Title: Green Frogs and Ice Maidens.
Author: Erika
Pairing: Green Lantern/Iceman.
Rating: Slash m/m
Disc: The X-men characters are owned by Marvel and company.  The JLA characters are the property of DC comics and their associated companies.
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com
Summary:  Piazza, movie and guns.
Series: Heroes and Consequence
Beta Reader: Mofalle and jamwired.
http://www.geocities.com/carlajanep/Erika/EEpart00.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EvilChild

Green Frogs and Ice Maidens
by Erika

A week had passed since Kyle had shown Bobby his comic book sketches.  Since then, they’d been constantly talking on the phone, exchanging ideas.  Bobby, a fanatic comic book reader, would call Kyle at all hours of the night to discuss the rough Kyle had sent him via fax.  For the first time in his life, Kyle knew what it was like to have a groupie. He liked the feeling.

Kyle went over to the closet, trying to decide what to wear.  Bobby had invited him over for the weekend. Just guys relaxing, he shook his head. He had the ring. Why worry? He could change his appearance at any time, and it wasn't like he was going on a date or anything. He went and picked up his sketch pad. Kyle powered his ring, and soon afterwards, his body was covered by the Green Lantern uniform.  Using his ring, Kyle miniaturized the sketch pad and put it in his pocket.  Hopefully he wouldn't bump into Batman while he was in Gotham.  Kyle walked over to his oak table. He knocked on wood just in case.

An hour flight, and he was in Gotham City, looking for the apartment building owned by Wayne Tech.  He followed the map Bobby had drawn for him.  Upon finding the apartment, Kyle's first thought was Either Bobby is earning a lot of money as an accountant, or Batz is helping him pay for the place.

He touched down on the terrace and knocked on the glass patio door.  A flustered Bobby appeared, opening the door, babbling about dinner and peaches.  Kyle found himself holding up his hand to stop Bobby from rambling further.  He stared at his friend who was blushing and whose hair was sticking out in all directions.  The apron Bobby wore was covered in spaghetti sauce.   Kyle found himself chuckling, then laughing outright, holding onto his sides.

"Laugh all you want.  I got attacked by our dinner, and there's no way I am going to get Spaghetti sauce out of the ceiling.  There goes my deposit."  Bobby moaned dramatically, stepping aside and allowing Kyle to enter.

"I'll help clean up.  So, I guess dinner is out?" Kyle asked, trying to control his grin.

"Nah ... it's salvageable.  Come on.  Come on ... use the ringie and clean up the place," Bobby said as he pushed Kyle toward the kitchen.

"Yes, master." Kyle teased.  Along the way, Kyle quickly glanced around, finding the apartment mostly bare: a TV, a couch, books scattered around, one plant, an ant farm... "Bobby, you have an ant farm?"

"Yeah, there's a no pet policy here.  I had to smuggle them in."

For some reason, this logic made perfect sense to Kyle.  They moved into the kitchen that had spaghetti sauce splattered all over.  He looked over at Bobby who had started to fidget.

"I closed the lid, and went to eat a peach, and BOOM. The lid came off and splattered." He motioned to the stains, "all over."

Kyle waited for him to leave the kitchen and when Bobby headed out to the living room the Leaguer set about to clean the place.  He created six green elves resembling the JLA heroes; they carried mops and towels with them and were singing the tune ‘Whistle will you work.’ The JLA-resembling elves cleaned the kitchen from the floor to the ceiling. "Spotless once again,” Kyle call out to Bobby.

"Thank you, Mr. Clean."  Bobby called out to him from the living room.

"Hey, Bobby, we’re not eating this? Are we?" Kyle asked looking at the pan containing the spaghetti sauce.

Bobby came back to the kitchen, carrying a cell phone.  "Nah. Don’t worry. How about Pizza? Hawaiian, Veggie or Meat?"

"All three."

Bobby grinned at Kyle and made the order.  Kyle took out the miniaturized sketch pad from one of his pockets. Using the power ring, he transformed the pad to its original shape and changed into normal civilian clothes.  "Hey, Bobby."

 "Yeah?"

"This is a really nice place." At those words, Bobby just raised an eyebrow. "I mean it's, um ..."

"It's okay. Batz pays for it." Ignoring Kyle's incredulous stare, he continued.  "He said I need a place that lets me have as many exits as possible -- without drawing attention to myself. Hence the terrace."

"You two seem pretty chummy."  Kyle found himself saying.

"Nah.  They just want to keep an eye on me. I mean there is no way the Bat family is going to allow me to get into trouble.  Also there's a no power policy here.  Can't use them except to save a life or protect myself ... something or another."  Seeing Kyle's puzzled expression, Bobby explained.  "I think you must have missed the meeting when they discussed this, Kyle."

"They?"

"The Leaguers.  The only person who doesn’t attract super-human villains is Batty.  And there was no way Batz was going to let me go by myself.  Think about it. I can't breath underwater. Everyone thought it'd be too dangerous for me to room with Plastic Man -- I think, I heard J'onn murmur something about the Earth's demise.  Wally is married.  Newlywed you know.  Wondy's island has a no man's policy. Mind you, I did offer to wear a dress.  Though, Diana did offer to take me up with her in Gateway City, but Supes, Aqua and even Batz said no." Bobby paused, titled his head to the side and raised a questioning eyebrow at Kyle. "J'onn just smiled when that happened. Weird.  And you weren't there, so they couldn’t ask you."

Kyle stared at Bobby in shock, his mouth hanging open.  Drake went over to him and raised his hand to close Kyle's open mouth. His eyes twinkled in mischief.

"Oh..." Kyle looked at him, breathing in Bobby's scent -- a mixture of soap and spices.

"So, I figure pizza, movie, bar, darts and ogle some chicks. Not in that order necessarily, but it's a fail proof plan. Yes?"

"Yeah, sure." Kyle found himself agreeing, his emotions in complete turmoil. What the hell is going on? He moved back to the living room, telling himself to forget about it.

Five hours later.

"So. What’d you think?" Kyle asked Bobby as they left the movie theater.

"Huh?" Bobby just kept staring at him, shaking his head. "Sorry. I think I may have lost my hearing back there. What’d you say?"

Kyle reached in his pocket and took out a package of gum. He unwrapped the gum, reached over to Bobby and stuck a gum stick into Bobby’s mouth. "Chew." He told him.

Bobby just blinked several times at him and then started chewing carefully. "Um ... thanks."

They had started walking towards a sports bar near the theater when they heard a commotion coming from one of the alleys.  It sounded like people fighting. Bobby spit out his gum as they both ran forward, checking for danger.  There they found two skinheads standing over a homeless man, using him as a punching bag.

"No powers, Kyle," Bobby whispered to him.

"But ..." He can't be serious, Kyle thought.

"I promised Batman, no powers. Cover my back. I'll take care of this."

Bobby had informed the Leaguers that the X-men had trained with and without the use of their powers, but this was the first time Kyle had observed this.  Now he understood what Harper meant about the danger of "guys with tights" relying too much on their enhanced powers, ignoring the importance of knowing hand-to-hand combat.

Rushing forward, Kyle and Bobby quickly dispatched of the two skinheads, leaving them unconscious on the floor.  Catching their breaths, they turned to help the homeless man get up, checking him for injuries, when a shot was fired.  Four more skinheads had arrived ready to help their fallen compatriots.  Bobby quickly encased the men heading toward them in ice. 

"Damn." Kyle heard Bobby say. Before Kyle could make any other comments, he noticed how the building in front of him seemed to change shape. It went from being a three to a five story building.  Kyle moved beside Bobby. He pressed the comm. link on his watch. "Oracle." Kyle called to the JLA member.

Soon a woman’s voice could be heard over the comm. link. "Yes?"

"Oracle, it’s Kyle. I’m in Gotham city with Bobby. Call for back up. There’s … I think we are experiencing a dimensional shift. The buildings in front of me are changing shape." That was all that Kyle was able to reveal when suddenly the end of the alley was engulfed in light. 

"Kyle." Bobby shouted in warning as he reached over and pulled Kyle behind a garbage dump.

They both stood and watched as a vortex opened up in front of them. Soon an invisible force picked Bobby up, separating him from Kyle and dragging the X-man toward it.

"No!" Kyle shouted as he immediately tackled Bobby from behind, holding him down and shooting green rays toward the light.  He saw several bat-a-rangs fly into the vortex. He knew backup had finally arrived.  The light in front of them continued to flicker on and off, then disappeared.

With the danger now gone, Kyle got up off the floor. "Bobby?"  Kyle called to Drake.

"You didn't have to hit so hard, you know."  Bobby looked at Kyle through half-closed eyes.  "Let me up."

A slightly embarrassed Kyle helped Drake get up.  "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." They both turned around and looked at Batman who was standing behind them.

"I thought I said no powers." Batman told Bobby in a raspy voice.

"They had a gun," argued Bobby, still dazed from the tackle.

They were the only ones in the alley. The skinheads were gone, scattered ice shards the only indicator that they had been there, and the homeless man had ran away.

"So, does anybody know what the hell that was?"  Kyle found himself asking.

"I don't know, but it wanted me," answered Drake, looking at the spot where moments ago a circle of light had tried to drag him in.

"Could it be..."  Batman started to say and then stopped.

"What?" asked Bobby.

"We need to get you to the Tower.  I need to discuss some things with J'onn." With those words, Batman turned around and with the use of his comm. called to his Batmobile.  Kyle stared after him in shock.  That was the longest sentence he had heard come from Batman's lips.

As the Batmobile approached, Batman turned around and spoke to Kyle.  "You're going to have to make your own way to the Tower. I'll take Robert with me."

Bobby just shrugged his shoulders and got into the car, leaving Kyle behind.

Damn! What the hell is going on, thought Kyle as he watched his teammates depart.

He was late. Very late.  Kyle knew they had started the meeting without him, but it had taken him time to reach JLA headquarters located on Earth's moon.  Upon arriving, he first went to the conference room only to discover it empty.  He made his way to the lab and found Superman and J'onn looking over some data. Batman was in the far corner with Arthur, looking up at the screen that showed Diana talking with Bobby in the practice room.

"What's going on?"  Kyle asked.

"We're just going to test some theories."  Superman answered, glancing at the screen, concern for his teammates clearly written on his face.

"Okay. Everyone ready?" Hearing Superman's question, Diana and Bobby nodded to the camera and took their position.  "Now!"

Kyle remembered they had done this before, tested Bobby's endurance and control.  Sometimes Bobby had been paired with another Leaguer or he was made to defend by himself. The reports had shown that while Bobby did have control over his powers, there was still some untapped potential within him.

Looking at Bobby and Diana as they continued to fight heavy machinery, Kyle wondered why Bobby stayed in his human form, dodging the rays.  Unexpectedly something hit Diana, and she cried out. Upon hearing her, Bobby changed to his ice form and hurried to protect her. 

Kyle felt the tension in the room increase, and that was when he saw it.  A shift.  A flux.  A flickering in the structure, changing back and forth, showing both the practice room and the moon's surface.  A light appeared, and before it could take hold of Bobby, Flash left his hiding spot and quickly grabbed hold of him -- taking Bobby away from danger. Plastic Man and Wonder Woman took a defensive stance, covering their fallen comrade.  But it was not enough.  They were pushed to the side by an invisible force that reached out for Bobby.

"It's a telepath!” J'onn shouted to his teammates in warning, feeling a slight pressure on the back of his mind.

As the flickering between dimensions continued, Superman told Kyle, "form a protective barrier over the Tower. We'll try to stabilize the situation from here." He then turned to Arthur and J'onn. "Go!"

Kyle used the power ring and threw a protective barrier around the Tower. From his position, he could see Superman and Batman quickly looking over the computer data, trying to learn more about the attack and where it was coming from. Inside the practice room, Diana used her lasso to tie Bobby to her while J'onn with the help of Arthur combated the telepathic attack. Plastic Man and the Flash defended their positions, making sure nothing got through them.

The force that had tried to drag Bobby away from the JLA members stopped.  The light changed and a vortex was revealed.  Again another attempt was made to take Bobby, but this time the force was unable to decipher between the X-man and the JLA members.  The room shook.

All four JLA members, excluding Diana, were picked up and like rag dolls, and they were thrown against the wall.  Diana held onto Bobby and started to chant a prayer.  A barrier was formed around the princess and Drake, protecting them from harm.

Just as the attack had begun to intensify, it then stopped.  The light disappeared, and everything went back to normal.

The JLA members picked themselves up from the floor and immediately made their way to where Diana and Bobby stood. They continued to look around them.

"Stand down, people.  Everyone meet in the conference room." Batman's voice could be heard via the comm.

Kyle, looking at the screen, could see Arthur talking to Diana. She had untied herself from Bobby who looked a bit dazed.  Less than ten minutes later, everyone was in the conference room.

"So, can anybody tell me what happened?"  Bobby asked the Leaguers.

"Emotional distress." Batman started to explain, "upon learning Diana was in danger, you automatically changed into Iceman. That combined with the distress you felt for her safety triggered something within you, Bobby."

"I felt a telepath," stated J'onn. "Search the room and zero in on Bobby.  It was only when Diana used her lasso and tied herself to you that it confused the telepath from being able to decipher your unique signature.  Bobby, you told us before that the X-men happen to have powerful telepaths ..."

"Yes. Do you believe it was them?"  Bobby asked in a hopeful voice.

"Until we're absolutely certain of their true intentions, we will view them as hostile.  We wouldn't want you to be captured into another dimension." J'onn looked at Bobby, his next words indicated there should be no arguments.  "Until then, no powers. Understood?"

"But if it is them ..."

"Bobby." Diana spoke up.  "We need to be sure.  This is the second time they've appeared.  Both times they’ve attacked first to get to you.  If it's them, you'll go back home.  If it isn't them, we'll protect you.  Until we know for certain, Bobby, power privilege is denied, and someone needs to stay with you."

"Diana," Bobby began to protest.

"Gotham city is still our best option." Diana informed him, ignoring Bobby's protest.  She looked around the table.  "Kyle will be moving in with you."

"What?!" both men shouted the question while the rest of the team turned toward the princess.

"Temporarily of course," she informed them.

"But I have a life..." Kyle started to say.

"I don't want a roomie," Bobby protested as well.

Superman just smiled and said, "Perfect.  Kyle, I'll help you move some of your belongings over to Bobby's apartment.” Superman turned towards the Dark Knight. "Batman, don't worry. The no power rule will extend over to Kyle."

"No." Kyle said, backing away and covering the power ring with his other hand.

"Kyle you can keep the ring, but no powers."  Diana reassured him.  "Now, J'onn, when I tied my lasso around Bobby, I felt the telepath ..." the princess informed her teammates as they made their way over to the teleporter, leaving behind a confused Kyle and a baffled Bobby.

-(main) - (biography) - (discussion) - (stories) - (pictures) - (links) - (updates)-