Who: Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman What: Walk into a Where:Bar Cabin in the woods When: One day. Warnings/Rating: Diana has to put up with two stubborn men. We're going to put her up for canonization.
The cabin was just far enough outside the city to feel disconnected from the world at large, and most people might not have minded that feeling. But for Oliver, it brought back memories of a time on an island, where he had not had a choice about how far away he was from society, how far removed he was from the comforts of a life that had left him ill-prepared for a world where he had to fight to survive. Some might have thought he would be comfortable returning to that sort of environment, but that was far from the truth. Oliver enjoyed the city, the concrete and towering buildings, enjoyed the sleek surfaces and temperature controlled environments. He would have resisted in coming out even more had it not been for a nagging voice that continued to beg him to come out with them.
That nagging voice, of course, belonged to Hal.
So there Oliver was, hiking up to the cabin that was far enough out that you couldn't even drive to it. No, the vehicle had been left some two miles away, a winding trail through trees and brush to the cabin that sat in a clearing, well-maintained and comfortable considering what it was. "You owe me for this," he said to his two companions as they stopped where the trail ended and the clearing began. "And you both will pay for it. I promise you that much." There was truth in his words, but they lacked any sort of malicious intent.
"You knew what you were getting into!" Hal crowed, reaching out to clap Ollie on the back. The universe was full of places, cities, country, places where the architecture was so foreign that it hurt his brain and places where they had never seen any form of what they called technology. But his favorite place was on Earth. Whether they were in Coast City, Gotham, Metropolis, or out here in the middle of a woods, their only neighbors a couple of fat raccoons and a family of possums -- he was happy. Better yet, he was with Ollie, and regardless of whether or not Ollie could be trusted, he was still his best friend.
And maybe it was a little weird to have Diana here, but when he'd thought about this before, he thought about bringing Dinah with. He hadn't spoken to her in weeks though and perhaps, this way, he wouldn't have to listen to them having sex the whole weekend. Win-win. "Whoever falls out of the boat first still has to buy the beer this weekend, buddy. And if it's Diana, you're buying the beer."
Diana was created and raised on an island, far away from man, and she explored many worlds and places since she left. But there was nothing she loved more than the wilderness and the outdoors. There was something appealing about the strangeness in cities, the grit and the manmade metals, but she felt more at ease on the outside. That was her after all, an outsider. A curious and friendly one. She was rarely invited on these journeys of theirs, she knew Hal and Oliver often had them, occasionally with Barry too, in the past. It stood to reason this was a different world, and thus different vacations to be had.
Diana shot Hal an amused look and tossed her long dark hair back over her shoulders. "I will endeavor to make certain you are the one who falls, Hal. I am a trained sailor." She smiled and folded arms against her chest. "Themyscira is an island, you know." At the moment she was dressed very casually, gone native so to speak, in comfortable attire. Her lasso was in her backpack, however. She never left it anywhere. She would wear it all the time, if it was not terribly conspicuous.
She touched Oliver's arm gently as she passed by. It was odd to think of him as a stranger now, he did not know her. But Diana was ever warm. "You will not be sorry, Oliver. Not all of our adventures need to include fists." She moved into the clearing and toward the cabin. Subtly, she did a quick scan of the area, just in case. A warrior never let her guard fully down.
At the slap to his back, Oliver gave a look to Hal that could have soured milk, but it softened quickly as they came into the clearing. "If you're so intent upon beer, you'll buy it yourself," he declared in a voice that was flat, but the slight tick at the corner of his mouth belied a smile he refused to let be seen fully. Part of him knew that this was a bad idea, being out here with them and the questions they would inevitably throw his way. Oliver wished it was different, that they could understand where he was coming from, the world that he had lived in and the things that he had seen. He firmly believed that the JLA was the right thing to do, a check for the powers that could so easily go uncontrolled.
He glanced towards Hal, and then Diana, gaze moving to his arm where she touched him before she moved past towards the cabin that lay some yards away. They seemed normal on the outside, and Oliver did trust them, but he had seen what power unchecked could do, and he didn't want it to come to that. He stopped for a moment, watching as the other two continued forward, his gaze narrowed slightly. It would come to a head, he knew, but Oliver preferred that it happened later rather than sooner. He needed a break as much as anyone did, and this trip was supposed to be just that.
The questions probably would come at some point as Hal was as apt to keep his mouth shut as the sun was to not rise in the morning. But he'd at least give it a try, because he'd given Ollie his word and though the government had stolen his sense from him, Hal was sure they could shove it back in there where it belonged.
'Cause, for all the fighting that he and Ollie did, Hal got it. Or he at least got the theory behind what Ollie was trying to do. The problem was in the reality of it, when the organization he worked for put a Kryptonian girl in a Kryptonite cell to control her. Yeah, that still sat like cow shit on his tongue and he really wanted to rinse the taste out with beer, or failing that, a Green team-up, get Ollie back where he belonged (because there was nothing in the universe, not all 3600 sectors of it that would ever make him believe that Ollie didn't belong with their Justice League and not that giant bag of dicks ripping off their name) and then they could go kick some ass.
He might not be the man with the plan, but he was the man with goals. Goal number one was to get that sour puss look off Ollie's face. "Of the three of us, who can fly?" He said with a grin to the two of them, subtly surveying the area before he marched up to the door and unlocked it with a flourish. "Oh, I want beer, but it's the one you're going to buy. It's not quite as good when you're buying it for yourself."
Diana understood to an extent too. She was born with power, created with power, and it was not a rare thought Oliver had. It was recently that Diana had to use her power in a way most people were not comfortable with. While she was still positive it was the right decision, it turned public favor against her and the Justice League. She was willing to step aside so they could move on. It was not the first time the group split away from one another due to a major disagreement. Bruce being asked to leave was a chief example. Still, she believed in them, and what they could accomplish. She saw proof of it every day, with every world and life they saved.
She was less likely to bring up the tension than Hal. He was all mouth, it was bound to come up. Hopefully after they settled in the cabin and appreciated the scenery first. Diana was used to being surrounded now with stubborn and willful men. She briefly missed the days when she only dealt with women, who were far more reasonable. And there Hal was, already shining a light on their advanced abilities in comparison.
She shot him a withering look and passed by him into the cabin. It was nice and she could easily grow accustomed to time away from Gotham. Diana used the door to move into her own city, and occasionally Metropolis, but more people were in Gotham now. She followed suit. "Since you can fly, you are the better option for flying your way to getting us beverages. We will be kind enough not to mock you when you are serving. Much." She smirked at him and went to inspect the rooms offered, picking one to put her backpack down in it.
"So not only are you dragging me out here against my better wishes, you are also going to make me supply the beer," Oliver said after a moment, one brow lifted in question as they made their way into the cabin and the warmth it provided from the elements. "Something seems wrong with that, if you're asking me." He didn't say anything about the topic of flying that had been brought up, instead watching as Diana moved to pick one of the available rooms, his gaze following after her, heavy with thought.
"What are you two planning?" he finally asked as he turned his attention back towards Hal, dropping his gear on the floor where he stood, glad to have the weight off of his shoulders. "Because I smell something going on and I'd like to know before you ambush me into something."
"Beer. Fishing. Good times." Came the fast reply from Hal. He'd made a promise and while his promises tended to be good only until he decided to break them, he was at least going to try with this one, if for no other reason than to keep Ollie at the cabin for as long as possible. "And you agreed to come, I didn't even have to threaten you," he pointed out as he took the room that would put him between the two of them. If the girl had been someone other than Diana (that whip) he would have tried going to her room instead. Why not? Just cause they were here to catch up with one another didn't mean that he couldn't spend time in the company of a beautiful woman.
Just one, hopefully, that didn't keep a sword and a truth telling whip on her hip. There were limits even for him. "Really, Ollie, she wouldn't let me plan anything that would mean going back on my word," Hal finally said, low and with a nod to the room Diana had gone into. "And when was the last time you spent any time with any of us, except for me? It'll be good for you."
Oliver had a feeling that it couldn't be quite that simple, and with the quick way that Hal answered the question, his suspicions rose even further. But he didn't voice any of that now. If Hal wanted him to believe that this was an innocent trip, then so be it. He'd play along until he saw differently.
With a sigh, Oliver dropped down into a nearby chair, hands laced together, elbows upon his knees. "Last time I checked, most of you don't trust me beyond how far you can throw me. That could explain some of the distance." And the simple fact that beyond Selina, none of them seemed to be from the world he knew. Things were different there, the alliances changed, and it left him on edge even if he hated it. "I'll play along for now," Oliver cautioned him. "I know you didn't have to force me out here, but I'm doing this more for you than anything."
Hal Jordan was luckily wise enough not to try and move into her bed. He would indeed find a dagger for his troubles. This was not a weekend for wooing, it was for honor and friendship, and to make sense of how things got so terribly out of sorts. Diana was struggling to catch up, baffled several times over when she kept being told she was someone else entirely. Someone very different from her. It came at a disturbing point where she handled Max Lord, and to be immediately accused of murder again, well that threw her off. But those were her own concerns, and not to be shared for the time being. She would keep her counsel, until she could speak with Bruce or Kal about it. Then again, they would not understand, being different.
"And we are in a secluded area alone with you, Oliver. You can just as easily ambush us, if you wished," she said as she came back to the common room area. She let down her dark hair and ruffled it slightly, the natural curl in it thick and lush. One would never think her made from clay. Even she thought it strange. "I am a woman of my word. Perhaps some of us need to put our trust in one another, without expecting an immediate response." Diana leaned against the doorway, looking at him thoughtfully. "You trust us at least a little, otherwise you would never have come. We are, after all, the very people you worry about. Overpowered, yes?" That was what he told her. People with superpowers unable to be held accountable to the normal humans.
"Because you're working for the wrong side," Hal started. He'd never been one to hide how he felt about Ollie working for the wrong JLA and he wasn't going to hide it now. Where he came from, Ollie had always been his best friend, hell, even for a time they'd left the JL before, but they'd been together to do justice. Until it felt less like justice and more like the slippery slope of something else entirely and they had to stop. But this Ollie, the one here? Hal had memories of him too, of turning him away because Hal thought he wasn't ready, but he never imagined that Ollie would end up where he was.
"We're your friends, Ollie." And Diana, at least what he could tell of her, was willing to give him more of a chance than Bruce or Kal were. Not that Hal blamed them. He'd been pissed too when Ollie had locked up Kara the way he had.
Oliver didn't say anything for a long while, looking between Diana when she reentered the common area, and then back to Hal not that far away from him. "There's no need for any sort of ambush if you aren't doing something to warrant it," he said after a moment, lacing his fingers together, as calm of a posture as he could adopt, given their circumstances. "And I know that you're my friends," he continued after another moment of quiet, "but even friends don't always see eye to eye on things. And yet they're still able to accept one another despite their differences." Oliver gave a shake of his head, leaning back against the back of the chair. "Can we not talk about it for a while? Attempt to put some of that behind us and enjoy the weekend, as it were?" Oliver couldn't speak for Hal or Diana, but he knew it wasn't something he was going to be able to put out of his mind. He was still wary, particularly of Diana, though he did his best to hide that wariness, that suspicion that often clouded his gaze.
Diana was not close to Oliver the way Hal and Dinah were, but she did consider him a friend and ally. They all earned their place in the JLA, and to work together there meant trust, it meant respect. He had always been an opinionated man. She was still troubled with what she heard about his involvement with Kara, but they had a good talk about it, and she understood his reasons. She did not agree, but she understood. Just as she got why Bruce and Clark disliked him. It was a difficult situation with no easy answer.
"Friends disagree, yes. Frequently, in fact." Diana smiled wryly and glanced over to Hal. "I seem to recall the two of you in our world had a rocky beginning. Always bickering." It went from tense bickering to affectionate eventually, but they were all strong and determined people. "Disagreeing is one thing, but we may stand on different sides of a battle, and that is a concern I think for all of us." So far outside of the Kara incident, she had not heard of him needing to take aggressive action against them. But it was possible.
Still, she nodded at his suggestion. "I think it is healthy for us all to take a break from the subjects weighing us down. If nothing else, Oliver, I would like you to get to know me. This me." He was worried about the super powered people, and she was one of them. He had no reason to immediately trust her, but Diana was ever for proving herself.
Hal wanted to say that this was more than not seeing eye to eye on things, the words were right there on the tip of his tongue, and instead of letting them loose, he bit down until he tasted blood. He'd made a promise and while it was more than likely that he'd be the first of them to break it. "Yeah," he finally said, rough and gruff, gaze turning from Ollie before he was tempted to say it all again and towards Diana. She was far prettier anyway.
"Oh, we still bicker." Nearly constantly, until something came along that was important enough to the both of them to get them to stop. It was then that they worked best together, all their long years having fought at one another's side obvious. He grinned, then turned back to Ollie to mouth, 'Watch out for the whip.' 'Cause yeah, he'd gone there once, totally hit on Diana and put his hand on that whip by accident -- never again. He'd avoid that thing at all costs.
"As much as I agree, Diana, I think we can do it out by the lake. Catch some dinner unless we want to order pizza tonight."
No, this wasn't the time or place to be going over the things that had them standing on different sides of a very distinct line, and if Diana and Hal wanted to push it to the side for the moment, he wasn't going to argue that point. Far too often, he had his face rubbed into what he was doing as though that might get him to agree that he was wrong. It had been a long while since he had been able to relax, to let some of the tension drain out of his shoulders. The days of the carefree playboy were long over, but there were more than a few days that he missed that time in his life, when the biggest worry he had was remembering the name of the woman he had brought to bed the night before.
"Let's go outside, then," he said easily, not commenting on the rest of it, though he did give a nod to Hal's word of caution about the whip. Oliver had no intention of letting his hands come near it, afraid of what he might say under its influence. "I'll get the lines baited and ready." And then he was out of the cabin and into the brisk air, letting the door close behind him without another word. The fishing rods were found, baited, and he waited near the edge of the lake nearby for the ones he wasn't entirely sure were his friends or his enemies.
Diana gave a long suffering sigh and looked at Hal. "It's the lariat of Hestia, more commonly known as a lasso, although yes, I can use it as a whip." The lasso was more useful when she wanted to restrain someone or use the power of truth to get information. She was a warrior, but she took peaceful routes whenever possible. The lasso accomplished that well. When she first crossed over with Bruce, he agreed to hold it, to prove who he was. It worked for her. The lasso was very powerful and had yet to fail her.
"The point is, do not listen to him, it is usually harmless." She would not use it against him unless absolutely necessary. Then again perhaps he should be concerned, since she would use it. But not on their camping trip. Diana watched Oliver walk off toward the lake, and let some of her cheerful veneer drop. Her expression was more somber when she approached Hal and put a hand on his shoulder. "Try not to push, my friend. He is as tense as the bow he carries right now."
"Just keep the whip ready," Hal said to her as soon as her cheer dropped. Lasso, whip, whatever. Ollie was afraid of it and Hal suspected that he knew exactly why. They'd had too many years together, he knew too damn much about Ollie to honestly believe that this was what his friend wanted. The lasso could prove that.
"I'm good at pushing," he added, quietly, watching Ollie through the kitchen window. He'd been pushing since he'd found out that Ollie was on the wrong team, and there was little chance that he wouldn't keep pushing until Ollie switched sides. But, this was more about reminding his bestie about who they were, not whatever monsters that the Government wanted to paint them as. "He's always been one of us, Diana. He might have forgotten that, the others might not know it, but I remember. They don't get to fucking have him."
Sheer stubborn willpower had a name and it was Hal fucking Jordan. He gave her a wink before opening up the door to join his friend outside.