Archive of Our Own ^beta

            Y/N glared at her computer, ready to pull her hair out by its roots. She truly did enjoy her job at Ferris Aircraft, but it was stressful. She took a deep breath and sat back in her chair, clicking the pen in her hand as she looked over the airfield. Carol was sure to hook her up with a small office that had an amazing view – there were perks to being friends with the big boss. Y/N had met Carol before her father had a heart attack – they were good friends in college.

            Y/N worked in the government, mainly with the FAA. When Carol became the head of Ferris Aircraft after her father’s sudden passing, she received a call from Carol begging her to come and be a part of Ferris Aircraft as a government compliance specialist. Y/N was reluctant at first – she did like her job at the FAA and she lived in Washington DC. She’d also be the only government compliance specialist at Ferris Aircraft, which dumped a lot of stress on her lap.

            However, since Carol was such a good friend, she decided to come work for her on the west coast. She was still getting used to how dry the heat was there. She had already gone through more moisturizer bottles than she could count. It was a nice job and she got along with everyone she worked with. Except for one person.

            She couldn’t fucking stand their top pilot – which was just dandy since they were always butting heads and had to work closely together. She had threatened to revoke his pilot license so many times that it basically became an empty threat. Yes, he was amazing at what he did, and when testing new military aircraft, he was the best, but damn did she wish he wasn’t who he was.

            He was the reason she was wanting to pull her hair out – the flyboy had crashed one of the government’s new bomber crafts into a ravine. She was now having to write a report about what went wrong.

            Here’s the kicker, though – the black box was never found. They thought they’d be able to track it since the area he crashed the plane was easily containable, but it wasn’t on earth. It just vanished. How was she going to explain that to the government?! She let out a breath and sat up straight. She’d figure out a way to word the report – she always did when it came to Hal Jordan. She bit her lip and began typing again, letting out a loud groan of frustration when she heard his plane coming back to the airfield. He loved to show off when he landed, and he’d always try to make her think he was gonna crash right into her office.

Hal fucking Jordan. 

            After several months of Hal pulling that prank, she no longer jumped or panicked. She heard the aircraft’s brakes skrrt when its wheels made contact with the tarmac. She just needed some peace and quiet. She did her best to tune out the loud noises and began to type. She could edit the report later, but she needed to pull together the facts and potentially add some very minor…embellishments.

            Y/N was positive that Hal and Carol were involved with each other. He was constantly flirting with her, but Carol was adamant that they weren’t dating. It made sense, he wasn’t Carol’s type, and she shut him down very quickly. What Y/N couldn’t stand was how his brown eyes would look her over each time he was talking to Carol or another woman in the office. It was annoying and rude. You’re supposed to look at the person you’re talking to, not someone on the other side of the room. He was a complete flirt – he’d chat up anything that moved on two legs. What was even more frustrating was seeing how many fellow women at Ferris Aircraft fell for it! She wondered if she was annoyed by it because he never flirted with her, but she threw that to the back of her subconscious. Fuck that. Who would stand to be in a relationship with an impulsive, hot-headed, cocky, annoying, loud-mouthed, brave, funny, caring---UGH!

            “Uh…Y/N?” A familiar voice filled her office. Y/N quickly looked up, seeing Carol’s amused face.

            “Y-yeah?”

            “You alright? You look like you’re really going through it…”

            “I am,” Y/N admitted, running a hand through her hair, “I have no idea how I’m going to report to the government how Jordan’s incident caused the black box to go missing. They’re not going to buy that. I can try to talk around it, but…chances are slim. And of course Jordan is showing off when I need to focus.”

            “Mm. Well, Hal always gets around it somehow.”

            “Unfortunately,” Y/N mumbled, “what did you need, boss?”

            “As you saw, Hal just got back from flying the stealth bomber that the Air Force commissioned several months ago. We’ve got the results of the tests we ran, and we need your signature on them. Also, Hal needs to debrief you on how the aircraft performed and if it met government regulation.”

            “Alright, are we in the conference room?” Y/N took a steadying breath and saw Carol’s eyes twinkle a bit. She was enjoying her friend’s turmoil way too much. 

            “Yup! Just down the hall. Pull yourself together, Y/N/N, you look like how you did when we walked out of that CHEM301 test.”

            “To be honest, Carol, that test was definitely written in another language, okay? I’ll be there in a few minutes, let me unplug my laptop and grab some forms.”

--

            When Y/N finally walked into the room, she tried to avoid Hal’s gaze. He was still in his flight uniform, and she hated how nice it looked on him. His brown hair was perfect, as always. She grumbled under her breath when she realized the only seat open was next to Hal. She heard Carol stifle a laugh with a cough. Y/N took her seat and opened her laptop, waiting for Dr. Kendall to spit out the results from the test flight. She felt Hal lean closer to her.

            “Did you like my landing, Ms. L/N?”

            “Didn’t see it.” Y/N sighed, trying to show Hal that she wasn’t interested. Dr. Kendall stood and began talking about the excel sheets that were pulled up and while Carol and her administrators listened closely, Hal kept trying to talk her ear off.

            “Really? Because Carol told me you had a twist in your panties over it.” Hal smirked meanly, looking back to Dr. Kendall who continued to ramble.

            “I heard your landing, didn’t watch it, idiot. It’s hard to not hear a jet.” Y/N spat back, focusing back on her laptop, trying to write up her report.

            “Oh please, we all know that you requested an office facing the airfield just to get a glimpse of me. I don’t blame you.” Hal beamed.

            Y/N clenched her fists and was ready to just wind it back and knock his stupid straight teeth out when Dr. Kendall spoke up.

            “Uh…Y/N? Your opinion?”

            “Huh?” Y/N spluttered, taken out of her stupor. She heard Hal giggle behind his hand, and she wanted to erupt. She was going to cut his dick off someday. Really.

            “Do you need me to recap?” Dr. Kendall smirked, looking between the pilot and the specialist, “Also, Hal, it’d be helpful if you’d keep your mouth shut. The adults are talking.”

            Y/N nearly stood up and applauded Clay but refrained. She could cackle over his dig when she was in her office.

            “Nerd.” Hal grumbled under his breath.

            “Could you please recap, Clay? I’d appreciate it.”

            “Okay, so long story short, the bomber worked well. However, Hal really pushed the boundaries of the plane. It was a good thing he did because we noticed a flaw in the left wing. We’ve got to reinforce the material.”

            “Mm. Okay, that’s totally doable,” Y/N nodded, biting her bottom lip in thought, “Of course, it will cost money. I was told by the DoD and FAA that Ferris has already met their government allowance this year…” Y/N turned to look at Hal, “thanks to that freak accident last month.”

            “It was an accident!”

            “Oh please, and where’s the black box? The government is going to bust my—”

            “I told you, I don’t know where the black box is! I guess me surviving the crash wasn’t something that matters to you—”

            “I mean, black box or Hal Jordan? Hmm…will you get back to me on that in a few hours? Gotta think on it.”

            “You little—”

            “HEY! HEY!” Carol spoke up, standing and smacking her hands on the table. Y/N and Hal looked at their boss and looked away from each other.

            “Let’s be professionals, okay? Watch your mouths and tempers. This is a workplace first, okay? Also, you both have to sit and discuss the flight path and the piloting. Just keep it together? Please?”

            “Sorry, Carol,” Y/N whispered, her cheeks burning.

            “Sorry.” Hal sighed, crossing his arms.

            “Okay, Y/N, you mentioned we’ve met our federal funding. That’s okay, Ferris has tons of contacts that are willing to donate. I’ll get our financial department to begin reaching out. We should secure that funding by the end of the week.”

            “Alright, sounds good, I’ll make a note of it,” Y/N quickly jotted something down on her notepad and put down her pen, “now, what was the output? If you could just email me those numbers, Clay, I can send that to the FAA. Do we have the cockpit recordings?”

            Hal’s brown eyes widened, and he looked at Carol, shaking his head. Y/N raised an eyebrow at Hal’s shift, pursing her lips like she just took a bite of something sour. Of course Hal wouldn’t want his cockpit recordings included in her review. He was probably flirting something nasty with Carol. He did that at the very beginning. The FAA didn’t require the cockpit recordings, but after Hal’s little stunt in the ravine last month, Y/N wanted all his recordings. No matter what. She was going to have to cover Ferris Aircraft’s butt and the only problem pilot they had was Harold Jordan. 

            “I need those recordings.” Y/N sent a look to Carol, begging her friend to back her up. Carol looked at Hal and he shook his head softly once again. He was begging her.

            What was going on? Y/N looked at Dr. Kendall who also had a knowing look in his eyes. He cleared his throat and stayed out of the fray, refusing to make eye contact with her. The other administrators in the room also seemed to get the gist of what was happening.

            Y/N hated being out of the loop. It felt like high school again.

            “The recording device for the cockpit was not fitted properly,” Carol offered, her black eyebrows furrowing.

            “Are you kidding me?” Y/N’s mouth plopped open. “You guys! That’s against regulation. I swear to God, if I have to make toilet wine in a federal prison, I’m taking you all with me—”

            “The FAA doesn’t require cockpit recordings, Y/N,” Hal rolled his eyes, his upper lip forming a snarl, “get the stick out of your—”

            “Y/N, it won’t happen again. Right, Hal?” Carol sent Hal a deadly look and he shrunk a bit underneath it.

            Hal nodded, crossing his arms tighter. Y/N tore her eyes away from how sculpted they looked under the flight suit and took a deep breath.

            “Okay. Sorry for freaking out, it’s just…Nevermind. Okay. Clay, what do you need me to sign off on? We’ll have to send in another report to the DoD after the left wing is repaired, but we can at least submit the initial findings so they can work on the military budget in Congress.”

            “You’ve got it, Y/N. I’ll get the reports prepared and I’ll have my secretary bring them to your office.”

            “Thank you.”

--

            After most of the housekeeping stuff was discussed at the meeting, Carol, Dr. Kendall and the other administrators made their way out of the conference room. Carol sent Y/N a nod of encouragement when she walked out. Y/N almost got on her knees and begged Carol to stay in the room to make sure her and Hal wouldn’t rip out each other’s throats. Y/N and Hal had to discuss his flight so she could sign off on his pilot report. There were plenty of other pilots at Ferris Aircraft, but Hal was the chief test pilot. She worked with him almost constantly.

            “Hal, I’ll apologize for my digs at you at the meeting,” Y/N sighed, swallowing her pride, “I’m just super stressed out about the report that the DoD and the FAA want due to the incident last month.”

            “Apology accepted.” Hal looked up at her with his beautiful brown eyes and she felt her heart flutter. She quickly let out a cough, annoyed.

            “You’re not gonna apologize?” Y/N gritted through her teeth, hands on her hips. Hal looked her up and down unashamedly, tapping his long fingers against the oak table. He loved riling her up. When she put her hands on her hips, it was hard for him to hide his smile.

            “What would I apologize for?”

            “Watch it!” Y/N seethed, pointing at him, “You know I can get your license revoked. I could get it revoked for the crash. I could revoke it because of the cockpit recording being miraculously turned off. Which, by the way, I’m going to get to the bottom of that. You didn’t fool me.”

            “But you never do.” Hal stood up, Y/N hating his height. She was tall but he still had several inches on her. Even when she had her heels on.

            “Because Carol would kill me if I did. But she’s running out of friend favors. Hal, the shit you pulled in the ravine last month could cost me my job.”

            “Aw. Whatever would I do? I can’t imagine coming to work and not hearing your complaints.”

            “Let’s just talk about what needs to be talked about. It’s a miracle I’ve been able to talk to you this long without cussing you out.”

            “I’m gonna tell HR on you—”

            “Oh PLEASE! If we’re talking HR, you should’ve been fired eons ago! How many secretaries have you hit up?”

            “Currently the number is at a tight 15. But, hey, Dr. Kendall’s secretary isn’t that bad on the eyes. Maybe it’ll be 16 by the end of the night.”

            Y/N felt her chest bubble up with heat, but she held her tongue. Hal had a brown eyebrow cocked at her. She hated him. She hated him so much. He made her life hell. He didn’t follow regulation. He didn’t like rules. He did what he wanted, and he always got away with it. Always. It’s like he never got punished because he’d just flash that handsome smile of his and turn up his charm. He was stupid. He was brash. He was rude. And she couldn’t stand him.

            “Let’s just talk about the flight,” Y/N let out a soft sigh, resigning to her fate. When she got off work today, she’d go home and collapse in her bathtub. “Were you able to follow the flight path?”

            “Mmhm,” Hal hummed, a bit disappointed that Y/N resigned into herself. He felt guilt lap at his stomach, and he did his best to ignore it. “Right through Death Valley. Elevation was even, no big red flags. No turbulence even though there were some rainclouds between Coast City and Vegas. However, it’s not much of a stealth bomber—”

            “I was thinking that too with your landing. It was so loud. I could even hear the approach. It wasn’t as loud as it was with the other bomber—”

            “I totally get that, the bomber I landed two weeks ago was atrocious but it’s good if we want to announce our presence, give civilians the chance to take cover. This stealth bomber is just loud at take-off and landing. If we’re taking off from an American or allied base and landing back at one, we should be fine—”

            “That’s true, but there could be cells stationed near our bases. It also means more civilian causalities.”

            “I know, that bothers me too,” Hal murmured, standing closer to the woman. They looked at each other for a while.

            “Why can’t we just stop making planes for war?” Y/N sighed, looking down at the ground. That was the one part of her job that she hated. She was happy when working with commercial aircraft or special aircraft for documentaries or exploration. Military planes made it hard for her to sleep at night.

            “I understand. I really do.” Hal breathed, stepping even closer to Y/N. She could feel the warmth radiating off his body and her brain went numb.

            She wondered what it’d feel like to be held by him and feel his warm embrace. What it would be like to have talks like this where neither of them go for their jugulars. Maybe he wasn’t all bad. She quickly realized they were just looking at each other and she got super uncomfortable. No. Her and Hal were opposites. They were supposed to not agree on anything. She stepped away.

            They were literally just finishing each other’s thoughts. Hal cleared his throat and looked away, staring at the opposite corner of the room.

            “Alright. Um, if you could just write up a small report, I can throw that in with Dr. Kendall’s equations and stuff. That way we’ve got the quantitative and qualitative analysis.”

            “I bet that gets you all excited. Never met someone who’s boyfriend is a pile of paperwork,” Hal snarked.

            Y/N let out a relieved sigh. Ahh. There it is.

            “It never gets bored of me. Too bad the girls you go after can’t say that about you.” Y/N smirked and turned around, making her way out of the room, “oh, Jordan, good luck with Dr. Kendall’s secretary. That’s his wife.”

--

            Y/N stayed late at Ferris Aircraft, finishing her report. She poured her guts into it, trying to use technical terms and logical loops to explain why the black box was not recovered at the scene of the crash. She did leave the door open, though – she alluded to the fact that the black box may be further from the crash site than originally thought. All her colleagues had left about an hour ago - all that was left was the security personnel. Y/N was happy that Hal didn’t go after Dr. Kendall’s wife, but she did wish she could’ve seen Hal’s face if he had tried. When she was passing through the main office with cubicles earlier, she saw him in his usual outfit – his trademark flight jacket – sat on some other secretary’s desk talking about Cuban food. As soon as she made her way across the room, she felt Hal’s eyes on her. She used her peripherals to see that he was completely focused on her, half-assing a conversation with the secretary he was trying to chat up, raising his voice to be sure she could hear him.

            Please. Someone put her out of her misery.

            As much as Y/N wanted to go home and fall into her bathtub, her mind was overactive. There was totally a cockpit recording from Hal’s flight that afternoon. She looked over the specs sheet for the stealth bomber and it was on board and functional. She’d never forget the knowing looks on everyone’s faces and how panicked Hal was when it was brought up. There was something on that cock pit recording that all the administrators heard (mainly because they were in the control room during Hal’s flights – she always opted out so she wouldn’t have to hear his inappropriate comments) that they didn’t want her to hear.

            And she was going to get to the bottom of that. She knew that if she annoyed Carol enough about it, she’d just give up and let her listen to it, but she didn’t want to play the long game. She had enough of Hal’s crap. They were always trying to cover Hal’s ass. Nope. Not this time. She was going to find out what was on that damn tape!

            Y/N pulled her jacket tighter around her as she walked toward the hangar that had the stealth bomber in it. She pulled the keys out of her pocket and pressed her hand to the biometric scanner. She had top security clearance since she was technically a government official, and she watched her back. She quickly shut the hangar when she made her way inside, turning on the bright lights that reflected right off the black plane. She was about to step closer when a voice echoed in the large space.

            “I’ve never seen you on this side of things, Ms. L/N…”

            Y/N nearly jumped out of her skin; eyes wide. She could feel the blood drain from her face, and her heart rammed against her ribcage. She felt her heart slow down a bit when the voice revealed himself.

            Green Lantern.

            “U-uh…” Y/N spat out of her mouth, unable to get any thoughts out. She knew that he was the protector of Coast City, and she was familiar with some of his work. He was super interesting even though she had only seen him a handful of times and interacted with him even less. She had seen him in action a few times when she lived in Washington DC, and he had saved her from some sticky situations once or twice.

            “You never write, you never call…is that the way you treat people that save your life?” Green Lantern smiled, leaning against the aircraft.

            “Hey, you just lifted me into the air before a cab could hit me. And then I got motion sickness.”

            “The ultimate meet cute, right?” Green Lantern smirked, uncrossing his arms, and walking closer to the female, “So tell me. What are you doing in this hangar?”

            “I could ask you the same thing, flashlight,” Y/N retorted, feeling her palms get sweatier by the minute.

            She had a HUGE crush on the superhero. She didn’t fully know why though – he was loud mouthed and stubborn, but he had saved so many people so many times, and he truly cared about both humankind and alien kind. He was sweet – in a scrappy kind of way.

            “I just wanted to visit my favorite resident of Coast City. You know, you ditched out of DC without telling me. I didn’t even know where to forward your mail…”

            “You know I lived a few blocks away from the Hall of Justice,” Y/N rolled her eyes playfully, stepping closer, “and you should’ve seen the U-Haul. It got towed like, three times.”

            “Well, my apologies for not welcoming you to the greatest city in the whole universe,” GL smiled, allowing his white gloved hand to caress her cheek. Y/N looked to the ground but didn’t leave his touch. She closed her eyes.

            “I’m sure you’ve been quite busy…with the whole parademon mess that went down a month ago…”

            “Yeah, it’s tough when you carry the whole Justice League on your back and protect an intergalactic sector…” GL let out a huff, smiling when he saw Y/N fight back a grin.

            “You’re so humble,” Y/N rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, “but it’s good to see you…”

            “Likewise…” He stepped even closer, and he felt Y/N’s chest barely touch his each time she inhaled. “Now. Tell me what you’re doing in here after hours.”

            “You tell me first!” Y/N protested, furrowing her brow, and pursing her lips.

            “Hey! I asked you first. So. You answer first.” GL retorted.

            Hal totally had a thing for Y/N – it was no secret. Half of Ferris Aircraft knew – all the administrators did, especially after he couldn’t stop talking about her in the cockpit that afternoon. He couldn’t help it! Carol totally baited him! The only people at Ferris that didn’t know he had a massive crush on the government compliance specialist was the girls who wanted a piece of him. Of course, he’d let them have bits and pieces, but he thought about Y/N the whole time. He was trying his damndest to make Y/N jealous, but she never seemed to bite.

            He fell for her when he saved her that one night. She was a bit tipsy, and she had totally wiped out near a crosswalk. Her friends tried to pull her back, but they were just as tipsy, and the cab driver was too fast. He was on his way back to Coast City after a League meeting and he saved her. He held her close to him and he could still distinctly picture her glossy eyes that stared at him like he was her favorite person in the entire universe. She hugged around his neck and thanked him profusely even though her words sloshed together. She then pulled her head out of his shoulder and puked to the side before wiping her mouth and falling asleep on his chest.

            Yeah, it was kinda gross, but she was cute.

            He was so excited when he realized that Y/N and Carol knew each other back in college. So…when Ferris Aircraft needed a new government compliance specialist, he brought her up. Carol nearly kissed him when he mentioned Y/N. She was a Godsend. Carol then interrogated Hal on how he knew her, and he came up with some half-assed lie that she had gotten on his ass while working for the FAA.

            He was expecting the sweet girl to jump right into the culture at Ferris and fall madly in love with him. He was already crushing hard on her, and now was his chance to make her love Hal Jordan as much as she liked Green Lantern. He wasn’t different when he put on the ring – so he had no idea how him and Y/N butted heads on her first day. He was cocky, he could admit that, but she was also way too straight-laced! Where was the cute girl he had rescued that one night? The one that had her guard down?

            He started to see glimpses of her, though. He saw it with how she interacted with Carol, when the women would go out to dinner and then come back to Ferris to work on something late with a bottle of wine. He saw it when Dr. Kendall would bring his toddlers in for the day. The boys loved sitting in Y/N’s office (even though Carol’s office had the superior view) and watching the aircrafts leave and depart. She’d always hold Dr. Kendall’s youngest son on her hip as she did her work. God, she was an enigma. His enigma.

            However, Hal was very protective of his pride. After Y/N got on him for flagrantly breaking FAA and DoD regulation, he decided to tease her. However, it soon got out of hand. She didn’t take his teasing as teasing, and it was his fault. He was a bit more vicious – he didn’t want her to find out that he was Green Lantern. If he teased her the way that GL did, she’d connect the dots. She worried so much about what people thought and if people were following rules and it drove him up the wall. He let his real feelings toward her show behind the scenes, but never to Y/N’s face.

            He had really gotten himself into the stickiest of situations – which he always did – but he didn’t know if he’d be able to pull himself out of this one. He shook his head and focused back on Y/N who had her bottom lip between her front teeth.

            “I just wanted to see it up close…”

            “You know the ring can tell me if you’re lying,” Hal breathed, pushing her shoulder back. She sent a pout to him, sticking her nose in the air.

            “Yeah right—”

            “Ring, did Y/N L/N tell the truth?”

            “No.” The ring spoke back.    

            “Is there anything that ring can’t do?” Y/N incredulously groaned, putting her hands in her hair.

            Yeah, make you love me.

            “It’s pretty impressive, huh? Now come on. Tell me the truth…who am I gonna tell?”

            “Fine! It’s because of stupid Hal Jordan!” Y/N exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips, beginning to pace, “he flew this bomber this afternoon and, in the debriefing, everyone was acting super weird about the cockpit recording! The FAA and DoD don’t require cockpit recordings every time, only when there are crashes or equipment malfunctions, but Hal acted so weird when I brought it up! And the other admins were in on it too. Even Carol was!” Y/N rambled, playing with her fingers.

            Hal watched her, amused. He had a feeling she’d try and do something like that. That’s why he was spending his time on the airbase in his GL uniform.

            “So, I knew they were hiding something. I mean, I’m not going to send anything to the DoD, I’m not a snitch, but I want to know what they were talking about!”

            “You sure are nosy. Any guesses?” Hal asked, leaning forward as her back was against the hangar wall.

            Y/N felt her words die in her throat. He was gorgeous. He was super familiar – but she chalked that up to having met him before. She had made a total fool of herself when they had first met, but he wasn’t mean about it. She was happy that he remembered her.

            “I don’t know. Hal always says inappropriate things in the cockpit. He was probably flirting with Carol again,” Y/N rolled her eyes.

            Hal smirked a bit. Ah. Finally. There it is – a little glimpse of the green monster of jealousy. He kept quiet.

            “But…if it was just him flirting with Carol, then why would Hal be begging her to not give me the recording? I’ve heard all his recordings before. I hate not knowing everything! I’m not gonna be able to sleep if I can’t listen to it!”

            “Alright cutie,” GL let out a small laugh, stepping back as she stared directly at the aircraft, “you’re pretty stubborn. But I don’t think you need to be focused on that. I found something that you’ve been looking for…”

            There we go, Hal. Change the subject. Rock her world.

            “Huh?” Y/N tilted her head, confused, “I haven’t—”

            “Look,” Hal breathed, pulling the black box from behind his back. Y/N’s eyes widened, and a smile fell upon her lips.

            “Oh my God! Is this the black box from—”

            “The ravine crash? Yup. Sure is. I know we haven’t talked since you were in DC, but I like to keep my ear to the ground. It was kind of hard not to hear you screaming at Jordan when he came back to the airfield after the crash…”

            “He deserved it,” Y/N looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

            “Well, I went searching for it. You know, the ring can track things too, way more advanced than whatever the government’s got going on. I found it within a couple of minutes!”

            “Where was it?” Y/N asked, reaching out for the black box. She let out a whine when GL put it out of her reach.

            “A few miles away, in a deep ravine…” GL fibbed. Hal had taken the black box and flung it into space after the crash.

            He crashed the plane into the ravine because he was called to Oa on a priority one call. Of course, he could’ve landed the craft, but he had no time. It was very serious. He knew Y/N would be on his ass, but he had to get to Oa. He then felt so guilty about Y/N worrying about the stupid black box. He had basically wiped it, thanks to Cyborg, but it had enough info on it that it would suffice and not show any fault on Hal’s part.

            “Come on, Lantern, hand me the black box,” Y/N whined, going on her tippy toes to try and pry it from his hands.

            “Hey! I’ll give it to you, but come on, you owe me a favor too…”

            “I do not! I didn’t ask you to go find the black box—”

            “I did it out of respect of our budding relationship,” GL teased, relishing the bashful look on her face. “it’s something very small, Y/N. I promise.”

            “Fine. What is it?”

            “You go up in the air with me again,” Hal breathed, pushing their bodies together.

            Y/N felt the air be robbed from her lungs as she and GL pressed against the other. He was so firm and warm. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a split second. She bit her lip, wondering if that was how Hal would feel against her body. She quickly opened her eyes.

            What? No! Why was she thinking about Hal Jordan when she had Green Lantern in front of her! As if Hal would ever save her from being hit by a car. He’d probably be the one to push her out in front of it, or, better yet, be the one driving the damn car!

            “I…I don’t know,” Y/N whispered, a bit apprehensive, “I…I got motion sickness—”

            “Last time you were drunk,” Hal laughed, taking her hands in his, “Please? The sky is so clear tonight. You’ll love it.”

            Y/N would never admit it, but she had a huge fear of flying. She knew how ridiculous it sounded – how could she work for an aircraft company and work for the FAA and Air Force if she didn’t like flying?

            “I don’t know—”

            “I won’t let you fall,” Hal promised, gently holding her chin in his hand. He saw her close her eyes and let out a withdrawn sigh.

            “I’m just…uh…don’t you have to watch out for threats to Coast City and earth’s sector? I mean, there could be an asteroid coming straight for us an-and you’d have your hands full with me…”

            “You’re worth my time,” Hal insisted, letting out a soft chuckle, “and my ring would alert me if anything was wrong. Please, Y/N?”

            Y/N nodded, unable to turn down the man. He looked so excited, and she was sure that once he held her close, she’d feel better. She felt him softly grip her midsection, pulling her into him.

            Hal wondered why Y/N was so reluctant. Whenever he’d offer to take her on a ride in one of the fighter jets, Y/N would reject him out-right. Then again, she was rejecting Hal, her mortal enemy. She had to trust GL! He loved the feeling of her in his arms – he had missed it.

            “Alright, let’s get out of the hangar and lock it up. Don’t want anyone on our trail, do we? That doesn’t follow regulation, does it?” Hal breathed in her ear, feeling her shudder.

            “I can’t imagine having to answer to the FAA board for that…”

            After her and GL left the hangar, she directed him to a blind spot on the base. She swore him to secrecy but let out a laugh when he told her he already knew of the blind spot. She felt her body thrum with energy when GL stood closer to her, picking her up in his arms. She held tight when he went up into the air.

            “Relax, I’ve got you,” Hal whispered against the crown of her head.

            Y/N was extremely tense. She knew her fingers were digging into his firm shoulders, and she kept her eyes squeezed shut. She didn’t dare open her eyes. She had no idea how high up they were in the air, and she didn’t want to know. The Southern Californian air was a bit nippy since the sun had gone down, but that wasn’t why she was shivering. She let out a soft whimper.

            “Y/N…” Hal murmured, “hey, look at me…please?”

            “Nuh-uh…” Y/N whined, tears falling down her cheeks.

            “Y/N—”

            “I’m scared.” She admitted, her voice a bit broken.

            Hal suddenly realized why Y/N was so reluctant to go up in the air with him. He nearly cursed himself. He was honestly a dumb ass.

            “Y/N, I didn’t know, I’m such a—”

            “No…” Y/N took a shaky breath, opening her eyes.

            She stared right into his face, and it was Hal’s turn to be breathless. Her eyes were glossy like they were the night he met her, but for another reason. He held her tighter around her midsection, holding her as close as he could.

            “You make me feel safe.” Y/N admitted, blushing. Ugh. It sounded like they were in the middle of some cheesy young adult romance novel. She felt Green Lantern shift a bit, getting a better grip on her. They held each other in a tight embrace, and she buried her face into his chest.

            “I…”

            “Wow…” Y/N croaked, looking up at the sky.

            Hal had taken them several feet off the ground but didn’t take her super close to the stars. Her eyes shone with the lights, letting out a soft sound of surprise. “It’s beautiful.”

            “It really is, huh?” Hal breathed.

            “And you get to fly to them every night,” Y/N was still shaking like a leaf in a tornado, but Hal knew this was a good step.

            He was extremely impressed with how she didn’t freak out and force them to land. He would definitely do it if she wanted him to, but—

            “My father died in a plane crash,” Y/N admitted, continuing to look at the sky.

            Hal felt a twang in his chest. He had also lost his father to a fiery plane crash. His father was a pilot. He missed him every single day, and he’d wonder constantly what life would’ve been like if his father hadn’t died.

            “He wasn’t a pilot; he was an engineer. They were flying an experimental craft, and it malfunctioned. The aircraft company knew the plane didn’t fit FAA regulation…but they insisted my father go up with the pilot. A few minutes in, their dashboard was dead. They had no chance.”

            “Oh Y/N…” Hal breathed, “my da---” He stopped. No. He had to keep GL and Hal Jordan separate at this point. He felt a bit slimy – he was honestly pulling the wool over Y/N’s eyes. She couldn’t stand Hal Jordan, but she felt close to Green Lantern.

            Make it make sense, God.

            “I’m sorry…is that why you work with regulation?”

            “Yeah,” Y/N spoke, nuzzling into his shoulder, “I won’t let what happened to my dad happen to anyone else. That’s why I’m such a hardass,” Y/N sighed, quickly peeking up to look at Hal’s face.

            It all came together for him. He wondered why the hell Y/N had a stick up her ass and Carol refused to tell him. He felt like a jackass. He nearly let a groan. She had confided this information in Green Lantern, not Hal Jordan. So, Hal couldn’t bring up what happened with his father with Y/N at work to try and melt the glacier between them. It’d be super shady and he didn’t want to make anything worse. So, he did what he could.

            “You’re very brave,” Hal breathed out, looking at her lips.

            “I’m not. My dad was. The pilots are. The engineers are. God, when Hal crashed that stupid bomber in that ravine…” Y/N growled, “I thought he had died. I guess that’s why I was so angry at him. How could I go through losing someone again?”

            “You’ll never have to face that again, I promise you,” Hal firmly stated. He so badly wanted to take his mask off and reveal everything to Y/N, but he was sure that she’d screech and fall to her death.

            “You don’t know that…but I feel a lot better with you around, Green Lantern. You make me want to touch the sky again.”

            “I’m in love with the stars, so I’m a great resource,” Hal teased, a soft smile on his pale lips. Y/N admired him for a moment.

            “Would you ever fall in love with something that’s hopelessly earth-bound?” Y/N dared to ask, wondering where the hell her guts came from.

            “I think I already have,” Hal purred, their noses touching.

            Y/N desperately wanted to press their lips together, but she knew they were moving very fast. She didn’t know who Green Lantern was. He was mysterious even though he wore his heart on his sleeve. With him, what you saw was what you got. It was refreshing.  It was like Hal Jordan’s approach to life. She closed her eyes. It wasn’t as refreshing when Hal did it. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to the side of his mouth, so their lips brushed together just slightly.

            “I like you.” Y/N admitted, feeling like she was in middle school. She heard GL let out a soft chuckle and his lips caressed her jawline.

            “I like you too, Miss L/N…more than you know.”

--

            Y/N didn’t get any sleep that night. She stared at her ceiling as her brain did backflips. She and fucking GREEN LANTERN confessed that they had feelings for each other last night…and the only time they had spent together prior was when she was drunk and nearly got her body crushed by a stupid cab. She would normally be extremely against this whole thing – first things first, who the hell was Green Lantern? Dude could be a serial killer and she would have no idea. He could be a dead beat! She shook her head.

            No. He was none of those things. He was nicely groomed and took care of his responsibilities. Whoever he was, he was sure to be a sweet man. Like, the opposite of Harold Jordan. She was making her way into Ferris Aircraft, a blush appearing on her cheeks when she saw the bright orange black box on her desk. She bit her lip when she saw a note was attached. She opened it and nearly swooned.

            Same place, same time? Let me take you even higher. -GL

            “That smooth little…” Y/N mumbled, letting out a loud yelp when Hal Jordan waltzed into her office.

            “Good Morning, thought I’d drop by and ruin your morning first thing…” He cockily spoke, leaning against her desk.

            “Ugh.” Y/N grunted, quickly folding the note and putting it in her back pocket, “What do I owe this honor to?”

            “No reason…wait! Is that…” Hal pointed at the black box on her desk, eyes wide.

            “Yes, it is. From your little ravine mistake. Oh, did I say little? I meant HUGE.” Y/N glared. Hal hardly ever came to greet her in the mornings, mainly because he was usually 30 minutes late for work. She thought for sure he’d be avoiding her after their weird moment yesterday.

            “Mm. Where’d you find it? Did you drive to the ravine? That’s like, 50 miles away. And I know you didn’t fly your ass—”

            “I have my methods. Either way, it was found, and now I don’t have to cover your ass as much as I had to. You’re very lucky, Jordan.” Y/N secretly wished the black box wasn’t found – she wanted Hal to ride the struggle bus with this one, but, as she always said, he miraculously found his way out of his stickiest situations.

            “I am blessed,” He shrugged, sitting fully on her desk now. Y/N avoided his eyes, quickly organizing the papers on her desk. “Come on. Tell me how you got it.”

            “No.”

            “Please?”

            “No.”

            “…Did your boyfriend get it for you?” Hal pried, leaning forward. He saw Y/N freeze. He held back a giggle. She was so cute when she got flustered.

            “I-I don’t have a boyfriend,” Y/N quickly retorted, clearing her throat, “and if I did, it’d be my paperwork. Remember?”

            “Hmm. Not one of my finest comebacks, but hey, it did leave a mark. I’m not flying anything today, am I?” Hal asked nonchalantly, standing up and walking around her medium-sized office.

            “You’ll have to check with Carol, but the schedule has you grounded today, Jordan. And don’t even think about spending your time in this office. I’ve got reports to write and a call with the head of the Air Force.”

            “Aw, well, Carol told me that you’ve been grounded today too…” Hal crossed his arms, ready for the fireworks.

            “…I’m always grounded, Jordan. Are you sure that you weren’t dropped on your head at birth? I’m sure that ravine crash didn’t help either.”

            Hal ignored her snarky comments – he had found out how she truly felt about that crash last night.

            “Nope. I did eat a whole bottle of glue in Kindergarten—”

            “Just tell me about the ‘grounded’ bull!” Y/N exclaimed, rubbing her temples.

            “Carol has declared today a paid-day off for you after how stressed you looked at the meeting yesterday.”

            “But! I just got the black box and—”

            “Hey, orders straight from the boss, not me.” Hal shrugged.

            He’d never admit to Y/N that he begged Carol to allow them both a day off at the same time. He told her that he was going to try and mend their relationship so it would be more conducive to a healthy working environment. Carol rolled her eyes but allowed it. But not before she warned him to watch his ass. If he broke Y/N’s heart, she’d have his head.

            “I’m sure if I talk to Carol—”

            “You can try, but she’ll say the same thing as me—”

--

            “Yeah, Y/N, you’re off for today. I’m not going to let you work on anything.” Carol confirmed, sitting behind her desk as the sun was beginning to fully rise, “you look like a rubber band that is about to snap in half. And Hal’s grounded for today.”

            “So, I should just go back home?” Y/N sighed, rubbing her eyes.

            “No!” Hal and Carol both exclaimed.

            Y/N looked up, bewildered. What the hell…

            “I mean, you can if you want,” Carol cleared her throat, “but…you never get to really see the airfield side of things. Hal could show you around?”

            “I’d rather—”

            “You all need to begin working together better or one of you is going to hit the road. HR is getting impatient with you. Sure, there haven’t been any complaints, but Rhonda got wind of your all’s yelling match on the tarmac a month ago after the ravine crash. She says if there’s ever another outburst like that, you’ll both be put on indefinite leave.”

            Y/N eyes widened at Carol’s dire warning, and she hung her head. She and Hal really were nasty to each other that day. She had truly started it, but she didn’t want to admit that in front of Hal. She did love her job. She didn’t want to lose it. She knew Hal felt the same way. There were a few seconds of silence before Y/N turned towards Hal.

            “Alright, highball. Wanna show me your toys?”

            “Oh, Y/N, I thought you’d never ask…”

--

            Y/N followed behind Hal with her arms crossed. This was an excuse for him to show off, and there was no way she could get out of it. Hal glanced back at her and smirked.

            “Aw, why the long face?” He smirked, stopping in his tracks.

            Y/N glowered at him, crossing her arms even tighter. They were in the middle of the large cubicle area, where various secretaries, the financial team, etc. worked. Y/N could feel the eyes of at least four secretaries on them. She wanted to bolt out of the room, but Hal’s gaze kept her frozen.

            “Are you cold?” Hal breathed, nodding at her crossed arms. She didn’t know what he was trying to pull, so she put her nose up in the air in defiance.

            “No, I’m—”

            Before Y/N could finish her sentence, Hal Jordan’s prized flight jacket was wrapped around her shoulders. Hal never allowed anyone to borrow his jacket. She’d never forget when she was walking to her car one evening and one of the girls Hal was romancing that week told him that she was cold. He looked her right in the eye and dead ass said ‘Yeah. Good thing I’m wearing my jacket.’ Hal was protective of his jacket. It felt so warm around her, and she couldn’t stammer out another word. Whispers began to fill up the area and the stares that Y/N felt when they walked in quickly turned into glares. That fucking son of a bitch!

            “I said I wasn’t cold,” Y/N managed to croak, trying to pull it off her shoulders. Hal pulled her into his side and forced her to walk out to the exit that led to the airfield before she could cause a scene.

            Once they got outside, Y/N pulled off Hal’s jacket and threw it at him, her blood boiling. Hal masterfully caught it before throwing his head back and laughing.

            “What the hell was that for? Do you know much shit I’m going to catch for your little prank?” Y/N snarled, worrying her bottom lip. “How dare you use me as a joke!”

            Hal’s brown eyes widened. He wasn’t using her as a prop or a joke. He just wanted the ladies to know that he wasn’t interested in them anymore. What a better way to show them? He cleared his throat.

            “I—”

            “Look, I’m already not very popular around here, Jordan. That prank you just pulled made me public enemy number one with those secretaries that think you’re a stupid God. I work with various higher-ups at this company and sometimes the only way I’m able to communicate with them is through their secretaries!”

            Hal sucked in his lips, quickly noticing Y/N shivering a bit against the cool breeze. Maybe he shouldn’t have pulled that little show with Y/N. Ugh. Why did he do nothing but fuck up in front of her? He looked her in the eyes.

            “I’m sorry.” Hal earnestly spoke, causing Y/N’s head to whip up and look at him incredulously.

            Hal put the coat over her shoulders once again, very gingerly, before taking a step back. She was grateful for its warmth and cleared her throat.

            “Just don’t do it again. And treat them with more respect. I know you pride yourself on being a womanizer, but you can at least be up front with them. They really like you.”  

            Hal didn’t know what to say, staring hard at the ground. He only wanted one person to really like him, and that was Y/N. Why couldn’t she like him like that? All he wanted to do was make her happy. He wanted to spin her around after successful flights, hold her hand, kiss her tears away. He wanted to visit her in her office and leave her flowers that she’d gripe about but secretly love. He wanted to come home to a shared apartment and see her knocked out on the couch waiting up for him while he was on GL business.  He pulled himself out of his thoughts and smirked at the H/C.

            “I’ll keep that in mind…now come on! I’ll take you to my favorite plane.” Hal gently grabbed her hand and yanked her with him. His heart skipped beats when she didn’t immediately slap his hand away.

--

            Y/N nervously stood in the hangar as Hal talked a million miles a minute about the plane. It was a standard VLJ. It wasn’t even a military-grade plane. Y/N raised an eyebrow as Hal talked about its specs.

            “…Jordan, this can’t be your favorite plane—”

            “Okay, you got me there,” Hal sighed, putting his hands up, “My favorite plane is the F-15 Eagle, but that only has one seat.”

            Y/N raised an eyebrow before she realized what Hal was insinuating. She tensed up and shook her head, her mouth drying up.

            “No. You’re grounded today, remember? You can’t—”

            “I just can’t fly military test craft!” Hal exclaimed, holding a finger up, “Don’t you know there’s always a loophole, Y/N?”

            “I’m not getting in a plane with you—”

            “Please? Just at least sit in it.” Hal sighed, licking his lips.

            He felt a bit guilty about this too, especially after he found out some information about Y/N’s flying phobia last night as GL. He was trying to get the girl to tell him about the incident that took away her father so he could fully show just how much he related to her. He realized how manipulative it sounded, and he began to panic. He was truly the biggest asshole on earth. Well, there was always Guy Gardner, but still. He was almost as big of an asshole as him in this moment.

            “I’m not falling for that, Jordan.”

            “Y/N…” Hal breathed, shaking his head, “I promise. Just sit in the cockpit with me, huh? Look,” Hal sighed, walking over to the side of the hangar and shutting the large door that would allow him to pull the plane out of the hangar, “I’ve shut the hangar doors. Couldn’t even fly outta here if I tried.”

            “…You would be the person to just bust through the hangar—”

            “Please. I wouldn’t do that with a VLJ. Maybe a Raptor?”

            “I’m going to ignore that,” Y/N groaned, rubbing her forehead. She followed behind Hal who was ready to jump up and down in excitement. She rolled her eyes and hid her smile behind her hand.

            They climbed into the craft, and she sat in the co-pilot’s seat and stared at the dashboard with big eyes. She’d never get over how much crap was on a plane’s dashboard. Thousands of buttons, levers, screens, switches. Hal let out a loud laugh at her expression and he fell into the pilot’s seat, reveling in the knowledge that his brain beat Y/N’s when it came to this.

            “Uh. What does it all do?” Y/N croaked, about to touch one of the levers when Hal grabbed her hand.

            “Hey. Never touch a pilot’s tools, Y/N.”

            Y/N stared at their interlocked hands, nearly short-circuiting. Hal quickly pulled his hand out of hers and relaxed in his seat.

            “Get ready, because I’m about to school your ass.”

--

            Y/N would never admit it out loud, but she found herself enjoying Hal’s company as he animatedly talked about the various components of a dashboard. Y/N pulled her knees to her chest as Hal talked, and she couldn’t help but just look at him as his long fingers pointed out different things. As Hal continued to talk, Y/N’s mind floated back to the altercation they had on the tarmac after Hal crashed the jet in the ravine.

            Y/N and Carol bolted to the tarmac when it was reported that Hal was ‘found’ in the wreckage, completely unharmed. He had a few scratches and bruises, but nothing that would suggest he was in the cockpit upon the fiery explosion. Hal’s brown eyes were just as bright as ever and he had the cockiest smirk on his lips. Y/N felt her heart pulse harshly against her ribcage, and she wiped away the tears that stained her cheeks as she approached the flyboy. Carol got there before her, and she quickly gave Hal a hug before telling him that he scared everyone. Y/N heard his voice rumble to Carol, probably something cheesy and stupid.

            The whole situation made her think back to her father’s death. She was a teenager when it happened. Her father worked as an engineer at one of the aircraft companies on the East Coast. Her father died in a crash that looked very similar to Hal’s. The same helpless feeling shot through her as she saw the crash on the screen. She couldn’t stand Harold Jordan. She hated his guts…but when his plane crashed, something shifted in her. She couldn’t lose him. He made her want to pull out her hair and scream until her voice was raw, but she didn’t hate him. She could never hate him…even though it would make everything ten times easier for her.

            When Y/N saw Hal’s perfectly sculpted face smiling on that tarmac, fury enveloped her. Did he take this as a fucking joke? She felt her heart get ripped out of her fucking chest when that plane blew up, and there he was without a single hair out of place on his fucking head! She marched right up to him and let him have it.

            “WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET OFF?” Y/N began, causing everyone to stare with wide eyes. Not a single person dared breathe.

            “You crash a bomber into a RAVINE in the middle of the MOJAVE DESERT and come back onto this tarmac with a smile on your face? Do you know how many people die in situations like yours? WHEN THEY DIE, THEY DON’T COME BACK!” Y/N sobbed, shrieking at the top of her lungs as Hal stood there, wide eyed.

            “They’re gone forever! They don’t see their children grow up! They don’t return to their lover, their friends…their families! They leave behind a charred body, and that’s if you’re LUCKY TO FIND SOMETHING OF THEIRS! You disgust me, you have no regard for human life. How dare you come here and crack a joke? Do you think this is some kind of joke? Do you think my job is some kind of joke?”

            “You either laugh or cry, or in your case, have a toddler-level meltdown. Who the fuck do you think you are? You think because you have a government badge you’re better than me?”  Hal fired back, glaring at the girl.

            “Hal! Y/N! Knock it off!” Carol barked, shocked.

            “Watch your language. How dare you speak like that to me! Do you know how many times I’ve saved your ungrateful ass from being court-marshalled with the crap you pull here? You ignored those rules and ALMOST DIED! You have no idea what real sacrifice and responsibility are!”  

            “You don’t know a thing about me, Ms. L/N.  But I know things about you. I know that you’re extremely lonely.” He looked her up and down and saw her bottom lip wriggle violently.

            “Oh, did I hit a nerve? Huh? I might not live up to your perfect expectations, but at least I’m not a coward who hides behind rules and regulations to feel safe. You’ll never understand freedom. You’re still a sad, sad little girl that was left behind because people wanted better things.”

            Hal didn’t mean to say those things, he liked Y/N a lot, but he’d be damned if he didn’t pull out his sharp tongue when he was being yelled at for no reason. He was expecting her to jump into his arms and confess her feelings. Damn. A woman not be in love with him? She had to be heartless.  

            “Y/N?” Hal called out, seeing Y/N staring blankly at the dashboard. He began to panic a bit. She told GL last night that the dashboard failed and that was the reason why her father died. He didn’t think twice, he grabbed her hands and pulled her close to him. She quickly pulled out of her thoughts, tears bubbling in her eyes.

            “Hal, I’m sorry,” Y/N sniffled, quickly standing up.

            Hal still had their hands interlaced and he protested, pulling her back. She let out an annoyed sigh, not wanting Hal to see her cry again.

            “What are you apologizing for? I don’t blame you for checking out there,” Hal smirked, rolling his eyes, “I knew the intricacies of a dashboard went beyond your book brain.”

            “Do you always have to joke about things?” Y/N groaned, pulling out of his gentle grasp, “I’m sorry…for what I said to you that day.”

            Hal stared at her, beginning to shake his head. She was thinking of what happened after the ravine crash. He swallowed dryly and followed her as she jumped out of the plane and into the closed hangar.

            “Hey. That’s behind us. I’m sorry for what I said. I was…out of line. Come on, let’s just start over, huh?”

            “It’s not that easy,” Y/N cleared her throat. She wanted to pull Hal’s jacket off, but she reveled in the warmth and scent of it a bit longer. He wasn’t acting like Hal Jordan. He was acting like…no. That’d be the joke of the century. The fumbling Hal Jordan as Green Lantern? The protector of earth’s intergalactic sector? Hell, Hal couldn’t even pay his electricity bill on time!

            Why was he making her feel weird things? She liked Green Lantern, not Hal Jordan. He must’ve put some weird love potion on his jacket.

            “I don’t tell people this a lot,” Hal sighed, standing in front of her, “but my dad died in a piloting accident. He was a test pilot here at Ferris. His plane went down, nose first, and blew up. There was fire everywhere.”

            Y/N’s head lifted, and she stared at him with wide eyes. What? She hated her brain, because her first instinct was that he was totally ripping her story, about to set it up for a punch line. However, she had never told Hal about her father’s death, so she knew that he wasn’t trying to pull anything with her.

            “I wanted to be a pilot, just like my dad. My mom hated the idea. My mom died about a year ago. She hated how I flew the death machines and she said that I’d throw away my life like my father. She refused to talk to me. My older brother still won’t talk to me. I talk to my little brother, Jim, sometimes.” Hal let it all out, unable to stop. He didn’t like revealing this much information, but he felt a weight coming off his shoulders. He had to be transparent. Y/N was transparent to a dude in a mask last night. He could at least be transparent to the girl he knew in and out.

            “Hal,” Y/N croaked out, shocked at how quickly he was opening up. She was a bit overwhelmed but welcomed it all the same. She dared to stick out her hand and gently touch his forearm.

            “I’m sorry for what I said to you on the tarmac, too. You hit a sensitive subject for me…and in turn, I attacked you. We didn’t know…that much about each other at the time. But we really hit each other hard, huh?”

            “Hal, I’m so sorry—”

            “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’m sorry that I’ve made your life hell here.” Hal hated this word vomit, but he was desperate.

            He liked Y/N so much. She blew his mind. She knew just how to stop him in his tracks. She didn’t take his bullshit, his excuses. She saw him as he was, not who he projected himself to be. That was invaluable, and he’d be damned if he’d lose it.

            “Don’t…don’t say you’ve made my life hell. You’re certainly not easy to work with, but…I really do have a stick up my ass like you said. You see, my dad died in a similar way to yours. He was an engineer. Whoever oversaw regulation and safety at his work turned a blind eye to the issues with the plane’s dashboard. It went up in the air with my dad alive…and returned with him dead. They couldn’t find any part of him. The plane was just…incinerated.”

            Hal was already privy to this information, but it still gutted him. He tiled his head at the woman who looked away, closing her eyes.

            “When you…crashed. It looked just like the crash my dad was in. And…then you were alive. And laughing. And hitting on Carol…”

            Hal stayed silent, playing with his fingers.

            “Why? Why were you so…nonchalant about it…?” Y/N asked, looking up at him.

            Hal was a bit taken aback, rubbing the back of his neck. Why did he do that? He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t tell Y/N he was in love with her. That would scare her. And she was falling in love with GL, not him. Fuck! Why can’t he ever plan things?! He couldn’t think straight. He panicked.

            “Because I like Carol!”

            Y/N eyes widened, and so did Hal’s. He did NOT mean to say that – fuck, that wasn’t even true! His face went pale as he saw Y/N ingest what he just blurted out, and he felt his heart crack. Y/N tried to hide her expression, but he could read her well. Her shoulders slumped and she was flushed. She quickly stood straighter and pursed her lips, fighting to put a smile on her face.

            She didn’t know why that news hit her in the gut. It wasn’t like she was in love with Hal or anything! They were just becoming better friends. Yeah. So why did she feel like the guy just punched her in the stomach? She licked her dry lips.

            “Well, I’m glad you’ve finally admitted it,” Y/N let out a soft laugh (that was obviously forced, but Hal was horrified with what he said, so he couldn’t do any damage control.)

            “Y/N…”

            “Carol’s one of my best friends, so I’ll be straight with you. You’re not really her type, but I’ve always told her that her type wasn’t good for her…I’d give you some pointers, but I’m pretty hopeless in that department.”

            “Y/N, listen—”

            Y/N pulled of Hal’s jacket and quickly handed it back to him, walking toward the Hangar’s side door. She pulled out her phone from her back pocket.

            “Um…wow. We’ve eaten up like so many hours…I…uh, forgot to feed my…fish.” Y/N winced at her excuse. She needed to leave Ferris Aircraft for the day. She just wanted to go back to her apartment and soak up this info. “D-don’t worry, Jordan, your secret is safe with me! I won’t tell Carol.”

            “Y/N! Please, come on, I didn’t—”

            Y/N didn’t listen, she bolted out of there like a bat out of hell.

--

            “HAL!” Carol yelled at the top of her lungs in her office, putting her hands up in the air, “You complete and utter BUFFOON!”

            “What? I panicked!” He whined, running a hand through his hair, “like, you’re cute, Carol, but…”

            “Don’t finish that sentence, Hal. Look, you’ve screwed up bad. Y/N will still be nice to you, but good luck getting more than like, five words out of her at a time from here on out. You couldn’t just tell her that you like her?!”

            “I didn’t want to scare her! She just told me how her dad died…well, she had told GL the other night—”

            “I told you not to try that approach, Hal. You were bound to confuse her—”

            “I don’t need another lecture! How the hell has someone as smart as Y/N not figured out that Green Lantern and I are the SAME GUY? Even you figured that out!”

“I’m going to ignore that.”

“Come on. Couldn’t you honestly say a week ago that Y/N hated my guts?”

            “…I suppose. But you still should’ve held off on seeing her again as Green Lantern.”

            “She likes Green Lantern. I saved her life in DC. I watched over her whenever I was in the city. Hell, Carol, I flew to DC to look after her whenever I got off GL business. I spent more time in that damn city than Coast City. I’m in love with her. But she doesn’t love…Hal Jordan. And I don’t blame her.” He buried his face in his hands, letting out a shudder of a sigh.

            “You deserve to lie in the bed you made. But…the company culture would really calm down if you finally settled down a bit. Last week there was a fight around the coffee maker between Jill and Janie over you.”

            “Ooh, hey…I still got it—”

            “Hal. You better fix this.”

--

            Y/N curled up on her couch, a blanket pulled around her. It was dark outside now, and she stared outside her balcony window. She should’ve known better than to try and get closer to Hal Jordan. He was the womanizer of the century. Y/N had no hard feelings towards Carol – it wasn’t her fault that he had a crush on her. Y/N didn’t even want to see Green Lantern at this point. She was probably meant to be alone forever. It still didn’t sit right with her – Hal didn’t like Carol like that. He could flirt and be obnoxious, but he wasn’t always hanging off of her. Hal was constantly bugging her, trying to get her attention. For God’s sake, he’d stare at her whenever he’d be talking to someone else. Whenever she entered a room that Hal was in, she’d feel his brown eyes on her. Whenever Hal entered a room, he searched for her immediately. Y/N wondered if she should’ve just stayed in DC – then she wouldn’t have to think about all this shit.

            She sighed and glared at the ceiling. Why was she allowing the flyboy to affect her so badly? She was able to close her eyes and calm herself a bit before she heard a playful knock on her balcony door. She jumped up out of her blanket cocoon to see Green Lantern leaning against the door, finger waving at her.

            She bit her lip and looked down at herself. She looked like a total slob, but she ignored it. Might as well get her second rejection of the day out of the way. She opened the door and the handsome man smiled at her before pouting.

            “You know, I don’t like being stood up, Y/N.” He breathed, stepping into her apartment. She rolled her eyes and shut the balcony door shut behind her, pulling the blinds. She did not need anyone seeing GL sneak into her apartment.

            “I’m sorry, it slipped my mind—”

            “Slipped your mind?” Hal purred, touching her cheek softly, “I guess I need to learn to leave a better impression on you, huh?”

            Y/N shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. Hal felt his heartbeat speed up when he saw a ghost of a playful smile on her lips.

            “I guess you will,” Y/N giggled.

            She looked him over as his left hand caressed her cheek. They were nearly nose-to-nose. She unashamedly gazed at him. He had beautiful brown hair that laid perfectly on his head, and his jaw was so beautifully crafted, it had to come from the hands of Michelangelo. She looked closely at his lips. They had a soft cupid’s bow, and she felt Green Lantern pull her closer into himself. He made her drop her arms that were holding her and replaced them with his own. She laid her head on his chest and he kissed the crown of her head.

            “Get anything good off the black box today, honey?” Hal asked, knowing he was tiptoeing around what had occurred between them this afternoon.

            Well, between her and Hal Jordan. He still felt completely beat-up over it, and he wanted to just rewind time and fix it. Maybe he could call in a favor from Barry…

            “No,” Y/N sighed, wanting to be held even tighter than she was, “Carol wouldn’t let me work on anything today. She said I looked really stressed out.”

            “Hmm…you feel tense,” Hal whispered, rubbing soothing circles into her upper back. He dared to let his hands move down to her sides.

            Y/N didn’t budge. She didn’t want to feel alone, and she trusted the hero. She wanted to push away all the insecurities that were bubbling up in her chest. She just needed to focus on other things, like where Green Lantern put his hands.

            “So, if you weren’t allowed to work today, what did you do?” Hal smiled, his hands going to her hips and squeezing. He felt her jump a bit and he hid a laugh.

            “A certain someone was grounded as well...I’m sure you can guess who…” Y/N grumbled, pulling out of Hal’s grasp, and nodding towards her couch. They sat on opposite ends. Hal knew the girl needed some space – she didn’t like to move too fast, and he was really pushing it with his wandering hands.

            “Judging by the look on your face, I don’t have to…” Hal smirked, even though it ripped him up inside. She looked none too pleased.

            “The one and only. He dragged me to look at the different planes, but hey, I learned a lot.”

            “You’ve got to put that big brain to good use,” Hal flirted, seeing her blush.

            She looked so effortlessly beautiful. Her H/C hair was fluffy and a little bit messy. She had no makeup on her face, and he could see her small blemishes – most likely from stress. Her lips were a bit chapped, probably from biting them all the time, and he desperately wanted to close the space between them.

            He wanted to hold her in his arms again, run his hands along her body, make her keen, whimper, breathless. He wanted to love her the way she needed to be loved. He wanted to explore all of her, see all her reactions, hear all her praise. He wanted to hear her say his name with joy in her voice. He quickly pulled himself out of his fantasy – she would never say his name. He blew that.

            “Yeah, well. I think we got to understand each other a bit better.” Y/N confided, playing with her fingers, “maybe he’s not as bad as I thought.”

            “Oh, do I have some competition?” Hal teased, hope rising just a bit in his chest. She didn’t sound too sour about the interaction, but he knew she wouldn’t dare tell the faceless hero what fully divulged between them this afternoon.

            “That’s the last thing you have to worry about,” Y/N laughed, scooting closer on the couch. Hal let out a laugh and shook his head, even though he wanted to push her further on the topic. How did she not see how similar they were? He was literally the exact same person. He looked away from her, licking his lips. Oh. Well. He made a breakthrough today, but he basically destroyed it with what he puked up.

            “Good, I don’t want to share you,” He admitted, biting his lip. He heard Y/N sigh, shaking her head.

            “Stop, you’ll make me blush,” Y/N sarcastically whipped, putting her hands over her cheeks.

            “What’s on your mind?” Hal sighed, seeing that Y/N was kind of holding back. He could tell that she had more on her mind.

            “…Am I…um,” Y/N awkwardly searched for the words, “am I, like, desirable?”

            Hal’s eyes widened when Y/N awkwardly asked the question. He saw her shoulders slump in embarrassment once she spat it out. She looked away.

            “What kind of a question is that?” Hal shook his head. He was deadly serious. He didn’t like that she was even entertaining these thoughts – she was amazing, “Y/N…I know I talk a big game, but I meant everything I said the other night when we reunited…”

            “You’re not just saying it to make me feel better? I’m…I’m not too good at reading these things…I mean,” Y/N grew a bit frustrated, pushing her hair out of her face, “I’m scared of flying, I have a stick up my ass, and I can’t…I’m just…not enough.”

            “Not enough? Y/N. Do you think I sought you out for some cheap thrill? I was in DC more than Coast City after I rescued you that night. You were all I thought about…and when you moved to Coast City…” Hal let out a sigh, unable to stop singing her praises, “I was so happy. Finally. You were in my city. And I could protect you myself.”

            “You only saved me once,” Y/N was bewildered, shaking her head, “and I was drunk. I mean, if you talked to Hal, he’d definitely talk you out of your affections for me.”

            Hal wanted to weep. What? Where did she get that? He was in love with her! He knew he had a sure nice way of showing it, but it was the truth.

            “Well, if Hal Jordan doesn’t see you the way I see you, then he’s worthless. You’re the only one I want to be with. I have seen so many things in the universe…but none ever hold a candle to the wonderment you bring me.”

            Hal could see why Y/N was so reluctant. He didn’t soothe Y/N’s insecurities after he blurted that he liked Carol at the airfield today. He liked Carol, and he flirted with her yeah, but she wasn’t Y/N. He didn’t want to hold Carol close and whisper sweet things in her ear. He didn’t want to whisk her off her feet to look up at the stars. He didn’t want to stop by her apartment after a long mission and curl up under the covers. He didn’t want to hold her hand, he didn’t want to burn breakfast for her, and he didn’t want to love her.

            He wanted to do that with Y/N. Only Y/N.

            GL had met Y/N only twice, counting right now. It didn’t make any logical sense – but Hal Jordan had known Y/N for several months. He wished he could reveal it all to her, but that ship had sailed. He saw her stare at him with wide eyes. He threw caution to the wind.

            He scooted closer to her, invading her personal space. He knew that she could protest, but she didn’t, wrapping her arms around his neck as he held himself above her. He put their noses together and dared to dip down and give her a full kiss on the lips. It was a quick peck – he didn’t want to rush her. He could fuck things up as Hal Jordan, but he wouldn’t fuck things up as Green Lantern.

            “I love you.” He breathed.

            Y/N deepened the kiss, not wanting to lose his intimate touch. She didn’t know what came over her, but she didn’t want him to just kiss her and scoot away like a shy schoolboy. She wanted him. She smoothed her hands down his chest – not much was left to the imagination with his thin spandex. She felt him shudder underneath her and he meshed their lips together again. He ran a hand though her hair and kept her firmly on top of him. Y/N wrapped herself up in the bliss that was Green Lantern and shut her brain off.

He felt himself get hard under his uniform, and he let out a moan that made Y/N shiver in want. He kissed her harder and began to buck his hips just slightly, desperate for friction. She moved with him gently, her clammy hands holding the sides of his face, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. He felt her tongue kitten lick his and he brought his hips up fully into hers, feeling just how soft she was under her sweatpants. She was so divine; it was everything he dreamed of.

            Damn it, Y/N. Why couldn’t you love Hal Jordan?!

As much as Y/N was trying to resist it, her brain caught up with her as her hips were bucking in rhythm with GL’s. Her brain kept screaming at her that her heart was split. She liked Green Lantern for many of his qualities – he was brave, and when he set his mind to something, he did it. He could be a leader when he needed to, and he didn’t take shit. He was light itself. He wasn’t afraid of the darkness – even if all the lights in the world went off, he’d still be able to see his way…and it wasn’t because of the ring on his finger. He never wavered in what he believed – Y/N didn’t know what the hell constituted an abominable will, but she saw it with him. He was incorruptible.

            Hal Jordan. He was hardheaded, sometimes selfish, loved to show off, and had a sharp tongue that he’d use on anyone that got in his way. He always flew too high to be caught – he laughed in the face of Icarus – as if he’d ever let his wax wings burn. His wings weren’t wax – they were made of titanium, steel. He was entitled to feel hubris – who else could touch the sky as well as he could? He looked death in the face and blew a kiss to it. But he was breathtaking. The way he could focus on just you – the way he could understand and just know who you were after a few moments. He didn’t hesitate to defend those he loved, and if you happened to catch his eye, you had a friend for life. He played the role of a womanizer, but it was an act. He never followed through. One date – that’s all it was. And if he did take them to bed, he regretted it right after. His mind was on other things.

            He was lonely. All they saw was the high-flying Hal Jordan – the ‘Top Gun’ at Ferris Aircraft. They didn’t see his insecurities. They didn’t see his struggles. They didn’t understand that he was alone in his support for himself.

            “Y/N…” Hal breathed, concerned. Her expression had gone blank, and she was staring off into space.

            Just that afternoon, she saw a glimpse of the real Hal – and it reminded her so much of someone she knew. She laughed it off earlier…but she began to add things up.

            How did Green Lantern know where she ended up? Carol called her only a few weeks after Green Lantern saved her in DC. She was feeling her drinks that night, but she’d never forget the way the hero held her and whispered to her. How he shushed her after she fell asleep on his firm chest.

            How could Hal have survived that crash in the ravine? Why wasn’t he immediately found in the wreckage? He didn’t eject his seat before it crashed. She looked down at the ring on GL’s finger. That ring let the man fly, protected him from threats – it’s how he was able to survive the parademon mess from a few months ago. It’s how he was able to shoot off into space. She had seen the man use the ring in a masterful way – to gently bring her into the air with him. How his construct wrapped around her before that taxi could smear her across the DC pavement.

            That ring…is what saved Hal Jordan from burning alive – if he even allowed himself to be caught up in the wreckage. He probably wasn’t even in the craft when it crashed. He was off planet, somewhere else. Saving someone, something. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she looked at Green Lantern, her breath catching in her throat. The hair. The facial structure. His lips. The smirk and smile he was so fond of showing her. His teasing. His laugh.

            “Y/N? Sweetheart?” Hal touched Y/N softly, a bit worried. He sat up, Y/N shifting down into his lap. What was going on? She was flirty with him one minute, and now she was sitting there, acting like someone poured cold water all over her. He felt his blood run cold. Oh God…had she…?

            Y/N felt something just snap in her. Green Lantern fooled around with her. He flirted with her, saved her from danger. He was her handsome midnight caller. She could feel his lips at any moment on hers, and she could live the fantasy of being loved by the protector of the universe. But…if GL was who she was beginning to believe he was, this whole thing could be a cruel joke. Hal said he liked Carol…but it made no sense. There was no evidence for it.

            Whenever he’d be talking with Carol, he’d be staring straight at Y/N. Whenever she walked into a room that Hal was in, she could feel his brown eyes on her. Whenever Hal Jordan entered a room, he searched for her. GL was a powerful man, but how could he get that black box on her desk without anyone knowing? He couldn’t phase through walls. The security camera would’ve picked him up. How did he know she was desperately searching for that black box? How’d he know where exactly to find it – yeah, the ring was a technological marvel, but the GL would have to know where to point it. Nobody knew where the crash was – it was kept under wraps and cleaned up within five hours.

            When Hal talked with other women in the office, he wouldn’t rip his eyes away from Y/N’s figure. Because when he flirted, he was flirting to her, not the poor sap that was hanging off his every word, hoping to get a piece of him. When he got back on that tarmac after the wreckage, Carol ran up and hugged him first, but his eyes were on Y/N’s. He saw her tear-stained cheeks – and for the first time in a long time, he felt guilt.

            Y/N realized why Hal didn’t want her to get to that cockpit recording – and why GL was on the airbase that night to keep her from getting to it – too convenient. He said something about her on the comm. If it was anything else, Carol would’ve allowed her access to it. Hal didn’t love Carol or any of the women he flirted with at Ferris. If a woman didn’t show interest in him, Hal took the message. He backed off. He didn’t like to waste his time. Y/N never showed her true interest in the man – but he never peeled himself from her.

            Hal loved her – just as he said less than five minutes ago.

            “Look me in the eyes when you tell me you’re in love with me, Hal Jordan.” Y/N pushed her shoulders back and stared right in the man’s face, her hips still straddling his.

            Hal stiffened, swallowing harshly. She had definitely figured this whole thing out – he didn’t know what he was expecting, she wasn’t dumb, and he certainly didn’t hide his identity all that well. He was encouraged by the fact that Y/N hadn’t slapped him or pulled herself off him…yet. He shifted under her hips and told his brain to cool it with pumping blood to his dick. This was not the time to be horny.

            He let out a soft breath, pulling off his ring and putting it to the side. He was immediately stripped of his uniform, and he was left in his signature flight jacket and pants. Y/N’s eyes raked over his face, and a soft expression filled her eyes. He didn’t dare move. He cleared his throat and stared right into her eyes, daring her to look away. He’d fulfill her request with no hesitation.

            “I love you, Y/N.”

            Y/N tilted her head at the man, and she gently touched his cheek with her hands. He closed his eyes. Finally. She knew. He leaned forward to capture her lips but was met with a slap across the face.

            “OW!” He cried, opening his eyes, and grimacing at the girl.

            “That’s for trying to pull some sick double life thing on me! I can’t believe it took me this long…” Y/N huffed, crawling off his lap and standing in front of him, hands on her hips, “you’ve got some nerve. You probably begged Carol to give me today off so you could put the moves on me.”

            “I…um…” Hal didn’t know where to start, overwhelmed.

            “And don’t act like you’re so shocked, Hal! You better pull your ass together because there’s a lot of questions you have to answer!”

            “Y/N—”

            “And to think we were about to…” Y/N buried her face into her hands, letting out a high pitched whimper. Her and Hal were literally rutting against the other, desperate for each other’s touch.

            “Hey! The night’s still young—”

            Hal’s voice died in his throat when Y/N sent him a deadly look, and he shrunk down in her couch. He licked his lips, “so, um, heh, where would you like me to start?”

--

            Y/N allowed Hal to hold her close halfway through his long explanation. Her comforter was wrapped around them on the couch, and she listened to him intently as he spilled his guts. She learned how he got the ring, how he tried to balance his life as Hal Jordan and as GL, how Carol found out and laughed for about three hours. She learned how he felt when he saved her life, how he’d make sure she was alright whenever he’d ‘fly by’ DC on the way to Coast City (which was, by the way, on the other coast.) She shook her head in disbelief when he suggested Carol get into contact with her for the compliance position.

            Here was the man that made her want to yank her hair out, and he had done all of this. She hated that she didn’t connect the dots. She was grateful that Hal didn’t tease her about that. She turned to face him. He was still rambling, but she put a hand over his mouth. She traced his lips with her pointer finger and took a deep breath.

            “I love you too.”

            Hal couldn’t hold back the smile on his lips, and he pulled her into his chest again, squeezing her tight. He knew that he still had a lot to answer to, and he couldn’t stop the apologies that fell from his lips. Here he was, Hal Jordan, who never really apologized for anything in his life, unable to shut up.  

            “I think you’ve apologized enough for tonight…but you can start again tomorrow morning.”

            Hal perked up, tracing his lips against her neck. He felt her shiver and he allowed his hands to travel up her midsection. He ghosted his hands over her chest.

            “And my goodbye kiss will be given to me tomorrow morning too, hm?”

            Y/N turned her head and captured his lips and he sunk into it, feeling himself get excited again. He wanted to feel her again and go so much further. He wanted to sink into her and memorize every bit of her. She parted their lips.

            “Mmm, Y/N--”

            “That was your goodbye kiss. I’ll see you at the airfield tomorrow, Jordan.” She stood up out of his grasp and stretched, crossing her arms.

            Hal stared at her with his mouth wide open. He let out a playful huff before he stood up and called his ring back onto his finger, suiting back up. He loomed over the woman, backing her against her wall.

            “I’ll get you for that…” He gestured to how tight his spandex was below, and she felt her cheeks heat up again, wanting to hide her face. He softly kissed her forehead and touched her chin. “I love you. I’m sorry I couldn’t just say it…”

            “Well,” Y/N put her hand over his and held it close to her chest, “you wouldn’t be Hal Jordan if you didn’t screw it up..."