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Hal Jordan is, from the beginning, an enigma to Bruce Wayne.
First impression?
The man’s an idiot.
He had been aware, of course, of the new hero from Coast City. Bruce makes it his business to keep track of every possible threat to Gotham, and a glowing green superhero with connections to outer space certainly warranted investigation. He looks up videos of the man, watches him create these constructs from some sort of energy as he fights back alien invasions and then disappears, and well, Bruce finds himself impressed by the creativity of the man but not his overall intelligence. His glowing light is much too conspicuous to be of any use in a stealth situation, his constructs are overly large and often cartoonish, and the man often isn’t seen for months at a time, presumably because he’s off in ‘space,’ but without offering any real explanation of his absence.
Teaming up with him on the League does little to change Bruce’s opinion. The man is hotheaded and opinionated, speaking from his heart just as often as from his ass and rarely from his head. He pokes and prods Bruce’s buttons, heads off-world with hardly a moment’s notice, and on the whole seems utterly unconcerned with matters outside of himself.
Overall analysis: unreliable, unpredictable, and untrustworthy.
The first time that Hal Jordan truly surprises Bruce, it’s a simple thing. They’re getting the watch tower up and running, and Jordan is performing some kind of maintenance on the new spacecraft that Bruce designed and named the Javelin (though Bruce is honestly not sure what Hal is doing, and is very annoyed at Hal touching a spacecraft that Bruce just finished).
The Green Lantern is chatting easily with Green Arrow, who seems to have slacked off on whatever he was supposed to actually be doing. While Bruce watches from his spot near the entry port (currently waiting for software to finish uploading, not wasting time), Green Arrow says something in clear frustration and kicks at one of the wheel chocks at the base of the Javelin’s landing gear, knocking it out of place.
Bruce frowns and takes a step forward-
“What the hell, Ollie? Are you trying to get us killed?” Hal Jordan, of all people, beats him to it. The Lantern sets his tools down and immediately goes to replace the chock, his own frown unknowingly mirroring Bruce’s.
The realization that the two reacted similarly makes Bruce fairly uncomfortable.
Green Arrow folds his arms across his chest. “What’s the big deal? It’s not running and the emergency brakes are engaged.”
Jordan rubs a hand down his face, smearing oil on his forehead. “Don’t you know a single fucking thing about workplace safety? If you see something, say something? Don’t rely one hundred percent on computers? Watch out for falling materials?”
“What does that-“
“And,” Jordan continues, ignoring his friend’s attempts to interrupt him. “Never trust a machine that outweighs you by sixty thousand pounds not to move by itself, especially in freaking space with artificial gravity.”
Oliver flushes red. “And where’d you learn that? I doubt the US military is big on whistleblowing.”
Jordan rolls his eyes and picks his tools back up. “You’d be surprised. Most of them couldn’t give a damn about the men, but they care a hell of a lot about these million-dollar machines.” He turns his back to Green Arrow, returning to what Bruce now realizes is a routine check on the heat shield surrounding the Javelin, completely in line with Bruce’s own procedure of completing one at least once a week to make sure that the resin covering is sufficient for a safe entry into the atmosphere in case of emergency.
Green Arrow stalks off, grumbling under his breath and hopefully returning to his work.
Bruce turns back to his work on the software update, resolving to think about the incident at a later date.
~
In spite of himself, Bruce edits the Lantern’s profile that night after he patrols.
Overall analysis: unreliable, unpredictable, and untrustworthy around anything that doesn’t fly.
With the League still just barely anything more than a vague idea, they meet relatively frequently to attempt to figure out just what the hell it is that they are doing. Occasionally someone misses due to an emergency in their city, and sometimes someone’s early because they’d already been on the Watchtower, but there are a few constants:
Barry is almost always on the verge of being late, usually speeding into the room not a second before the start time.
Bruce is typically there half an hour prior to start time, ensuring that technology is working and setting up.
And Hal Jordan shows up exactly five minutes early every single time.
He is utterly annoying in his regularity.
Barry comments on it once, playfully noting how Jordan somehow always beats the fastest man alive to their meetings.
Jordan’s response is unexpectedly dry. “I was a commissioned officer, Barry. You really think I would’ve made Captain if I didn’t show up on time?”
Bruce clears his throat and starts the meeting, but Jordan’s comment lingers in his mind.
Bruce stares at Jordan’s profile on computer before him. He’s been staring at it long enough to concern his children, apparently, several of whom have passed by and given him concerned stares.
When even Red Robin has headed upstairs, Bruce sighs and edits the entry. Damn Jordan for being unpredictable.
Overall analysis: unreliable except in matters of punctuality, unpredictable, and untrustworthy around anything that doesn’t fly.
An alien invasion, to Coast City of all places, allows Bruce a chance to observe the Lantern in his home city that he practically leaps at. If anything can provide him new insight into the brain of Hal Jordan, surely it’s watching the man work in his own city.
Except, Bruce finds, it’s really not his city.
The citizens hardly treat him any differently than they do any other member of the League, and Bruce comes to the startling realization that Coast City is Hal Jordan’s home, not his headquarters, not the way that Metropolis is to Clark or Central City is to Barry.
Initially, Bruce thought that such a realization would count against the man.
In practice, it doesn’t.
Because just as much as he’s more of an idea to the people of Coast City than an absolute, it’s clear that Jordan loves the city and would do damn near anything to keep it safe.
Including sucking his ring’s power dry in order to protect a young family from a veritable mountain of falling debris and then still continuing to fight.
Bruce’s mouth presses to a firm line.
When Bruce sits down at the computer in the cave afterward, he sighs. He’s not actively trying to find ways to dislike and distrust his teammates like his children had accused him of doing.
He’s not.
Bruce trusts them. Casually, at least. He trusts them to watch his back in battle, to do their best to protect others.
But he doesn’t trust them intimately, not like a family despite what any of them might say otherwise.
Still, his files need to be completely accurate.
Overall analysis: unreliable except in matters of punctuality, unpredictable, and untrustworthy around anything that doesn’t fly or isn’t in Coast City.
Damn Hal Jordan.
The man’s sense of duty catches Bruce off guard, the way that he’s totally prepared to do the Guardian’s bidding at the slightest thought. The way that he’s prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of some distant planetary system’s civil war simply because they’re in my damn sector, Spooky. They count on me.
Bruce does not feel a sense of relief when the Lantern returns relatively unharmed.
Overall analysis: unreliable except in matters of punctuality and the Lantern Corps, unpredictable, and untrustworthy around anything that doesn’t fly or isn’t in Coast City.
Damn Hal Jordan.
When the man’s assigned to chaperone Young Justice, he performs the task without fault.
Overall analysis: unreliable except in matters of that he perceives to be in his stewardship, unpredictable, and untrustworthy around anything that doesn’t fly or isn’t in Coast City.
The man endures torture for the sake of protecting the identities of his fellow League members.
Overall analysis: unreliable except in matters of that he perceives to be in his stewardship, unpredictable, and relatively trustworthy with everything except for the family.
He never misses a meeting, is never late for monitor duty.
He throws himself headfirst into danger using increasingly infuriating constructs that Bruce can never predict if he thinks it will save a life.
Overall analysis: reliable except when it comes to his own health, UNPREDICTABLE, and relatively trustworthy with everything except for the family.
Damn Hal Jordan.
This is the last fucking straw.
Bruce stands in the doorway of the Watchtower’s commissary, watching Hal fucking Jordan share a companionable meal his daughter.
The kicker? That Cass seems at ease with him.
It takes a special kind of person to make Cass feel at ease.
Suddenly, Bruce can no longer find any reason to distrust Hal Jordan, as the even the man’s unpredictability has somehow become a constant in Bruce’s life, and somehow, Cass trusts him.
And Bruce trusts Cass.
Reeling from the realization, Bruce clears his throat to interrupt their meal, lest he come to anymore startling epiphanies.
He does take pleasure in Lantern’s spluttering response to Bruce essentially warning him to be on the look out for all of his children.
Overall analysis: reliable, UNPREDICTABLE, and relatively trustworthy.
Bruce stares at Hal Jordan’s entry on the computer before him, arms folded across the chest even as he looks at the analysis he’s edited what feels like a million times before.
Bruce had had to leave a League meeting earlier today due to a minor emergency in Gotham involving the Riddler and, of all people, Calendar Man. And of course, it was Hal fucking Jordan, of all people, who had simply looked up at him with a small smile and said, “Go.”
Bruce leans back in his chair and thinks.
All of his children seem to get on well with the Lantern, and Bruce hasn’t found himself hating the man’s presence for a few months now.
Alfred’s been bugging him to make real friends too.
Bruce edits the analysis and deletes a single word.
Overall analysis: reliable, UNPREDICTABLE, and trustworthy.
And then, before he can talk himself out of it, he pulls out his phone to text Hal Jordan.