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The first time it happened, they had been in a steady and exclusive couple relationship for nearly a month, following a years long mess of a relationship and an even messier parting.
They had been sleeping together at Bruce’s penthouse in Gotham when Bruce had been warned of a potential threat in the East End and Hal had offered himself as back-up.
Bruce would have said no a few months prior but the new status of their relationship had made him hesitate long enough for Hal to be ready to accompany him before he could utter a word about it.
So they had made the trip there together and fought third-rate criminals on a roof. The only problem was that one of them had been a witch. She was young and apparently deeply in love with a guy Bruce had arrested a few weeks ago.
She was accusing Bruce of having separated her from her true love.
Hal would have felt a bit bad for her if she hadn't cursed his companion.
Bruce would have fallen hard on the roof if Hal hadn't willed a glowing mattress into being.
"What have you done to him ?" he had yelled at the witch as he checked on the other vigilante.
He was now alone with the witch, all her companions having been knocked unconscious as he and Bruce had fought their team of losers.
Before becoming a Lantern, Hal thought that chatty villains were a myth. Experience had proven him it was very much not and he hoped she would tell him what was wrong with his teammate.
"The Batman didn't believe in the true love between my beloved and I. I doubt anyone would ever love someone so cold so strongly, but if he's woken up, he'll know that he shouldn't have made fun of our love."
"Wait, it's like a Sleeping Beauty curse ?"
The witch laughed.
"Mortals." she said, shaking her head, "Where do you think your tales come from ?" and fled.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't just as young as he had thought.
Hal had taken Bruce to the Batcave and had been very grateful for his constructs - he couldn't have carried his lover in full Batsuit on his own otherwise.
He had put Bruce down on one of the cots he had found there and only hesitated for a few seconds before kissing him.
He knew he loved Bruce and that Bruce loved him.
However, he couldn't tell if their relationship was on a par with fairytale-like love stories.
Well, it seemed their relationship was going to go through another trial. What would he do if it didn't work ? Looking for Bruce's true love didn't seem like a lot of fun.
Well, Hal could only hope he would be enough.
He caressed his partner's jaw gently. He was far too unmoving for Hal's comfort. Even in his sleep, Bruce was rarely so motionless.
Hal looked at his lover again, out of armor. The Lantern didn't want to face him in armor if he woke up confused and tried to fight him off. He hadn't stripped him of his under armour however, since he was quite certain Bruce wouldn't take too kindly to that.
Hal took a long breath and kissed his lips. Just as the unresponsiveness of Hal's companion was starting to make him feel uneasy, Bruce opened his eyes.
Hal was about to pull back but his partner kissed him back fiercely.
"It's good to have you back." Hal could barely articulate as Bruce started attacking his neck and ran his hands under Hal's shirt.
The Dark Knight only grunted, tugging at the pilot's shirt. Hal didn't hesitate much before pulling off the offending article of clothing to grant Bruce better access to his skin.
His shirt had barely come off that Hal was roughly being shoved against a cot and Bruce was straddling him.
"Hey, easy there. You realize we're too heavy for -" Hal started saying, his hands on Bruce's torso.
He didn't finish his sentence. Bruce had rocked his hips against Hal and the sound that had escaped Hal's throat had been closer to a moan than to words.
Bruce was clearly aroused and Hal was getting there too and not protesting anymore. To hell with practicality. Bruce was sucking at his collaborne and Hal just wanted to get off now. He only stopped dry-humping Bruce when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
"The hell, Bruce !" he yelled, pushing him away as he sat up, holding his bloody shoulder.
Bruce looked at him in confusion, a bit of blood running down his chin. The same confusion could be seen in Hal's eyes who prudently used his ring to raise a barrier between them when Bruce moved forward to reach for him.
Something was off. Hal felt comforted in his choice when Bruce growled at him.
"Okay." the Lantern said slowly. "So…"
Hal lowered the barrier and barely had the time to tie Bruce up in green strips of cloth before he could touch him. Bruce whimpered but Hal stayed away.
"Hey, I know that we talked about this and you're probably hating it but I promise you we're going to find a better solution."
He would need a second pair of eyes in order to watch over Bruce while thinking of something to help him. Alfred sounded like a solid choice but how could Hal get him there without leaving Bruce alone ? He could knock Bruce out but the idea made him uncomfortable. Maybe he could take his companion upstairs but he would have to figure out the lay-out of the Cave to reach the Manor.
Or he could… yes, right here. Surely someone would check the security camera and see that something was wrong there.
And probably attack Hal. Hal didn't know Alfred personally but he had heard enough from Bruce to understand he had a larger skill set than your average English butler.
Well, the Lantern needed help with Bruce. So he set off the fire alarm and hoped for the best.
He sat on the floor, knowing it would make him look less threatening.
He would have liked to have a look at his shoulder but he had to keep his eyes on Bruce for now.
When a dignified elderly man appeared in the Batcave, Hal felt immensely relieved.
"I promise it's not how it looks." he said.
He truly wondered how it looked.
Bruce, restrained by glowing constructs and growling his discontent, blood on the lower part of face. Him, shirtless and with blood running down a bite mark on his shoulder.
The man who had just appeared didn't even look fazed. The famous British phlegm, Hal supposed. That or raising Bruce had prepared him for all eventualities.
"I am not hurting him. Well, I am trying not to. I am the Green Lantern -" Hal started saying before realizing how stupid it sounded.
He was wearing his ring and Bruce was wrapped in glowing green constructs. He doubted Alfred could have missed that.
"I know who you are, Captain Jordan. May I know why you had thought it necessary to set off the alarm ?" the butler asked.
"Ah um. I tagged along for Bruce's last emergency in town. We met a witch and she threw a spell on Bruce so I brought him back here. I thought I had found a way to break it but… um, Bruce had been acting strange. I considered finding the witch or working on an antidote of some sort but my hands were, ah, tied." he said, and received a murderous glare from Bruce for it.
However, Bruce was still unwilling -or probably, unable- to talk.
Alfred nodded, taking another look at Bruce.
"You are in quite a state, Master Bruce." he observed.
"I can't release him and he -" Hal said before stopping in the middle of hid sentence.
He doesn't like being tied down. was absolutely not something Hal wanted to tell Bruce's father figure the first time he met him. The situation was awkward enough as it was.
"It must be uncomfortable for him. Could you give him something ?" he said instead.
"Of course, Captain." the butler said briskly, disappearing in another corner of the Cave.
He was back quickly enough with a vial and a needle. He filled the syringe and looked at Bruce who was still groaning a few feet away from Hal.
"Should I ?"
"I don't think he'll attack you. But I'll knock him out if he tries." Hal promised, hoping it wouldn't come to that.
As supposed, Bruce didn't oppose Alfred drugging him. Hal felt relief hit him when Bruce fell asleep and used a construct to lay him down on a cot.
"You should let me have a look at that shoulder, Captain." Alfred said and Hal let him clean the wound and bandage it.
"The witch who hurt Bruce wouldn't help me but we have friends who could. Can you keep him sedated ?"
He had sought out Zatanna as Alfred watched over Bruce and told her about Bruce's predicament while keeping the names of the protagonists for himself.
"A person waking from a sleep-inducing spell usually feels uncontrollable lust for the person waking them - their true love." she explained to him.
"And how do I - how can one get rid of this side-effect ?" he asked.
"It can dissipate on its own over a few days but there's also an antidote."
"Do you have it ?" Hal had asked.
"No but it's easy to synthesize. Common ingredients, easy instructions to follow."
So, he and Alfred had worked on the antidote as Bruce slept in another corner of the Batcave.
Alfred -who was better at medical stuff than Hal- injected Bruce with the serum.
Hal insisted on staying until Bruce woke up in case the serum didn't work.
Alfred didn't try to prevent him from doing so and Hal had a sneaking feeling that the butler knew why he didn't want to leave Bruce's side.
When Bruce had finally woken up, he had looked a bit distraught as he sat on his cot.
"Hal ?" he called, when he recognized his lover.
"So, you can talk. How do you feel ?" Hal asked him.
Bruce rubbed his eyes.
"Fine."
"Really ? We have quite a nail-biting day here." Hal said, insisting on the word "biting" and recognition lit up Bruce's eyes.
"I've bitten you." Bruce said, reaching for Hal's shoulder but not touching it in the end.
He was remembering, now.
"It's fine. I suppose you didn't mean to do that." Hal said, shrugging.
"Oh, I meant to. I've figured out something was wrong but I couldn't quite communicate it to you so I did something that would make you react." Bruce said.
"You're unbelievable."
Hal wasn't sure he could do it safely yet but he couldn't resist, he had to kiss Bruce.
"You fought off the effect of magic for me." he said.
Bruce kissed him back but released him when Hal pulled back.
"Have I told you I've met Alfred ? We should let him know that you're doing okay." Hal had said and Bruce had nodded.