superhero on the list who could possibly get there in time, but he wasn't one she had worked with before and she had heard some interesting things about him from some of the others who had. Glaring at the blinking script, she sighed loudly.
"Of course, it's not like you have many options, Babs," she muttered to herself as her fingers flew over the keyboard, using several of the satellites she'd converted to her use to try and track him down. Fortunately for her, he was only about ten miles from where her team was trapped. Hoping that she wouldn't freak him out too much, she quickly hacked into Iron Man's armor.
~*~*~
Of all the things Tony Stark expected to happen on a routine flight around Los Angeles, a strange green mask appearing in his helmet and a computerized voice filling his ears was not even close to making the list.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, wondering if he should land.
"My name is Oracle," the voice told him. "Think of me as as a superhero dispatcher. And this was the best way to contact you, Mr. Stark. It's not like you left your a forwarding number for when you're out."
"What do you want?" he asked. "You don't just hack into somebody's armor for kicks."
"Actually, I would do it as a challenge, but I need your help this time," the voice said. "My team of operatives is currently under fire in a warehouse about ten miles from where you are and I've been informed that it is a 'code vermilion.' I need you to help them take care of the human smugglers we've been trying to take down. I'm sending you their coordinates."
"Wait, I didn't even tell you if I was going to do this or not!" Tony protested, wondering what exactly a code vermilion was. Suddenly, his armor jerked and he found himself veering off to the left. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"Tapping into your armor was child's play, Mr. Stark. From there, it's only a short step to taking complete control," Oracle explained. "I'm not about to leave my team that position. I don't want to take control, but I will if I have to."
"I never said I wasn't going to help! Just send me the damn coordinates!" His helmet beeped and he saw a map of Los Angeles with a red dot blinking at him and he felt control of his armor return to him. "Thank you," he said somewhat snarkily.
"You're welcome," Oracle replied, the snark there even through the mechanized voice. "I'm sending you pictures of my operatives so that you don't accidentally shoot then while you're trying to get the bad guys."
"This armor is a precision weapon," Tony tried to explain as he sped towards where Oracle was directing him. "I don't just take out people en-mass."
"There's a first time for everything."
"Aren't you just a barrel of laughs," Tony muttered as he put on a burst of speed. He arrived at the location within moments, quickly spotting the three women whose pictures Oracle had sent him.
"Hey, guys," he said, landing behind the group of men firing guns. "Mind if I join the party?" The men stopped firing for a moment to stare at Tony before some turned on him. The women used this distraction to dart from where they had been taking cover and turn the tables on their attackers. It was over in a few seconds, the human traffickers on the ground moaning in pain if they weren't already unconscious.
One of the women, who he recognized as Black Canary, walked up to him, and gave him a tired smile while the other two began cuffing the men.
"You're the only one Oracle could scrounge up at the last minute?" she asked in a dry voice. "I now see what calling in a code vermilion gives me."
"It not even a real code threat, Canary," Oracle's voice said through everyone's comms. "And I managed to get everybody out alive."
"Skipper's gotcha there," the other blonde woman interjected, straightening up and adjusting her hat. Canary shook her head and began walking over to join her teammates.
"Thanks for the assist, Stark," Canary called out over her shoulder. Tony watched them go until a thought suddenly hit him.
"Is Oracle just some high tech version of Charlie and you're his angels?" he yelled out. "You know, since you are a trio of very beautiful ladies working for an unseen boss." The sole brunette of the group turned around and smirked at him.
"Please. We're no angels," she answered. "And Oracle is definitely no Charlie."
~*~*~
"Iron Man? Really, Babs?" Dinah asked later that evening over a slice of pizza. They had flown back to Metropolis in Aerie One relatively unscathed from their shootout, which Barbara counted as a win for them.
"Code vermilion?" Barbara shot back.
"I thought it worked!" Dinah protested. "Vermilion is somewhere between orange and red after all."
"And I thought Stark would work," Barbara answered, taking another slice for herself.
"He was the only one, wasn't he?" Helena asked with a raised eyebrow. Barbara shot her an annoyed look but didn't answer.
"What I wanna know, skipper, is what code ranks a rescue by Superman?" Zinda asked, grabbing a new bottle of her favorite beer. "I mean, if close to code red gets us Iron Man, how bad does it need to be to get Big Blue to come save our asses?"
"That would be code oh-my-God-I'm-about-to-die."