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All in all, it’s shaping up to be a normal Tuesday; a witch obsessed with one of their beaten foes, the Queen of Fables, controlling dangerous and untested Lexcorp robots and wrecking the streets of Metropolis in the name of revenge could be a Watchtower greeting card.
Summoning a giant green sword, Hal grins. “Bet I can split this guy in half in one blow.”
Barry clotheslines a distracted robot. “Sorry, can’t hear you, busy being awesome.”
“Try being busy concentrating,” Batman says in their ears.
Superman flies above them, grappling with the magician— does she have a name? Hal doesn’t know it— behind this mess. He spins and throws her over a skyscraper. “A little levity is helpful at times, B.”
“See, B, even Supes thinks you have a stick up your ass, and he’s your best friend.”
The silence on the other end of the line is rude and judgey. Spooky thinks so little of everyone else around him. Hal clears the street of robots, ready to make a smug remark.
It happens so fast, not even Flash could have reacted in time. One moment, Superman is zipping through the air, and the next he's dropping like a stone. He smashes into the ground as complete dead weight, cratering the concrete. A golden haze shines from within and fades.
"Oh, shit," the Green Lantern says. "Superman?"
Floating where he fell, their adversary claps her hands in delight. “My mistress will be so pleased! She will return to awaken her Prince Charming!” She glides to the ground, nudging his thigh with her foot. “The gift of true love’s kiss will prove to her my devotion.”
Hal lands in front of her, Barry on his heels. The witch deflects the giant green fist he swings before zooming down the street with a cackle. Flash zips from Hal’s side in a crackle of lightning.
"Guys. Problem. Big Blue is down." He pokes his cheek. Superman doesn't stir. The air around him shimmers softly with golden light. "Our new friend hit him with some magic and ran off. Flash is in pursuit."
“Location, Lantern.” Normally, Hal would roll his eyes, but for once, Batman’s blunt demeanor is warranted. He’s worried about Supes too.
“5th and Clinton.” Batman grunts a response. Two robots attempt to get the jump on Hal; he knocks them into each other a few times before tossing them down the street.
Batman appears at Hal’s side. He does not jump or flinch. Spooky didn’t notice anyway, already completely focused on Superman. He’s pretty sure he didn’t notice. Whatever. It’s not important.
“Lady was talking about true love’s kiss and Prince Charming bullshit.”
“She intends for Superman to be an offering for the Queen of Fables.”
Hal grimaces. “No way she’s his true love.”
“I don’t think either of them would agree with you.”
“What about Lois? She’s his true love, right? And we’re already in Metropolis.”
Batman shakes his head. “She’s on remote assignment in Finland.”
“Shit.” The streets would be overrun by magic enhanced Lexcorp robots hours before she could even get to an airport. “What are we gonna do? Do you have another copy of the tax code in your batbelt?”
The sounds of battle move closer— this area of Metropolis evacuated a few hours ago, its people well practiced at responding to threats on their doorsteps, but the rest of the city will be overrun faster than people could escape. The destruction would be massive. They need Superman.
Batman kneels in the crater, swinging his cape out of the way. The golden light spreads to cover parts of his suit. "Kal," he mutters. "Kal, I'm here. Can you hear me?" He pulls off a glove and checks for a pulse on Superman’s neck. Frowning, he brushes some rubble from Superman’s cheek.
"Spooky?"
Batman ignores him.
Over the comms, Flash says, “Wonder Woman and I have the witch. Should we bring her back to wake up Supes?”
“No. It’s doubtful she can undo the magic, or that we could compel her to do so without taking efforts away from more pressing matters. Focus on the robots and containing her.” Tugging the glove back on, he glares at Hal. “Keep them off us, Lantern.”
“Yeah, piece of cake. But what are you gonna do?”
“Just deal with the robots.”
Hal is already crushing the torso of a flying robot and punching another in the face. He can multitask, thank you very much. “Asshole,” he mutters.
"I'm sorry," Batman says softly. Hal whirls about, hands full of circuits and wires.
No way he's apologizing to me. But Batman isn't even looking at him. He's focused entirely on Superman with one hand cradling his cheek with abnormal tenderness.
One robot aims at the pair; Hal crunches its arm with his will and flies into the air, throwing it at its friends. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!" He expects snark or a grunt, anything really, but instead the crater begins to glow, golden light spilling out onto the street. He squints to peer through the sparkles. "No way."
Batman is kissing Superman, one knee on the ground and tilting his chin up.
"No fucking way!"
The light pulses like a quickening heartbeat. Part of Batman's cape falls over Superman's stomach as he presses closer. All at once, the light disappears, and Superman still isn't moving. Hal almost believed it would work. Damn.
But Batman hasn't pulled away. And just the way it vanished, sunshine smothers the street. Before Hal has to shut his eyes, he sees one hand rise off the ground to cradle the back of Batman's head.
When he opens them again, Superman is very awake and floating in midair. This by itself is a dream come true. That Batman is still in his arms, kissing him feverishly while his feet dangle 15 feet above the ground is nothing short of miraculous. The explosion of light dims further until it's only glowing from in between their chests.
Hal is pretty sure Clark's tongue is in Bruce's mouth. He blinks hard. They're still there. Should he interrupt? That seems rude.
"No! What have you done!?" With a scream of pure rage, their new friend– Cinda! She called herself Cinda earlier– reappears and launches herself through the air with a fistful of blue fire. The wind in her wake pushes Hal in between two robots; he dodges their attacks and takes them down. No time to meet her head on without dropping Bruce, Clark twists. The flames curl around his back. "You've spoiled everything! He's my mistress's true love!" She stretches out both arms, gathering more fire.
Diana, who looks incredibly irritated, flies in behind Cinda and smacks the back of her head with the hilt of her sword. Instantly unconscious, she collapses to the earth. Their power source extinguished, the remaining robots collapse too.
"My apologies. She broke free from my hold."
"That's alright, Wonder Woman," says Batman, still hanging in Superman's arms. "I believe you can set me down now, Kal."
Superman blushes. "Yes, of course."
They separate on the ground, Superman's hands lingering on his sides for longer than is strictly necessary.
"Hey guys, the robots are all–"
"You're late, Flash."
Barry smiles sheepishly at Bruce. "Superman!" he says, attention already moving on. "You're awake!" He looks around. "Where's Lois?"
"Lois?" Clark asks.
"Yeah, for your true love's kiss."
The blush on his cheeks grows. "She's not here."
Barry frowns. "I don't get it." Hal clears his throat. "What?"
Hal points at Bruce from behind his palm. Barry gasps; Hal rolls his eyes. Drama queen.
"You're serious? You're serious!" He vibrates in place. "I can't believe I missed it!"
Swaddled in his cape, Batman looks out of place on the sunny Metropolis street, except for Superman's presence at his side. He glares at everyone except for Clark. “There’s nothing to discuss.”
Hal scoffs. “I don’t know, I could talk about you and Supes being true loves for a few hours at least.”
“So is Batman your only true love? Or would it have worked if Lois was here too?” Barry wonders aloud as he gathers the still unconscious Cinda in his arms.
Superman rubs the back of his neck and shifts in place.
"What's stopping someone from having many true loves, if their heart can take it? Only Kal can know what his heart holds." Clark smiles gratefully at Diana. She sheaths her sword, smiling back at Clark and Bruce. “I must admit, however, I regret missing the moment myself.”
Batman huffs and turns away, whipping out his grappling gun and flying up to a nearby rooftop. Superman watches him go fondly.
“Come, my friends. Let us return to our work.” She slaps Clark on the shoulder before leading Barry down the street. Hal considers following— he’d like to be the one to tell the others what he saw, if only to see the reactions. But he can feel Bruce’s eyes on him and he doesn’t want to know what waits for him if he gossips too much. He’ll just tell Ollie the details later, and he can be the one to spread the news. Spooky will turn his wrath on him instead, and Hal gets to enjoy the fun.
He picks up a few robots with a green claw and places them in a giant green box. “So. You and Spooky, huh?”
Clark can’t fight his smile, even though Hal knows he really wants to. He takes off instead.
“I just wanna say I’m happy for you two! You three? Which is it?” Clark glances back, but ignores him. He lands next to Bruce. Hal could move closer to eavesdrop. They aren’t that far away. He can fly too.
As if reading his mind, Batman flicks his gaze down to pin Hal in place. He tries to look away innocently and fails miserably. It’s not worth it. His curiosity will have to be satisfied in sneaky ways when they aren’t both aware of their audience.
The bulk of clean up is happening elsewhere; Hal has no reason to not to join them, box of robot parts in tow. But he allows himself one glance back, just in case something juicy is happening.
Batman and Superman stand side by side, Batman looking out at the horizon and Superman looking at him. Their knuckles brush. Someone could argue it’s an accident. Hal wouldn’t, but someone could.