Welcome to Gaia! ::

Codename: The Green Arrow
Status: Healthy
Thoughts: After I get work done for the office, I'm heading to my lair.

After a very interesting afternoon of managing to be at the right place at the right time, Jonathan parked his car in the garage and got out, unlocking the trunk to take his duffle bag out. He had a bit of work to do for his company before he went to do his daily regime of training. As he stepped into his house, he put his duffle bag aside and went straight to the living room. He had his laptop on the coffee table and after sitting down and loosening his tie, he opened it up and got to work on what he needed to do. Being the head of a growing company was hard work, and this day was going to take a couple hours in order to fully complete what is expected to be done. Plus his company's 1st year anniversary will be here in a couple of weeks and plans were going around for a party. Jonathan needed to be on top of these plans.

As he worked on business, his mind wandered a bit. He hadn't talked to Taliana in a while, she was a woman he considered to be like a sister to him, having grown up together since they were children. But ever since he went to UCCC, they haven't talked as much, if at all. He wondered how she was doing, and if she was thinking similar ideas to him: whether he was alright or not? As much as Jonathan wanted to smile and say 'Yeah, I'm fine', inside, he wasn't as all there as he wished. It wasn't his travels or his accomplishments that were haunting him, in fact those were keeping him from being overwhelmed with guilt. It was his failures before Oliver Queen's disappearance that still haunted him years after the incident. He still had nightmares of that night, when he first went out to fight crime. How the first arrow he loosed for the sake of justice turned out to be his first act of murder. He was lucky he didn't get arrested for manslaughter.

Ever since he got back to Coast City and decided to try again, he has been doing his best to avoid killing another person. His supply of trick arrows and knowledge of the human anatomy has served him well enough to prevent anymore lives lost to his deadly aim. But he knew anytime, a twist of fate would repeat what happened that night. Clearing his head of the residual guilt, he finally finished what he needed to do for his company, and after making a few calls to other places for things his company needs, he felt that he was caught up enough on work to train. Besides, it was getting near the time that his alter ego, the Green Arrow, patrols the night.

Going back to his duffle bag, he picked it up and headed out the door of his house, heading towards what looks like a very inconspicuous cave near his home. Unknown to others, this was the location of his training grounds and secret lair.

Fierce as a lion....

Once they were back on the ground, Crimson's wings disappeared again as Evie gave him a few gentle pats, both of them taking in their surroundings. The house was impressive, at least in Evie's eyes. All she had was a small apartment, unless you counted the fire-damaged home of her childhood out in the countryside, which was technically still in her legal possession. She would get that place fixed up eventually, once she had the money, however long that would take. Her job paid just enough to make rent, buy just enough food to get her by, and buy the bare essentials, leaving her with a dollar or two left over to put into savings or whatever. She was pretty much on a ramen-every-night budget, which bothered her a tiny bit. Who had ever heard of a hero who just barely made it by? That said, it didn't take much to impress her.

Evie was brought back to reality by the Green Arrow's words, quickly taking his hand and hopping down. "Crimson Crusader can just go back to the Astral Plane, so there's no need for a stable." Even as she spoke, the horse disappeared into a wisp of reddish mist and returned to the amulet. She then turned her attention back to the male hero, nodding. "You need not worry. I will take it to my grave." she replied. She could only guess as to how much he must already trust her to tell her his secret identity, and even bring her to his home. She would make sure to never betray that trust, no matter what.

Fierce as a lion....

Evie's eyes widened as she walked in, feeling a bit overwhelmed. How on earth could he consider this small? "If you ask me, this is pretty huge. Then again, my entire apartment could probably fit into this room alone, so I suppose anything would seem large by comparison...." she mused. Still, she understood his reasoning; no need to have space that you don't need. Efficiency was something to always consider no matter what you were doing, unless it called for a certain process.

To say that Evie was a bit surprised when Jonathan took off his glasses was an understatement. She wasn't expecting his eyes to be so... blue. It was such a vivid color, almost unnatural in vibrance, yet it seemed to suit him perfectly. Sapphires, that's what they were like. Bright, flawless sapphires. She quickly realized that she was staring and looked away, busying herself with straightening her skirt as she sat down on the nearest couch. "O-oh, just lemonade is fine...."

Gentle as a lamb....

Evie quietly sighed, smiling ever so slightly at his comparison of their lives. "Ah, but you didn't have to worry about being a hero on top of all that just yet. I have college classes, my job at the cafe, and my responsibility as a vigilante, leaving me with approximately four hours of sleep if I'm exceptionally lucky, and ramen every night, and not even that, at times." She knew that it sounded pitiful, but she was alright with it. It was enough for her to get by, and that was all that really mattered. As long as she got through each day, she was satisfied.

She was a bit puzzled when he went back into the kitchen, but she soon got her answer when a straw suddenly landed in her drink. So, he had good aim with more than just his bow. An impressive feat, she supposed. She knew that she couldn't have managed that. Honestly though, she didn't need a straw, but if he wanted to put a straw in their drinks, she wouldn't object.

Evie almost had an internal panic attack when he mentioned her armor, the panic briefly flashing in her emerald eyes for a moment before she managed to calm herself down. She wasn't going to be attacked; she was safe here. She could trust Jonathan. After all, he had already done quite a bit for her, saving her, offering to let her stay in his home while she recovered, and trusting her with his secret identity. It was alright for her to take the armor off, she would be just fine without it. "R-right...." She had to take a deep breath to relax herself before allowing the armor to leave, the outfit flickering a few times before fading away completely, leaving her in her street clothes. She gave a weak smile before introducing herself properly. "My name is Evie Sinclair. It's nice to meet you."

Gentle as a lamb....

Evie smiled slightly at his embarrassment. "If I had needed them, I would have asked, and gone to a different room to change. I doubt anything you had would have fit me anyway." It was quite obvious that he was taller than her by quite a few inches, and was broader in the chest, shoulders, and... pretty much everything else. Anything he would have given her would have been far too big. In fact, if she were to use one of his shirts like a nightgown, and it would probably come down to her mid-thigh.

Once again, her cheeks flushed red at hearing Jonathan's flattering words, unsure of what to say or think. He certainly wasn't shy with the compliments, was he? He was freer with them than any Englishman she had ever known, that was for sure. Not that she was uncomfortable, no! She just didn't know how to take them. After a few moments of flustered fidgeting, she managed to stammer out a quiet "thanks".

Upon hearing that last bit, Evie shook her head nervously. "No, it's more that I just don't feel safe without my armor. I am, quite literally, powerless without it. Yes, I know martial arts, and I'm a bit stronger than average, but other than that... I'm absolutely defenseless." She wasn't kidding, either. All of her abilities stemmed from either her armor or Excalibur. If she were ever unable to summon them, she would be, as Americans say, screwed. "B-but if you want to tell your story, I won't object." she quickly added.

Gentle as a lamb....

Evie listened to Jonathan's story intently, occasionally showing a small smile at certain parts, and reacting appropriately as he spoke. She was a bit stunned at his admission of accidentally killing someone, but she couldn't really say anything. After all, in her mind, she had a death to her name as well, two, actually.... But she wouldn't mention that unless Jonathan specifically asked about her past.

Evie sighed and leaned back into the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "I suppose that I fit into the "sob story" category.... she mused absentmindedly. "But as to why I was here in California, the knights, Percival and Galahad especially, thought it was time for me to "go international", as some might say. Up until now, I've been taking care of crime exclusively in the British Isles. You know, Great Britain, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. They thought that I was ready to make my first move in the United States."

"They also thought that I needed to make some allies, and since the majority of superheroes reside here in America, it made sense to go where they were, since you guys never seem to show up on our side of the pond.... I just picked a random city and decided that I would start there." She quietly laughed and shook her head. She still couldn't tell if this was a "wrong place, wrong time" situation for running into those muggers and getting beat, or "right place, right time", for Jonathan being there to come to her aid, leading to this moment.

Gentle as a lamb....

Evie visibly flinched. At first, she hadn't realized that she had said that out loud, and when she did, she hoped that he wouldn't catch it. Alas, it was not to be. Well, she had said that she wouldn't say anything unless he asked, and he did ask.... She sighed and took a deep breath before beginning. "I had a happy childhood. I had loving parents, and we lived in a large house out in the countryside, with lots of space to run around, and a treehouse, and a big garden... I was very happy there. Sadly, things weren't meant to last."

At this point, she closed her eyes, leaning forward to hold her head in her hands. "I had just turned nine. It was late at night, and I was supposed to be sleeping, but I really wanted to finish the book I was reading, so I plugged my lamp into the nearest outlet. My parents had told me not to plug anything into that outlet for long, but I figured that it would only be for a few minutes, so it was alright. I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I remember is waking up to the fire alarm and flames in my bedroom. I ran out of the house to the treehouse, which is where we'd all decided that we would meet up if something like this were to happen."

Evie's voice started to crack as she went on, a few tears falling onto her lap. "Father came out, and we waited for Mother for a few minutes, and there was no sign of her. Father said that he was going to go in after her, and I didn't want him to, but I didn't say anything, because he promised that he would come back, with Mother. I... I never saw either of them again. Later, I was told that the fire was started by a faulty outlet. They didn't have to say any more. I knew exactly which one they meant. I knew that it was all my fault.... The experience left me with overwhelming guilt, and I didn't really trust people anymore. I still have trust issues, actually."

"I was passed around from foster home to foster home. No one really wanted me, and quite a few of the families I stayed with made it very obvious. Treatment like that only became more common as I got older. They never want the older kids, you know. They all want the cute little toddlers. I got into a few bad relationships, I dealt with bullying at school, and my own overwhelming guilt on top of that... I was actually suicidal for a year or two." Evie looked away in shame as she admitted this, and without realizing it, started playing with her sleeves, tugging them down over her knuckles.

"I remember finally building up the courage to actually do it... I decided that I would at least be dramatic about it, go out with a bang, if you will. I dug out my old prom gown, the off-white one, and the cream cloak that I'd bought from a Renaissance fair, and put them on, along with my white doeskin boots, and snuck out into the woods, to a clearing that I knew other kids went to. There was a great boulder in the center, where they would sit. The top was nearly flat. I took only my dagger. I climbed up onto the stone and sat, looking at the stars for a few minutes before I went to end things."

"But before I could, I heard someone walk up behind me and ask what I was doing out there so late. I quickly turned to see who it was, finding that it was an elderly man with a long white beard. I told him that I was going to meet my parents. He didn't seem satisfied with that answer, and asked what the dagger was for, and I replied that there was only one way to get to the Summerlands... I suppose most people call it heaven, though. He asked why I wanted to do that to myself, and so I told him everything. I don't know why, but I did. He didn't say anything, or gasp in horror, he just... listened. Once I was done, he told me that while it seemed like things were hopeless, I shouldn't give up, because everyone has a purpose in life. I just needed to find mine."

"He then told me that he needed to be moving along, and to keep my chin up. By this time, the sun was going to be up in only an hour or two, so I decided to go back to the house. I thought over what the old man had said, and eventually decided to give things one more try... And wouldn't you know it, things started to get better. I later found out that the old man had been Merlin. Now, I'm honestly glad that he stopped me, because just look at me now. I'm a superhero. Not a very good one, but a superhero nonetheless." She ended her not-so-small story with a weak laugh, shaking her head. "That's what I meant by being in the sob story category."