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Bruce had not been particularly happy about the meeting Lucius had coaxed -forced- him to attend in Central City. However, he had let his business manager down quite a few times recently and had to make up for it.
It was supposed to be a very boring meeting about a few acquisitions made by Wayne Enterprises in Central City. It had been, in some ways, until Bruce had started paying more attention to the people around the meeting table.
Several of them had familiar faces. He was used to working with them and sitting next to them at endless board meetings. However, he was quite certain he had never worked with the dark haired woman that had caught his attention.
She was younger than him by maybe fifteen years, quite elegant and self-assured. Bruce had seen her before, he was certain of it. He had a bad feeling about her. She caught him watching her and he smiled at her flirtily. She smiled back for half a second and turned back toward the man in charge of the presentation.
Melissa Claret. It sounded French even if the woman spoke without any accent.
Bruce scribbled her name down on the notebook with Lucius’ recommandation open in front of him.
He looked at her again, more discreetly this time. She looked…
Claret. Malet. It was the maiden name of Catherine Firmin. Jean-Marc Firmin’s wife would be older than that, but their American-born teenage daughter… Clarisse. It matched. Melissa Claret was Clarisse Malet. A perfect anagram.
She looked different from the last time Bruce had seen her but it had been quite a few years ago. Not to mention the fact that her mother was a brilliant plastic surgeon and her family a bunch of criminals. Maybe time wasn’t the only thing that had altered her face.
Of course, maybe Clarisse was just giving a try at a new, law-abiding life under a new name. The thing was, Lucius had wanted Bruce to go to this meeting because the group she represented and a few others that Wayne Enterprises had been hoping to collaborate with seemed a bit shady. So maybe that brand new life wasn’t a thing and Clarisse was just as deep in the business family than her parents.
He needed to find out more about her. The Firmins had been operating in Gotham in Batman’s early days. They were a Belgian couple who had moved to America once the authorities of their native country had started to look at their business more closely.
They were usurers. Catherine was also a plastic surgeon and had modified researched family members and rich criminals’ faces quite a few times. Bruce had had a few fights with them with the cowl on. On one occasion, the teenage daughter had been there. She had shot him without the shadow of a hesitation.
The Firmins had disappeared some time ago. They had a lot of enemies and Bruce had never found out if worse criminals had gotten rid of them or if they had left the city of their own. He had never heard of them again. Until now.
He hadn’t planned to do any vigilante work while he was in Coast City, but circumstances being what they were, when the meeting ended and Clarisse walked out of the building, Bruce decided that some legwork could be in order.
He had considered calling Barry and decided against it - he needed to find out where Clarisse was going first. If she was only coming back to her place, he may not need him.
Clarisse had a nervous attitude, constantly checking if she wasn’t followed. Since she was, her nervousness could seem warranted, but Bruce made sure she didn’t spot him.
After walking in circles for a while, the woman went into a bar. Bruce followed her after some time had passed.
He spotted Clarisse in a corner, talking to a woman her age. She didn’t notice him. He went to the counter and ordered a beer, positioning himself in such a way that he could observe his target from a dark corner. Worst case scenario, she would probably only think that Bruce Wayne was a creep, but Bruce wanted to prevent that if he could.
As he took a sip of his beer, watching his target, Bruce noticed a couple of men in the booth next to Clarisse’s. He would have recognized them earlier if the lighting here wasn’t so bad.
The man with a pilot jacket was talking passionately about something or another and the blond man patiently listened to him. Bruce considered joining them but before he could decide if an unplanned encounter between them could hinder his new investigation, Barry had stood up and said something. Hal had nodded and also stood up.
Bruce had expected them to shake hands, maybe talk some more and eventually part ways. Maybe clap each other’s shoulders. He hadn’t given it much thought actually and was about to let them be and turn his attention back on its primary target when Hal had closed the space between him and Barry and in an unexpected turn of events, kissed him.
Barry hadn’t rejected him, he had leaned into the kiss shortly before pushing Hal away from him gently, readjusting his collar and saying something, laughing. Hal had shaken his head and Barry had left. As he did, Hal scanned the room.
His eyes caught Bruce’s and he nodded slightly but didn’t acknowledge him further than that before he went to the counter to pay for his and Barry’s drinks, deliberately ignoring Bruce.
He must have realized that Bruce was working on a case and didn’t want to be distracted. Well, it was a failure. Bruce hadn’t been able to detach his eyes from Hal after he kissed Barry. How could he have missed that ? How -
He was working with them both quite regularly. How could he not know -
It wasn’t the right time. He shook his head. Too late : Clarisse had left and Hal was nowhere in sight.
It was time to go home.
Of course, that had happened two days before the night he had monitor duty at the Watchtower with Hal.
Bruce wished there was a way to not talk about what he had seen at the bar ever again, but he had to inform Barry of Clarisse’s presence in his city, and since Hal had seen him, he had to admit that he knew about their relationship and approve of their relationship first. For reasons that were all too evident, the mere idea made him feel sick in his stomach.
He had hoped Hal would say something, would make it easier for him somehow to broach the subject, but the Lantern hadn’t helped in any way. Bruce couldn’t even say if Hal was purposefully avoiding mentioning their previous encounter or if he didn’t think it deserved to be mentioned.
"So, you and Barry,” Bruce ended up saying after some light banter, when there was a lull in their conversation.
Hal had waited patiently for him to say more. Bruce wished he could have, but his throat felt too dry for that. Hal had then seemed to realize what Bruce meant.
"Me and Barry ? No. Thank God, no," he had said, laughing heartily.
Hal would have to text Barry about it. The idea was ludicrous. Barry would act outraged that Bruce would even think he would date the likes of Hal Jordan.
Hal wasn’t wearing his mask and it allowed Bruce to see the sparkle of amusement in his eyes. Bruce waited for a second before making it disappear.
"I saw you two kissing," he reminded Hal gently.
As far as he knew, even if it was an open secret, Hal had never come out to the rest of the team.
Hal made a dismissive gesture.
"Have you dated every person you've ever kissed, Brucie ?” he asked.
It owed him a dark glare that made him laugh.
“Yes, I know, you’re going to remove my jaw if I keep calling you that. Anyway, that kiss was staged,” Hal said before looking more closely at one of the monitors.
"Staged ?" Bruce repeated, frowning.
Hal turned back toward him.
"Brilliantly, if you fell for it," Hal said, smiling brightly and accepting the mug of coffee Bruce was handing him.
"You looked…" Bruce started saying, but he stopped.
He wasn’t sure exactly how he would have finished this sentence if he hadn’t. Badly enough, probably, to compromise himself.
Hal completed his sentence helpfully.
"Like two best friends having fun ? Probably. Or do you mean it was hot ? Did you get distracted ?" Hal said, laughing softly.
Bruce didn't laugh. He was content just shooting daggers at Hal.
“Hey, you should be relieved. Barry and I aren’t threatening the team’s equilibrium or whatever bullshit you served Supes and Diana when they started dating,” Hal said, taking a prudent sip of his burning hot coffee.
“I didn’t -’” Bruce started saying, frustrated.
“Sure. Thanks for the coffee,” Hal said, raising his mug.
Bruce shrugged.
“Why were you in Central City, by the way ? You were a bit far from home.”
“Work. Day work, I mean,” Bruce sighed. “Eventually, I had to tail one of the people I was doing business with to the bar you were in.”
“Some days are just like that, um ? Do you mean Melissa ?” Hal asked.
Bruce had almost forgotten that if Hal and Barry had been undercover at the bar, it meant they had been there for someone, looking for something.
“I don’t know how much you know about her but her birth name is Clarisse Malet,” he revealed.
Hal nodded.
“We didn’t know that. Barry arrested Melissa’s future associates -well, Clarisse’s, really- a few weeks ago for burglary. They had never met her, only sent each other a couple of encrypted emails and text messages. All Melissa knew was that they were a local gay couple of criminals willing to do some dirty work for her for generous financial compensation. All the burglars knew was that a new lady in town was hiring muscle for not so legal activities.”
“How did you find Clarisse ?” Bruce asked, frowning.
Hal had to refrain from smoothing down the lines forming on Bruce’s forehead.
“Barry gave his burglars’ computer and phones to Cyborg and he tracked her down for us. Victor said she wasn’t very tech-savvy. A good thing he’s on our side. Well, Melissa or whatever you want to call her doesn’t know we know her face or are aware she’s watching us. Our first meeting with her is only next week so I suppose I’ll just have to get used to sharing an apartment with Barry.”
Hal shook his head. As if he didn’t have enough to do.
“When are you free this week ? We should make this a joint case, organize a meeting with Barry and share our intel,” he said.
“We could do that. And Hal ?”
“Yes ?” Hal had asked, intrigued.
“Fake dating never works,” Bruce had said firmly.
Hal had cocked his head slightly to the left and offered Bruce his brightest smile, looking absolutely breathtaking.
“Wanna bet ?” he had asked.
Days passed, and then weeks.
Barry, Hal and Bruce kept working on the same case.
Clarisse seemed too busy to watch them much but Barry and Hal kept pretending to be a couple for the sake of their objective : finding information compromising enough to arrest Clarisse and eventually catch the rest of her family.
At first, she had only entrusted Hal and Barry with menial tasks but the two vigilantes could tell something big was brewing and that they were going to be part of it. The agitation around them only seemed to grow.
In the meantime, they had even started establishing some kind of routine between them. Hal did the cooking and the grocery shopping, Barry the cleaning and the washing.
They finally had some time to catch up with each other, it had been a while. They also had more time to argue, which wasn’t something they usually did much but that living together had triggered. Hardened, stubborn single men didn’t make the best roommates.
At some point, as they were meeting Bruce in a bar for a quick debrief, he had expressed concern about it but Hal had shrugged and said it’d be okay.
They were spending more time together too, as a bizarre consequence of Hal moving in with Barry. When Hal needed some air, he put his Green Lantern suit on and went to the Manor to see Bruce. His visits became more and more frequent to the point that Alfred allowed himself to remark upon it and the kids started calling Hal by his first name.
They clearly enjoyed Hal’s company, which didn’t do anything to help Bruce to keep his feelings for Hal at bay. Damian would curl up between them when they watched a movie. Once, he had fallen asleep against Hal’s shoulder. Bruce had amorced a move to detach him from Hal but Hal had shook his head softly and let Damian sleep like that. He had even carried the boy to bed and stayed in the room as Bruce tucked him in.
Tim liked to talk physics and paradoxes with him and Hal always got excited about it, immediately fetching paper sheets and felt pens to draw diagrams.
He made constructs so Cass could keep training when she had worn all her available siblings out.
Everything Hal did made it harder for Bruce to fall out of love with him.
“Captain Jordan really brings this family to life, don’t you think, Master Bruce ?” Alfred had asked knowingly one day as they watched Hal and Steph trying to hit each other in the gardens with empty water bottles they were supposed to bring to the recycling bin.
“He does,” Bruce had said, and he couldn’t help but smile.
The sound of their voices had made Hal look up at them, on the balcony, smile back at Bruce and wave. He hadn’t been aware of their presence, contrary to Steph, more used to the Manor and its occupants, who had taken advantage of Hal’s distraction.
“Touché !” Steph cried out victoriously, planting her bottle in Hal’s ribs.
“Ouch, I was distracted !” Hal cried out.
“And I won,” Steph said, smiling as she took her bottle to the recycling bin, standing tall.
“What did you bet with Steph ?” Bruce had asked later.
“The last part of Alfred’s rhubarb and strawberry crumble,” Hal had said as he handed Bruce a few papers about Melissa Claret’s seemingly legal financial transactions.
“You don’t care for strawberries,” Bruce pointed out before looking at the paper sheets more closely.
“Steph does,” Hal had answered, shrugging.
Bruce avoided looking at him. If he had, he would have kissed Hal.
“See here, we couldn’t identify her benefactor. It doesn’t seem like that much of a sum but she’s been receiving it every month for four years and with the years, it’s starting to make quite a lot of money,” Hal had said, unaware of Bruce’s thought as he leant over his shoulders to show him some highlighted figures, his side brushing against Bruce’s, his hand right next to his.
“Hal, enough for tonight,” Bruce said wearily as Hal leaned a bit more against him to show him another line.
“But -” Hal said, stepping away from Bruce to better look at him.
“Please,” Bruce had said. “I’ll look into it.”
“Are you okay ?” Hal asked hesitantly.
Bruce could hardly fault him for being solicitous and a good friend, but at this time, he wished he could.
“I will be,” Bruce assured him with a strained smile. “It has been a long day.”
“Okay, uh, take care,” Hal said awkwardly.
They were only separated by a few steps but it could as well have been an ocean.
“See you tomorrow ?” Hal asked.
He cocked his head to the side and Bruce prayed that he wouldn’t smile. He couldn’t take one of Hal’s smiles at the moment and Alfred’s education -plus his vigilante training- prevented him from turning his back to Hal but there was nothing he wished for more at the moment.
“Wednesday, at the Watchtower. Say hi to Barry. Goodnight, Hal,” Bruce had said.
“Goodnight, Spooky,” Hal had said, and he hadn’t smiled, only sighed.
That was good, wasn’t it ? Or was it ?
“Wait,” Bruce’s mouth said before his brain could take over.
Hal turned back toward him expectantly.
“Whatever Clarisse planned for Tuesday, it won’t be good. Be careful.”
Hal nodded.
“We’ll be. I suppose we can still count on backup ?”
“Always,” Bruce said gravely.
“See you, then,” Hal said, and he finally smiled.
And Bruce smiled back.
“See you, Lantern.”
Their operation went surprisingly well.
Clarisse had been planning to kill the man that had forced her family to exile themselves from Gotham -and everyone else in the building he had a business meeting in. Barry and Hal were supposed to free the way by stunning the security agents and not know anything else about the plans, but in a team, people talked if given the occasion.
Bruce had evacuated the building with Diana and Victor as Barry and Hal arrested the bomber and Clarisse before they could do anything to threaten anyone’s life. Well, Clarisse had tried to shoot at Barry but had missed the memo about his velocity.
“Are you two okay ?” Bruce had asked them as Barry tied Clarisse’s hands and Hal her feet.
“I didn’t really plan to stop a terrorist attack but all’s well that ends well and all that, isn’t it ?” Barry said. “That was good work,” he added appreciatively for Hal.
“Thanks,” Hal said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
He had turned to Bruce to tell him that they had also appreciated his help with Clarrise’s accounts and the hours of CCTV he had watched for them but he was already gone.
Hal had shaken his head, smiling. When he had looked back at Barry, he had noticed his eyes shining with amusement.
“What ?” he had asked Barry later, as they slouched on Barry’s old couch, after Barry had helped him to get his stuff back to his own flat.
Barry had been uncharacteristically silent for a few minutes and kept throwing him side glances.
“We can both stay here and wait for Ollie and the pizza delivery guy and pretend you’re really happy to be here or I can cover for you and you can spend the night where you really want to be.”
Hal bit his lip and stood up.
“Thank you, Bar,” he said.
“Wait. You should change,” Barry stopped him before he could reach the door.
“Not classy enough ?” Hal asked, looking down at his t-shirt.
Barry made a face. It didn’t look exceptional but Hal thought it could do.
“I don’t think he cares but that’s my shirt you’re wearing and he’ll definitely notice.”
“Shit,” Hal muttered, puting the offending shirt off.
He hadn’t even noticed. Gray t-shirts were all the same and Barry and him had a similar build.
“I don’t think I’ve any clothing left here,” Hal realized.
“Wait for me,” Barry said, and he was back a few minutes later with one of Hal’s shirts.
“Here,” he said, handing Hal a green shirt and Hal put it on.
“How did you find out ?”
Barry considered faking incomprehension and making Hal actually admit aloud that he was in love with Bruce. However, he didn’t do it because that would have just been mean.
“Your eyes shine when you talk about him. That and at times I didn’t know which one of us you were pretending to date.”
“I wasn’t -” Hal tried to protest but Barry cut him off, indicating the door.
“Sure. You should go before Ollie gets there. I’d show you the way to Gotham but you probably know it quite well by now.”
“You’re an ass,” Hal said, throwing him a dark glare.
“You’ll thank me later. Oh and do me a favor and tell Bruce I sent you.”
Maybe Bruce would finally stop looking at him as if he was wondering if Barry’s head wouldn’t look better once severed from his body whenever he was in close proximity to Hal and the Dark Knight was there to notice it.
When Hal reached the Manor, he was a bit disheveled and out of breath.
“I wanted to see you,” he told Bruce once Alfred had walked him to the man’s study.
Bruce had asked Hal to give him a minute and settle in the adjacent room, which contained comfortable armchairs, a sofa and a fire that had just been lit.
Hal crouched next to the fire and let himself enjoy the heat.
“You have cold nights all year long, here,” he said when he heard Bruce’s surprisingly light footsteps behind him.
He wouldn’t have heard him at Hal if Bruce had not wished to be heard. Hal turned around and took a seat next to Bruce.
“Um,” Bruce said, intertwining his fingers and trying to not let Hal’s charm hypnotize him.
“I have a question,” Hal said, tapping his fingers on his armrest.
“Shoot,” Bruce said.
He wasn’t quite sure what to make of Hal’s presence. He had been under the impression that Hal, Barry and Ollie had planned to celebrate their successful mission at Barry’s place.
“When Clark and Diana got together, years ago, you thought that League members dating was a bad idea. Do you still think that ?” Hal asked.
Bruce stayed silent for a few seconds, watching Hal’s soft smile fade from his lips.
“This is about you and Barry, um ?”
He should have expected that. He had, actually. It still hurt.
“Why would you think that ?” Hal asked, sounding puzzled.
“Well, missions like yours tend to bring people closer,” Bruce stated.
“Barry and I are as close as we'll ever be.”
“Good for you,” Bruce said, and he was glad it didn’t sound as weak as it did in his head.
He wanted his friends’ happiness. Nothing else mattered. Hal and Barry deserved to be happy.
“I didn't mean…” Hal said, surprised. “Barry’s great and all but he’s a friend. You seriously thought… ?”
“You made a convincing duo.”
They had. Truth be told, their little undercover mission had been quite fun. But how could Bruce even think that Hal and Barry had a thing ? He knew it was pretend !
“Because we had to sell it and we didn't have to fake the proximity but it's just not like that between us. I’d happily give my life for Barry, but it’s not like that,” Hal insisted.
“Why were you asking about how I felt about you dating a teammate, then ?”
“Forget about it,” Hal sighed.
If Bruce had wanted to see it, he would have by then. It was quite clear the idea hadn’t even brushed his mind. It was just too absurd for him, too…
“Tell me. You wouldn't have mentioned it if you didn't want to,” Bruce remarked.
His hand was clasping Hal’s wrist.
“You realize you have relationship issues ?” Hal said before thinking twice.
The hand on his wrist tensed before letting go of it. Hal took it back in his swiftly.
“I shouldn’t have said it like that. But you realize that you’d sooner think that I would ask your blessing for dating one of our friends than consider that I’m trying to ask you out ?” Hal said softly, looking at his companion’s eyes. “When have I asked your permission for anything that didn’t concern you directly, Bruce ?”
There was a short silence.
“So, you’re asking me out ?” Bruce asked, to confirm his impression.
Hal’s speech wasn’t that clear.
“Yes ! Oh thank God, he finally got it,” Hal said, rolling his eyes.
“I hate you,” Bruce said quietly.
“Is it a yes ?” Hal asked, looking down at their hands.
Bruce’s hand was still in his.
“Of course it’s a yes,” Bruce said, leaning towards Hal.
They were about to kiss when Bruce pushed Hal away lightly.
“Wait. I have a question too. Could Barry really not come to any of our meetings for the case ?” Bruce asked.
Barry had usually told him he just wanted to spend some time alone without him or rest and to tell Bruce that he was busy doing some thing or another. Brilliant Barry.
“Remind me to buy Barry something nice,” Hal said, pulling Bruce to him. “Can we stop talking about my best friend now ? Else I’ll think you have a crush or something.”
It was Bruce’s turn to roll his eyes at him. Hal just smiled and kissed him.
“Admit it, you came up with the ‘no interpersonal relationships in the League’ bullshit all these years ago to forbid yourself from falling in love with me,” Hal said, putting his shirt back on and yawning in the process.
What a night. Well, he’d better finish getting dressed before the kids woke up and found him in Bruce’s room.
Hal had started tying his shoelaces before realizing Bruce hadn’t actually answered him and wasn’t planning to. Bruce had disappeared under the covers but Hal was quite certain he was not asleep and had heard him.
“Bruce ? You’re not serious ? Bruce ?” he said, pulling on the covers.
“Let me sleep,” Bruce growled.
Hal smiled and went to Bruce’s side of the bed.
“I love you too,” he said softly, kissing his temple. “See you at the Watchtower on Tuesday ?”
Bruce grabbed his wrist before he could get away and blinked his eyes open.
“Here, tonight,” he corrected him.
“I’ll be there,” Hal promised, stroking Bruce’s cheek with his forefinger.
Bruce leaned into the touch and made a purring sound.
Hal stayed a few more seconds until he felt Bruce’s grip on his wrist loosen.
“Sleep tight, baby,” he murmured, kissing Bruce’s forehead and getting his wrist back in the process.
He gently closed Bruce’s bedroom’s door behind him and walked down the hallway, too lost in his thoughts to notice the self-satisfied smile of an insomniac butler at the other end of the hallway.