Spoilers for JLI, Omac Project up until Booster Gold #1
A/N: Booster is about Nightwings' age (they keep changing how old that is) since when he arrived in the past they were both around 19/20.
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Batman always thought that he knew his teammates, truthfully there were very few that surprised him or that he underestimated. A couple of names did spring to mind, one of whom had died in part of the latter attitude. In the aftermath, during his trip to retrace his steps to becoming Batman to attempt to cleanse his inner demons Bruce had thought a lot about these two men. It was too late to do anything for Ted Kord but he had been determined to do what he could for his successor, Jaime Reyes. To make the burden of being a super powered teen carrying the mantle of the Blue Beetle easier for the boy if he could. The second man was not as simple to deal with.
Booster Gold also (though rarely) known as Michael Jon Carter had caught his attention from the start. Not that he was hard to miss given his fame seeking ways. He had always made it a practice to study new players in their community and was an avid viewer of this upstart. Superman didn't like him at all which was, well not amusing of course but certainly interesting. Hearing Clark rant about the young man had certainly peeked his interest further. Not many had caused this reaction from the man of steel after all.
Not that Bruce couldn't understand why Booster would grate on Supermans' nerves. The hero obviously did enjoy the limelight, was profiting off of it (abet through commercials and stocks) and presented an arrogant facade to most of the world. Bruce noticed things that others missed however, like the body language, how little the man actually informed reporters about himself despite his eagerness to speak with them and the emotions that would crack through the mask the man presented the world with.
An eye was kept on this raising star from a distance even after they had met for the first time. Memories of Booster Gold in those early days never failed to bring back amusement, not at the antics he would later do in the league but because of the way his fake "only in it for the glory" act would crumble. The dark knight gave him credit for doing so well to project it when Max introduced the team to what he insisted was their newest member. The smug self assured look faded into disappointment and sorrow that Booster wasn't able to quite hide.
The league had enough to worry about then and Batman couldn't deal with more of Maxs' demands. It hadn't been the end though as the blond had decided to put a stop to their intruders, the Royal Flush gang. Still curious about what Booster was capable of he had allowed him to fight alone to get a better grasp of the man. A number of things stood out during the melee. First that Booster did not heavily rely in his powers, they were only used once the King pulled out his weapon. Two, Gold could recover fast not letting the light that blinded him, the blows nor the numbers overwhelm him. Three, excellent reaction time for a rookie. Four, fast thinking on his feet.
Although he hadn't known that he had an audience or that the league would even give him another chance he had stopped the Royal Flush gang in their tracks. Not many knew it but Batman had smiled when the young man asked him how he had done. It wasn't often that anyone could cause that reaction from him especially while he was on the field. Not that anyone besides the blond had much of a chance to register it as Ace attacked. One by one the league was knocked around like rag dolls and through the chaos he caught Beetle and Booster coming up with a plan. Giving the blue clad man a chance to play his role in whatever their idea was he had set himself up as bait to distract the robot from the man of tomorrow. The rest as they say was history. The teamwork displayed only sealed the deal.
Most forgot the eager to please, quieter, slightly shy young man the blond had been then. It was something he hadn't thought on after the manhunter mess when he believed Booster had gone bad and the many schemes that the pair had done together. Blue and Gold had seemed like a good idea back then. It would help their newest recruit find the sense of belonging he craved and it was thought by J'onn that both men would benefit from such a serious bond. It was one of the few things that Batman still liked to point out to the alien when he said to trust his opinion.
"Because it worked out so well with Blue and Gold, right J'onn?"
Granted that there was something about the league, perhaps those two themselves, that inspired a less than serious side from everyone. He had often found himself making dry remarks that others claimed (usually with alarm) were jokes. Which was nonsense. Everyone knew that Batman didn't have any humor. Sadly J'onn seemed quite stressful those days making him glad that he had given the martian his leadership duties before he had clued in on how taxing it would be. The jokes had worn thin over time and he had grown frustrated with Ted and Michael. It wasn't because they were idiots, because Batman knew that they weren't, they had potential. Great potential that they had wasted.
The realization of what his other teammates had done to his memories, his loss through the years, and Brother Eye had all taken a toll on him. Batman had wanted to prevent further betrayals yet he hadn't for a moment allowed himself to consider Booster Gold. He supposed that he simply didn't want to deal with the truth of his actions, how they had cost Ted his life. They hadn't he had assured himself. It was harder to believe when Diana had brought the blond with her to the watchtower. It was a little startling to see that Booster was no longer the eager to please man that had respected and feared him in their days together in the league. In fact he was more blunt than either Clark and Diana at pointing out flaws in his design. The final insult was when he made a comparison between the two of them and irresponsibility.
Maybe it hit too close to home when he refused to hear unpleasant truths since he had been the one who had been a victim. Maybe it was because Booster sounded a little too much like Ted. He hadn't been who Batman had called anyway and he didn't want to be questioned then. Not by anyone much less him. Diana of course did make a good point, Ted had been his best friend. Delaying the inevitable wouldn't do, though Bruce had never been good about this sort of thing. Clark or Diana would have gone about it differently but he wasn't them. Never could be. What was that saying about ripping off a bandaid quickly?
He stood unable to help himself from being transfixed on the dawning horror of Boosters' face. The explanation went on like any other normal meeting until the younger mans' face hardened suddenly. Batman honestly could not recall Booster acting this enraged before much less attacking another leaguer. All he could do was stare as the light rushed towards him only to be blocked by Superman.
"That's enough! Blame will be laid later!"
"...Who're you kidding? No, it won't... He'd have to admit he was wrong first."
The words impacted him more than a hit ever would and Booster remained the only one who had made Batman feel...he didn't want to dwell on it. Not that it would go away no matter how much he denied it. No matter how much he focused his attention on his own pain. On the other league members betrayal.
It wouldn't have shocked him if this anger never disappeared yet the blond had not held a grudge when they next met. In fact he provided much needed assistance to a mission that would have otherwise had failed. Booster however hadn't gotten over the loss of his best friend. Bruce was too distracted to do anything. It seemed that in his absence Booster had gone into a downward spiral unable to cope with Teds' death and finally reached a self-destructive end.
That was what everyone assumed until he showed up hoping to gain entrance into the league again. It wasn't too late for Michael to turn around, to help him, to have him finally tap into that potential. The reasons and whys of the last year could be figured out later. For now Bruce was pleased with what he saw in Booster. Some of the excited young man from before remained looking hopeful at the future. There was something else he had detected, something different about him. A week would give him more time to witness this, proving to the others his worth as well. Booster had indeed worked hard to be the type of man and hero Batman always knew he was capable of being.
Like with Jaime Reyes he decided to keep a respectable distance while observing. No need to reopen sore points at this stage. Whatever had occurred to Booster in the past year apparently had been agreeable. While that seemed odd given the nature of his reputation that year it was brushed aside as unimportant. As Clark had pointed out to Roy, it had been a dark period and he was finally getting out of it himself.
"Second chances are what we're about, right?" Clark had asked a tad overeager, not too subtlety glancing at Hal and Roy who both cleared their throats to agree.
Most had been excited to see Roy enter their ranks, not just to see how another one of their "kids" reach their level but with how far he had come. Michael was Roy and Dicks' age, though he hadn't really had a mentor unless you included Ted (no one had, they were more like partners in crime.) He been through some rough patches to make his place in a time he wasn't from. Though Clark had his issues with Booster in the past at least he seemed to understand this.
The big day started off like he had expected with Booster showing some nervousness and yes, that familiar overjoyed look when he received the desired membership. The moment was fleeting as surprise marred his face.
"What the hell?" Confusion took over as Skeets spoke to the blond in hushed tones. Boosters' glance at Hal seemed out of place along the already odd reactions he was having.
"See what?" Superman had asked. No answer was forthcoming, not to that question. Bruce made a mental note to get what was being said from Clark later.
Staring sadly at his certificate as if had been a rejection notice he let the frame slip from his fingers to crash to the floor. Much to everyone's disbelief Booster rejected the offer he had been after. One of his bright grins that had won him many sponsorships spread across Boosters' face.
"Truth is I just wanted to be able to tell everyone else--Booster Gold turned down the Justice League of America."
This wasn't right. Only a few moments ago he had been delighted to be accepted, now he acted like it was all a big joke. Booster HAD wanted to be part of the league again, he still did, but for whatever reason something had scared him off. Determined to get to the bottom of it Batman stopped him from leaving.
"Michael? What are you doing?" Names, real names were said more freely now a days and it had seemed like the right thing to say to get his attention.
"Living Down to expectations." He replied bitterly, not bothering to hide this before he smacked Batmans' hand off his shoulder. "See ya, Bruce." He shot back the name flippantly yet he made his point clear. You don't get to to call me by my birth name, we're not friends, we never were.