Hal Jordan/Green Lantern (highballjordan) wrote in dc_heroes,
@ 2010-09-20 11:14:00

Entry tags:

"rebirth", carol ferris, green lantern hal jordan

Awakenings
First, there is pain.

/Begone, Spirit of Vengeance/

The pain begins at the same time the chanting does. He can feel himself being torn apart at the seams, a feeling unfamiliar after so long as one who cannot feel pain. His alter-ego tries in vain to keep hold of him, but soon enough he finds himself adrift in the sea of darkness.

The chanting grows louder, more urgent and the pain in his stomach, his mind and his heart become nearly unbearable, followed by a sharp pain in his eyes and across his body.

Still, he struggles toward the rhythmic voices, unwilling to let this this deter him. He can feel the wind on his face, like when he's flying followed by the rain.

Nearly five years after his death, Hal Jordan climbs out of his grave, casting his eyes on the world around him.

The first thing he sees are bodies.

Scrambling out of the hole in the earth, Hal runs off into the Coast City night, naked, wet and afraid.

He has to find somethng or someone that can make this make sense.

He has to find Carol.

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highballjordan
2010-09-22 03:50 am UTC (link)

"Looks like someone already caught the snarky-Ceo cooties, so the death cooties might be invalid." Hal snarks as she leaves.

He laughs at that, the first laugh he's had all evening. Carol still has some magic after all.

He changes his clothes, then downs the coffee so quickly he can still feel the burn when he goes into the living room. The chill in his bones is nearly gone and now Hal can focus on other things.

He's glad to be alive, even if it means possibly being Public Enemy Number One for awhile. He sneaks up behind Carol adopts his best Australian accent.

"Crikey! Look what I've found! The Cranky CEO in her natural habitat! Yes, mate, she's drop dead gorgeous, even if she threatens to shoot you over the phone, but have you ever tried to get her to crack a smile?

It's like trying to get blood from a stone sometimes!" he quips.

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	ferris_ceo 2010-09-22 04:26 am UTC (link)
	"Because I'm a Zombie Hunter in my other life." Carol had assembled a collection of warmed up takeout from the last week, egg rolls, enchiladas, lasagna, a green salad, garlic bread and wonton. "I keep the blood stone in my office to show that only I can do it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-22 04:35 am UTC (link)
	"All I ever wanted was your heart, Carol." Hal quips. The smell of the food hits the air, however, and the only sound that can be heard in the room is the rumbling of Hal's stomach. "You might want to subtract what you're going to eat first, because I assure you, I've got five years' worth of appetite ready to go." he grins. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-22 04:55 am UTC (link)
	"Eat." She gave the order with a smile. "You always had my heart. But that's old history, Hal. You're getting a chance for a fresh start." She reached out to smooth the hair at his temples. "You even look different. Younger." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

highballjordan
2010-09-22 05:22 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, I am. It makes me think a lot about what I should be doing with it, and who I should do it with." he says, sitting down to eat.

"So you saw it, too? The grandpa stripes are gone and I'm not crazy?" he asks, before taking his first bite.

"I feel younger. I feel...better than I did before I died. Is that even possible?" he asks, wishing he could talk to Clark about it. This whole thing was completely surreal.

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	ferris_ceo 2010-09-22 05:28 am UTC (link)
	"It looks like it's possible." Carol shook her head a bit. She'd like the gray at the temples. Hal died and grew younger while she was still five years older. Her mirror showed her the evidence every morning. "We'll figure it out. I just want you to be okay." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-22 12:32 pm UTC (link)
	"When I get some things settled, I'd like to talk to you about some things." Hal says. "In the meantime, thank you for dinner." he smiles, and begins eating. Soon enough, he's cleaved through most of everything she put there and he's still going. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-22 02:16 pm UTC (link)
	Carol sat at the table with him and watched. She couldn't do anything else. Now that she was sitting, the shock returned. Hal was alive. Eating in her kitchen. Flirting as always. Younger. "You know where to find me. I'm still owned by the company." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-23 12:52 am UTC (link)
	"Well, we'll have to talk to that Cranky CEO about your vacation time. You look like someone who could use a night time flight or two." Hal grins at the memory. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 01:23 am UTC (link)
	"I don't know about that. She's a hardass. The employees all complain that she expects too much." She knew exactly what memory he had and experienced a moment of sadness. Was she even that person anymore? "You're getting ahead of yourself, Hal. Slow down and let's get you declared not dead first." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-23 01:35 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, she's definitely a hardass, but with good reason." Hal says. "That could take months, Carol, and who knows how long I've got left? There's a lot of things that have to get sorted out, most especially things with the Lanterns." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 02:03 am UTC (link)
	"Are you saying you've only been given a short reprieve?" Her brows narrowed in thought. "What do you remember?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

highballjordan
2010-09-23 02:40 am UTC (link)

"Not much, really. Darkness, a lot pain...then the rain and the cold. I remember a few things that happened when I was the Spectre, but all of that just seems like a life I never really lived." Hal says.

"When I crawled out of the coffin, there were dead people on the ground Carol. I don't even know how they got there. I just knew I had to get out of there before someone saw me, because even I couldn't explain that away." he tells her.

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ferris_ceo
2010-09-23 03:11 am UTC (link)

"It'll be in the news tomorrow, as well as the fact your grave's been disturbed. Maybe I shouldn't wait until tomorrow to call Jim and ask him to come here. It'll be worse for some pack of media harpies to descend on him." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You're never dull, Hal. Infuriating at times, but not dull. I left a message for Ollie to get in touch with me, but I didn't want to tell him too much in case someone else heard it."

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highballjordan
2010-09-23 03:30 am UTC (link)

"Well, we may have a little bit of lead time before anyone knows who's grave it was. Someone smashed my headstone." Hal tells her.

"I don't want you, Jim or Ollie getting harrassed about me, okay? If anyone asks you, just tell them you don't know anything and you haven't seen me. A lot of people who knew me will probably look at you and Ollie first, followed by Jim. Jim and Ollie can handle themselves, though.

Not saying you can't, but people are going to assume because I worked for you and...well, we've been friends and more for a long time." he says.

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	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 03:58 am UTC (link)
	"I don't worry about what people assume." She was a little insulted. "After all this time, anybody coming around asking about you isn't looking for a story. They'll be after you for other reasons. I can deal with it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-23 04:14 am UTC (link)
	"Carol, I appreciate you being willing to stand up for me, but if it's a Lantern or some psycho like Black Hand, I'd rather you not." Hal says. It's completely okay for him to risk himself to protect or save her, but he won't stand for her ending up in danger because of him. "I just don't want to bring trouble to your door." he says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 04:19 am UTC (link)
	"You're years too late for that one, Jordan, and you weren't always around. This damsel learned to save herself. Do you seriously think that all your enemies and friends visited your grave and didn't consider that maybe you weren't in it?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

highballjordan
2010-09-23 04:58 am UTC (link)

"Well, as far as the hero community goes, I died in pretty public fashion and only a few people knew what I was into after that. I'm sure more than a couple checked to make sure I was /really/ dead." Hal says. Batman shoots to the top of the list of that group.

Bruce and Hal had never liked each other much, because they were polar opposites, despite their seeming similarities.

"And I'm back /now/, so making sure you're safe is something I'm going to be doing, so you might as well get used to it, Ferris." Hal says.

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	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 05:04 am UTC (link)
	"Big talk coming from a walking corpse wearing my old sweats!" she shot back. As soon as she heard the words, she covered her mouth to hide a laugh. She was tired and stressed, and he was still pushing her buttons. "What is it about you that turns me back into that eight year old scolding some runty kid sneaking onto my dad's airfield?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	highballjordan 2010-09-23 05:13 am UTC (link)
	"The same thing that makes that runty kid want to push those buttons until you realize that I'm going to do what I do best and you're going to live with it." Hal chuckles. "You know, Carol...I know we talked about how I wanted to get into your pants once before, but..." he looks down at the sweats. "This went a little further than my thoughts on the matter did." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ferris_ceo 2010-09-23 05:55 am UTC (link)
	"That would be the Hal Jordan version of 'be careful what you wish for'." She turned her head to keep from laughing at the faded yellow pants and saw the time display on the microwave. "I have a business meeting in six hours. If I'm not sharp, Wayne Industries will end up owning my airfield and I'll be on salary." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

highballjordan
2010-09-23 06:04 am UTC (link)

"Wayne Industries? How did you end up working with them? Bruce Wayne doesn't seem like the type to be interested in aerospace stuff." Hal says, simply playing off of what people know about Bruce Wayne, the man.

"Besides, it probably won't be Wayne at the meeting anyway. He's usually too busy seducing some heiress and then giving her the kiss off after a week or two." Hal says.

Carol's way too smart to fall for a jerk like that.

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ferris_ceo
2010-09-23 06:24 am UTC (link)

"Not that I need your advice when it comes to business matters, but Wayne Industries and Ferris Air are working out an arrangement to share a bid on a government contract."

She favored Hal with an exasperated look. She was way too smart, and Bruce Wayne had hardly been a jerk. Once the ground rules were set, she found him to be a likable person. "I submitted the proposal after Bruce and I talked at a charity function. He attended the other two meetings between Wayne Industries and Ferris Air."

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	highballjordan 2010-09-24 01:22 am UTC (link)
	"Bruce is it?" Hal asks, and there might be a little bit of surprised edge in his tone. "Look, I've just heard about how that guy is and I don't want to see him try any of that on you." Hal tells her. Because then he'd have to throw Batman into the sun with his ring, and that...that wouldn't be a good way to start his second chance at life. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)