(Thank you, Rosemarygreeneyes!)

Barry turned sharply to the side as Hal's foot whistled past inches from his face. He grabbed his boyfriend's leg and kept turning, throwing Hal away from him. The Lantern landed in a tumble to absorb the hit and rolled back onto his feet, fists up and shoulders rolling as he shook it off.

"Thought the rules were no powers," Hal grinned.

Barry was content to stay silent, but Clark stood up for him from the edge of the training ring, "He didn't use his speed, Hal."

"He's just naturally faster than you," Arthur teased from the spectator seats, water bottle hanging loosely from his fingers. He'd just finished sparring with Bruce a few minutes ago. Hal and Barry were taking their turn in the ring now practicing grappling distance hand to hand combat. No power rings. No superspeed.

"What – is everyone suddenly Team Barry now?" Hal tore his eyes off of Barry to send betrayed glares at their Kryptonian and Atlantean teammates. Barry took advantage of the opening and darted in to tackle Hal when he wasn't looking. He tagged him in the ribs once before Hal caught his fist and threw an elbow into his jaw. Barry dove off of him to avoid it, and Hal was back on his feet at the same time. "He may be faster, but I'm stronger."

Barry shrugged like it didn't matter, "You'd have to actually hit me for that to make any difference."

He heard Arthur chuckling off to the side and Booster's hooting at the comeback. Hal flicked them off, but his eyes stayed locked on Barry's like a predator sizing up a kill. Barry's confident grin dropped away, and he slammed his senses into full alert. That was Hal accepting the challenge with vigor. They'd fought side by side plenty long enough for Barry to learn his tells.

"You asked for it," Hal warned with a cocky jerk of his head and a slow smile. He flexed his fingers, and the knuckles cracked ominously. He was getting serious now and drawing attention to their fight. Clark's arms unfolded from over his chest in interest, Arthur sat up straighter in his seat, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle moved closer to the perimeter railings to get a better look. Even Bruce and J'onn looked up from their conversation by the door to watch.

Hal bridged the gap between them in two quick steps, shooting a fist at center mass. Barry raised his arm to block and smacked Hal's wrist aside in the same fluid motion. He jabbed his knee into Hal's gut and threw him to the ground when he doubled over in surprise. Hal rolled with it and swiped his leg out to bring Barry down with him, but he sidestepped out of range. Not wasting the momentum, Hal rose by swinging his weight back around with a powerful roundhouse. Barry had to bend backwards to avoid the kick connecting with the side of his head.

He grit his teeth and took a step back to regain his footing after the desperate dodge put him off-balance. Hal pressed after him, and Barry kept his fists up and ready when he saw the grin on his face - dark and wide like he knew something Barry didn't.

Hal threw his whole body into another haymaker, and Barry grabbed his wrist, ducking under the arm and turning to twist it behind his back. He jerked to get free of the hold, but Barry kept him trapped and pressed Hal's arm into his back to weaken him. Hal moved like he was about to slam his elbow back into Barry's ribs, so the speedster instinctively lifted his leg to block it with his knee.

That's when Hal suddenly aborted the elbow jab and blindly reached around to dig his fingers neatly into the curve of Barry's ass.

The speedster's eyes went wide, and his heart leapt into his throat.

With a sniggering laugh, Hal lurched forward and tossed Barry over his head while he was still dumbstruck. The world flipped upside down, and Barry landed hard on his back with a loud thud, the wind knocked out of him and a fierce blush coloring his face bright red.

It took two seconds to process what had just happened. Instead of getting to his feet, Barry pushed himself up on his elbows and fired a disbelieving glare up at Hal, "Did you just grope me…?!"

He ignored the muffled laughter and sounds of astonishment from his teammates at the edge of the training ring but kept his unwavering stare fixed on his boyfriend. Hal rocked back on his heels, breath only slightly labored, and looked at his own hand with a curious tilt to his head, "Huh…Well, Barry, I guess I must have. Superman only ever looks that uncomfortable when I do something extra inappropriate."

Barry glanced to the side where Clark was watching them with a distinct frown on his face. He was the one keeping score of how many times they tagged each other in the match. "I'm not counting that, Hal."

"It was a legit tag," Hal held up the offending hand, waggling his fingers tauntingly and not seriously contesting the ruling.

"It was not," Barry breathed in slowly through his nose to keep calm. He got to his feet and tried to ignore the fact that he could still feel the ghost of Hal's hand on his ass. "And if you try it again - especially in front of our friends - you're gonna find yourself sleeping on the couch for the next month."

Hal didn't look overly remorseful even as he held his hand solemnly over his heart and paused dramatically like he was about to deliver a grand apology, "Honey…we have the most comfortable couch I've ever encountered."

Oh, Barry wanted to smack the cocky smile right off his face. He stalked towards his boyfriend amidst a chorus of cheers from Booster and Beetle, flexing the muscles in his arms. Hal rocked back into a fighting stance and bounced his knees a little while he waited.

Barry feinted to the left and dropped to the ground beneath the shovel hook Hal aimed at his ribcage. He planted his hands on the ground to brace himself and landed a kick square in Hal's side that had him stumbling backwards.

Then it was on. Hal and Barry darted at each other in harried movements, trading and blocking blows. Hal was always just a half second too late or a centimeter too far to the side to tag Barry, and Barry couldn't manage to get himself into Hal's blind spots. It was equal parts boxing, dancing, and a fast-paced game of keep away.

Hal was having way too much fun with it, but he hadn't made any more attempts to feel Barry up again, so the speedster pushed it from his mind and focused on actually sparring again.

Mistake.

The moment Hal managed to wrestle Barry into a chokehold from behind, the speedster felt a hand creeping its way down his abs towards the waistband of his workout shorts. His temper flared hot when he felt Hal's breathy chuckle tickling his ear, and he narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"Didn't expect me to actually listen, did you?" Hal playfully pressed himself closer against Barry and loosened the arm locked around his neck. In any other circumstance, Barry would've been all for this kind of flirty fighting and accepting Hal's teasing advances. But dammit, the Lantern knew he didn't like doing stuff like this in front of other people. Time to teach him a lesson.

"I warned you…" Barry ground out ominously, inwardly reaching to open the connection to his powers. He'd show Hal unexpected.

"Wha-?" Hal began in confusion moments before Barry vibrated out of his arms and knocked him flat on his ass. "Oof!"

Barry grabbed Hal's ankles and yanked him forward by his feet. Then in one swift motion, he pulled off Hal's sweatpants and flung them across the ring, leaving him dazed in only his boxers. He stood over Hal with his arms crossed in satisfaction and one eyebrow cocked dangerously while Arthur howled with laughter up in the bleachers.

Now, it was Hal's turn to flush red as he looked around frantically for his pants, "Um?! I thought we said no friggin superspeed!"

Barry kept his head held high and loftily strolled around Hal towards the edge of the arena where Clark was very obviously trying hard not to laugh, "I win."

Clark was nodding in amused agreement, "Yes, I'd say you did."

"By cheating!" Hal was screeching from the center of the ring, snatching his pants up with a ring construct and trying to put them on while hopping after Barry. Booster was on his knees, clutching his middle and trying to breathe, and Blue Beetle flat out pointed and laughed at him.

"I still won," Barry called over his shoulder, slinging a towel around his neck and meeting Bruce's gaze as he passed the doorway to the showers and locker room. He could see the smallest smile beneath the dark cowl and knew he could count on Bruce to make sure the footage of that takedown ended up in his email later.