Archive of Our Own

Blind dates aren’t for the weak, and I’ve decided that I am in fact very, very weak. I hate not knowing things. Especially when the “thing” is a man I’ve already committed a few hours to with no escape plan. I wonder if I’d be a bad friend for bailing… The last thing I want to do on Valentines Day is to be stuck in a stuffy, dark, restaurant with a complete stranger. What I want is to go home, crawl out of these uncomfortable clothes, and rot on my couch with take out and the worst romcom I can find on TV. But, here I am.

At least the restaurant is nice. It’s a high end Italian restaurant downtown that I could never afford, so this guy must be well off.

I decided that I’ve spent enough time in my car trying to talk myself out of this date and that I should just go in, even if I am a little early. I step out of my car, shake off my nerves and head towards the door. There's a line from the host stand to the door. Five couples stand in front of me and it makes me feel stupid for being here alone. Should I have waited outside? Did he expect me to wait in the cold? Maybe he was inside already… I glance around but I don’t see anyone standing alone.

The line moves at a snail's pace. By the time I get to the front of it it’s right on time for our reservation. The woman behind the stand is a gorgeous blonde who can’t be any taller than 5’3. I briefly wonder why she’s even working today. It’s Valentines day, somebody would love to make her happy…

“Excuse me, dear…” She repeats. I swallow and feel my ears get red.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, ma’am. Uh, reservation for two. Under the name Gordon?” She smiles at me in the most customer-service way I’ve ever seen. I feel my cheeks start to heat up too. Great start to a first date; great start to a blind date. She glances down at her tablet and nods.

“We have your table ready for you now, dear, right this way.” She leads me to a booth that's tucked into the back corner of the restaurant. A lit candle in a crystal holder sits next to a real rose in the middle of the table. I sit down, setting my handbag in my lap. I look around for a moment, bouncing my leg as I look around. It’s hard to see anything in this place but I think I’d make out if someone was coming my way. I place my handbag to my side. My eyes settle on the front door. I want to go home.

It’s not like I don’t trust Barbara. She’s my friend and I know she takes my love life as seriously as any other project she takes on, but she could’ve at least warned me this guy wasn’t as punctual as I was. Maybe I’m just looking for a red flag already, but it feels rude to keep me waiting on a blind date. I even told her before I came out here tonight that I just don’t think this whole blind date thing is for me. She just laughed at me and said, “that’s exactly what he said.”

I know she had good taste in guys, too. I mean she’s literally dating Dick Grayson. I freeze and tear my eyes from the door. What if it’s a Wayne? This place is Wayne Family nice…

The waitress, a taller brunette (also extremely beautiful, who hires these people?) comes by and introduces herself to me. She asks if I want anything to drink besides water. I decline but ask for some lemons. She comes back with the lemons and a basket of bread a few minutes later. No sign of my date.

Ten more minutes pass. I get a refill for both the water and the breadsticks. I move the centerpieces out of the way, then back to the center, before deciding they’re better against the wall.

At twenty minutes I order myself a glass of wine. I have to cope with the fact that Bruce Wayne (I’ve deduced if it were a Wayne it has to be him for two reasons, 1. He’s available and 2. He’s the most age appropriate Wayne) has stood me up. Should I just leave? I try to weigh my options. On one hand leaving is definitely more embarrassing. I know I didn’t even want to come out here, but it feels like admitting defeat somehow. On the other hand there's no way I can afford a full meal at this plate. I’m in freelance, it’s a miracle I even have an apartment. I reach for my handbag and open it. I have to dig around a bit for my wallet. When I find it I crack it open to find a twenty dollar bill, two crumpled up fast food receipts, and my credit card. “Well shit.” I mumble. I guess I’ll have to get the cheapest meal I can pick and put it on my card. I hear footsteps approaching. The waitress is coming and I haven’t even dared to look at the menu. I push my purse off my lap and snatch up a menu.

“Um, excuse me…” A man says. He came. I let out a sigh of relief, at least I didn’t get stood up in front of all these rich, beautiful people. I lower my menu and feel my relief turn into anger almost instantly. I see him jump out of the corner of my eye when I slam the menu closed. I put on my best RBF and look up at him. And, I just melt when I meet his eyes. He’s chewing on his lip when I look up at him, his full face is flushed. His ruddy hair is sticking to his forehead in some places via sweat. I meet his eyes and I swear, everything about him just lights up as he sees my expression soften. He lets his lip go and his mouth splits into a grin. “I hope you’re who I’m looking for,” He lets out a soft laugh and runs his hand through his curls, “You’re Barbara’s friend, right?”

He reaches down to shake my hand, “Ted Kord, but you can also call me ‘The Most Sorry Guy on the Planet,’ mouthful, I know, my mother had a way with names.” I return his hand shake and introduce myself.

“You’re a saint for waiting this long, I appreciate it, really,” he sits down, “I don’t get out to do this very often.” He says. His cheeks go pink immediately after. He laughs awkwardly and takes a sip of his water. “There was an emergency; a work emergency. It popped up right when I was heading out. I’m not much of a manager but when it comes to certain problems I’m really the only guy who can solve them… well this one anyways…” He clears his throat again and wipes the sweat off of his brow, “Did I mention I was sorry?”

“A couple of times.” I smile. I hardly remember why I was mad at this guy in the first place. “I forgive you, I promise.” His smile gets impossibly wider and I can’t help but to mirror it. This guy had an infectious energy and more charisma than he had any right to wield. “So, how do you know Babs?”

“We met online, actually. We’re both huge nerds. We hit it off on a tech forum and just never stopped talking.” He takes a sip of his water and raises his eyebrow at me, “What about you? How did you two meet?”

“Same, actually, except for the tech-y part. It was a true crime forum.”

“True crime, huh?”

“I’m a investigative reporter, freelance.” I make a face when I say freelance, it makes Ted laugh and a warmth starts to fill my chest, well played Babs. “My most reliable job is ghost writing for this true crime podcast. I like it… no murders or super villain stuff, nothing too serious. Just bank heists, museum robberies, stuff like that.” I shrug, trying to play it off like no big deal but Ted is hanging onto every word like its gospel. I pick up another lemon and squeeze it out into my water. “What about you, what do you do?”

“I’m a CEO,” impressive, “It’s not that impressive,” oh, okay, “I mostly sit in my office and do boring paperwork before I go to a bunch of boring meetings and daydream about spending my whole day down in the lab.”

“Lab?”

“Yeah, I run a research corporation. We mostly develop defensive systems but sometimes I get to play around with other junk.”

“What came up at work then? Did something happen in the lab?” He looks up at me confused, then I see it hit him and he chuckles. He looks down at his shoes and mumbles something to himself. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

He looks up at me, a light blush dusting his face, “Ha, yeah, something like that.” I wait for him to elaborate but he never does. He just changes the subject and keeps on talking.

I spent the first couple hours of work scrolling social media the next day. I’m supposed to be working on the next season of the podcast while it’s on its break but I can’t find the motivation. I switch from my social media feed, to shopping. It only takes a couple more minutes before I get bored of that too. I switch to a superhero forum, maybe there will be content there… blah blah blah, ‘new Booster Gold ad campaign’… blah blah blah, ‘Is Batman real debate’ blah blah… maybe I should just text Ted. I had a good time last night, I think I’d like to see him again.

Reach for my phone and a pack of cigarettes sitting beside it. I pop out a cigarette and put it in my mouth, letting it rest there as I unlock my phone. I open up Ted’s contact and hear my computer ding, it’s a message from Babs.
Rolling Thunder: How was the date?
creativeusername: He was great >:(
Rolling Thunder: I knew you’d like him…

I press the little call icon on the app and grab my headphones. She picks up a few rings in. “So…” I can hear her typing on the other side of the screen. She clicks on something, I hear a positive sounding ding on her end. I suddenly feel stupid sitting here with the cigarette just dangling from my mouth. It's not like she can see me but I get the gross paranoid feeling that she's judging me for even considering the little death stick. I lean over to put it in my ashtray.

“I really like him.” I sigh. I get some ash on my finger, I wipe it onto my sweatpants.

“I told you you would.” She starts typing faster then hits mute. It used to bother me that she’d get distracted so easily during our phone calls, but I’ve grown used to it now. I never asked what exactly she does for work, I’m sure I could find it out with a quick google search if I really wanted to. It’s probably important. She unmutes her mic, “Sorry,” She says halfheartedly.

“All good, Babs.” I tab out of the call screen and back to the web. I pull up the Daily Planet Site… might as well get started sifting through the news for something useful.

“I knew he’d be perfect for you,” She sips on an empty cup of something, I make a face at the cup noise. “When you said you were looking I-”

“I never said I was looking…”

“Since when do dating apps not count as looking?”

“Since the conception of dating apps. I don’t know anyone who takes those things seriously…” The first article I click on is interesting, Scarecrow and Riddler worked together to hold Gotham hostage last night. There were reports of a new Fear Toxin strain. Thank god I don’t live in Gotham.

Babs yawns, “So, how did it go? Give me all the deets.”

She keeps clacking away as I recount the date to her. I had a really good time. Once you get past the whole thirty minutes late thing, Ted was a really great guy. Sweet, funny, respectful. “He walked me back to my car, too. I don’t remember the last time a guy did that.” I close out of the Gotham article, it’s too serious for the pod.

“Did you guys kiss?” Babs coos.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” We didn’t, Ted kept it classy, a brief hug and a promise to see each other again soon.

“Tease.”

“Oh shit,” I click on an article under the ‘local’ tab on the Daily Planet site, “This happened like twenty minutes from the restaurant.”

“What did?” I hear her stop typing. I skim the article, mumbling some key phrases out loud to Babs.

“I feel like I haven’t seen aliens in a long time.” I huff as I lean back. It was a small ship, a Green Lantern on the scene said it was just a scout. It shouldn’t be a big deal now that the ship has been taken care of, “Must’ve not been a big deal if Booster Gold and Blue Beetle took care of it.”

Bab’s laugh is muffled. The typing resumes as she speaks, “What time was that at, anyways?”

“Um, good question,” I skim the article once more, “Looks like it was about 5:30.”

“Do you think that’s what kept Ted?”

“Nah, he said it was work junk.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want you to worry on your first date.” She offers. I concede, but I’m not happy with it. Ted was acting weird when I asked what kept him, but why would he lie about that? These things ruin everyone's day all the time. A small alien ship? That's like an everyday occurrence in Metropolis…

Eventually my conversation with Babs comes to an end. We say our goodbyes and I go about the rest of my day, but I can’t shake this weird feeling. I hope he didn’t lie. I hate liars. I try to distract myself by cleaning up the mess around my office space. I take a collection of mugs to the sink, come back and open up the article again. Blue and Gold took down the ship in a park on the north side of town. I look up the address of the Kord Industries building. “Oh, thank god.” The attack wasn’t on route, Ted probably didn’t even know it happened either. I reach down for the cigarette I left behind earlier and tuck it back in my mouth as I pull up the article on my phone. I send it to Ted and type ”Didn’t even notice lol” A few minutes later I get a text back.
Ted Kord: Me either, must’ve been having too much fun ;) Ted Kord: Dinner saturday?

I giggle and blush as I text back a yes. I feel like a kid with a crush, it’s embarrassing. I put the cigarette back down. I lean forward and scroll up on my computer. I print out the article, suddenly needing to see a physical reminder of our first date on the fridge. Ted Kord, you might make a romantic out of me yet.

Dating a CEO definitely has its perks. I mean here I am in a king sized bed in a giant penthouse with the most beautiful view of this city I’ve ever seen. This is the third time I’ve woken up just to sit up in bed and admire the sunrise. The pinks and orange morning light floods through the giant windows of Ted's room and everything feels perfect.

Except for the snoring. The first couple of days I thought I could get used to it with some time, but we're three months into this and I don’t know if I can endure it. I feel like it gets louder everytime…

I look down at him. He’s still fast asleep. His arm is stretched out over my waist, I carefully lift it up to slide out of bed but wake him up anyways. He lets out a little whine as he tries to hold onto me tighter.

“Stay a little longer.” He mumbles into the pillow.

“Tempting.” I say, brushing some of his hair out of his face. He blinks his eyes open and looks up at me with a sleepy smile.

“Give in… it's nice and warm.” He shifts so he’s under the covers more, he makes a real show of how comfortable he is.

“I’ll make coffee.”

“Nevermind then, you’re an angel, did I ever tell you that?”

“Every night.” I yawn and slide out of the bed, picking out my underwear and a dressing gown up from off the floor Ted uses like a hamper and sliding them on as I head to the bedroom door.

Ted rolls onto his back, “Damn straight,” he says as he closes his eyes. There’s a 50% chance he's out for another couple hours.

I make my way into the kitchen. I get to the coffee pot and measure out the decaf he has on the counter. My stomach growls as I hit brew on the machine. I’d kill for some good breakfast right now but Ted doesn't have anything in his house that isn’t heart healthy. I lean against the counter and stare up at the ceiling for a couple minutes before getting bored. I guess it wouldn’t kill me to try.

I open the pantry only to find whole grain bread and boring health cereals, ew. The fridge isn’t much better, I find cream for the coffee, but there’s nothing I can use for breakfast. There's just takeout boxes, half a jug of orange juice, and some fruits and veggies that seemed… questionable at best. I pout, I guess we’re skipping breakfast. I pivot towards the cupboard to grab a mug for the coffee. I see a wineglass and a glass cup with Booster Gold's face plastered on the front but no other dishes. In the next cupboard there is a stack of plates with a thin layer of dust on them and a package of paper plates. There is not a single dish put away. I check the dishwasher and it’s completely full of dirty dishes. I grab the first two mugs I see and take them to the sink to wash. When I look down I’m not even surprised to see Booster Gold staring up at me from the mug's face.

Ted strolls out of the bedroom as I start to pour the coffee into the mugs. He takes a seat on a stool and leans over the breakfast bar. “My favorite placebo.” He says as I hand him his mug.

“Do you have any dishware that doesn’t have Booster's face plastered all over it?” He lifts his – Booster Gold (™)– mug to his lips and takes a sip.

“Don’t know what you mean.” I roll my eyes. I pull my – Booster Gold (™)– mug closer to me and dump a generous amount of cream into it. “I’m serious,” he points at the mug in my hand, “Look, that one just has the logo.” He snickers and takes another drink.

“Oh har har…” I take my first sip of the coffee. Yeah, this isn’t going to cut it. “How do you know that guy, anyways?”

“Oh, uh, vacation to Kooey Kooey Kooey, he had a resort there once upon a time.” Ted looks down into his mug as he talks.

“Don’t you take it black?” I gesture to the mug.

“Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you, hon, I really appreciate it.”

“I don’t think I can just pretend it’s caffeinated today, I might have to head out early to pick up some real coffee…” I take another drink and swirl the liquid around in the cup, creating a whirl pool as I set my – Booster Gold (™)– mug back down on the counter.

“No! It’ll work. You just have to believe in the coffee. It’ll un-decaf itself. It’s science.” He closes his eyes and moves his hands over the coffee as he tries to change the very essence of its being.

“Which PHD covered that one?” I smirk and raise an eyebrow.

“All of em.” He winks at me.

“So, you’re like, rich right.” I probe after a moment's silence.

Ted laughs, “I knew you were only with me for my money.”

I take another drink and flip him off, “Not what I mean.” He smiles out an apology and motions for me to go on. “Can’t you just hire somebody to clean this place? Maybe do some grocery shopping? I kind of wanted to make breakfast for us but the dishes were all dirty and the fridge is like a graveyard.”

Ted blushes and looks around the apartment, “I’m sorry, I do kind of have a bachelor pad going on, huh?” He rubs the back of his neck and doesn’t meet my eyes when he turns back around. I feel like the most evil person on the planet. He sighs and finishes off his coffee, reaching over the counter to pour more. “You’re right, though, I should make more of an effort,” he starts his second cup, “I might be out of clean work shirts.”

“Do you want me to help? I can stick around and start your laundry.”

“No!” He shouts far too quickly. He clears his throat and apologizes through nervous laughter. “No, honey, really, it’s fine, I’ll get to it.”

I’ve noticed something about Ted on our first couple of dates. Whenever he’s nervous about answering one of my questions he bows his head. The first time I registered what he was doing was date 3, we were cutting through a park to get to a small electronics shop that claimed it had some debris from the recent alien attack. I had asked him what he was going to do with a piece of alien scrap. He paused and became suddenly fascinated by his shoes. So I asked him again and he laughed and shook his head. He told me it was just for fun a few minutes later. He did it again the next date, he was an hour late. I got several texts from him all explaining that he was on his way, just running behind schedule. I was ready to pack up and leave when he came barreling through the door. He couldn’t tell me what this work emergency was either. Every missed date, every time he was late, every suspicious answer, Ted's eyes were glued to the floor. Right now, his eyes are set on the coffee below him.

“Okay.” I take a deep breath and lean forward, squeezing his shoulder a bit. When he looks up his expression holds so much relief it fills my stomach with dread. I know Ted Kord is hiding something from me

“You think he’s hiding something from you because he didn’t want you to do his dishes?” I can hear her smirk from the other side of the phone.

“I’m not crazy, Babs.” I flip her off and hope she feels it in her soul.

“Hey, I never said you were crazy, you said you were crazy. I just implied it.” I’m pacing the half of the living room that I’ve turned into office space. I don’t have any real work to do today. I was supposed to reorganize the area but I couldn’t stop thinking about stupid Ted and his stupid secret. After an hour of sitting alone at my desk and going crazy I called Barbara. I’d rather go crazy with a captive audience.

“I’m sure there's some sort of correlation… something I’m missing.” I say more to myself than Babs, but that’s really how most of this conversation has been so far. I stop pacing and look around the area. I see the whiteboard I prep story drafts on tucked nicely in the corner. I run over and wheel it out behind my desk. I take some cleaning spray and a rag and wipe off the last case I worked on. In the middle of the clean board I write “Theodore Stephen Kord” in blue ink, I circle his name.

Babs sounds more concerned when she next speaks, “You don’t think he’s cheating or anything, right? Ted's a good guy, he’d never do that to you.” I grab a sticky note and start to write down all the dates he’s missed or been late to, the list is way too long.

“I never said I thought he was cheating.” It was the first thing I thought of. That’s what you hear in all those stories, your man starts coming home late, missing events, and every time he says he got caught up at work. It didn’t make sense to me though, he was late on the very first date. It also occurred to me that I could be the other woman, but Babs wouldn’t do that to me, and it looks like I might be the only other person that’s been in that penthouse besides him.

I stick the list on the board with a Wonder Woman magnet. “I feel like you’re going to get all conspiracy board on me…”

I look over the start of my conspiracy board “Not at all. Can I not vent to our only mutual friend?”

“I’ll pretend I believe you.” I shiver and look over my shoulder. Lucky guess. I slump down into my chair and sigh loudly once. She doesn’t say anything. I sigh again. “What?” she says with forced sympathy.

“He’s missed five dates, has been late to about ten more, dodges my questions when I ask where he’s been… It’s just weird, Babs.”

“What does he say when you ask him?”

“Work. It’s always work.” I spin in my chair.

“Maybe it really is work?”

I consider even admitting this for a second, but I need to get it off my chest somehow,“You can’t judge me.”

“No promises…”

“Barbara.” I stop and look seriously into my computer, psychically communicating how serious I am to her.

“Okay fine, I won’t judge.”

“I called once.”

“Called?”

“I, uh, I got mad he missed one of our dates. I mean, he didn’t call or text like he usually does. He just stood me up. I called him a few times but nada,” I spin in my chair. I was so mad the first time I called that day. Then the third time I just felt sick. I didn’t even think about catching him then, I was just so worried about him, “So I called work, his secretary said he didn’t come in at all that day. He called out because of a personal emergency. But do you know what he said when I asked him about it later?”

Babs sighed, “Work?”

“Work.”

Yeah, that's…” She sighs, the familiar sound of keys clacking carries over her microphone. I close my eyes and nod solemnly, she must sense my vibes from across the phone because she soothes me, “I know, I know.”

“I need to get back to work. Thanks for letting me talk at you, Babs, you’re the best.”

“I know.” Her typing slows into a stop, “Hey… are you sure there can’t be a good reason for all this? Like maybe he really can’t tell you what's going on. Kord Industries isn’t the biggest tech brand in the world but lots of important people know that it’s the best stuff on the market” The optimism briefly comforts me, but not a single good thing comes to mind.

“I hope.” I say before I hang up. We say our goodbyes and I sink down in the chair until I hit the floor. I reach to the side of my desk and pick up a pack of cigarettes. I have to stand to get lighter, when I do I make eye contact with my PC. I really do have to get back to work. Maybe a glass of water will clear my mind enough to focus.

I slide out from my desk, passing the white board as I make my way to my kitchen. I let my cigarette rest in my mouth as I open my cabinet and grab a cup. I turn on the sink and fill it halfway with water before, “Fuck me,” I realize I forgot ice. I set down the cup and take a drag of my cigarette. I open my freezer door and grab an ice tray. When I shut the door I’m face to face with the newspaper I saved from our very first date. I bite down on the filter of my cigarette.

Smoke rises from the ashtray on my desk. I dig through the drawer until I find a magnet. I slam the newspaper up on the whiteboard. I circle 2/14 on the board and draw a line from that to the paper. On top of that line I write two words “BOOSTER GOLD”

“Huh-what-now?” Ted says through a mouthful of croissant. He sits across from me at a nice little cafe we started to frequent together.

“I mean, he’s your friend, isn’t he?” I mix together my caramel mocha letting the whip cream melt into the drink. It’s September and the first day I’ve really needed a jacket in a while. Ted just got off of work. He’s in a bright sweater vest and a pageboy hat, he looks like he just danced his way out of a newsies production.

“You could say that… I’m definitely on his PR list, that's for sure.” He scratches at his head below the cap, he’s looking at me the same way he looks at a device he’s dismembered or an equation he woke up in the middle of the night to scrawl down on a piece of scratch. Putting together the pieces. I feel bad that my skepticisms come to this. I know how childish it is to play these games and to not just ask but I don’t want to ruin a good thing by being wrong.

“I just haven’t met any of your friends yet, I guess.” I shrug, trying to play it off at least semi-casually. He doesn’t have to know I’m onto him yet (though what exactly I’m onto escapes me entirely). I just have a gut feeling Booster Gold is a key player… maybe even this Blue Beetle guy– I make a mental note to ask him about Blue Beetle later.

“That is so not true.” He wads up a straw wrapper and tosses it at me, “You’ve met Murray.”

“I concede, I met Murray,” I throw the wrapper back at him, “But Murray can’t be your only friend, Teddy.”

“What if he is.” Ted places his hand on his heart and does his best pouty face, it doesn’t last long though as his face splits into a grin. I briefly wonder why I would ever doubt him. I take a sip of my mocha and do my best to look annoyed.

“Okay, I also concede, Murray Takamoto is not my only friend. I’m also friends with Babs.”

“Ted.”

“Why do you even want to meet Booster so badly..?” He picks up his (decaf) latte and washes down the croissant he just shoved down his throat, before he even sets the drink down again he starts to laugh.

I scoot up in my seat, “What?”

He bends over and rests his head on his knees. He holds up one finger and I bat it away.

“Come on Teddy.”

“Sorry-” he wheezes as he sits up. He puts his fist to his mouth to stifle his laughter. “I just… I thought better of you, sweetheart.”

“What are you even talking about?” I chuckle and wad up a napkin.

“You’re so smart, and beautiful, and,” he snorts, “too good to be a Booster Gold fan.”

I scoff and throw the napkin at his face, it bounces off and lands on the plate that once housed his croissant. “I am not a Booster Gold fan.”

“Uh-huh… why else would you be so keen on meeting that shmuck.” Good point, Teddy, good point.

I shrug, “Maybe I’m a Blue Beetle fan and he’s just a means to an end.” Ted pauses and stares at me as he considers it.

“That sounds about right, you got a thing for smart guys.” He smirks.

“You got me, I love a genius.” I smile back at him. I really do think I love him. Somewhere along the way my skepticism merged with concern. Ted isn’t a Bruce Wayne as far as the media is concerned, hell, he isn’t even an Oliver Queen, but he’s still rich, influential, and probably the smartest man in the world. I can think of a million people who’d want to exploit that. There’s also part of me that’s scared that Ted could use his brains for evil, even though everything about his character screams otherwise. I’m awful. I love him so, so much but I can’t trust him.

Maybe that says a lot more about me than it does him, though.

Eavesdropping is below me. I am a dignified researcher most of the time, but today is not one of those times. Ted finally gave into my pleas to meet his "acquaintance" Booster Gold. We’re supposed to go out for Ted's lunch break, he flies to Chicago later today. He’ll be back in the morning but Booster’s booked up the rest of the week between brand endorsements and finishing the formula for his new Booster-ific Golden Glow (™) , a spray tan he’s planning on releasing before Christmas. When I place my ear to the door I half expect them to be talking about these plans. I can hear Ted speaking through the door but I can’t make out the words at first. Another man, Booster, I assume, laughs loudly at whatever Ted said. I cup my ear and move a bit closer to the gap in the door.

“Booster, I’m serious. Stop it.” He sounds serious. I can almost picture him, arms crossed and jaw set as he leans back against his desk. In my mind he looks like a big bad CEO… I wonder how open he’d be to roleplay.

Booster slows his laughter, he takes a breath, “Hey, come on, I thought we were done pretending to be grown ups.”

“You know that’s-” Ted scoffs, “I mean I’m serious about this relationship, Boos. Things are going great.” A get hit with a pang of guilt.

“Oh my,” There's shuffling on the other side of the door, a piece of paper rustles, and then Ted is laughing, “Teddy-Bear, I didn’t know you felt the same.” Then the kissy noises start. Ted groans and more papers fall to the floor.

“Now look at what you did, you big oaf. Stop batting your eyelashes at me and pick this mess up.” Booster protests at first but I hear paper rustling again. “Seriously, Booster, stop that, you’re gonna make me sick.” He laughs.

After a minute no one says anything, I start to stand up. That violation was all for nothing.

Booster starts to speak again as soon as I pull away, I shouldn’t… eh, fuck it, I lean back down “...know?”

“Know what?” Ted's tone snaps back into the stern one he had earlier.

“About you?” Ted shushes him. I back away, my heart is pounding. I make it to the wall of the hallway, take a deep breath, and head to the door and knock. I hear them talking still but can’t make anything out until they get closer to the door.

“Okay, Booster I’m-”

“Serious, I know. I’ll be good, I swear. Now open the door.” There’s a beat of silence, then the handle turns. I take a step back.

When Ted sees me his expression brightens. “There you are,” I move back towards him and lean up for a quick kiss. Booster audibly gags in the background. When we pull apart Ted whips his head over his shoulder to glare at Booster. I giggle a bit.

“At least someone has a sense of humor.” He shoots Ted a look and walks over to me in the doorway. He offers his hand for me to shake, “Booster Gold, I’m so happy you’re here. I thought Teddy was going to be a bachelor forever.” He winks at me. Ted rolls his eyes fondly. Booster takes a step back so he can lean on Ted's shoulder. “A little birdie,” he points at Ted with his thumb, “Told me that I was your favorite superhero.”

“Then a little birdie is telling lies.” I look over at Ted, he averts his gaze and starts whistling.

It’s nice out for October so we decide to take advantage of the nice day and walk to our cafe. Ted and I walk hand and hand a few paces behind Booster. Booster turns around and starts walking backwards, “You have to believe me, he totally set me up back there.”

“I did no such thing.” Ted squeezes my hand, I squeeze back.

“You set me up! All that talk about being serious and you-” Booster bumps into a woman who was waiting for the crosswalk light to change. “I’m sorry, ma’am.” Ted and I fold into each other laughing. Booster looks at us, he has an adorable pout stuck on his face. He falls back in step with us, purposely sliding between Ted and I, breaking our hands apart as he snakes his arms around our shoulders. “You gotta believe me.” He smirks down at me.

“I don’t know.” I draw out my words in a sing-song manner and wink up at Booster. His smirk grows into a grin. He drops our shoulders and goes back to walking a few steps ahead.

We get to the cafe and get our usuals. All expect Booster of course, he orders a blended coffee that looks like it could be made of pure sugar. He takes a sip of his drink and plops into the seat across from Ted and I.

“We should open a coffee shop.” He says. “My marketing prowess, your money… call it Brewster Gold.”

Ted takes a drink, and pointedly sets his cup down on the table, “No way, I’ve learned my lesson with you.” He sounds like he’s being frank with Booster, but the way he looks at Booster– with so much love that it almost makes me jealous– doesn’t really sell the idea that he’s completely out.

“You’re still not immune to Gold-Fever, Ted. I know you want to.” He mirrors Ted's look. Their affection for each other is almost suffocating. Acquaintance my ass. Ted definitely tried to undersell his relationship with Booster to me. That, and Booster tried to call Ted out for hiding something from me. I hate that the further I look into this the more valid I am in my paranoia. I want nothing more than to be wrong at this point.

Booster has gone quiet, he’s staring at me with a quiet contemplation. For a second I wonder if he heard my thoughts. I look over to Ted for help but he’s rolling up the sleeve of his sweater and inspecting a nasty looking bruise on his arm. I forget all about Booster and put all my focus onto Ted. I’m about to ask about it when Booster interjects with the question I can only assume has been on his mind since we got here, “So… who is your favorite superhero.”

Ted grins, he doesn’t look up from his bruise, he just pulls down his sleeve and responds, “Blue Beetle II.”

Booster breaks out into a fit of laughter, “No way. That can’t be true, that guy’s totally lame.”

“Isn’t he your best friend?” I tilt my head slightly as I ask.

“No, he’s like my sidekick.”

“Funny, isn’t your guys’ duo named Blue and Gold? I always assumed you were Beetle's sidekick.” Ted tears a piece of his croissant off. He smiles at Booster and I get a feeling this is an inside joke I’m not in on.

“I don’t have a favorite superhero, sorry if that's disappointing.” I take my straw and mix the whipped cream into my drink.

“What? You said you liked Blue Beetle, honey.” Ted pouts. Booster looks like he’s trying not to laugh.

“He’s okay. His ship is cute… but Booster’s right, he is a little lame.” Booster lets out the laugh he was holding. Ted throws a decent sized chunk of his croissant and it hits Booster square in the forehead. He catches is and tosses the chunk into his mouth.

“I think this is a real problem.” Babs says over video call. I have my webcam pointed at the two whiteboards I have fused into one conspiracy board. She’s eating Chinese takeout at her desk and watching as I add a few more lines on the board.

I’m connecting the picture I hung of Booster to the one of Ted and write “He knows!!!!!” on the line. “I asked them both separately how they met.” I say, ignoring her comment. “You know what they said?”

She sighs, I hear a clink as she sets her chopsticks on her desk, “What did they say?”

“Booster says they met when he, and I quote, ‘totally saved Ted from the royal flush gang’ and now Ted’s apparently in a life debt to Booster.” Babs considers this for a second and nods.

“What did Ted say?”

“A vacation on Kooey Kooey Kooey.” Babs sighs and pinches her nose under her glasses. “I just don’t know why he’s lying to me, Babs. Maybe he is cheating.”

“I don’t-” I interrupt her with a loud gasp.

“Maybe he’s cheating on me with Booster Gold!” I point frantically between the pictures of Booster and Ted I have up on the board. Babs motions for me to come closer. I gesture to the board. She insists. “Ugh, fine.” I go and sit in front of her.

“What is this really about?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he is lying to you, you know that and that is a problem but…” She points to the board in my background. “All this? Instead of just talking to him? It’s been months..”

I feel my face heat up, I feel slapped in the face by how fargone I actually am.

“Ted’s a stand-up guy, he’ll probably tell you what's going on.”

“I know.” I reach for my cigarettes.

“So what's this really about?” I pull my hand away from the pack and look back at Babs.

“I think I’m scared… I’m scared of having a good thing and ruining it.” I look back at my board. “So I want him to ruin it instead, but he’s perfect… you were spot on in setting us up.”

“I’m right about everything.”

“I know. I should talk to him. You’re right about that too.” Babs smiles at me through the monitor and she opens her mouth to say something but there's a loud beeping in the background.

“Oh shoot. Hey, I got to go- I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Hey, wait-” and she hangs up. I sigh and spin around in my chair.

I stop and stare at the board. I really have been going crazy, huh. I slink out of the chair and take down the picture I have of Ted. I mutter an apology to it. I go to take down the next thing on the board, the newspaper with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold on the cover. I slide the paper on top of the photo, Blue Beetle covering up where Ted stood in the picture. “That's funny.” I mumble, “I guess Booster has a type.” I slide the picture of Ted out to compare the two. “Oh my god.”

I drop the paper and picture onto my desk and lean over my computer. I close out of the videocall app and look up Blue Beetle on google. I print as many close up pictures as I can find and tape them to the wall. I do the same things with pictures of Ted Kord. I match them up based on which two pictures have the most similar angles. Then I pull out a sharpie and get to circling.

I end up smoking that cigarette. I’m leaning out my apartment window, smoking as I wait for a streak of gold to rush past the sky. There must be a fireworks show a few blocks away, I can see faint flickers of light and hear them go off.

Booster shows up a few minutes later. I put my cigarette out on my apartment wall.

“You smoke?” He asks as he ducks into my apartment through the window. I step aside and let him in.

“Only when I’m working on a story.” I toss the butt of the cigarette to my ashtray but miss by a couple of inches.

“So you’re writing about the aliens?”

“What? What aliens?” I close my window behind us.

“What, bro, this isn’t about the aliens?” He swivels to face me, utterly dejected.

“No, it’s about Ted. What aliens?”

“The ones that’re–” Booster looks over to the other half of my living room. He takes it all in in silence. The conspiracy board with pictures of him and his best friend, the chair that's covered in at least five blankets and a couple of pillows, the cups, and cigarettes, and the pictures of Ted posted to the wall. “--Whats going on here?”

“Um… my story?” It's not entirely false. I really hope Booster knows I’d never actually publish Ted's identity anywhere.

“You know there's this guy,” Booster walks into the office space and looks over everything, “The Question,” He lifts up the newspaper from the desk and reveals the picture of Ted under it., “You’re really giving him a run for his money.”

“Ted’s Blue Beetle, right?” Booster’s head snaps up, he looks unsure for a second then shakes his head.

“I mean you have it figured out, what good is keeping it up.”

“I’m not crazy!” I laugh. I lean over and brace myself. “Oh thank god.”

“No, no, you’re definitely crazy. This is weird.” Booster traces over the line connecting him and Ted.

“I thought he was in trouble… or cheating on me… he was definitely hiding something from me. It…” I look over the mess and flush red. “Totally got out of hand.”

Booster laughs at that, “No kidding. Wait ‘till Ted sees this.” I almost want to protest but Ted probably should see this. It’s the right thing to do.

“Did you actually need me for something or were you going to tie me up and try to torture information out of me?”

“I just thought I’d ask… you seemed easier to confront.” Booster opens his mouth to respond but someone comes on over his comms. He looks elated.

“Hey! Hey… yeah. I can help, I’m in the area. Uhm, one sec J’onn.” Booster flies over and opens up my window he yells, “Hey, Skeets, what's this neighborhood called again?” There's a voice that comes in from outside the building. Booster repeats what it says to the man on his comms. “Yeah, no, no actually I have a civilian with me. Okay. I have… yeah, I have a place.” He steps closer to me.

“Hey, we gotta go. The fight’s coming, like, right here.” Before I can say anything he scoops me up and we bolt out the window. I let out a loud scream and squeezed tight onto him. Booster flies fast through the sky, I feel the wind pulling at my skin and tossing my hair. I can’t seem to open my eyes.

“Sir, where are you going, the fight is that way!” A small voice says from a little behind us. I slightly open one eye to see a small golden robot flying after us. That only holds my attention for a moment, however, as I notice a giant fight unraveling in the background. A ship floats in the sky, it has hundreds of tentacles that are swatting at heroes that keep coming at it from the right. I open my eyes all the way so I can see what they’re distracting the ship from. A blue flight ship, shaped like a giant beetle sits on the left side of the alien ship. Dangling from the ship, is an ordinary man in a beetle costume.

“Oh my god.” I gasp, I move to cover my mouth but it almost makes me lose my grip on Booster.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha.” He says, tightening his grip on my waist. “I’m taking you to Teds. It should be far enough from the action.”

“He’s going to get hurt.” I say blankly. Nerves are eating me alive. This is what he was trying to save me from, wasn’t it?

“He’s probably going to save the day.” Booster offers, slowing as we reach Ted's penthouse. He drops me off on the balcony and looks over me. He gives me a thumbs up and I nod. He nods back and starts to fly off.

I run to the edge of the balcony and cup my mouth, “Booster!” he turns around to look at me, “Stay safe out there, both of you.” It feels stupid to say but it’s the best I have to offer. He flashes me one of his signature, movie-star grins. It's funny, those have never looked sincere to me before now.

Luckily, Ted's balcony was unlocked. It was the middle of December and freezing outside, the last thing I wanted was for Ted to survive this fight just to find me dead outside of his living room.

I turn on the TV, make myself a pot of coffee (thank god it’s decaf), and pace the living room for what feels like years. The news isn’t helpful. The ship is affecting the visuals on all their cameras so I only have the reporters play by plays to rely on. He says nothing about Blue Beetle.

Eventually he says the Justice League have infiltrated the ship itself and all eyes on the fight are lost. I decide it's probably best for my mental health to turn off the news. I throw on a random cheesy romance movie and grab some leftovers from Ted's fridge. I lay down alone on the couch and I am miserable.

There’s a crash. I shoot up from where I passed out on the couch and I look around. I see a figure by the door, hunched over and grabbing at his ribs, he’s holding something in his hand. I shrink down and don’t say a word.

He trips over what he just knocked over, “Oh god damn it.” He hisses. A wave of relief washes over me.

“Oh my god, Ted!” I hop up off the couch and run to hug him.

“Ouch- easy there, tiger.” He lets out a pained chuckle. When I step back he gestures to his ribs. He looks like shit, his hair is a mess on his head, parts of it are stuck to his forehead with sweat and what might be blood. Soot is on his face wherever his cowl doesn't cover and there's a huge bruise forming on his jaw.

I was so distracted by his face I hardly noticed that he was still in costume, the thing in his hand was just his cowl. I run my hands over the spandex. It was all becoming so real so fast.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Hated lying for so long…” He says softly. He brings his hand that isn’t shielding his ribs to my arm.

“What?” Is all I muster. I blink up at him. He’s all smiles. Even when he looks like he was beat half to death he smiles down at me like I’m his whole world. I feel awful about myself, all the doubts and accusations from our relationship settle into a nauseous void in my stomach. He’s the one that's sorry? My heart aches, I feel tired, and anxious, and, “I love you.” I say. It wasn’t the best time to say I love you for the first time, it certainly took Ted by surprise, but it had to be said; the thought was all consuming.

“I love you too.” He says softly.

“Couch?” He nods. I help him to the couch. As soon as he's sat he goes through and seemingly dismantles his suit piece by piece. Using complex mechanisms to remove the top from the bottom.

“I have a first aid kit in my room, under the bed.”He says while fiddling with his belt. I nod and go off. It takes an embarrassing amount of force to get this kit out from under the bed. I swallow when I see how large it is. The panic has slowly been rising as it hits me harder and harder that this wasn’t a conspiracy theory anymore. This was my reality. I shake it off and go back to Ted.

He’s not in the living room when I get back out there. I set the kit on the table. I’m about to holler out for him when I hear the shower run. I take a deep breath. His costume is all strung out on the floor. I collect it as I go to the bathroom door.

“Do you need clothes?” I ask as I slightly open the door.

“Just underwear for now, thanks. There's a nasty gash on my leg I need to look at.” At least he sounds better. I head back to his room. I grab him a pair of boxers and toss them on the bed. I flip the light on and lay out his Blue Beetle costume.

I think I just needed to see it one more time for it to actually hit me that I was right. I’m a little proud of myself but now's not the time for that. I look over the costume and, yeah, there's a cut on the left thigh. Upon further inspection the whole right side of the suit appears to have various levels of burn marks. Some haven't quite penetrated the suit others, specifically on the right shoulder and chest area, have a huge burnhole. I didn’t notice it when he was hunched over.

I hear the shower turn off. I give him his boxers and turn all the lights on in the living room. He opens the bathroom door and I run over to help him to the couch. “Thanks…hadta,” he smacks his lips, “y’know, clean it. Cold water of course… i’m all burned”

“Are you okay? Did you hit your head?” I say as I lower him to the couch.

“No. I’m just tired, honey.” He leans into the couch.

“Here, let me help.” He looks up at me a bit nervously, but nods.

“Start with painkillers. The bottle all the way to the right hand side. Top row.” I open the case and wow… There are a lot of painkillers. The only one I recognize is Ibuprophen. I pull out the bottle he specifies, “How many?”

“Two for now.” I hand him the pills and he takes them dry.

“What happened?” I say. I gather what I think I’ll need, burn cream, antibiotics, bandages…

“I, uh, went to override the ship's security. It was harder cuz’ I’ve never seen this language before… didn’t want to call a green lantern to translate either.” He sticks his tongue out. “I got it down, they got in and the rest is history. I spent most of the fight feeling shitty in the bug.”

“I was asking how you got hurt.” I chuckle.

“Oops.” He smirks at me. “My bad. I, uh, cut the wrong wire, probably should’ve asked for help. There was an explosion and since I was grappling from the bug I started swinging around. Flew back into part of the metal I tore up to get into the panel. Got my leg good. Fell back and probably bruised a rib. The explosion itself caused the burns.”

“You’re an idiot.” I apply some burn cream onto his chest and shoulder.

He winces at the sensation, “Is the Blue Beetle your favorite hero now that I saved the world?”

“Wanna know a secret?” I look down at him and kiss the side of his head.

“Of course…” He murmurs.

“You’ve always been my favorite. I don’t know if you knew this but I have a thing for smart guys.”

“Even when they’re lame?” His eyes drift shut.

“Especially when they’re lame. Now come on, eyes open. I’m not a doctor but I’m pretty sure you have to stay awake.” I pat the not-bruised side of his face until he opens his eyes again.

“Bleh.”

“Jeez… You’re really giving The Question a run for his money.” Ted says as he looks at the pictures of himself taped all over the wall.

“Oh shut up.” I start to tear the pictures down. “You know, Booster said the same thing.”

“Was it funnier when I said it?” I glare at him and he throws his hands up in defense.

“Help me clean up.”

“Aye aye, captain.” Ted salutes and starts to clear some papers from my desk. Cleaning my apartment and packing everything up is going to take us the whole day. This stupid conspiracy stuff has been sitting here for months untouched. The day after that fight I came home, packed a bag, and have been living with Ted ever since. This shitty apartment has been a glorified storage space since December. My lease is up now that it’s finally April. I wish I could say it's bittersweet, but I’m ready for Ted and I to put this chapter behind us and to start a brand new one.