Chapter Text
Hal Jordan has faced many kinds of adversaries and challanges in his time; planet invaders, alien monsters, space politics, etc.
Yet the Green Lantern could do nothing but wince as the robots tended to his wounded hand, teeth marks a little too sharp you'd think it was some kinda monster.
Well, depending on your definition, the criminal in question might be.
And while the medbots focus on tending to him, his mind drifts back to the events prior.
__________
The man had just got back from a mission, one that took far longer than expected. With a groan, he landed in the tower, letting the scanners do their thing and basically going on auto-pilot.
After he was deemed clear, the man trudged forward, already mentally exhausted but knew that he had to at least report back before a certain bat got his panties in a twist.
The thought brought a wry smirk to the hero's face as he reached one of the rooms. Entering his pass code, his gaze zeroes in on the Bat himself, in his usual place leafing through documents.
"Lantern," the other muttered, severe but not cold. Which alone showed how much progress the two had made from grudgingly tolerating each other to mutual respect. "You are back."
"Hey honey, I'm home," the brunette singsongs, striding over. From the way Batman merely narrowed his gaze, Hal thought he may not have sounded as chirper as he intended.
Still, he basically threw himself in one of the chairs, scooting it closer to Batman. The taller man gave him another look, silent yet an undeniable question.
"Work was rough," the other lamented, leaning back in his chair. Soon he began ranting; about how the mission really was a simple diplomatic one, turned bad when one of the supposed diplomats was assassinated then his ship was blown up, causing a whole investigation to start, leading to a whole other problem...
The man stops suddenly, realising that he and Bruce were basically leaning into each other, his own voice getting softer as he vented out his frustrations.
"Ahh," Hal, usually so cocky and sure of himself with his flirts, averted his gaze, a nervous smile on face. "Sorry Spooky. Musta' be the earth air y'know? Makes me all... weird."
Never has Hal wanted to ground to eat him up more.
Yet the other merely nodded, like that was a completely normal and reasonable explanation. "I see."
"I..." a pause, then Bruce shot him a smile, small and barely there, but oh so soft and sincere. "...am glad you're back, that you're safe, Hal."
Green tinted eyes widen before he could stop them, watching Bruce's face closely, obsessively, reverently.
Slowly, Hal raised his hand, intending to cup the other's face. The usual hard feautures turning so soft with care basically a magnet the brunette has no intention of resisting.
Neither realised the door opening and a figure rushing in, but they quickly made themselves known as they loudly and rather harshly chomped on the Green Lantern's hand.
"Fu-hey!"
"Robin!"
Said sidekick was latching onto the older hero's hand with a vengence, eyes glaring venomously as he dug his teeth in. Batman gently but firmly pulled the boy in while Hal nursed his hand, hissing softly.
"Medbay, go now," the Gotham Knight ordered. The Lantern rolled his eyes but nodded, getting up and heading out. He stopped when he heard the soft apology (and pointedly ignored the growling).
"See ya later, Spooky," he shot the other a salute and wink then left.
__________
And now, he's here, recovering. The man makes a mental note to ask about the kid—at the very least, if he was in any danger of rabies.
__________
"Robin."
The boy ignores the call, instead focused on burrowing himself deeper into the covers.
The two Gothamites had returned home shortly after, with the younger running to his room while Bruce followed after. Only to find his boy curled up and wrapped like a burrito in bed, stubbornly mute.
"Jason."
Again, no response.
"Sweetheart," he tried, the same tone his father had used on him, accent and drawl and all.
Finally the boy peeks over at him.
"Why'd you bite him?"
The mere mention of the man brings a scowl to the child's face, as if the Lantern had personally offended him somehow (he did).
After a moment, the boy finally mutters, "...hungry."
Bruce blinks, "you were hungry—so you decided to bite Jordan?"
A huff is all the man gets.
Batman knows there is more to it then that; the cafeteria was always stocked with plenty of options—having a speedster that burned so many calories in mere minutes meant it was absolutely necessary—so there was no question of food, really.
Bruce shakes his head, not quite managing to hide his smile. He leans forward, reaching out to his boy. Jason immediately notices the action and springs out of his cocoon, nuzzing into the warm hand. A soft chuckle leaves the billionaire as he continues to pet and gently scratch the kid's scalp.
'Like a cat...' the man muses. And that's when the realisation hits.
A stray cat in an unfamiliar home, clinging to the one person it knows is safe—and being possessive and frighten of that safety being taken away.
(Not exactly, but good job Bruce)
"Oh sweetie," the man tenderly pulls the child in his arms, letting the boy hear his heartbeat, calm and steady. Something he remembered his mother did with him when she was here.
"You have nothing to be afraid of," Bruce places a soft kiss on Jason's head, "I'll always be here for you."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart."