This was intended to be a long angst fic. But halfway, I realized I wanted something a lot less serious. Excuse my horrible story and my horrible English. I'm new in the fandom, so, forgive me if I made some mistakes (curse you cellphone). Also, let's say the story is set on Earth 16, 'cause I think it's only one it makes some sense.
This was just a normal day for the Justice League.
Well, only if you think that traveling between dimensions is something 'normal'.
Somehow, some Justice League members were dragged into this so called Earth-36.
It seems like the former leader of this Earth superheroes team, Optiman, had died, and then he turned into a zombie and had already killed hundreds of people. So, this dimension's heroes dragged the Justice League into this whole mess, as a last resort help.
You know, the usual. By now, none of them were really impressed about how all this happened. They could even say that the most shocking thing is the fact that Optiman was ONLY a zombie and not something worse or crazier.
What actually surprise them was meeting their counterparts from this universe, the team Justice 9.
Some of them were really impressed and glad to meet them, like Diana with War Woman, admiring her, her look, her moral and her strong will.
Others couldn't really say the same, like Bruce. The rest of the team had to find the strength to not burst out laughing, because the Dark Knight's counterpart was a real knight, with tin armor and all.
But, who really won the prize were Hal and Barry.
After meeting their counterparts, Flashlight and Red Racer, and see how close the two of them were, they agreed that, no matter what dimension, reality or time they were, it seemed like their respective counterparts were always going to be best friends and stand by the other's side.
Except there was a little difference between them and their Justice 9 versions..
They did it. After a long and hard battle, both teams finally managed to defeat Optiman. The Justice 9 members felt the guilt and sadness taking over them for seeing their former leader die once again. But at the same time, they felt like if had gotten ride of a big weight on their shoulders. The sadness was replaced for happiness. They saved the world and the people, and that was the more important than them and how they felt.
"Ray!" A voice shouted. Everyone's gaze turned to where sound came from. It was Flashlight, one of the Justice 9 members, running toward Red Racer, giving him a hug when he finally reached him "Thanks God you're safe" He said, tears coming out from his eyes.
"I didn't think an alternative version of me could be so cheesy" The Green Lantern whispered to his best friend. They were in the crowd with all the other heroes, watching the other two having a sweet moment. Too sweet for Hal if he may add.
"Shut up Hal" The speedster said, giving his friend a playful punch on shoulder "They've already gone through a lot of troubles. Just let them do this, they're best friends after all. I bet we would do just the same if something like that happened to us"
"Hank, I already told you this tons of time. Don't worry so much about me" Red Racer said to his friend, none of them paying attention to what their Justice League counterparts were saying. He took his teammate's face, lifting it so they both were seeing straight into each other's eyes "I would never dare to die out there. Just the thought of dying and leaving you behind, alone, breaks my hearth" And just after he finished talking, he pressed his lips with his partner's, and he was kissing him back.
All the Justice 9 let out a sigh of relief and happiness for the happy couple.
The Justice League, for other side, reacted a little different.
They stood still, not moving at all, not being able to believe what their eyes were seeing. Even Bruce seemed shocked, well, at least something close to an emotion anyway.
Just thinking about Green Lantern and Flash dating was something impossible for them, even if they were alternative versions from other dimension of them.
But the most shocked were both Hal and Barry, the former almost fainting after seeing that.
"I'm still having troubles understanding how you humans show affection to each other, but I think that's not how friends are supposed to do it" Said J'onn. Hal could almost swear the Martian was mocking him because of that stupid smirk on his face.
Everyone just stayed there, watching quietly until Hank and Ray broke their kiss. That was the moment when the Green Lantern snapped out of his trance and reacted.
"Could someone explain me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" He yelled, demanding answers. Everyone turned their gaze on him.
"Isn't it obvious?" Flashlight asked, still holding Red Racer in his arms "I'm spending some quality time with my awesome boyfriend, being happy because he's safe and sound. If you're so jealous, go and do the same with yours" He said, glaring at his alternative version for interrupting them.
"That's the problem!" The Green Lantern yelled "Why are you two dating if Barry and I are not?"
"Wait a second, you two are not dating in your universe?" Red Runner asked, surprised.
"No!"
"Yes!"
Hal was puzzled after hearing someone saying "yes". He turned around, about to yell to whoever said that, when he realized it was Barry. He was confused, if not shocked.
"What did you just say, Barry?" The Green Lantern asked.
"I said that we are, indeed, dating" The speedster answered, like if it was nothing. Hal just keep staring at his friend, not being able to believe what he was saying.
"Hey, Spooky, you didn't use any of you 'bat-a-garbage" on Barry, did you?" Asked Hal, giving Batman an accusatory look.
"Whatever you two do with your personal lives is none of my business nor I have the need to get involved in them" The billionaire replied coldly "That means "no", if your little brain couldn't grasp my words".
"So, are you two a thing or not?" Flashlight asked, now Really confused by the whole conversation.
"No!"
"Yes" Replied both the Green Lantern and Flash, in that order.
"Bear, you're not helping my case at all" Hal said to his not-lover.
"So cute! He even has pet names for his boyfriend!" Red Racer said to his partner "I think he actually do loves him. He's just to shy to admit it"
"For the last time: We are not dating!" Hal said to their counterparts "I'm pretty sure this has a reasonable explanation, even if I don't know what is right now".
"There's no point in keep lying to them, Hal" Barry said. He started moving toward Hal from behind, resting his arms on his 'partner''s hips "It's time to leave all the lies behind and tell everyone the truth about us"
"But there's not an "us" Barry!" Hal stated, still not understanding what was happening "I don't know what the hell is going here!" The Green Lantern rested his face on his hands, trying to think of an explanation to all of this.
He started to think, trying to figure how, why and what was happening. First, his alternative version from this dimension was dating Barry's. That was ok, fine. He didn't care what he was doing, really, it's not like he was him or something anyway...
But why was Barry suddenly saying that they were dating, when in fact that's not true at all? Bruce stated he had nothing to do with this at all (Hal was going to find a way to blame him for this anyway). J'onn was just right there, so it couldn't be him impersonating Barry. He wasn't the kind of guy who does this kind of jokes anyway. And unless Clark had pulled mind controlling as a new super power out of his Kryptonian ass, it couldn't be his doing neither.
And no. Hal was totally NOT interested in his best friend. He totally didn't think of him as one of the most important and precious things in his life. And he totally didn't spend more of his time in Barry's house than in his own apartment. And he totally didn't like spending a lot of his time with the little Wally, caring for him almost as if he were his own son. And he totally didn't find himself staring at Barry's ass, that looked so fucking perfect in that tight red costume. And he totally didn't start feeling hot and like the lower part of his uniform started getting too tight whenever he started thinking about that ass...
'God dammit Jordan! You don't swing that way! Stop thinking like that' He thought as a mental note.
From the outside, however, the other heroes could only see his teammate having what seemed like a breakdown.
"What's happening to him?" Ray asked to his partner.
"I think he's having a case of 'I used to think I was straight, but now I think I might be just as straight as a pink unicorn riding through a rainbow".
"Did you go trough the same?"
"Eh... Let's just say, even if he's from another reality, we are not that different" He replied.
Meanwhile, Hal was still loosing every trace of sanity he had left.
'Okay Jordan, you got to focus. Stop thinking about how perfect is Allen's ass... And stop using "Allen's ass" and "perfect" on the same sentence. You're not interested in guys at all. It's not like you sometimes looked at some eyes candies you have for co-workers when they too distracted to notice it, and it's not like you sometimes had thought about how great would feel fucking those well sculpted men and...'
"Ugh, What the hell is wrong with!" The Green Lantern shouted at the sky, like if he were expecting some kind of answer from above.
"Just accept the truth about us, Harold. Come on, let's go back home" The speedster said, still running his finger through Hal's hips.
"No, no, no! This just can't be!" The Green Lantern stated, trying to set himself free from his not-that-kind-of partner's embrace, although falling "But even so, I'm dating Carol, remember, Barry?"
"Hal, please" Barry replied "Everyone knows that you and Carol will never work, no matter how much you try, it always ends up the same: You two try, ended up breaking up, fight, and the cycle repeats".
"It's true! Even I know that, even with how little I care about you, Jordan" Batman said between the crowd, watching the whole thing like everyone else, giving him a pretentious smirk.
Hal made a new mental note: 'One of these days, I'm definitely going to kill Bruce'.
Hal sighed and started talking again"Okay, maybe my relationship with Carol is far from perfect, if not just terrible when it comes to romance, and maybe I spend more time with you than what a normal friend should do, and maybe I feel really attracted to you, both physically and emotionally, in a not so straight fashion, and maybe I..." But Hal fell in silence after realizing what he just said.
"You were right, Diana, this actually worked" Barry said, a smile of satisfaction crossing his face. He let go his arms of the Green Lantern's hips, turning his gaze to the Amazon.
"I told you it was going to work, Barry, it was a flawless plan. It always works for me when I use it on Steve" The princess replied, pride on her voice.
Hal was puzzled, not being able to understand what was going on. Until he lowered his gaze.
The Lasso of Truth was around him, just in the place where Barry's arms were a few moments ago.
Hal made a new mental note: 'Forget about Bruce, Diana is going down first".
"I wish I could say I'm sorry', but I'd be lying" Diana said, ignoring the death glare Hal was throwing at her, while she was taking her lasso off of him "I just couldn't take anymore, I knew Barry was craving for you, and I knew you were doing the same for him, even if you didn't realized it was like that before. So, I offered my help to him for your little problem" She explained, putting her lasso back on her side "And I think I got just what expected".
"Wouldn't it had been a lot easier if you just had tied me by yourself with you lasso instead of all this!?" The Green Lantern asked, anger coming out of him.
"Negative" Diana replied "As princess of the Amazons, I would never dare to do such a low thing. That, and this a lot more fun too".
He was about to keep arguing with Wonder Woman, when he felt a hand resting on his right shoulder.
"So, you do feel the same, right?" The speedster asked, gaze on the ground, not daring to look at him.
"Bar..."
"Just answer me, please"
"Well, you already know that no one is able to lie when the lasso is bounding them" The Green Lantern stated.
"So..." Barry said, as expecting him to say something else.
"There's not a 'so' here, Bar" Hal replied.
"But, if we both feel the same way, wht not give it a shot?" The speedster asked, not understating what he meant.
"Because there's no point in doing so" His friend replied "Let's just forget about this and pretend like nothing of this ever happened".
After hearing those words, Barry's saddened face changed to one of rage.
"Oh, I get it" Barry said angrily "It's because dating me would ruin your whole 'ladies man' image, right? Because I'm just a boring forensic. 'The old Hal just turned plain vanilla' they'll say.
"Barry..." Hal said, trying to cut his friend off.
"Don't even bother Jordan!" Barry said still angry "You know what? I don't even know why I thought this was a good idea". He was about to run. Just run, not caring about where. He just wanted to go away from him. But before he even reacted, he felt a hand on his arm, holding him strongly.
"It's exactly the opposite to that Barry!" Hal said, looking straight at his friend's eyes, not letting him go from his hold "It's because of my so called fame that I don't want us to date. You're the most stable relationship I've had in years, if not in my whole life. You know how I always mess up things with my relationships. Just look at how I and Carol are, or should I say, were! Breaking up, getting back together and breaking up over and over again. I don't want the same happening to us. And hell! I love that your forensic! I love why you wanted to have that job and everything you do there, even if most of the time I don't understand how it works!".
"Hal..." Flash said, sadness in his voice.
"Please, Bear. Don't make things harder than they already are" Hal said, sadness in his voice too "I don't want to hurt you because of how stupid I am".
"Do you think this doesn't hurt me!?" The speedster yelled "Knowing all this and not even trying!? That's so coward of you!".
Hal just stared at his friend, still shocked by his reaction. He almost never had seen him getting this angry.
He sighed, try to calm himself down "Hal, I know you, your antics and all. And you know me so well too. If we, somehow, had managed to be friends even with them, I don't see what's the harm if we try to be more than friends".
The Green Lantern was still shocked. Everything that happened this day seemed to be too much for him. He was still having troubles grasping all off this. That was when he felt how his friend rested his has hand on his left cheek.
"So, what do you say, Hal?" Flash asked, his hand still cherishing his friend's face.
Hal finally reacted, a big grin drawing on his face.
"Bear, you're such a crazy man" He said, happiness in his voice.
"Thanks, I learned from the best" Hal couldn't help but chuckle for his response. He leaned and pressed his lips with his teammate's.
It definitely wasn't neither passionate or kind, but a mix of both. Hal wasn't used to kissing like that, but it felt so damn perfect for him anyway and loved it.
Hal made a new mental note: 'Find a way to thank Diana later for this. And Bruce is now top priority in my "I'm definitely going to kill some day" again'.
But that didn't really matter right now. What he wanted right now was this handsome blond man before him. Everything else could wait for later.
