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When Hal entered the Hall of Justice, all the hopes of the Justice League and the universe were resting on his shoulders. More accurately, those hopes were resting on the small enchanted dagger hidden up his sleeve, and on Hal's willingness to use it. He was really hoping he wouldn't need to.
It was different than Hal had expected to see Sinestro standing there. No maniacal laughter was happening, nor were there humans begging for their lives as Hal had been led to believe by dramatic tales from the Justice League of Sinestro's terrifying reign over the universe. In comparison, the scene that greeted Hal was rather tame and surprisingly peaceful.
Head bowed, the slim unassuming figure stood with his back to Hal. However, Sinestro must have sensed something for he turned, gaze snapping up.
The effect of all that power Sinestro had got his hands on was visible in his yellow eyes, bright like the sun and brimming with energy. It was also in the magic amulet around his neck that glowed with the same malevolent aura. Hal's gaze fixed on it. If not for that bit of jewelry, the whole awful situation would never have happened.
Other villains had been involved, all chasing after the ultimate power promised by the amulet, but Sinestro had seized it first and the villains, along with most the rest of the universe, had fallen under his control. Only a select few members of the Justice League had escaped. They'd pulled together their magic resources and hatched the final desperate plan.
Calm and collected like it was any other occasion, Sinestro greeted, "Jordan." With his relaxed posture and casual tone, he wasn't wary of Hal at all.
The Justice League had been correct in their guess that Hal, of them all, would be able to get close to Sinestro and do what needed to be done. None of them had asked if Hal was prepared to kill Sinestro. They'd just assumed that the consequences if he didn't would be enough to motivate him.
Even Hal didn't know what he was going to do. His gaze fell to the amulet again, gleaming evilly. If he destroyed it, Sinestro's reign could end without anyone getting hurt. The Justice League hadn't mentioned the possibility but they didn't care about saving Sinestro. Only Hal cared about Sinestro and he'd much rather stab the amulet.
Watching Hal closely, Sinestro hid the amulet from view with one hand. "Magic is rarely my weapon of choice," he said, "but it has accomplished much for me. Wouldn't you agree?"
A black fingernail tapped on the surface of the artifact and Hal did have to agree with Sinestro. The perfect efficiency with which Sinestro had captured every force opposing his new reign had been disconcerting.
When Hal stayed silent, still trying to figure out what to do, Sinestro narrowed his eyes. "Do you not intend to fight me?" He was getting suspicious. "Where is your ring?"
"No ring," Hal promised, splaying out his hand to show Sinestro. "It's so I look more vulnerable, and you won't kill me right away. Hopefully. Batman's idea."
Uncomfortable, Hal scrubbed his fingers through his hair and the dagger shifted against the bare skin of his arm. For the moment, Sinestro hadn't appeared to notice the weapon that was there specifically to kill him. Only puzzlement was in his expression, not accusation or, and it was the worst possibility to Hal, betrayal.
Without another choice, Hal began to move toward Sinestro anyway, though his steps were like walking though mud and everything in him was rebelling against it.
"The Justice League know you've won," Hal invented as he approached. "I'm to parley. They want to negotiate."
Face to face, Hal and Sinestro stood together, and the magic amulet was very close, within reach for Hal to stab if he believed that would even work. There was also the possibility of him stabbing Sinestro which he really didn't want to.
Sinestro arched an eyebrow in a prompt for Hal to continue. There was no uneasiness in him that he'd let Hal so close. In fact, he seemed quite willing to talk.
If Hal didn't at least try something to put a stop to this without resorting to murder, he'd never forgive himself. He'd rather be mind controlled than kill Sinestro and that was all he needed to know about what he wanted.
With a sigh, Hal hung his head. "Actually," he confessed, "I'm supposed to kill you."
The dagger glittered ominously, rather like the amulet, as Hal pulled it from his sleeve and showed it to Sinestro. Just so Sinestro didn't get the wrong idea, Hal was holding the dagger by the sharp end rather than the handle.
A strong grip seized Hal's wrist and held him still, while Sinestro's suspicious glare fixed on him.
"Take it easy, sweetheart," Hal soothed with the pet name slipping out of him by accident. "I'm not going to stab anyone. I just want to negotiate."
When Sinestro pried the dagger from Hal's grip and tossed it away, Hal didn't protest. Then his wrist was released and Sinestro stepped back. That gaze searched Hal, and Hal tried to look like he wasn't being deceptive at all because he really wasn't. He had no plan and was just glad Sinestro hadn't killed him instantly.
"You have my attention," Sinestro told Hal though continuing to eye him warily. "Speak."
It was more than Hal could have hoped for and he smiled brilliantly. The Justice League had been much too trigger happy with their assassination attempt. They should've just let Hal negotiate from the start. All Hal had to figure out was what he could say to get Sinestro to surrender.
"Why are you doing this?" Hal began by appealing to Sinestro's reason. "You have to know the magic is too much for the universe. It'll be torn apart."
There was no change in Sinestro's expression upon being told he was destroying the universe. "You misunderstand my intentions," he said to Hal.
"No." Hal was firm. "I don't think you understand. The universe will be torn apart. Goodbye, reality. You won't have any world to rule over. If you don't take that thing off" - he jabbed his finger at the amulet - "we're all going to die."
Unmoved was Sinestro. Though he'd agreed to negotiate, he wasn't even looking at Hal.
Confused, Hal bit his lip. Reason and logic usually worked to snap Sinestro out of ridiculous world domination schemes. Something must have changed.
"Please," Hal tried switching tactics, softening his tone. His hands gripped Sinestro's shoulders. "I promise you won't be arrested. Give this up and you can walk out of here, no problem. I won't follow you."
The amulet and the universe didn't matter so much when it was just the two of them. Trying to look as convincing as he could, Hal smiled and fluttered his eyelashes. All it succeeded in doing was making Sinestro look away.
"My goal was complete control," Sinestro admitted, "and I was an excellent ruler."
Like always, Sinestro's head was tilted arrogantly as he didn't take into account that he'd get bored with ruling. There were so many better things he could've been doing. A long time ago, he'd been a great Green Lantern.
"When I realised..." Sinestro continued and his gaze flicked up to Hal. "Why should I care? Tell me that." A stubborn defiant spark was in his eyes.
There was a long silence. "It doesn't bother you that the universe will be ripped apart?" The attitude surprised Hal and he was trying to wrap his mind around it because while Sinestro had always been extreme, his goal was usually control and not destruction.
"I do not intend to stop the destruction," Sinestro confirmed. For someone willingly participating in wiping away everything that existed, he was very relaxed. "The universe has done nothing for me. Would it not rather I had never existed? I will pay the universe back in kind."
Over the eerie calm of Sinestro's stature fell a shadow of bitter pain and Hal's heart ached for him. It hurt even more to know he'd contributed to Sinestro's misery.
Lightly, Hal touched Sinestro's shoulder, and he looked deeply into those distressed yellow eyes. "Hey," he said. "Didn't the universe bring us together? It wasn't all bad. I'm no good at this but... Sometimes it just isn't fair. That doesn't mean it deserves to be destroyed. It's a lot like you, don't you think?"
The quick smile Hal gave was unanswered. Looking down and away, Sinestro was fiddling with the amulet. There was something distant in his gaze and the amulet could have been affecting his mind. It did control people.
"Without you," Hal went on, sobering somewhat, "I'd be..." The thought was intense. "I don't think I'd be happy at all. And I'd be dead which is also no fun..."
A hand covered Hal's mouth, preventing him from speaking any further. "You're mistaken," Sinestro informed him. "You have never needed me."
Whenever someone stuck a hand over Hal's mouth, he was always tempted to lick them just because he could. Sensing, for once in his life, that it wasn't the appropriate moment, he restrained himself and just pushed that hand away instead. It went easily. Not a lot of energy was expended on keeping him quiet.
"I might not have needed you," Hal agreed, "but I've wanted you. I've always wanted you, Thaal. You're important to me."
Again, Sinestro was more distracted with the amulet than with listening to Hal. "Do not distress yourself. It will be over soon." He wasn't even looking at Hal anymore.
Rather than calming Hal, Sinestro's words made him panic more. His last chance to get through to Sinestro had arrived and if he failed, he'd be letting down every single person that had ever existed or would exist in the future.
"No!" Hal protested. "Sinestro -" That time, he grabbed the distracted figure and forced them to lock gazes. "I care about you. And I care about your happiness. Do you really want this? Are you sure? There won't be any coming back from it."
Though Sinestro opened his mouth defiantly to give his reply, Hal silenced him with a quick finger against the magic enhanced lips. "I'm not finished. Take off the magic… thing. Give it ten seconds, nice and slow, and if you still want to destroy the universe, I won't try to stop you. I promise you as a Green Lantern. And as your friend."
Once Hal had lowered his finger, Sinestro stared at him in disbelief. However, he then slowly nodded his head.
"Do not expect this to change anything," Sinestro warned. "You will surrender to me. I will make you surrender." He tugged the amulet over his head and it slipped from his fingers onto the ground.
"10… 9… 8… 7..." Hal recited as slowly as he dared to. "6… 5… 4…" The pauses between each number were absurdly long. "3… 2… 1."
On Sinestro's face had been an intensely concentrated expression, impossible to decipher the meaning of, but as the last number left Hal's throat, Sinestro turned and drove the hard heel of his foot into the shining surface of the amulet. With an audible crack, it snapped in two. The malevolent aura surrounding it was gone.
"My mistake," Sinestro said calmly, but he didn't look or sound apologetic at all. "A tragic accident to destroy something so dangerous."
Both he and Hal looked down at the powerless fragments which were all that remained. Though Hal bit the inside of his cheek, he couldn't quite hide his smile. Relief was washing through him.
"I've no idea how that happened," Hal quipped back, playing along. "My eyes were off it for less than a second."
"You cannot blame me." As ever, Sinestro was quick to be defensive. "My sudden awareness was disorientating. It could not have been helped."
They exchanged a familiar look, Hal grinning while Sinestro smirked. It was very easy to fall back into their old pattern where they lied through their teeth to the Guardians about 'tragic accidents' befalling dangerous artifacts.
"How did you know?" Sinestro asked then. He had turned to study his partner in crime. "You were very confident."
It wasn't a big deal to Hal who shrugged. "I had faith in you," was all he said on the subject. Smiling to himself, he clapped Sinestro on the shoulder. "Why did you agree to take that thing off?"
A soft exhale escaped Sinestro's lips and he grasped the hand on his shoulder. "Who could deny you?" It said so much more than just the words and Sinestro's thumb brushed delicately over Hal's knuckles.
The moment was one of rare openness and Hal committed it to memory. Yellow was soft like pollen in Sinestro's eyes. Feather light was the touch of his hand and the hitch of his breath when Hal moved closer. In Sinestro remained a sense of vulnerability mixed with sadness and Hal couldn't help but want to hold him and protect him from all of it.
One of Hal's hands came up and wrapped around the back of Sinestro's head, ruffling through hair and angling him downwards. Their lips pressed together, hard, before Hal turned his head to the side and squashed himself against Sinestro in a tight hug.
If Hal applied enough force to the hug, Sinestro would have to feel the comfort offered. It could transfer directly from Hal's body.
The doors to the Hall of Justice crashed open and an elbow slammed into Hal's chin. Stunned, he stumbled backwards. By the time he looked up, members of the Justice League were crowding around and Sinestro was gone, having used Hal as a distraction to escape. It was fair enough.