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The rather bland looking man stepped forward, seemingly unaware of the danger of a dark alley in Star City. Not quite as bad as Crime Alley in Gotham, but, really, that wasn't saying much. The besuited man made a show of brushing non-existent lint off his collar, and gave Oliver a perfectly bland smile. Oliver tilted his head in an unspoken question, and gestured with his bow.
"Good evening, Mr Queen," the man said. "I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D., and I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."
Three Days Earlier
"What do you mean, Hawkeye is out of commission?" Agent Coulson asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He listened to the phone, his lips pursing and his eyes narrowing at whatever he was hearing. He hung up the phone, and sighed dramatically. Well, dramatically for S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson. It was the barest huff of breath, the slightest hint that he was displeased with the situation.
"Agent?" Steve asked, sitting up and putting his tablet face down on the table. He didn't want Coulson to see that he'd been playing Angry Birds when he was supposed to be working.
"Hawkeye is out of commission for the foreseeable and not-so-foreseeable future," Coulson said, taking a seat at the table. "According to Agent Romanoff, he… he fell off of a building, and landed on a car."
Steve sighed, rolled his eyes, and bit his lip to avoid laughing. That was very Clint. "Is he…?" Steve trailed off.
"He's expected to make a full recovery," Coulson said. "Eventually."
Steve glanced at the paperwork, not that he needed to, as he'd memorized it a few days ago, during the last meeting. What he did need to do, apparently, was state the obvious. "We need an archer. It's an archery club."
"I am aware the situation," Coulson said.
"What about that archer friend of his, the girl who sometimes comes to our training?" Sam asked.
"Kate Bishop?" Steve asked. "She's grounded."
"Can you unground her for this mission?" Tony asked. "We can't infiltrate an archery club without an archer."
"Not that sort of grounded," Steve said. "The parental sort of grounded."
Sam snorted a laugh, before shaking his head. "We're screwed."
"Not necessarily," Bruce Banner said, from where he was scrolling his phone and pretending to ignore the briefing.
"Did you find us an archer on Twitter?" Tony asked.
"Actually, yes," Bruce said. "Well, sort of. Apparently, there's an archer operating out of Star City."
"Star City?" Steve asked. "Where's that?"
"No clue," Bruce said, going back to his phone. "But that seems more like a 'you' problem, than a 'me' problem."
"Stark," Coulson started, "we're going to need…"
"JARVIS is already working on it," Tony said. "By the end of the day today, we will not only know where this mystery vigilantly is, but who he is."
"You're sure?" Coulson asked, adjusting his earpiece. "Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow?"
"Yep," Tony said, popping the 'p'. "That means two former boarding school classmates are members of the Justice League, as JARVIS also says that Bruce Wayne is Batman and Clark Kent is Superman."
"You know, I actually believe that one," Steve said. "I've met Kent. He bares a striking resemblance to Superman. Plus, being a journalist give him an almost unbeatable cover." He and Tony dissolved into squabbling.
"Boys," Natasha said. "Let's take it at face value that JARVIS is correct."
"He is," Tony said.
"What's your approach, Coulson?" Natasha asked, ignoring Tony.
"Wandering through whatever passes for Crime Alley in Star City and hoping I get mugged," Coulson said. "And that this vigilante shows up before I have to demonstrate why I'm not exactly an easy target."
"And hope he doesn't decide to kill you," Bruce muttered. "Remember, this particular vigilante doesn't seem to have a code against killing."
"What's the backup plan?" Coulson asked.
"There's two," Steve said. "First, we beg the Bishops to let Kate help us with this."
"Chances?"
"Fair to middling, unfortunately," Steve said. "They're not particularly thrilled that she hangs out with the Avengers and might decide to punish us for that."
"And the next one?"
"Tony picks up a bow and hopes."
"Great," Tony muttered.
"Seriously?" Oliver Queen, also known as the Green Arrow, was saying, a few days later, when the Avengers finally caught up to the alien ship. "Aliens? Seriously? I agree to do some archery for a club in upstate New York, and it turns out to be aliens?"
"Apparently?" Tony said. He blasted the lock on the cell, and carefully cut Oliver out of his restraints, before stepping out of the suit and leaving it to stand sentry.
"Thankfully, the vessel hasn't left Earth's orbit, so you, my friend, are going to do a high altitude parachute jump. I've got all the supplies you'll need to survive, including a parachute." Tony reached around, and put the bag the suit was carrying on the ground. "And don't worry about it: Sam and my Bruce and double-checked my calculations. You'll survive the jump."
"Oxygen?" Oliver asked, taking the bag and dumping the contents on the floor. He quickly got himself half into the HALO suit, reaching for the mask and turning, so Tony could secure the suit. Tony pulled a small tank out of the bag.
"Oxygen."
"Great." Oliver pulled the mask over his face, and secured the comm in his ear while Tony attached the tank to the mask.
"Lines secure," Tony said. He stepped back into the suit after Oliver gave him a thumbs up.
"Comms up," Oliver said. "Airlock?"
"Airlock."
Oliver followed Tony to the airlock, and together, they jumped.
What felt like hours later, they landed on the grounds of the Avengers upstate facility, Oliver shaking so hard he could barely stand. Thor and Bruce helped get him into the compound.
Tony landed in the classic Superhero one-knee pose. He got to his feet, and stepped out of the suit, following everyone back into the compound.
"Huh," he said, watching Oliver. "I guess I should have mentioned that it would be an ultra-low opening parachute jump. The only chutes we had capable of making that jump were Sam's backups."
"Next time," Oliver said, "Leave me on the alien ship, and call the Justice League."