It was just…unfair. Hal would show up out of the blue, he and Barry would laugh together and even manage to have fun patrolling together. When Hal showed up, he had a way of making the whole world feel a lot lighter. A lot of that had to do with the reckless way Hal approached many things both on and off the battlefield, but his attitude still helped Barry relax, even if it was just a little.
But those moments were so few and far between because of who they were. It wasn't his fault or Hal's fault, it was just the nature of the business. And Barry wasn't so high-maintenance in his friendships that he required constant contact with Hal. It was just...those moments where he felt lighter only happened when Hal was around, and if Hal wasn't around much, the heaviness in him just seemed to steadily grow over time. The Rogues, Thawne, worrying about Wally (well, both of them), worrying about Iris, keeping up with his duties as Barry and as the Flash.
It wasn't always like this. It used to be that whenever he was around Iris, he could let some of that weight off. But ever since Iris found out about the secrets he kept from her, they hadn't been able to go back to the way things were. It had been a few months since he'd seen Hal, and since then, he and Iris had started talking a little, but nothing felt the same. She was afraid to trust him, and he didn't blame her. Did he still love her? Yeah. Probably. Things were just so cloudy now that he didn't know what to do, so he just went about his life pretending like everything was fine, because that was the only way he could convince himself that it was.
He had friends other than Hal, sure, but no one he felt as comfortable with as Hal. The closest was probably Bruce, but Bruce was very….Bruce. Not exactly the type of guy to have a beer with. There had been a few times where he'd call up Bruce to get his advice on a case he was working on since they shared knowledge and appreciation for forensics, and usually Bruce was more than happy to help (he never expressed the fact, but Barry could tell), but beyond that, Bruce wasn't very talkative. Getting Bruce to talk about anything other than a case was tricky. Most of what Barry knew was going on in Bruce's life was things he heard from other people. Dick Grayson was living and working in Blüdhaven, Damian Wayne was working with the Teen Titans and Clark's son Jon, Tim Drake was working with Bruce in Gotham, and Jason Todd was….well, Barry had heard some things that he didn't quite believe but it wasn't his place.
He was just most comfortable with Hal, but Hal was usually nowhere on Earth to be found because he was primarily based off-world now. At least when he was protecting Earth's sector, he would return to Earth after a mission, but that wasn't the case anymore and hadn't been for a long time. Simon and Jessica were great lanterns, but sometimes Barry was nostalgic for the old days.
Ever since the time Hal patrolled with him a few months ago, things had been pretty quiet in Central City. The vast majority of the rogues were locked up, and anyone that was left was probably a bit spooked by the fact that a green lantern had been spotted in Central City twice within a few months. It was actually pretty nice. It made Barry's patrol runs short and sweet, even if he did feel a bit lost when he got back home.
It was a particularly cold night, so Barry was particularly grateful to get home a little faster. He'd just finished running through the streets of Central City, looking for any signs of trouble, but not finding more than some petty theft. It was still pretty early in the evening so Barry wondered what he should do with himself. Maybe he'd look over files from the crime lab for some current cases….
He discreetly entered his home, still in uniform, and took his cowl off with a soft sigh. He'd been coming home to an empty house for the better part of a year now, but he still wasn't quite used to it.
Then, his justice league communicator started sounding with Bruce's voice. "Batman to all points. Zod has returned to Earth. Superman is on his way to fight him in Metropolis. Anyone available should assist him."
Zod? Hal said that Zod was in the phantom zone. Well, there would be a time for that question later.
"Batman, this is Flash. I can assist in Metropolis."
"Negative. You're needed at the Watchtower."
"Why?"
"We need your assistance in the med bay. Make it quick. Anyone else should assist Superman. Batman out."
Assistance in the med bay? What? That wasn't normally Barry's task as he wasn't exactly a doctor. While he was confused, he wasn't about to question Bruce, so he put his cowl back on and quickly made his way to the Watchtower. He trusted Bruce, and Bruce was never hesitant to place him on the battlefield before, so there must be good reason why he was sending him to the med bay of all places, but what in the world could it be?
Bruce greeted him when he arrived, blocking him before he could enter the med bay. "The Green Lantern Corps were the first ones to detect Zod's movement towards Earth. They sent Jordan and Rayner. Rayner suffered minor injuries and is in Metropolis assisting Clark."
Barry felt his chest freeze. "Where's Hal? Is he okay?"
"He's hurt pretty bad. Zod managed to get his ring off him and had a field day. Rayner brought him in. He's awake, but in pain. We gave him some meds but he seems to still be hurting, and he keeps trying to leave since his ring came back to him. I need you to calm him down. He's in no shape to be out there."
Barry was torn between being worried about Hal and confused about the situation. Wouldn't he be more needed on the battlefield? "You brought me up here to keep him tied down? We have restraints for that." Granted, those restraints were usually reserved for villains, but…..
Bruce frowned. "I figured he's suffered enough."
Barry felt a twinge of guilt and looked down. This was his best friend, and here he was being selfish. Bruce didn't even really like Hal and was being more humane. Barry was ashamed of himself.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Bruce's expression soften just a pinch. "Just talk to him. He listens to you. I'm going down to Metropolis."
"Yeah. Be careful down there."
Bruce left without another word and Barry rushed into the med bay.
Hal was laying on the bed, hooked up to a heart monitor and a thousand other machines, including a morphine drip. He was still in his uniform, or what was left of it, as it was in tatters. His body was decorated with bruises and bandages. Most of it seemed concentrated around his chest, which was entirely wrapped in bandages. Barry shuddered to think about what Zod might have done to him.
Over the beeping of the heart monitor was Hal's groans, partly from pain and partly from aggravation. If Barry knew Hal—and he did— then he knew that Hal was lamenting his defeat and in a hurry to get back at Zod for doing this to him.
Barry removed his cowl and hurried to his bedside. He couldn't even tell if Hal had noticed him coming in.
"Hal? Hal, can you hear me?"
Hal's vision was out of focus, but when he heard Barry's voice he paused for a moment, looking up to see a pale face with a head of blond hair. A sense of comfort washed away some of the pain and anger he was feeling and his body relaxed a little. Only a little, but he couldn't help the way Barry's presence affected him.
His voice was weak. "Barry…."
"Hal, take it easy. You were straining yourself when I walked in here."
Hal frowned, trying to focus on the sight of Barry next to him. "Need to stop Zod. He wants to decimate Metropolis…."
He started to sit up, but Barry placed his hands on his shoulders to gently stop him. "At least half the league is down there, including Clark. You're not going anywhere." Barry could read between the lines of what Bruce had said. Hal was lucky to be alive. The fact that he was even thinking of going out there in this condition was insane.
Hal seemed to calm down a little. He stopped struggling and let Barry gently push him back down, though it wasn't an easy pill for him to swallow. Biting his lower lip, he turned his head to the side away from Barry. He was silent.
His pout was almost...oddly adorable to Barry, but the circumstances were still forefront in the blond's mind. He couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Hal though, because he was sure this was a matter of pride for the lantern. Unfortunately, Hal had a hard time learning that even someone with the most powerful weapon in the universe had to suffer defeat sometimes. Even after all these years and everything he'd been through, it was still a tough lesson for Hal.
Barry didn't consider himself to be the best person to talk to when someone was feeling down, but he could try. "Hal...this isn't your fault. I know what you're thinking. You're going back in your mind, thinking about whatever missteps you made and thinking about how you should have done it differently. Guess what, Hal. It doesn't matter. What you need to be doing now is focusing on healing so you're even better when you go back out there. Overthinking the situation isn't going to help you learn. When the time comes, you'll remember. It becomes instinct."
A part of Hal wanted to quip back with a sarcastic comment thanking him for the lecture, but that was just a knee-jerk reaction. The truth was he knew that Barry was right, even if it was difficult to talk about it. And...most importantly, he appreciated that Barry was trying to make him feel better instead of just telling him how stupid he was for trying to leave.
He wasn't used to someone being this kind to him. Everyone in his life lectured him with every move he made, from his family to the league and even the corps. But Barry was never like that, was he? Sometimes Barry would nudge him in the right direction, but he usually wasn't as hard on him as everyone else.
Then again, Barry had missed most of Hal's worst years. Hal wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it, or if it was just Barry's nature anyway. He'd like to think it was the latter.
"Barry."
"Yeah?"
"Have a seat. You're gonna be here for awhile."
Barry immediately looked for a chair and pulled it up to Hal's bedside, sitting down. He was still a bit too restless to sit, but if he was keeping Hal company, he might as well.
"Well, it's nice to see you, in any event."
Hal gave a dry laugh. He couldn't laugh too hard though, because it made the pain his chest flare up again. Luckily, another shot of morphine was just a button push away. Bruce was in his head telling him not to go crazy with it, but Bruce wasn't laid up right now after having been punched, kicked, and tossed around like a rag doll by Zod and his gang. "Do you know how often I try to make it to Earth? I can't live on Earth anymore because of the corps, but I try to visit, you know?"
There was a slight but still noticeable slur in Hal's speech that Barry noticed. Well, if it was meds, which was entirely possible, then it would explain why Hal wasn't thinking straight. Even on Hal terms. If Hal was going to ramble, well...Barry didn't mind letting him.
"I don't know how you stand being away from home so long," Barry said. "I can hardly be in the Watchtower without feeling out of my element."
"Yeah, well, I can make excuses sometimes. Check on this or that. I just need the chance to…." To do what? There was a barrier in his mind, a mental block, but between the pain and the meds, he was starting to forget why. Well, if nothing else, at least the pain was starting to subside again as the meds kicked in. He wondered if they'd given him a weaker doss to start with. How dare they. Well, okay, so his mind was just a bit foggy but it wasn't anything he couldn't work through. His brain was working just fine right now, thank you very much.
What was he talking about again?
The words rolled out of him before he could think about it. "I just need the chance to see you."
That gave Barry a pause. To see him? Meds or not, Hal wasn't exactly the sentimental type. Well, not that Barry had ever really seen. Did Carol or any of the other women Hal had been with ever see that side of him? This was the same Hal Jordan who said he didn't ever want to be "tied down." Why would he...make up excuses to the lantern corps to come all the way to Earth from the center of the universe just to see Barry? He was sure that Hal missed his company from time to time, but this felt much, much bigger.
How would he define something like that? Was he overthinking it? After all, Hal traveled across space so often, and the corps was probably so used to Hal doing whatever he wanted, regardless of orders, that maybe it wasn't a big deal to him. But the tone in Hal's voice suggested that maybe it was. But again, maybe it was the meds.
There was no reason he needed to be overthinking this. And there was definitely no reason for the strange feeling in his chest.
All the way across the universe. To see him.
He must have been silent for too long because Hal started laughing. "You look like the cat got your tongue. Maybe you need this morphine more than I do."
Hal was never going to bring this up again, was he? He would just go on pretending like it didn't happen. Maybe Barry should too. "That's funny. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit, but this helps."
"The morphine?"
"No, you idi—"
Suddenly, their Justice League communicators sounded with Clark's voice: "Flash! Zod is heading for the Watchtower! Get yourself and Green Lantern out of there!"
Shit. So much for Zod just wanting to destroy Metropolis. Okay, this was probably the better option, but did it have to happen when Hal was still healing?
"On it, Superman," Barry replied after quickly putting his cowl back on.
Hal, still a bit dazed, sat up immediately. "Zod?!"
Barry was working quickly to unconnect him from the machines and the IV drip, which made Hal flinch just a bit but the lantern didn't complain. "I'm taking you out of here. I'll take you to Central City." He gently but quickly brought Hal to his feet. "Can you stand?"
Hal nodded, though it was pretty clear he was still in pain. If he was in this much pain even with some meds in his system, Barry didn't even want to think about what he would have been like without it.
Barry guided Hal's arm around his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around him in turn, guiding him quickly out of the med bay and down a hall toward a teleporter. Thankfully, it wasn't very far, but all the warnings from the various monitors of the watchtower were blaring loudly as they detected Zod's movement towards the tower. Barry moved as quick as he could, bringing himself and Hal into the teleporter and quickly fumbling with the settings to get them back on Earth.
"Come on, come on….," Barry muttered. Hal's weight pressed on him, but the lantern was silent.
Suddenly, a loud boom.
Then, absolute silence.
Barry was probably only out for a few seconds before he came to again, and he noticed two things right off. The first was that he was floating, which meant that there was no way he could possibly be in the Watchtower. The second thing was that he was surrounded by a giant bright green bubble.
His heart stopped as he followed the source, seeing Hal with his arm pointed in his direction. It was a sight that Barry doubted he would ever forget: Hal with his domino mask half torn off, his Green Lantern uniform ripped to shreds in most places, most of the exposed skin was covered in bruises, blood, and bandages. Barry knew that he was pain despite having some meds in him. Not to mention the fog his head was in. And yet, he was looking right at Barry with concern and determination.
It was impressive that Hal managed to keep concentration enough to make a construct to save Barry's life from the vacuum of space, and to give himself a forcefield as well.
Hal's voice came over the comms. "I got you."
Barry's heart was pounding for so many reasons. "Hal! Get us back to Earth!"
He would thank him later. Honest. It was just that Zod was somewhere out here right now and Hal was still injured and he couldn't let anything happen…..
Hal nodded, beginning his flight back to Earth, gently guiding Barry with him in his safe-to-breathe bubble construct. Barry had been in space before, sometimes with Hal's help in a similar manner, but never when Hal was this injured. Any break in Hal's concentration would kill them both.
But Barry trusted him.
They began their decent down through Earth's atmosphere and Barry stood up in his bubble, looking upward to see if he could see any sign of Zod or Clark. Nothing. And from here, it was hard to tell what exactly had happened to the Watchtower but…he'd have to find that out later.
In minutes, which was pretty impressive considering that Hal's injuries, they made it to Central City. Hal had led them to a secluded alley near Barry's house, which Barry thought was interesting placement but the least of his worries right now. The moment that Hal's feet hit the ground, the forcefield around himself and the bubble construct around Barry vanished. Immediately, he began to fall forward but Barry sped forth and caught him in his arms.
"Got you this time," Barry said quietly.
Hal's uniform vanished, leaving a shirt, his pilot jacket, and jeans in its place. Barry realized that he had gone unconscious and had most likely not heard him.
Keeping a hold on Hal, Barry sounded over the comms. "This is Flash. Green Lantern and I made it safely to Earth, but he's badly injured."
Diana was the first to respond. "Take him to the old Hall of Justice building. Jessica will meet you there and aid him. Come to Metropolis as soon as you can. Zod's family is still on the loose here."
"Did...Did Zod destroy the Watchtower?"
Clark's voice came on. "Not entirely, but there's no time to explain. Follow Diana's orders and go!"
Barry shot off, cradling Hal in his arms.
The Justice League ended up trapping Zod and his family in a special prison created by the Green Lantern Corps. Barry had his concerns about this plan because he remembered conversations with Hal and Clark about how often Zod managed to escape whatever prison he was ever thrown in, and had managed to escape each time. Clark assured him that he was secure, and that the Green Lantern Corps were keeping an eye out as well. Most of the rest of the league seemed to feel pretty good about the outcome because, well, they did stop Zod and they kept casualties in Metropolis to a minimum. It could have been a lot worse.
As for the Watchtower, it turned out that Zod had flown himself directly through the wing that Barry and Hal had been on. It was as though Zod had fashioned himself into a big Kryptonian cannon, launching himself through station, because he'd overheard that a couple of league members were there and had been incapacitated. He figured it would slow Clark and the rest of the league down. It did, but not for too long.
Hal had saved Barry's life, plain and simple. If Hal hadn't managed to push through his pain and medicine to concentrate on saving his friends life, Barry would have been lost to the vacuum in space. Quite possibly Hal as well, depending on how his ring would have reacted. Fortunately, that was an answer they didn't have to know.
Hal was healing nicely. Many of his injuries had resulted in some internal bleeding and a couple of broken ribs. He was actually fortunate that the injuries weren't worse, something he attributed to Kyle getting him away from Zod when he did. Getting away from Zod hadn't been easy, either, because Kyle had suffered a few minor injuries himself. Still, Barry would have to remember to thank Kyle for bringing Hal back. Good thing lanterns almost never worked alone these days.
The surprising part was that the Green Lantern Corps put Hal on a temporary leave. Apparently this wasn't only because of his injuries, but because on both occasions he'd faced Zod, he'd acted recklessly. They claimed that this recklessness lead to Zod doing more damage on Earth, since Hal and Kyle had failed to stop him from getting that far. Kyle had been reprimanded, but not placed on a leave like Hal. They wanted Hal to "reconsider about his tactics" before he came back. In a way, Barry understood. If Hal kept returning to his old reckless habits instead of learning to plan things through, even on the fly, then it could continue to lead to disastrous consequences, as it had on multiple occasions before. He could have worked with Kyle instead of just flying off to attack immediately.
On the other hand, he knew this had to be frustrating for Hal. Even so, a part of Barry was glad to have just a little bit more time with him, after everything that happened. He had no idea how in the world they would even begin to discuss the conversations between them that had taken place on the Watchtower, but Barry was sick and tired of fumbling with his relationships with people. He was tired of ignoring something that he knew he was supposed to confront.
Since Hal was stuck on Earth for awhile, and since he had no place of his own on the planet currently, Barry offered him his couch. There was no way he was going to stay at the Watchtower because, well, it needed a lot of repair thanks to Zod. He couldn't really stay in the old Hall of Justice building because it lacked most furnishings since the league had moved to the Watchtower. Barry volunteered almost immediately, which was fine by everyone else, including Hal. Perfect.
Bringing Hal home was kind of a surreal experience. The only other time Hal had been here was for that impromptu movie night. Now, Hal would be staying here for a while, just him and Barry alone.
Barry unlocked and opened the front door, letting Hal in before closing the door behind them both. "Make yourself at home. There's plenty of food in the kitchen. Whatever you need, just say the word."
Hal moved to the couch in the living room, taking a seat without bothering to take off his jacket or shoes. He reached for the T.V. remote, leaned back, and began flipping through channels. "This place looks like it's hardly lived in. Either you clean like crazy or you're never here."
Barry took off his shoes at the door and hung his jacket. The truth was, it was a little of both. He worked so much that he didn't spend much time at home, and if he did need to clean, it was easy to get it done quickly because of his speed. "Well, you know. Work and all that. You want anything to drink?"
"Got anything alcoholic?"
"I have juice."
"Good enough. I'll take it."
Barry sped to the kitchen, poured two glasses of grape juice, and sped back. He joined Hal on the couch, handing him a glass. The lantern greedily began to drink the entire glass at once and that was when it all made sense to Barry. Hal never got to spend more than a couple hours on Earth unless there was some major crisis, so he was enjoying his time here.
Though, Barry still wished he'd take his shoes off.
Barry took a sip of his own juice and leaned forward, watching Hal flip through all the channels. It occurred to him that he didn't really know what kind of shows Hal liked. Those weren't really the type of conversations they ever had time for.
"How are you feeling?"
Hal finished off his juice and upon hearing Barry's question, angrily set the empty glass down next to Barry's full one. "Pissed off, obviously. What the hell was I supposed to do when I saw Zod? Let him get to Kyle? Kyle doesn't know Zod. The first time we fought him, Kyle called him 'Evil Superman.' Kid's great, but naive. But no, I'm the one that gets punished for putting myself in the line of fire. Maybe John was right. Maybe bringing the guardians back was a bad idea."
"I meant your injuries." Barry had nothing to say on lantern politics. It wasn't his place. He was more worried about Hal's health anyway.
Hal sighed. "They're fine, don't worry about it."
Barry frowned briefly, hesitating. "Listen, Hal, about what happened at the Watchtower..."
"What? I mean, you'd do the same for me if the roles were reversed," Hal said, still flipping through channels. He didn't care about what was on, this was just one of those little things he missed. "Just because I was hurting like hell doesn't mean I couldn't use the ring to save your ass. I've been doing this for more than a few years. Nothing breaks my concentration."
Barry gave a faint smile. "Never doubted you."
"Good. You shouldn't."
"There's something else…."
Hal gave him a curious glance out of the corner of his eye, still primarily focused on the TV.
Barry wished he would put that damn remote down. He didn't know how he was supposed to bring this up, and Hal being distracted just made it even harder. "Do you, ah...do you remember the conversation we had at the Watchtower? Well, before everything happened."
Hal was quiet for a second, not even bothering to glance at Barry. Barry wasn't sure how to take his silence. Maybe he was trying to remember what happened through the fog his mind had been in?
"No," Hal said matter-of-factly.
The answer was so abrupt and short that it caught Barry off-guard. "No?"
"No." Hal paused again. "Why, did I say something stupid? I don't know how much morphine was in me at the time."
Goddammit. Barry knew this was stupid. Why was he even trying to fool himself? Where did he think that conversation was supposed to lead? It was a statement that Hal said while drugged up and in pain. It didn't mean anything and wasn't even really Hal talking. The idea of Hal traveling all across the universe just to see little old Barry Allen was absolutely preposterous and he felt like a fool for even believing it, for even hoping that it was true. Hal probably had thought he was telling a joke, and now he didn't remember it. Barry looked down, feeling a tightness in his chest. It became unexpectedly hard to keep his voice even.
"No. Don't worry about it," Barry said as evenly as he could.
Hal put down the TV remote suddenly, not paying attention to where the channel stopped, and stood up. "Do you mind if I use your shower? It's been…" He paused briefly to sniff himself. "...too long since I had one."
Barry shook his head. "All yours. The water takes a while to heat up, so take your time."
"Great," Hal said flatly, walking off.
When he was out of the room, Barry put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he was letting this bother him so much. A friendship. That was it. A friendship and he was being all weird about it. Was he really so deprived since losing Iris? Was he this pathetically lonely that he was clinging onto the one person who would give him time of day? Why did he have to make this weird?
All those times that Hal had showed up out of nowhere were ingrained in his mind. It'd be a lie to say that Hal showed up whenever he needed him, but damn did Barry feel so much better when he was around. Hal essentially came into his life every so often to tell him that he didn't have to do everything alone, and then he would vanish again. Barry would be alone again. However, when he was alone, the faith that Hal would come back and grace his presence with his smile, lame humor, and fearless attitude sometimes was enough to get him out of bed in the morning. When everyone gave up on Barry or was frustrated with him or made him feel like he wasn't enough, Hal Jordan was there as a constant, as someone who always believed he was a saint even when he wasn't. Even if Hal Jordan wasn't here physically, the encouragement and support he gave Barry always remained.
Barry looked up from his hands to see some drama on TV of two guys locked in an embrace, moving in for an intimate kiss. Yeah, two guys. It wasn't weird, was it? Not weird at all, really. Barry had never really thought about it before in regards to himself. There was no room for thoughts like that before because he'd been so, well, drawn to Iris that it practically filled his every thought. Well, there was a lot of vacancy in that part of his mind and heart right now.
In any case, it didn't matter, because one thing was clear. Hal Jordan was as straight as a man got.
Is this where his thoughts were now? Him and Hal, like those guys on TV? Is that what was going on here? Is that why he was making this weird?
Hal was going to be staying with him for awhile. He couldn't make him uncomfortable and scare him off before was fully healed or before he left Earth again. So there was only one thing for him to do. Forget about it.
He shut the TV off, imagining the remote shutting off that part of his mind as well, and picked up some case files he'd brought home with him and began to look over them. Might as well do it at normal speed and keep his mind occupied longer.
Hal hated lying to Barry like that, but it was just better this way. The fact that Hal spent more time off Earth than on it was a major factor, but it was also a lot bigger than that.
Hal Jordan was very bad at relationships.
His relationships always seemed to fall apart and while the reasons always varied, the fault usually seemed to lie with him. Since he'd lost Carol, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he wasn't built for relationships at all. Maybe he should just be grateful for the friends he had.
There were few friends in the world like Barry. Here he was, in Barry's shower, using his soap and shampoo. Tonight he'd sleep on his couch, eat his food, watch his TV….
And Hal had just lied right to his face.
He felt like a colossal jerk, but it was better to let Barry down now than to hurt him more later over something that Hal was sure would never work.
Hal tried to close his eyes in the shower, lose himself in the cascading water but it was no use. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw Barry. He saw Barry's surprised face when Hal showed up in Central City out of nowhere, Barry laughing while they had beer together in a bar, Barry getting knocked out for a minute while the Watchtower was being ripped apart….
So, closing his eyes was out. He washed his hair, humming a random tune to try to distract himself. What was Barry doing right now? Watching some show? Cleaning? Reading?
Nope. There he goes again. Fuck.
As much as he hated to admit it, this whole thing was his own fault. He was the one that kept finding reasons to come to Earth just to see Barry. He didn't get much free time and whenever he did, seeing Barry was the first thing to come to his mind. The other Green Lanterns were great, they really were. If anything, Hal was getting along with them better than ever. Human and otherwise.
But none of them were Barry. Nobody else on Earth or throughout the entire universe understood him the same way that Barry did. Some came close, but with Barry it was just….special somehow. He couldn't explain it.
No one else was Barry, but Hal didn't deserve him.
Hal wrapped up his shower, trying to decide if it was worse to be alone with his thoughts or to be alone with Barry trying to act like he didn't want to grab him by the collar of his shirt and plant one right on him.
Speaking of shirts. Hal realized he kinda…..didn't have a change of clothes. Well, crap. Should he just….make a construct of an outfit? No, that was dumb, even for him. Hmm….
Barry was looking over the files for the murder case of a young woman when Hal returned from the shower. Was Hal….wearing his clothes?
"I don't have clean clothes and mine smell," Hal said in response to the look on Barry's face, plopping next to him on the couch again.
….Oh. Of course. Barry felt silly. Why didn't he think to offer some clothes? Some host he was. "It's no problem. Like I said, make yourself at home."
It never really occurred to Barry before, but he and Hal were almost the same size. Similar height, probably similar in weight. Hal fit his clothes perfectly. It was probably the first time that Barry had ever seen him in a red button-up shirt but….it was a good look for him. Hal kept the top two buttons undone, probably because he felt stuff in such a nice shirt as it was, and it only made him look even more suave and handsome.
He turned back to the files in his hand, because he really needed to focus on something other than Hal. His cheeks felt warm, which was just profoundly embarrassing, and he really hoped Hal didn't notice.
It wasn't gonna happen. It just wasn't gonna happen.
So. Murder case. Woman, 23 years old. Recent college graduate. Murdered in her apartment. No suspects but there were some fingerprints from a jealous ex boyf—
Hal appeared in front of him, pushing the files in his hand down, away from his face. The expression in Hal's eyes was unreadable. There was a sternness, but there didn't seem to be any anger. Just very focused, and all of his attention was on Barry.
Barry's heart pounded so hard he felt the vibrations throughout his chest and arms. "Hal?"
Hal tore the files from his grasp, carelessly tossing them aside as he leaned forward, pressing his lips against Barry's.
All at once, Barry's mind was in a whirlwind. In an instant, so many questions and thoughts raced through his mind but in the moment, none of it mattered because Hal Jordan was kissing him and he had to do something.
So, he kissed him back. Hard.
Hal gave a small surprised noise against his lips, which had Barry's stomach doing backflips. For a few short but incredible moments, their lips danced together, sending shivers through them both.
The shiver was so intense for Barry that he was almost expecting his body to give off actual sparks akin to the static electricity he let off when he was using his speed. He could still feel it as their lips parted, and the whole experience was so exhilarating that he had to catch his breath.
Their lips were still so close, barely touching. Barry watched Hal's eyes open, noting the way that the lantern's expression had changed. The strong features on Hal's face were noticeably softer as he looked at Barry with a loving expression that Barry had never seen before.
"I got to thinking," Hal said, his voice quiet. "I've never been afraid of anything in my life. Why should I start now?"
Oh, god. Then this meant….
"You do remember," Barry said. "What you said up there….it was true….wasn't it?"
"Bar….shut up…."
Hal leaned in for another kiss, slower this time. Barry accepted his invitation and this time around, it was softer and sweeter, yet somehow also even more exhilarating than the last one. Barry was quickly discovering that the more he pushed Hal, the more Hal pushed back. The end result was a tidal wave of a feeling that he felt like he could drown in if he allowed it.
Alright, Allen. Slow down. This is happening really fast.
Barry broke the kiss again, but found Hal's hand on the couch and intertwined their fingers. Hal's ring pressed against Barry's fingers, a reminder of what would likely be their fate.
All at once, Barry's heart sank again. This...this wasn't going to go anywhere, was it? It couldn't.
"Hey," Hal called, his voice a little gruff. He reached for Barry's chin with his free hand, lifting it gently so they could make eye contact again. "Don't quit on me."
"But...could we really..."
"I'll find a way."
That was his big plan, huh? He'd just "find a way" and it would all work out? Seemed about right for Hal, as he seemed to follow essentially the same pattern for everything else in his life as well. It was so unlike Barry, who preferred to have everything mapped out, planned out. Even though Barry's life didn't allow him to be prepared for everything, he liked being able to plan when he could. When he couldn't, when the situation was out of his hands, it tended to have bad results.
"I got you," Hal said in the same quiet, soft manner he'd said those words before.
Hal lived much of his life in the moment. Maybe it was time for Barry to learn to do the same.
"Then kiss me again, Hal."