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“— and the mayor’s leaning on the police commissioner because of all the media backlash, so now we’re all scrambling to retroactively apply the standards to every case we’ve touched in the last year.”
“Barry. Bar.” Hal pushes himself up stiffly from where he’d sunk into the couch. The TV provides white noise in the background, the flickering screen periodically brightening him as he crosses the room to join Barry by the door. “You know I love your detailed explanations, but that’s a lot to take in after a month-long tour in space.”
“I— Sorry.”
He’d been condensing the situation all afternoon, ever since Hal's text of “See you tonight ;)” appeared on his phone. He needed something to both explain the situation and temper Hal’s expectations, while making it clear that there’s nothing Barry would rather do than spend time with him.
Of course, when the moment had come, he’d gone the word vomit route.
“Hey.” Fingers knead his shoulders under his jacket and Barry blinks at Hal’s face an inch from his. “It’s a busy time for your job. I get it. I was just gone for a month. Now take a deep breath and give the explanation another try?”
“I’m sorry,” Barry says again. Hal flicks the tip of his nose. “Sor— Right. My lab updated procedures to prevent mistakes, but because of a recent case where mishandled evidence led to a wrongful conviction, we’re also reviewing old cases to make sure they meet the new standard. Our deadline’s next week. I think it’ll be a good thing in the long run, but it also means I’ll be too busy to be home much.”
Hal's thumb rubs circles in Barry’s sore muscles. “Your birthday’s in a few days. I’m assuming this means the getaway is off?”
Barry nods. “You can still go somewhere tropical. Since space travel doesn’t give you much time to work on your tan.”
“Dork. The point was that we both go, and both get killer tans.”
“I don’t tan. I burn.”
“You look good in red. It’s not a dealbreaker.”
Barry laughs, finally removing his coat and hanging it in the closet. “I am sorry though. That I can’t spend more time with you now that you’re back. We’ll do something soon, okay?”
“Okay. So can I have my hero’s welcome now?”
“Oh? What did you have in mind?”
“Nothing big. I’m a simple guy, so my fantasies involve flying down over Central City, picking up a hot blond, and then having that hot blond explain the political intricacies of the Central City Police Department.”
Barry does his best to keep a straight face, but it’s a losing battle; he’s barely stopped smiling since Hal’s text this afternoon and his face won’t let him stop now. “Hmm, well, we did that already, so how about…” Barry leans forward to close the inches between them and press a quick peck to Hal’s lips. Even that momentary contact leaves his lips tingling, itching for more. He’s missed him. “Is that more what you were thinking?”
“Getting there.” The dirty edge to Hal’s grin is so predictable that Barry would laugh, but mostly he’s glad they’re on the same page. Want burns low in his gut. “You’ve got time tonight. Since your time is so limited, we’d better make the most of it, right?”
He’s late to work the next morning. Well, later than usual.
“— Expect slowdowns on the I-70 due to an ongoing battle between Green Lantern and the Rogues blocking the highway between North 72nd and North 78th. Drivers are advised to plan alternate routes.”
“I can cover for you if you need to disappear for 10 minutes,” Patty says, leaning across their shared lab bench. Between the radio, the hum of lab equipment, and ten other conversations, no one’s paying them much attention, but Barry appreciates her discretion regardless. “You know. To help speed things up out there.”
“He’ll have it cleaned up by rush hour,” Barry says as the traffic reporter moves on to construction and accidents. The spectrometer pings, and Barry collects his results, comparing them to his mental case notes as he returns to their table. “And you know it’s never just ten minutes.”
She snorts. “For you? Definitely not. But are you sure tall, green, and handsome can handle that on his own?”
“Patty, he’s a member of the Justice League with years of experience—“
“— authorities are redirecting traffic from North 65th on account of Green Lantern being thrown through a tractor trailer, which is blocking all three westbound lanes—“
Patty raises an eyebrow.
“He’ll be fine,” Barry says, even as his finger twitches towards his Flash ring.
He focuses back on his case. His ancient computer does its best to keep up, but it keeps skipping letters when he loses focus and types faster than it can manage.
Twenty minutes later Patty taps him on the shoulder. He starts, then follows her pointing finger to the radio.
“— the battle has concluded, Green Lantern has captured the escaped Rogues and has cleared the roadways. Authorities would like us to remind drivers to move over for emergency vehicles in the shoulder and to keep their eyes on the road and off the 20 foot tall trash can where Green Lantern is holding Central City’s most wanted.”
Patty shakes her head. “What a ham.”
Barry smiles. “Yeah, he is.”
Patty rolls her eyes.
Barry jerks away from the microscope as arms wrap around him from behind. Something in his tired brain recognizes the familiar press of leather bomber jacket, and the astringent bite of cheap aftershave, because he’s relaxing backwards before Hal’s even said a word.
“How’re you holding up, gorgeous?” Hal asks into his ear. “Taking care of yourself?”
On cue, Barry’s stomach grumbles. The sound echoes through the otherwise empty lab.
Hal barks a laugh, the sound easing the remaining knots in Barry’s shoulders. “Well, I’m glad one of you is talking to me. Do you have time to go eat?”
Barry glances at the clock. 10:23. Exhaustion tugs at his dry eyes. He wants to be out of here by midnight to get some sleep, but if he doesn’t finish his tests now he’ll be stuck waiting in line for the equipment tomorrow. “I’m sorry, I really can’t.”
“No problem. I’m a perfectly serviceable delivery man, though don’t hold me to your ‘get your food in 30 seconds or it’s free’ guarantee.” He stands, and Barry’s a little disappointed to lose the warm weight on his back. “Though my other services—“
“I’m well aware.” His cheeks heat; apparently a couple weeks of sleep deprivation is enough to wear down the years of defenses he’s built against Hal and his mouth. “Do you need money? I have some cash…”
“Can I borrow your card? I think mine got demagnetized in my pocket dimension.”
Barry fishes his card from his wallet. “You should order a new one.”
Hal pecks him on the cheek before heading for the door. “I did already. Since I knew you’d ask.”
Thirty minutes later Barry looks up to a bag of takeout. He eats while typing reports between tests.
He leaves Hal a bulging bag of Big Belly Burger breakfast sandwiches before running into work the next morning.
Barry stares at his computer pretending not to watch Hal and Patty by the lab door, heads together discussing something Barry can’t hear.
It reminds him of all the times Patty threw Hal out of the lab. That was back before she’d known he was the Flash, or Hal was Green Lantern, and before he and Hal had finally gotten together. He vaguely wonders how he’d managed, coming up with excuses every time he disappeared, or tripping over his words to hide his increasingly insistent feelings from his best friend. He can’t imagine going back now that he knows what it’s like to share his life with them.
The door opens, and he gives up the pretense and looks. Patty shoves Hal out the door.
He blames how funny he’s finding this on his level of exhaustion.
Hal pokes his head through the door, not chastened in the least, and locks eyes with Barry. “Walk me out?”
Barry gets up, apologizing to an amused Patty for him as he lets himself out of the lab.
“You know, you’re allowed to do other things. You don’t need to keep stopping by if you have other plans. Certainly looked like Patty would appreciate it.”
“Nah, me and Patty are good. And plans? Me? You remember who you’re talking to, right?”
Hal opens the fire door, and Barry follows him onto the narrow landing. “Of course. I don’t follow just anyone into stairwells for secret trysts.”
“Oh, so this is a tryst now? Even you’re not that fast. And I’m not neglecting my social calendar. I’m going out drinking with Ollie tonight. Happy?”
“Not quite.”
Barry glances over Hal’s shoulder. They’re alone in the stairwell; the echoey concrete box would make it obvious if they weren’t. Barry knows Hal hasn’t made a move because Barry’s uncomfortable with public displays of affection, especially at work. But he misses him, and doesn’t trust himself to effectively say it in so many words.
So he tugs lightly at Hal’s jacket to pull him closer. Hal’s surprise vanishes into his widening grin, and Barry’s heart beats faster at the sight. He tilts his head up—
The stairwell booms as a door opens.
Hal leans casually against the wall. Barry, less practiced in risky rendezvouses, jerks back and bangs his head against the concrete.
The footsteps recede. The creak of another door echoes through the stairwell, and then silence.
Hal shakes with silent laughter even as his hand massages the back of Barry’s head. “You sure you don’t want me to drop by tomorrow? Seems like you could use some practice sneaking around,” Hal snickers. The gleeful scrunch of his nose is something Barry noticed when they’d first met, something that hadn’t matched Hal’s otherwise suave demeanor. He finds it endlessly endearing.
“I’ll manage. Have fun with Ollie. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Hal pats Barry’s still-burning cheek. “ You’re the one who suggested a secret stairwell tryst in a police station. Clearly ‘what you’d do’ has expanded when I wasn’t looking.”
It’s the day before the deadline. Everyone is scrambling: writing reports, organizing files, boxing evidence. It’s Barry’s least favorite part of the process — all mechanical with no room for creative problem solving — but he understands why it’s an integral part of the system. The time crunch forces a sort of jittery, stressed immersion. He’s grateful for every forced trip out of the lab for the mental reset, even as he power walks back to his computer because there just isn’t enough time.
He smiles when he gets back from one that evening to a stuffed bag of takeout left on his desk without comment.
Barry wakes with a sore neck, heavy shoulders, and wonderfully warm. He sighs happily and buries his face into his pillow… except that it’s bony, and hard, and oh, he must have fallen asleep at his desk again.
They’d finished reviewing old cases yesterday, but now Barry’s behind on his active ones. It’s a familiar state of being, and almost relaxing despite the mountains of evidence Barry has waiting for him.
Barry sits up, blinking to focus his eyes. The red blur on the desk resolves into a clamshell container of cupcakes that definitely wasn’t there before. The weight on his shoulders slips, and he catches Hal’s jacket and shrugs it back into place.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.”
“What day is it?”
“It’s your birthday, doofus.” Hal reaches out and snaps the elastic of what Barry assumes is a birthday hat under Barry’s chin.
“Still?”
The lab threw him a party this afternoon. Singh had been pushing them all morning about their current cases, constantly reminding them of the new standards to avoid another period like this one. But even he’d been more relaxed with a paper plate of cake in hand joking with Forrest as they all took twenty minutes away from the lab.
And it had been nice. That they’d thought to do something at all.
He’d thanked Patty at the party, and she’d confirmed his suspicion about who else he needed to thank.
“Yeah, still. It’s…” Hal turns to look at the clock, “11:43.”
“Cutting it kind of close.”
“That’s what we do, right? Arrive in the nick of time?”
“My hero.” He slides his chair closer until their knees touch. “Thank you for putting all this together. And for everything this week. It’s… I really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well, I was around. Figured I should do something , you know?” Hal swivels his chair back and forth, as visibly flustered by the simple thank you as Barry is at Hal’s lewdest suggestions.
It makes Barry’s heart melt a little every time.
Hal pushes the container towards Barry. “You’re not going to let all my hard work sit around, are you?”
He picks up a cupcake. The frosting is aggressively red and topped with a lightning bolt sugar medallion. He assumes they were intended for a child’s birthday party, and can too easily picture Hal’s impish grin on spotting them at the supermarket.
He gets through two before Hal leans in close.
“Oh no. You’ve got frosting on your lips. Let me help you with that.”
Barry tilts his head back, his laugh swallowed in the kiss. Hal drags his tongue over his lips, scooping up the frosting before delving into Barry’s mouth. Barry inhales sharply as their tongues meet, then again as Hal climbs into his lap, his hands slide a little lower down his back than is strictly office appropriate.
He puts a hand on Hal’s shoulder, and Hal pulls back, though not so far that Barry can’t feel the chuckle rumbling through his chest. Hal’s breath puffs against the tip of Barry’s nose as he speaks.
“So, 14 hour days, no sleep, and stuck in a lab instead of getting any superhero action. Some birthday week, huh?”
“A year’s worth of cases reviewed, better systems for keeping innocent people out of jail, and a reminder that I have the best boyfriend,” Barry counters. It’s cheesy, and he usually tries to tone that down, but it’s his birthday, and the beginning of a blush on Hal’s cheekbones is more than worth it. He slides his fingers up Hal’s cheek and into his hair, heart full to bursting as Hal leans into the touch. “I can’t think of anything better.”