Chapter Text

1992

August 28th

The entire world appears in a blur of colours and hazy lights, bile bubbling up through his mouth, and before he can choke on his own vomit, a latex gloved hand turns him over onto his side, the inside of an ambulance sharply coming into focus, a flimsy red bag held in front of his face.

"You done throwing up or do I have to go and get the suction?"

He groans in response, hand coming up to rub at his eyes. Flopping back onto his back like a dead fish, he stares up at the most beautiful blue eyes he's ever seen. He attempts to crack a smile, a flirtatious smoulder, his attempts seemingly failing when instead of swooning, his angel opens his mouth and asks,

"Did you hit your head anywhere?" there's a clicking sound and a penlight in his eyes, slowly moving side to side.

"Nope, just fell hard for you," he drawls back, "so, how about we go and get cozy down at Al's?"

There's a brief pause, before he hears a laugh, "Make that Kemoli's and I might consider," before he has a chance to respond, he's being grilled about his medical history, "So, other than the vomiting and the headache, any other symptoms?" Hal takes a moment to think, "My balls hurt, Donnie kicked me in the nuts,"

"Mmhm, alright any allergies?"

"Nope."

"Are you on any medications right now?"

"Just a prescription for a kiss from a hottie in uniform,"

"I'm going to put that down as a no… any significant past medical history?"

"Does circumcision count?"

"I, I don't actually know, but I'll put it down anyway, when's the last time you ate or drank anything?"

"Pizza and three sandwiches from the caf, and I think about 6 or 7 beers? Maybe a couple of shots of vodka?"

He hears a whistle, "Got nice and wasted tonight, anything significant leading up to you being here?"

"Shot gunned something, don't remember what,"

"Do they not run drug tests in ROTC?"

"I don't know," he answered happily.

"Alright, you up for some rapid-fire questions?"

"Anything for you gorgeous," he chirps back.

"Onset, Provocation, Quality, Radiating, Severity and Time," the angel announces, seemingly pleased with himself, before softly whispering under his breath, "That's, OPQRS and T, yes, alright, that's correct"

"Damn, you don't even know if your acronym's correct," he cackled

"Shut up, I've been doing this for a month, and next week's orgo exam is slowly frying my brain"

Hal's brain short circuits. "You're in fucking college?"

His angel seems amused, "We're in physics together, Harold," he snarks, "I sit two seats away from you,"

Hal can't believe his ears, "If I'd have known you were in walking distance of me, I would've locked you down ages ago,"

"Ooh careful, don't want me ratting you out to your… Captain? I don't know much about ROTC,"

"You won't, you legally can't" he objects, half-heartedly swatting at the EMT, squinting to read the nametag, "EMT Allen," he sounds out, "You're not going to tell anyone are you?" he's honestly a little worried now, shaking slightly.

Allen sighs, unwrapping the BP cuff from the jump bag and slipping his stethoscope out of his pant pockets, "My lips are sealed, wouldn't want anyone knowing I was a queer either," he mutters, "and again, patient confidentiality and all that, nothing officially saying that I have to though, so be careful Hal,"

Hal snorts, "you say that like being queer is a bad thing," he winces as the cuff tightens around his biceps.

"Sorry," Allen mutters, "Should've done this before getting a history," he goes silent for a while, listening for the thump of his brachial artery. "And also for the, insinuation. I-I'm probably some form of that myself, so it was just a word of advice, not saying you're like, dirty or anything,"

"Awfully bold of you coming out to someone you've only seen in physics class before,"

"If I'm being honest Harold, I doubt you're going to remember this tomorrow," He notes down his oxygen saturation and pulse rate on his little notepad, and Hal notes the way he worries his bottom lip as he writes. "You've got a short little stay at the hospital coming up, if you remember anything, I'll absolutely eat my words,"

Hal groans, "Ah fine, and also, started feeling dizzy about an hour ago, uh, walking and lights make it worse I guess," he pauses to think, "kind of a pounding headache, like a 6 on the pain scale," he grins, "Does that answer all of your questions?"

Allen looks dumbstruck for a minute, before softly swearing under his breath, "Ah Jiminy Cricket, I didn't even mention the pain scale," he straightens up, "yup, that's all of 'em, you're getting the lights but no sirens treatment darling,"

Allen turns to the window separating the patient compartment from the cab, it slides, open, "could we run a code two to… number 667?"

True to form, when he wakes up the next morning, Hal really doesn't remember much of the night, just pretty blue eyes and soft blond hair.

September 31st

Come September, Hal had a new accessory on his finger and the swagger to match it, along with the bruises to boot. He'd ended up wrapping his ribs almost every day, icing his joints and using his vibrator as a massage tool, internally mourning the loss of his sex life. The strawberry flavoured condoms in his bag were going to expire before they saw any action.

He hovered over a bank robbery in Central City, about two hours by foot but a quick five-minute flight from St. Louis by ring. He was about to go in guns blazing when a flash of red whipped through the bank, neatly tying all the would-be robbers around a lamp post on the street outside, before launching back towards St. Louis.

Hal pursued the blur, diving downwards when it suddenly stopped somewhere on the riverbank. He floated over the scene, laughing at the person's misfortune.

"It's not funny!" the mystery figure exclaimed, their voice distorted by the whole vibrating shtick they had going on, slowly getting up to glare at Hal. "I'd see you try and stop at 200 kilometres per hour!"

"Damn, you even use kilometres, the world's really against you today," Hal snickered, floating downwards and cocooning the man in a green bubble. "Now, who exactly are you?"

The man laughed nervously, "Still workshopping the name, but you can call me Flash? You're Superman right?"

If Hal hadn't had such a strong will, he would've dropped Flash straight into the Missouri River. "Do I have a giant fucking S on my chest? I'm Green Lantern for god's sake!" he snarled.

Flash stared up at him, "Never heard of- wait, Hal is that you?"

Hal stared back at him, "No, no I'm not Hal"

"No, you definitely are," the figure stopped vibrating for a second, allowing Hal to see their face, "you've got the same haircut, and a very similar chest," he crowed.

Now that Hal's actually able to see his face, he can't help but admire it. Soft blond hair slicked back against his head, baby blue eyes and a light smattering of freckles across his cheeks. A pair of goggles rested around his neck, yellow elbow and knee pads with a red shirt and a pair of blue running pants.

Hal clicked his hands, "Waiiit, you're that hot medic who made sure I didn't choke on my own vomit last month!"

"I thought you wouldn't remember that," Flash replies, suddenly closed off.

"Nah, I don't remember much, just that you were a major bombshell, and that you had your fingers in my mouth for a hot second," Hal waggled his eyebrows and fingers.

Flash seemed relieved, "Thank God," he muttered, "don't need you remembering the rest of that conversation, was embarrassing enough having it in the first place,"

"You said that you'd go out to dinner with me if I took you to Kemoli's, and that you were probably queer,"

Flash froze up again, dropping his head into his hands, "You remember that part but not my bloody name?"

Hal raised his hands "Hey, I never got your name sweetheart, we kind of skipped that step and went straight to the you having your fingers in my mouth stage,"

Flash sighed, "It's Barry," he mutters, "You paying for dinner?"

"If that's what gets you to come out to dinner with me, then fuck it, sure,"

Barry nods, "Does 6 next week work for you, uh, Friday?" he flips open his little memo pad and jots it down, without giving Hal the chance to respond.

Hal nods, dumbstruck, he didn't expect his little ploy to work, and yet, he'd scored a dinner date with an absolute stunner.

"Great, I'll see you then!" Barry smiles, "Could you let me out of the orb please?"

Hal nods, still a little shell shocked, and slowly lowers Barry to the ground. Barry looks up at him, fixing his goggles and smiles, "Race you back to campus?"

October 7th

Next week rolls around, and Hal's been waiting at the front of the restaurant for about 15 minutes, tapping his foot anxiously, when a gust of wind announces the arrival of his date. Barry skids to a stop in the alleyway next to him, and God, the windswept hair looks good on him.

Hal offers his elbow, but Barry shoves him away slightly, nodding towards the crowds on the main street, "Not going to look good for you hotshot," he strolls towards the door, looking back at Hal, "you coming?"

The two of them slide into a corner table, knees touching one another underneath the table, and Hal's heart starts fluttering when he sees the warm blush coating Barry's face. Barry gently intertwines their feet together, leaning forward and propping his chin up on his hands. "So, you're clearly not from Missouri,"

Hal's startled by the sudden questioning, "Yeah, no, I'm from California, why the sudden interest,"

"You've got an interesting voice, it's nice to listen to," Barry shrugs in response, "Why come here of all places?"

"Good Air Force ROTC program, had the degree in aerospace engineering and aeronautics I was interested in, and dad was Catholic, so you know, Jesuit college and all that," Hal blinks uncomfortably under Barry's scrutiny, "Uh, where are you from?"

"Central," Barry responds smoothly, still staring into Hal's soul.

"Oh, that's just down the river then, why not CCU or something? They're about equally ranked right?"

"Too many people know me over there, always running into people," Barry mutters,

"Why not New York then? If its Jesuit schools you're looking for, they've got Fordham down there, unfortunately they're Navy shills otherwise I would've gone there, but yeah…" Hal catches himself rambling. "You probably could've gone to any college you wanted, you seem bright enough from what I've seen in class,"

"Didn't want to be too far away from my father," Barry replies, still sitting in the same position, "wanted to be able to visit often,"

"Your dad can't visit here? Too much of a shut-in?" Hal jokes, not missing the slight tightening in Barry's face,

"Yes, something like that," Barry replies, "You mentioned your dad? He planning on visiting anytime soon?"

Hal laughs nervously, "It'd be hard for him to do that, considering he's dead and buried you know," and if he could take a picture of Barry's horrified face at the moment, he would.

"Oh god Hal, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have asked, I should know better than to be asking people about their parents," he apologizes frantically, his accent becoming more pronounced with each word. It's charming to listen to.

Hal brushed off the apology, "It's fine, it was an accident, I-I've learnt to live with it," he hasn't really, but that's not something he really wants to share on a first date. "My mother didn't really approve of me joining the Air Force program, so had to find a program as far away from California as possible," he jokes.

"At least it's a Catholic program, that's got to mean something?" Barry tries in response, but Hal snorts.

"She's Jewish, I don't think my university's Jesuit affiliation means all that much to her," Hal waves his hand, "Anyway, enough about my parents, tell me about yours!" He gesticulates at Barry.

"So funny story," Barry rubs the back of his neck, "My mum's sort of dead, and my dad's not really in the position to be visiting right now,"

"We're a matching set then, you have a dead mum and a dad who can't visit you and I have a dead dad and a mum who won't visit me," Hal slaps his knee and kicks Barry's shin underneath the table. "It's perfect!"

Barry rolls his eyes, "Why don't we talk about something other than our dead parents?"

"Fine then, why're you moonlighting as an EMT?"

"What is this, a job interview?"

"Hey, you're the one who started it,"

"Medical school clinical hours,"

Hal raises his eyebrows, "You want to go to med school?"

"Well, medical school and preferably a masters as well," Barry seems so painfully earnest about all of this that it actually hurts.

"What on earth do you plan on doing with that?"

That seems like the right question, because Barry perks right up. "Preferably work down at CCOCME," he swallows, "but that's a big ask, honestly any forensics related job would be nice,"

"The fuck is CCOCME," Hal laughs, "Cock me," he bumps his foot against Barry's knee.

"Central City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner," Barry mutters, "Again, just a pipe dream, but- maybe," He sighs, "What about you, planning to stay in the air force forever?"

Hal laughs, "Nah, until I get a nice officer position, maybe until I'm eligible for some good benefits, earn my wings and then dip, I'd like to be flying test planes, cutting edge of tech and all that, you know?"

"I'm afraid I do, one thing you and I seem to share,"

"I can think about another thing we both share," Hal waggles his eyebrows, "We're both catches," he finishes, discreetly placing his hand on top of Barry's, "so… how about we order some food and then dip back to my place?"

"We're not- we're not going to do that," Barry whispers, cheeks flushing an adorable shade of red, "But, I wouldn't be opposed to watching a movie with you?"

"Top Gun?"

"That's your first date movie?"

"No, that's a first and a half date movie, I can't in good conscience be with someone who doesn't like Top Gun"

Barry smiles at him, and Hal's stomach starts doing somersaults, suddenly getting flustered by the warmth in Barry's eyes as he looks at him. "Maybe we can go on a 'first and a half date' if you can drink their special," he says, Hal letting out a muffled oof as Barry returns his kick with a vengeance. "Think of it like a test," Hal stares at the giant abomination.

"I've never done very well on tests," Hal whispers, "I'm more of a hands-on learner,"

Barry leans back in his seat, and his newfound confidence is really doing something to Hal. "Well, you have to do the lecture component before you can get to the lab,"

If the night ends with Barry curled around Hal like an extremely warm space heater, the Top Gun credits playing in the background, who needs to know? Hell, Hal's not kicking out the hottest boy to have been in his bed.

1995

June 12th

Barry's decided that supervillains hate fun, they hate joy, they hate whimsy. He'd just been trying to have a nice date with his boyfriend at the newly opened Prologue room when a giant robot flew through the bloody window.

Barry's silently cursing out everyone and everything that led to the creation of this piece of metal, offering up a silent apology to his science heroes before clocking that thing across the face at Mach 1.

A surge of blinding pain shoots up his wrist when it doesn't make a dent in the robot, his entire hand twisted at an unnatural angle. The robot looms over him, before being launched upwards by a green fist and then being lifted up into space by a man in a red and blue suit. Barry cheered, while internally freaking out a little bit. He never thought that he'd be able to meet the Man of Steel, or the Dark Knight or Wonder Woman, but the triumvirate had shown up right as Hal and Barry were in the middle of trying to figure out how to take the robot out.

Apparently they'd been tracking this thing all the way from Gotham, it'd been sent to retrieve one of the items currently on display at the Prologue Room. Why exactly, Batman wouldn't say and Wonder Woman and Superman both admitted that he hadn't told them either. However, Superman had argued, "He hasn't led us astray the last time we teamed up," and Wonder Woman had continued with, "He'd been intrigued hearing about the two of you, and a little bit wary I presume, but he'll come around, he's not a bad guy," she'd held out her hand, "My name is Diana, Princess of the Amazons and the Daughter of Queen Hippolyta, pray tell, what should I call the two of you?"

Hal had chosen that moment to fly down from where he'd been hovering. "You can call me, Green Lantern darling, though any name you'd like to call me would be fine by me, and my less-hot companion over there," he pointed down at Barry, "you can call him Flash,"

Before Barry could respond to that, Batman had walked up, carrying the missing part, "I just extracted this from the remains of our target. Flash, would you be willing to return it on our behalf," Barry'd carefully taken the engine part, tucking it under his shoulder, "why don't you come along as well? I'm sure the staff would like to thank you in person?"

"I'd prefer if no one knew too much of me yet," Batman replied, slowly stalking back towards his jet, "but, you did do good work today, Flash,"

As soon as the three of them were gone, Barry turned back to Hal, "What was that?"

Hal looked at him strangely, "What was what?"

"The whole flirting thing? Why on earth was that necessary?" he huffs, a little hurt about what Hal said, extending his speed force aura over the engine part so that it wouldn't get damaged as he ran it back. Before Hal even had a chance to respond, he was already rocketing back towards St. Lewis. Hal sighed and flew behind him, knowing that there was a lot of explaining he'd need to do.

Still June 12th

Hal knocked on the door of Barry's apartment, his roommate opening the door. "Hey Hal, thought you'd be coming by," Daphne said, ushering him inside, "Barry came back all sulking and broody," she sat him down on the couch and stood in front of him, arms crossed over her chest "you wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?"

Hal stills suddenly, "He was upset?" he managed, after a long, tense silence.

Daphne snorts, "He was on the verge of tears, I could tell, I've been his friend longer than you've been around Jordan,"

Hal sighs, resting his head in his hands, "I-I didn't think he'd be all that upset about it, it was just a little flirting you know, to keep up appearances,"

Daphne stops her pacing back and forth to glare at Hal, and Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Earth, is suddenly very, very scared. "What do you mean, just a little bit of flirting Harold," she demands, "God, no wonder he seemed so out of it, I'd be too if my boyfriend started flirting with another man in front of me,"

"It wasn't a man," Hal whispers, "it was with a woman,"

Daphne throws her hands up, "That's even worse, do you know how fucking scared he is, of dating you, of being found out?" she runs her hands through her hair, "he's fucking terrified that you're going to get outed for dating him, he thinks he isn't fucking worth you going through the trouble of hiding your love life, and then you go and start flirting with a woman in front of his face? Of course he's upset!"

She points to Barry's room, "he's in the bath, go knock and talk to each other. I'm not saying apologize or anything, just talk it out,"

Hal nods at her and makes his way to Barry's room, but before he can get there she taps on his shoulder, "If you hurt him, I will ruin your life Harold, don't ask me how, but I will. He's been through enough, and I know you have too, you're perfect for each other. If you throw this away, I will castrate you," she claps him on the shoulder again, smiling at him, "now go!" she shoves him towards the door.

Hal opens the bedroom door and slips inside, toeing his shoes on before knocking on the bathroom door.

"Daphne I'm really not in the mood to talk right now," Barry says, and his voice sounds really hoarse, scratchy and frayed.

"Hmm, last I checked I wasn't Daphne Dean," Hal says, "can I come in?"

He hears more sniffling behind the door, "Yeah sure, the doors open," Hal pushes the door open, "Mind if I join you in the bath?" he asks, eyes raking over Barry.

Barry smiles weakly at him, before drawing his feet up, "if you can fit of course,"

Hal grinned before shucking his shirt and pants to the floor, crawling on top of Barry, resting his head on his chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was affecting you this much," he traced his finger along Barry's ribs, relishing in the little shudders that accompanied the movement.

"It's okay, I didn't tell you," Barry replied, reaching up to play with Hal's hair, threading his fingers through the thick strands, "Besides, I get why you were doing it, doesn't mean I feel good about it," he shrugged, "but I get why you were doing it,"

Hal sat up a little bit, digging his shoulders into Barry's chest to prop himself up, "It doesn't matter, if it makes you upset, I'll stop, fuck keeping up appearances. I'll just say I've chosen to move away from the dating scene,"

"People will talk,"

"People always talk, now tell me, why does it make you upset,"

Barry shifts uncomfortably, "I, I know it's stupid, but it feels like I'm just a sort of speedbump whenever you do that? That I'm stopping you from being with who you really want to be with," he's quiet for a minute or two after that, but Hal can tell he's not done. "I don't want to be your backup option. I've had that happen in the past with some of the girls I've dated, and it feels worse this time, because I really haven't dated any guys before you,"

Hal responds by turning over so that their chests are pressed together, holding Barry's head in his hands, "do you think the smartest, funniest, kindest man I've ever met would ever be a backup option?" he questioned, poking Barry in the side. "Every day I wake up and I think, 'Holy shit I've managed to score the most eligible man on campus',"

Barry smiled back at Hal, "sometimes I wonder what on Earth you, AFROTC star, ice hockey captain, 4.0 GPA Hal Jordan see in me,"

"I see Barry Allen, EMT extraordinaire, rugby flanker, and fellow 4.0 GPA student, I think you undersell yourself too much,"

Barry hummed, "Maybe," he admitted, carding his fingers through Hal's hair, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.

Hal propped himself up on his elbows, "Man, my shoulders hurt so bad right now, I sure could use some nice, long fingers on me,"

Barry rolled his eyes, "turn around then," he waited for Hal to shift around, shuddering when he brushed against him, before working his fingers over the tight muscle on Hal's shoulders.

"Man, I wish I had your healing, the bruises from being slammed into the barrier last game haven't fully faded, my ribs look like a mess right now, add lanterning into all of that and-" he let out a choked off gasp as Barry began vibrating against him.

"Helps with the healing, kind of like cats purring," he muttered into Hal's shoulders as he continued working over his muscles.

"Continue doing that and you'll have a very different organ to massage," Hal muttered, back arching into Barry's skilled hands.

"Oh shut up," Barry swatted Hal's arm, before going back to what he was doing, "I get what you're saying, I've had to hold so many broken bones together since I started Flash business. Hell, even in rugby I've had to fake being injured after I broke my collarbone, it's not fun setting your own bones so that you don't have to rebreak them if they heal wrong,"

Hal rubbed his thumb over Barry's shins soothingly, rubbing small circles into the skin, "That's got to suck,"

Barry hummed noncommittedly, "It has its perks, like you being able to be a lot rougher when-" he's cut off by Hal slamming his hand over his mouth. Barry huffs in response, before biting the inside of Hal's palm.

"Bartholomew Henry Allen, I didn't know you had such a filthy mouth on you," he tutted, "what would Darryl say if he knew?"

Barry snorted, "probably that spending so much time around you has corrupted any morals I had remaining,"

Hal cackled, going silent as he let Barry work, letting all the tension ease out of his muscles. Once Barry was done, he tapped Barry's thigh, "let me do you now, turn over,"

Barry obliged eagerly, allowing Hal to straddle him and letting out a pleased moan when Hal ran his hands over the planes of his back. He settled into the tub, head barely above the water as Hal worked out all of the knots and kinks that had settled in from a long day of running and dodging robot punches. He gasped as he felt Hal's hands dip lower, letting out a pleased whine, turning over so that he and Hal were chest to chest, legs slotted together.

"Bedroom?" Hal asked, Barry shakily nodded, letting Hal help him out of the tub and yelping when he was scooped up into a bridal carry and deposited on the bed. Hal clambering on top of him and staring down at him, an adoring look in his eyes. "You're gorgeous," he muttered, bending down to kiss Barry. "Can't wait to remind you of that,"

2000

May 15th

Barry's practically thrumming with energy as he tries to stop himself from vibrating through the floor. Flipping through a copy of his master's thesis, being careful not to use superspeed in front of anyone else.

He'd never really been good at public speaking, always preferring to sequester himself in the cadaver lab or the morgue. Dead bodies were easier to deal with than humans. It's the unpredictability that he hates when working as a paramedic, human beings get angry, their condition worsens in seconds, and there's the constant pressure to just keep pushing, coffee just makes him sleepier, so there's nothing to keep him from crashing as soon as the adrenaline wears off.

Corpses are easier, but if he wants that degree, he's going to have to defend the damn thesis. He loves what he's written, but the thought of people grilling him on his alcoholism paper, picking apart his work drives a stab of dread through his heart. He starts reading the paper to himself as he mentally prepares himself for the ordeal.

"It was the aim of the present investigation to apply a broad spectrum of analyses to forensic autopsies of alcoholics in order to estimate the significance of the various analytical methods with reference to the cause and manner of death," re-reading the entire document that he'd put so much blood, sweat and tears into does calm his mind a little. It's solid work, he definitely knows the answers to what he'll be asked, it's just the fear of being judged is hammering through his circulatory system like a train out of hell.

"Mr. Allen? If you could please follow me in," He stands up and takes a deep breath. Alright, time to do this.

May 20th

Barry's on top of the damn world, walking the stage to get his masters was one of the best moments of his life, just barely topped by receiving his residency match back in March, and hopefully soon to be topped by walking the stage to receive his MD. It's surreal to think that the kid in foster care who was convinced they'd never make it out of Danville now had three degrees under their belt. He taps his cufflinks as he stares at his newly acquired long white coat, reaching out to feel the stitching on the pocket. 'Dr. Allen, MD, Department of Anatomic Pathology," he grins, the CCU logo is stitched onto the armband and the feeling of giddy anticipation tears through him again.

He glances at his watch and swears, "Ah crap, I'm going to be so goddamn late," he moans, slipping into his regalia and making sure his cap, hood and gown are all properly attached before sprinting out the door. Who's going to judge if he uses a little bit of superspeed to get there on time.

He skids to a stop behind the sciences building, making sure that his hair and clothes look good before jogging over to the procession. He spots Hal in the crowd, waving to him as he walks towards his seat. Smiling as Hal waved back to him, he had a lovesick grin on his face for the rest of the ceremony. He's sure that in his pictures, he looks like an absolute dork.

As soon as the ceremony's done, he flings himself into Hal's arms, "Well Dr. Allen, how about we go somewhere more private,"

Barry laughed, "Of course Captain Jordan," he follows Hal back to his apartment, most of the items already packed into boxes. "Also, I might need some help moving stuff to Central,"

Hal hummed, wrapping his arms around Barry, "by flight or do you want to rent a car?"

"Can we rent a car? It'll be fun to drive up to Central, we could stop at all the kitschy sideshow places, besides people would probably have questions if they saw Green Lantern floating by with boxes and a bunch of furniture,"

"Are you going to sell some of the bigger items," Hal murmured into Barry's shoulder. Barry nodded, "Yeah, it'll honestly be easier to get new furniture than lug all of this stuff up, why?"

"We could defile the bed one more time before you leave,"

"I like the way you think,"

Hal laughed and dragged Barry into the bedroom, "I'm always full of good ideas,"

2002

January 6th

Hal doesn't know what to do, for so long the Air Force had been a part of who he was. He was Captain Harold Martin Jordan, now he was just Hal. Fucking Ramirez, ratting Hal's "sexual misconduct" out to his CO. It wasn't even like Ramirez caught him fucking another man or anything, just squeezing his boyfriend's hand before he went back to Central. And now boom, seven years of service down the drain. He couldn't wear his uniform, couldn't tell people that he was in the Air Force. He loved his country, he really did, but sometimes he wanted the entire institution to crumble to the fucking ground.

He'd never be able to wear his uniform again, and unless a bloody miracle happened, he'd never step foot inside a cockpit again, one not borne of his own imagination. Never feel the rush of blasting through the air, the entire world going silent outside him. He could use the ring, but it just wasn't the same. The ring was a piece of alien technology, and though he'd gotten better at using it, hell he was one of the best lanterns in the galaxy, it still felt like something was holding him up. When he was in a plane, it was just his raw skill, didn't matter what the plane was, he could push it to its absolute limits.

The moment he was in his shitty Coast City apartment, he threw down his bag and immediately flew to Central. There was a righteous sort of indignation running through his veins as he unlocked the door to his boyfriend's apartment. He sees Barry preparing dinner in the kitchen, humming softly to himself, a wave of affection hitting him, before it's overtaken by a wave of absolute fury.

"Did you have to do that?" he snarls, walking towards Barry, who just turns around, a look of absolute confusion on his face.

"Hold my fucking hand when you were leaving Coast," he threw his hands up, "You can't even say you're a relationship with me to your dad and yet you threw me under the fucking bus like this?"

Barry backed up against the counter, chuckling nervously, "I don't get what you're saying Hal, what did I do?"

"It's your fault I got fucking dismissed from the fucking air force," he growled, advancing even further, almost pinning Barry up against the kitchen cabinets. "You just had to be so touchy there," he snapped, grabbing one of Barry's wrists, "its holding your goddamn hand that got me dismissed," his grip grew tighter. "I've lost everything I've ever worked for because of you!"

"Hal, let go of me," Barry whispered, repeating it more firmly when Hal's grip on his hand only grew tighter. Hal laughed, "what, too scared to face the consequences of your actions?" he taunted, before shrinking back when Barry turned on him with a look of such anger. He'd never seen Barry so upset before, "I seem to remember you being a willing participant there," he spat. "Let the fuck go Harold,"

Hal immediately let go of his wrist, guilt shooting through his spine as Barry held his arm protectively to his chest. It didn't stop him from saying what he came here to say. What, Barry thought that if he played up the wounded gazelle act Hal would shut up and stay quiet?

He went back to pacing around the room, "and I did all of this for someone who's too afraid to say that they actually love me," he snarled, watching as Barry's face drained of colour.

"I've told you I'm not ready yet," Barry hissed, rage starting to take over his face. It wasn't a good look on him.

"Well, I wasn't ready to get fucking dismissed either and now here we are!" Hal screamed, "Hell, even Flash doesn't want to fucking say he's bisexual,"

"You're making me question if you're even worth coming out for right now," Barry said, staring at Hal, "I think you need to leave,"

Hal stopped in his tracks, "What do you mean?"

Barry shook his head, tears starting to roll down his face, "You come into my house, pin me up against the counter, almost break my wrist and scream at me for something that you willingly participated in," Barry snarled, "So no, right now I don't see anything that would be worth risking everything for,"

Hal rolled his eyes, "you're one to talk about risking everything," he muttered. He stepped towards Barry, trying to explain again, freezing short when he saw Barry flinch back, folding in on himself like a wet piece of tissue paper.

"I think you should leave," Barry said again, "I don't want to look at you right now Harold,"

Hal scoffed, "So I'm Harold now Bartholomew?"

Barry stared at him, "For now you are, get the fuck out of my house," Hal swore he could see a flash of lightning go through Barry's eyes. "I'm not going to say it again,"

Hal popped the collar of his flight jacket, "If you're going to be such a bitch, then I don't see any point of staying with you, have fun finding someone who's actually going to love you," he ignored the devastated look on Barry's face as he flew off, perhaps a few months away from Earth would help.

May 9th

It's been a little over four months since Hal had left for space, and Barry didn't think he could do this before. Waking up alone every morning, pillow splotched with tears from crying himself to sleep the previous night. He kept longingly staring at pictures of Hal around the house, floating through tasks in a sort of muddy haze.

Everyone around him seems to have noticed, tiptoeing around him like he had the bloody plague. Even his dad seemed to pick up on his general state of malaise the next time Barry visited him in Iron Heights.

"Barry, are you eating properly?" his voice sounded tinny and far away through the phone, yet Barry still found his hackles raising as he heard the concern in his voice.

"Why do you care?" he snipped, immediately regretting his words when his dad's face fell into absolute shock.

"You're my son," he stressed, leaning forward until his head was almost touching the glass, "Of course I worry about you, even if you never visit me again, I'm still going to worry about you,"

Barry could feel warm tears falling onto his hands as he shakily brought the phone up to his lips. "I'm not normal dad," he whispered, hands shaking a little as he spoke.

Henry laughed, "Of course you're not, you know with the whole-," he moved his fingers across the table in an imitation of a run, "-thing,"

Barry shook his head, he felt like he needed to tell someone or he'd explode, "I-it's not that dad, I'm not normal," he stressed, unsure of what to say to his dad.

Henry looked worried, "Baby, what are you trying to tell me? I promise you I'm not going to yell at you or be disappointed in you. You could confess to murder and I wouldn't care, although this may not be the best place to do that," he chuckled at his own joke.

"I like guys dad," Barry finally managed to choke out, "I'm a fucking queer and I got my boyfriend dismissed from the military because of it," he dropped his head back down, sobbing openly as Henry looked on with an expression Barry couldn't quite place.

He looked up at his dad shakily, "It's okay if you hate me," he whispered, flinching a little as his dad's face contorted into rage.

"Kid, I could never hate you, especially for this," he spoke softly, like trying to calm a spooked horse. "I hate how you're pushing yourself down, you're a wonderful person Barry, and I'm sure you'll be able to work things out with your boyfriend," he put his hand up to the glass, Barry shakily copying the motion.

"I haven't seen him for four months," Barry admitted, "I'm not sure he's still my boyfriend," he swallowed, "and I'm not sure anyone will want me like this,"

"Who told you that," Henry snarled, "give me their number and I'll make sure they never talk to you again,"

Barry laughed, the sound coming out wet and choked. "He did dad, he said that I wouldn't be able to find someone who'd put up with me, I'm so angry at him right now, but I also can't imagine myself without him," he rubbed at his eyes, red and swollen from crying, "I just don't know what I'm going to do without him,"

Henry snapped his fingers, "Look here," he demanded, repeating it louder when Barry looked further towards the wall. When Barry finally faced him, he took a deep breath. "Son, you're a person on your own, while I don't doubt that you love him, you need to stop defining your worth in relation to other people," Henry spoke with such conviction that Barry almost believed it was true.

"I'm just worried he's dead on another planet somewhere and the last things I'd said to him were 'Get out of my fucking house,'" Barry finally admitted, "and I'm scared that when he comes back, if he comes back, he'll want nothing to do with me,"

"How long have the two of you been together?"

Barry smiled, "since freshman year of college," he admitted, looking up at Henry's incredulous face.

"Kid, people don't just throw away relationships that lasted that long like that," he smiled at Barry, "you'll work it out with each other,"

Barry nodded, sending a watery smile to his dad, "I wasn't sure what you'd say," he finally said.

Henry looked taken aback, "what do you mean?" he asked incredulously, "tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking,"

Barry shrugged, "I thought you'd tell me never to come back here again, that I deserved damnation for something like this,"

He looked back up at his dad, who was on the verge of tears himself, "Oh son, I could never hate you, you're perfect, I find myself waiting for the day you're going to visit just so I can hear your voice," Henry sputtered, choking on his own words, "When you called yourself 'a fucking queer' I was so scared I was never going to see you again, I don't know what I would've done if that was the case,"

Barry felt guilt eating at his stomach, "I've considered it," he admitted, "I've been too much of a coward to go through with it,"

Henry shook his head violently, "You're not a coward for wanting the pain to stop, but you need to be alive in order to feel relief,"

"Yeah, yeah I guess that's true," Barry smiled, it was small and wobbly but it was there. Before Henry could respond the buzzer cut in, "time's up, say your goodbyes and leave,"

"Bye son," Henry whispered, "remember how much I love you,"

Barry nodded, "Bye dad, I'll try to come by more often,"

He often found himself walking back home when he visited his dad, saying thank you to the ferry driver and taking his time walking down the street. Running helped him think, but sometimes it sent his mind spiralling so far down that he couldn't pull himself back up from the depths on his own. On days like those, he preferred to walk.

As he let himself in, he jumped when he heard the sound of clattering coming from the kitchen. One hand on his ring, he crept towards the kitchen, fully ready to pummel whatever intruder had been unlucky enough to pick him apartment to rob.

All his bravado melted out of him when he saw who was standing in the kitchen. Hal in his jacket, faded cargo pants, hair much longer than when Barry had last seen him.

"Hi," Hal managed, "I'm making enchiladas, you like enchiladas right?"

Barry nodded, still in a bit of a trance, walking towards Hal and slowly pressing his hand to Hal's cheek, trying to make sure he was real. When he met warm flesh instead of cold air, he finally got himself to speak, "You need a haircut," he croaked. The moment the words left his lips he broke out into full blown sobs, clinging desperately onto Hal's jacket. "I didn't think you'd come back, I thought you never wanted to see me again," he babbled, still holding on to Hal's shoulders, Hal bending down to pick him up as his knees gave out from underneath him. Barry managed to drag the two of them down onto the floor, Hal letting him sob into his shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have told you to leave," Barry's repeating himself over and over as Hal looks at him with concern. He gently tilts Barry's head up, "can I kiss you?" he asks. The question snaps Barry out of his gaze, who looks up at Hal in confusion, "Yes please," he whispers, sliding into the kiss as Hal pulls him upwards, hungrily going for any inch of exposed skin he could get his mouth across.

"I've missed this," Hal admitted, "I shouldn't have done that to you, I thought when you saw me here you were going to go for my throat, you would've been right to," he whispered, holding Barry as close to him as possible.

"I should've been kinder to you," Barry says, tracing patterns onto Hal's arms, "I should've been more understanding of what you were going through, I was being a selfish bastard,"

Hal frowned down at him, "Hey now, no one's allowed to insult my boyfriend," he teased, before sighing, "I hurt you Bar, I almost broke your wrist and I don't know if I would've stopped if you hadn't managed to get out of my grip,"

Barry shakes his head, "You would've, I know that you'd never hurt me, you're too much of a softie to do that," he finds himself smiling, "besides you're too much of a teddy bear to be able to do much damage,"

Hal looks affronted, "Hey, I can be plenty scary when I want to be," he huffs. "I took out an entire smuggling ring and they were cowering when I showed up,"

Barry can't help but poke fun at him again, "Oooh, big bad Green Lantern, even if he's scary, Hal for sure isn't,"

Hal smiled at him, "I can't believe you've forgiven me for that already,"

Barry snorts, "Oh I haven't, you've still got some grovelling to do, but this and the enchiladas are a good start,"

September 30th

Hal's needed some good news for a while now, he's been floating around from one job to the next for a couple of months now. Nothing he's been doing quite gives him the same adrenaline rush as blasting through the air, feeling the world pass by around him. Sure, he could use his ring to fly but it wasn't the same.

The phone call with Carol was exactly the good news he'd needed. Somehow, someway, she'd managed to clear him for a test pilot position at Ferris Air, as long as he agrees to stay out of trouble and do the continuing education program she's going to sign him up for. She'd ended the call with a cryptic, "If people saw my list of partners, I'd never be able to show my face in public again," Hal thought he probably knew what she meant, smiling to himself as she cut the call.

He looked down at the university packet she'd sent him in the mail, master's in aerospace engineering from Coast City University, sign him the hell up. He slowly crept into their bedroom, things between the two of them were still slightly tense. Hal often caught Barry staring at him, waiting for him to make a sudden move or disappear altogether. Hal wasn't very good at figuring out which was which.

When he swatted the flyer in Barry's face and announced his plans however, the only reaction he got was, "we're going to have the best wall of diplomas," tiredly trying to pat his cheek before immediately falling asleep again. How this man ever worked 24 hour shifts escaped Hal.

He was a lot more lucid the next morning, Hal waking up to a giant cake with a frosting F-14 on the front of it, a loopy 'CONGRATULATIONS' written underneath it. He looked at Barry who just shrugged, "you deserve something good,"

Hal smiles, "I've had a lot of good things happen to me recently, now where's the knife?"

2007

July 1st

Hal just finished setting up the balloons and the giant congratulations sign in their living room. "What do you think?" he turned around to ask Patty, Daphne and Iris. "Is this finally an acceptable setup?"

The three of them hummed before bursting out into peals of laughter, "Harold, the first one was fine, we've just been fucking with you," Iris snorts, holding onto Patty's shoulders as the two of them continue cackling.

Hal sighs, "I see now where my… friend gets his propensity for evil,"

Darryl chimes in from the couch, "That kid had a mischievous streak a mile wide even before these two came into the picture," he finally finished his crossword, "used to climb out of the bloody window to go to some or the other Star Wars meetup,"

Hal laughed, adjusting the little Flash balloons he'd put up. Even though Darryl wasn't in on it yet, it was still a fun way to turn Barry the same colour as his suit.

Hal looked at his phone typing out a message, "When'll you get back?"

Iris looked at his phone, "Is that the new iPhone?" she whistled, "I'm supposed to be interviewing someone from the company soon,"

"You were so excited when they gave you that assignment," Patty smiles fondly at Iris, one hand tossed over her shoulder. Iris softened a bit when she looked at Patty, "You were too, remember the inordinate number of cookies you baked?"

Hal laughed, "I remember the cookies being foisted onto us when the two of you couldn't finish the lot of them,"

"That's because Barry eats like a fucking garbage dumpster," Iris snarked, ignoring Darryl's pointed 'Language!' coming from the kitchen.

Hal turned back to the kitchen, "Have you finished icing the cake yet?"

Darryl hummed, "Yep, just about," he finished his iced lettering, "do you think I should try doing the caduceus as well?"

"If you can manage to pipe it then sure," Hal snuck over to the mixing bowls to grab some of the leftover icing, making sure Darryl wasn't looking before shoving a handful into his mouth.

His phone pinged and Hal pulled it out of his pocket, 'Should be there in fifteen!!! ;)' Hal always felt his face flush with warmth whenever he thought about Barry, his excitable, always optimistic personality, those beautiful blue eyes and soft blond locks that Hal could spend days running his hands through.

"He says he'll be here in fifteen!" he announces, setting up the record player and starting up one of Barry's McBride vinyls, smooth bass notes soon filling the air. The moment the five of them heard footsteps walking up the apartment stairs, they hid behind the door, waiting until the door creaked open before springing out. "Surprise!" they screamed, watching Barry's surprised face.

"Uh, wow guys what's the location?" he said, nervously laughing.

"Buddy, you just finished your fellowship," Hal said, bumping his shoulder into Barry's.

"Not even mentioning that you've literally got your dream job!" Daphne said, coming to slap Barry on the back. "Central City forensic pathologist!"

Barry seemed to realize what was happening, "This is all for me?" he murmured in disbelief, staring at the decor and the cake, rolling his eyes at Hal when he saw the little Flash balloons. Despite him trying to keep a straight face, Hal could see tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"Of course it is! I've got such a successful friend," Hal winked, "why wouldn't I want to celebrate him?"

Barry laughed, "I-I just can't believe you all went through all this trouble,"

Darryl waved him off, "it's no problem kiddo, now let's get the cake before my old man joints give out,"

Barry whistled, "Damn, this is good. If I hadn't seen Darryl's piping work, I would've thought this was from a cake store,"

Hal handed him a knife, "Now cut the cake before we all die of starvation, Darryl's been guarding the kitchen like the fucking fountain of youth is in there,"

Barry stepped towards the cake, Patty setting off the party popper as he cut it, feeding the first slice to Hal before going around the table, feeding a bite to each person there. Eyes flicking to Hal, he shoved the largest piece into his mouth, smiling innocently as Hal tried his best not to drool.

By the time the food was over, the six of them had sprawled out on the couch, all full slightly past the point of comfort. Darryl sighed and stood up, slapping his thigh. "Well, I've got to get going, got an early day at the office tomorrow," he stood up and hugged Barry, "congratulations on the job, maybe you'll be the death investigator on some of my cases,"

Barry smiles, hugging Darryl back, "if I have to work with anyone at the CCPD, I hope it's you,"

The moment Darryl left the apartment, the five of them rearranged themselves, Patty pulling herself into Iris's lap and Barry resting his head on Hal's, legs sprawled out behind Patty, half off the bed. Daphne simply slid to the floor and rested her head on the couch.

"Are you going to tell him?" Hal asked, gently stroking Barry's hair, "he's going to find out eventually,"

Barry looked at Daphne, who just sighed and explained, "Darryl's always been kind of… traditional,"

Barry snorted, "That's not the half of it, remember that arrest he made?"

"Oh yeah, that poor kid," Daphne shook her head, "he got arrested for public indecency or some shit, but we all knew that it wouldn't have been charged if he was kissing a girl instead of a guy,"

"Darryl was absolutely awful about it when he got back home as well," Barry muttered, wincing when Daphne suddenly sat up.

"You didn't tell me that!" she said, swatting him on the shoulder, "what did he say?"

"Oh, all the usual stuff about how he doesn't hate them, but also doesn't support their lifestyle, the hate the sin, love the sinner stuff," he sighed, "I don't know how he'd react,"

Iris looked at the two of them with concern, "Is that why he looked so disappointed when he found out the two of us weren't dating?"

"Yeah, he's been hoping I'd find a good woman to settle down with for a while. Hell, he even tried matchmaking Patty and I," he ended up poking Patty is the ribs with his foot, smirking at the muttered oof.

Iris playfully glared at them, wrapping one hand protectively around Patty, "Hey, I have dibs on this one already!"

Hal laughed, "I called dibs on this one back in college, suckers," he did a tiny little fistpump and Barry shook his head, bopping him affectionately on the nose, "Dork,"

September 15th

Hal groaned as Barry dragged him to yet another vintage store, "Babe its diploma frames, not a fucking engagement ring,"

Barry shushed him, pushing open the door and immediately making a beeline to the picture frames section.

"I really don't understand why we can't just go to a normal like, Target or something. I'm sure they'd have a couple of frames that work for this," he continued to gripe as Barry pulled out a fucking tape measure to see if the frames would fit their diplomas.

"Yeah, but have you considered, that Target has really, really boring frames?" Barry countered, trying to reach the frames higher up on the wall, "and we have five degrees between the two of us, the frames need to be special,"

Hal eventually took pity on his and grabbed the frame from the top, "You're going to have to start wearing platform shoes,"

Barry glared at him, and Hal acquiesced, not particularly wanting to sleep on the couch tonight. "I've got a really fun movie for us to watch when we get home, you know, something to get the mood going," Hal waggled his eyebrows,

"Harold, the last time you said a movie would get me in the mood, it ended up being Top Gun."

"What, did Tom Cruise's beautiful, oiled up abs do nothing for you?" Hal asked, faking mock outrage,

"I was wishing it was you the entire time, you kind of look like Tom Cruise,"

Hal turned the same shade of red as Barry's suit, he really did know how to make him flustered.

Barry went back to examining the frames, finally settling on some that he liked and walking up to the cash register. As they left with Barry's prized diploma frames, he turned to Hal and asked, "So, any clues as to what the movie is?"

Hal smirked, "the main lead gets struck by lightning," he leaned down to whisper in Barry's ear, "much like someone else I know,"

Despite how much pestering Barry did the rest of the way home, Hal didn't offer up any further suggestions.

"So… lightning turned him into a softcore porn star?" Barry asked, when they'd finally finished the film,

Hal nodded, extremely proud of himself, "Yep!"

Barry glared at him, "Get the bloody ladder,"

"No good deed goes unpunished," Hal sourly thought to himself as he balanced precariously on a ladder, hanging up the frames on the wall as Barry shouted directions from below.

2008

February 14th

Hal loved the little kitschy Justice League themed merchandise. He loved the ugly little knock-off figurines, the shirts with slightly off-brand logos so that Spooky didn't send them a cease-and-desist letter.

His collection of Flash merch was slowly starting to get out of control. He had an entire Flash-themed pyjama set, underwear and lingerie included. Barry would side-eye him every time he climbed into bed. It's not like Hal didn't notice the collection of little Green Lantern figurines making their way into the China cabinet, mixed in between Barry's grandmother's fine China sets.

It all came to a head when Hal found wedding rings themed after their Flash and Green Lantern rings. He wondered if coming in as Green Lantern would get him a discount on the rings. Surprisingly enough, it worked, and he walked home with two rings tucked into his pockets. He ended up picking up two necklace chains from the store as well before heading back home. He'd seen Barry eyeing wedding catalogues when Daphne was getting fitted for her wedding dress and even though marriage wasn't really on the table yet, Hal thought his boyfriend would be ecstatic at the whole symbolism shtick.

He was right, the moment he presented Barry with the rings, he damn near started crying. Nodding and sniffling as Hal held up the Flash ring before shaking his head and pointing to the other one.

Hal started, "You want the Green Lantern ring? Not yours?"

Barry laughed, the sound wet and slightly choked up, "Isn't the whole point of wedding rings to have something that reminds you of the other person?"

"I-I guess, but are you sure? I don't want to tie you to me or anything," he stammered, folding a little bit under Barry's lovelorn gaze.

"You're not tying me to anything, I want to be with you," Barry smiled, leaning up to kiss Hal, tangling his fingers up in Hal's hair. "Now, hand over the ring,"

Hal himself was on the verge of tears as he did up the clasp on the chain, running his finger down to Barry's clavicle, before finding the ring. "The green suits you,"

"Let me do yours now," Hal gives Barry the other chain and dips down a little bit to allow Barry to do the clasp up. Barry stood back appreciatively, "It looks good," he sounded awed, grabbing Hal by the lapels in order to get a better look. "Have I told you how much I love you?" he whispered, still staring at the ring.

"I could stand to be told more often," Hal replied, his own eyes trained onto the emerald ring dangling from Barry's neck.

"I love you so much Hal," Barry says, wrapping his arms around Hal's waist, pulling him closer and staring up at him, still a little misty eyed.

"I love you too darling." Hal closes the distance and kisses Barry softly before dropping his head onto Barry's shoulder, holding him as close to him as humanly possible.

June 1st

Barry always felt some sort of way whenever June rolled around. Central wasn't the biggest city for Pride month, but it still had more of a queer community than some of the other cities in the state.

He'd often longingly stare at the parade from his office window, the sea of colourful floats going by before sighing and turning back to whichever case he was working on at the moment. It was in those moments that he'd have fleeting thoughts of grabbing Hal and kissing him in the middle of the street. He'd do it if he wasn't so terrified of his entire life crumbling around him. His job, his remaining family, he hadn't even told his foster father he was dating a man, just that he was seeing someone.

Bartholomew Henry Allen and Harold Martin Jordan couldn't be together in public just yet, but maybe Flash and Green Lantern could be.

It was just a pipe dream he'd been mulling over until he saw Hal in his pride themed Lantern outfit, rainbow flag draped over his shoulders, pink, yellow and blue makeup covering the parts of his face that hadn't been covered by the domino mask. He'd felt such a surge of affection that he couldn't help but ask, "Do you think Flash should come out as bisexual?"

Hal stopped in the middle of his makeup routine to stare at Barry. "What happened there?" he asked, walking over to sit next to Barry on the couch, "You were pretty adamant about not coming out a couple of years ago?"

Barry shrugged, "It doesn't have to be a big thing, I could just wear the bisexual colours," he looked up at Hal, "I mainly just want the world to know that Green Lantern's my boyfriend,"

Hal looked surprised, "You said Green Lantern, not Hal," he noted.

"Even if Flash is ready to come out, I don't think Barry Allen is," Barry took a shaky breath, "I don't think I'm ready for it in our normal lives just yet, I-I'm sorry,"

Hal shushed him, "don't feel sorry for that, I'm not ready to come out properly as Hal yet either," Barry felt himself smiling softly, a haze of blue tinging his vision as he felt a surge of hope pour through him.

"So, should we do it?" he asked, still nervously fidgeting with his Flash ring, one hand going up to the emerald green ring hidden underneath his shirt.

Hal looked at him, a fond grin tugging at the edge of his mouth, "As long as you let me do your makeup,"

"Hal, the cowl covers half of my face,"

"We still have another half to work with," Hal teased, "Now get into your costume, lemme start working my magic,"

Barry was insistent on not making a big stink about anything, even stepping outside with the bisexual pride colours across his face made his already rabbit fast heart go into overdrive. As if sensing his anxiety, Hal grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. "Race you to the parade?"

Barry smiled nervously, "I'm going to beat you there, you know that right?" he tried to insert some of his hero persona's bravado into his words, but they still came out half strangled.

"One of these days," Hal sighed, before rocketing off.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Barry yelled before sprinting after Hal. He skidded to a stop near the start of the parade, Barry grinning up at Hal. "Slowpoke," he teased.

"Showoff," Hal snarked back, landing next to him.

"I learnt it from you," despite the obvious teasing, Barry had a soft smile as he looked up at Hal's windswept hair. "So, what's the plan now?"

Hal floated down, "I usually go down to the organizer's tent, do a little interview,"

Barry hummed, nervously flicking his earpieces, "mind if I tag along?"

"That's why I brought you dummy," Hal laughed, pulling Barry along to the tent at the end of the street.

The two of them walked up to an absolutely stunned tent, the organizer looking down at the docket in front of him before letting out a relieved sigh, "Ah, it's good to see you Lantern, was just surprised you showed up this early!" he chuckled, "are you ready for the interview?"

Hal nodded, tugging Barry forwards, "Do you mind if my boyfriend joins us?"

Barry gives the organiser a nervous wave as he inches closer to Hal, "Hey," he manages to squawk out.

The organiser looks between the two of them, "Um, of course, Flash I didn't know you were… a member of the community,"

Hal clapped Barry on the back, "We've been dating for years," he groaned, "I just managed to convince this one," he poked Barry on the cheek, "to come along with me,"

The organiser awkwardly smiled at the two of them, "That's great! I'll just get the interviewer to set up an extra chair,"

Hal looked back at Barry, who looked like he was about to shake out of his boots, almost vibrating in place. Hal firmly held his hand, "You don't have to do this if you're not ready," he whispered, "I don't want to force you into anything,"

Barry looked at Hal, some of his anxiety melting away as he saw the concerned look in Hal's eyes. "How will I know if I don't try right? Will have to try to grab some of your willpower," he teased, tapping Hal's ring gently.

Before Hal could respond, the organiser came back, "The interview team is ready for you," he smiled, "if the two of you could follow me through here?"

They followed him into one of the recording sets behind the main stage, Hal flopping comfortably on the plush armchair and Barry taking a seat next to him, perching on the edge of the seat.

Barry's eyes widened as he saw who the interviewer was, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips. Iris winked back at him, before going back to reviewing her notes, pretending as though she didn't already know almost everything about the two of them.

Barry let the onset makeup artist and sound tech set his makeup and fix the microphone onto the edge of his cowl, softly thanking the two of them as they backed off.

The tech crew signalled that they were ready to start recording, and before they hit record Iris turned to the two of them, "This isn't a live broadcast, so if the two of you want anything to be cut from the footage, please let us know," with that she signalled that they were ready to go ahead.

"Green Lantern, it's great to have you back," Iris slipped fully into reporter mode, "This is the fifth year you've been a fixture at both Central and Coast City pride,"

Hal smiled, "Yes, it is, I've been so thankful to have such a supportive community here, everyone has been absolutely wonderful,"

"That's great to hear," she flipped to the next page of her notes, "I see we have another guest with us today," she turns her attention to Barry, "I'm sure everyone in Central already knows you, but Flash would you like to introduce yourself?"

Barry nodded, interviews were something he could do, especially if Iris was the reporter. He grinned at Iris, "Hi Central, if you don't know me, I go by Flash," he made little finger guns at the camera, quickly and easily slipping into his superhero persona. "I thought it's about high time I showed up to a parade in my own city," he bumped Hal's shoulder, "my boyfriend was a big part of my showing up here as well,"

Iris pretended to act surprised, "Oh, congratulations to the two of you. When did this relationship become a thing?"

Hal wrapped one arm around Barry, "Well, Flash and I went to college together and he literally had his fingers down my throat when we first met-"

"I was trying to stop you from choking on your own vomit,"

Hal ignored him and continued on, "And it was like love at first sight, the hair, the eyes, his general everything," Hal sighed, "He was perfect,"

Iris smiled at the two of them, "So, since college then? How many years would that have been?"

Barry counted out the years on his hands, "about fourteen years now, we've got matching wedding bands and everything,"

"Oh, did you propose to each other?"

"No, not yet. We're hoping that gay marriage becomes legal across the entire United States so we can have a wedding in both Central and Coast,"

Barry continued Hal's sentence, "The rings are more like a promise, we'll move them from the necklaces they're on to our fingers once the United States becomes a more inclusive and loving country,"

Iris moved on to her next question, "What prompted the two of you to make this relationship public?"

Barry smiled, "I was just tired of hiding," he explained, "and even if my civilian identity can't come out, 'Flash' can, it just feels so freeing," he intertwined his hand with Hal's, "and I wanted the world to know how much I love him,"

Iris also looks a little bit choked up as he finishes talking, before wincing as she asked the next question, "Are you worried about how people will react to this news?"

Barry sighed, "I'm sure people will have opinions, but I have to hope that the city I've given so much of my life to, will have my back now," he felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, "I love Central so much, hell, I even work in a public office position. I want to help the people of Central, and I'm going to keep doing that even if the city can't love me back," he squeezed Hal's hand.

Hal looked at him with a newfound admiration, before gently squeezing back, "I'm not as forgiving as he is, if y'all give him a hard time, there will be hell to pay," he smiled brightly, "any further questions?"

The rest of the interview was fairly tame, the three of them discussing the lineup of events for the day and capping off with a round of drag bingo that Hal absolutely swept the floor with.

By the time the two of them were back home, the nervous energy that Barry had been carrying all day had leeched out of him. He collapsed into a boneless puddle on the couch as soon as he got back home, Hal laughing as he saw the state he was in. "A whole day of answering questions really got to you huh?"

He plopped down next to Barry, gesturing for him to put his feet up, gently massaging his shins.

Barry groaned, "Remind me to never interact with people again, that was damn exhausting,"

"What do you think the response is going to be?"

Barry looked at Hal, surprise written across his face, "I didn't think that you'd be the nervous one,"

Hal sighs, "It's not that I'm worried about myself, I'm worried about you," he holds his hands out and Barry clambers over him, draping himself across Hal like a blanket. "I've always had a bit of a reputation as the bad boy of the seven, the charming rogue, but you've always been the picture-perfect American with a capital A superhero. No one except damned Godfrey has anything bad to say about you, and maybe I'm worried that this will make things harder for you,"

Barry hummed, "I knew that this would make things harder, but you're worth all of that and more,"

2009

May 19th

Hal finally taped the final box closed, looking around in satisfaction at the neatly packed apartment. "I'm going to miss this place," he sighed, surveying his now organized domain.

Barry laughed from his perch on the kitchen island, "I'm not, good riddance to that bloody oven and Mrs. Carlson,"

Hal tutted, "How could you hate the old grandma Bartholomew, she was just concerned about our moral purity," he tried his best attempt at a midwestern drawl, earning an unimpressed look from Barry. Completely ignoring Hal, he continued, "I'm not going to miss having to walk down four flights of stairs while holding the laundry baskets, we're finally going to have an actual washing machine," he sighed dreamily.

Hal nodded, "I'm planning on finally setting up that grill that Jim gave me, maybe out by the pool deck?"

"When did you become so domestic?" Barry asked, finally deeming it necessary to get down from his throne and help the peasants down below.

"Darling, I think it became domestic when we exchanged wedding rings and bought a house together,"

"I still can't believe that we actually managed to get one for that cheap," Barry muttered, leaning up to press a kiss to Hal's cheek, "I have a feeling that Ollie was involved somehow, could you ask him?"

Hal smirked, "You want me to go and ask my best friend," the smile only growing as Barry glared at him, "if he helped us get a cheap house, why are you too much of a chicken to do it?"

Barry huffed, "If you're going to be like that, you can carry all the boxes down by yourself," he looked ridiculous when he was cross, not angry enough to be threatening but not small enough for it to be cute. Hal found it endearing anyway, leaning forwards to pinch at Barry's cheeks.

"Are you jealous…" he sings, continuing to poke at Barry's face as Barry tried to swat his hands away.

"No," Barry snarks, "Ollie doesn't get to suck you off,"

"Fair enough," Hal concedes, "but Ollie claims that you can't count as a best friend since you're my boyfriend,"

"Ollie's full of shit, anyway, tell him thanks for the house," Barry continued to avoid looking Hal in the eye, but he could make out the dusty blush covering Barry's cheeks.

Moving the actual boxes into the rental was already an ordeal. This could've been done in seconds, but Barry insisted on doing it the normal way. It'll be fun, he said, It'll be bonding time. Hal was watching him eat his words in real time as he struggled to walk backwards down the stairs, precariously balancing the TV in his hands. Hal knew there was no risk of the item actually breaking, what with superspeed and the ring combined, but with how red Barry had gotten, you'd think it was a matter of life and death.

Once they'd loaded the last of the boxes onto the truck, Hal could practically feel Barry silently begging him not to mention it. Being the kind, considerate, wonderful Green Lantern that he was, Hal simply offered him a neck pillow and the chance to doze off in the passenger seat. Hal did, however, take advantage of Barry being asleep to barrel down the highway at a speed just below where the cops would have to pull him over.

Pulling into Danville, Hal was struck by just how cookie cutter the place was. Rows and rows of identical houses, white picket fences and gnomes in the front yard. He smiled to himself as he saw some Flash themed lawn ornaments, the city really loved their resident hero. Pulling up to their new house, Hal excitedly shook Barry awake. "We're here," he whispered, continuing to shake Barry like a maraca. "Get the fuck up,"

Barry yawned, stretching himself out like a cat, "Five more minutes," he mumbled, immediately slumping back onto the pillow.

Hal groaned and got out of the car, opening the passenger side door and yanking Barry out by the arm. "You were the one who suggested Danville, so get your ass out of the car,"

"You're so mean," Barry whined, he was always far more whingy when he was tired, "why's everyone so mean to me?"

Hal snorted, "there's literally little ceramic versions of you in people's lawns, everyone loves your dorky ass," he hoisted Barry upright, "now, we have a bajillion boxes to unpack, so unless you want this to take the rest of the day, we better get moving,"

Barry groaned but eventually dragged himself to the back of the truck, unlocking the door and sliding it upwards. "Which boxes do we start with first,"

"Probably the big furniture pieces, television, sofa and the lot," Hal said, hauling the first piece out of the truck, "how about I move the boxes, and you assemble the furniture?"

Barry nodded, "that sounds good," he winked at Hal, "I'll be ready in the kitchen when you get the stuff,"

July 12th

One of the best parts of the watchtower was the observation deck. Half of the outer rim of the station had been covered with windows into the darkness of outer space. Ever so often, the station's rotation would turn towards the Earth, the curve of the planet spread out in front of them.

Barry spends a lot of time up here, choosing to work on his reports while looking at the magnificent view instead of in his living room. The entire deck is dotted with tables and low bench seating, perfectly set up for post-mission relaxation and general team building exercises.

Today, he was joined by Hal, who was holding two giant milkshakes in hand. "Hey handsome," he whispers, sliding into the booth and pecking Barry on the cheek.

"Hey yourself," Barry pulled Hal in for a proper kiss, "What's the occasion?" he pointed at the giant abominations Hal was holding.

Hal shrugged, "I was feeling sentimental, do you remember our first date?"

Barry smiled, "How could I forget, we watched Top Gun and I got to spend the night in an absolute bombshell's bed,"

"No, that was our first and a half date," Hal griped, "Our first date!"

"Oh, Kemoli's!" Barry remembered that day vividly, he'd been so nervous about meeting Hal, butterflies flitting through his stomach as he saw Hal standing there. His bomber jacket and his perfectly coiffed hair, lantern ring on his finger and a scuffed-up pair of sneakers. "Yeah, yeah I remember,"

"You made me drink one of these... things with you, thought we could recreate the moment," Hal shrugged, suddenly bashful.

Barry gestured to the couch in front of him, setting his laptop to the side. "Well, why don't we get started then?" he waits until Hal is seated before intertwining his legs with Hal's. "Are we going to watch Top Gun after this?" he teased.

Hal leaned forward, flirting back, "Maybe we can go a bit further than you lying in my bed this time," he laughs raucously as Barry turns a flustered shade of pink.

"Oh, we're absolutely doing that,"

August 9th

The entire house was filled with people, family and friends crammed into every nook and cranny. After almost three months of procrastinating, the two of them had finally managed to set up and unpack the entire house. Picture frames adorned every open bit of wall space, their degrees taking pride of place over the couch.

Hal had managed to get both the fireplace and the grill going, while Barry somehow managed to wrestle together a banquet fit for at least fifty people. There were only 15 people attending, but with two speedsters in the house, the extra food was definitely welcome.

Hal was busy flipping hot dogs on the grill, watching Jay and Barry chatting on the loungers by the pool. Hal chuckled slightly at the obvious hero worship in Barry's eyes. The rest of the house was similarly packed. Iris, Patty, Daphne and Daphne's new fiancé, huddled up on the couch. Hal didn't really know much about this new man, but considering that Daphne Dean, Hollywood starlet was marrying him, he must have something about him. He seemed rather plain in Hal's opinion. However, he wasn't one to judge anyone's relationship choices.

As he was considering the future of Daphne's romantic life, he felt a gust of wind rush by him into the kitchen. Little jolts of electricity tingling across his skin. He sighed and asked Jay to take over the barbeque, while he went and investigated what had happened. He found Barry sitting on the floor, staring vacantly up at the ceiling.

Hal plopped down next to him, "Such a pretty face shouldn't look so glum," he tried a flirty opening, hoping for some kind of reaction, a smile, a laugh, absolutely anything. Crickets.

He opts to go for the sincere route instead, opening his arms up and letting Barry slump into them, burying his face into the crook of Hal's neck. "What's wrong darling?" he asks, turning Barry's face up to his, noting with concern the red rimmed eyes and tear tracks running down his face.

Barry just let out a shuddering sob. "I-I never thought I'd be able to have," he gestured wildly around, "all of this,"

"All of this?" Hal pried further, trying to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

Barry nodded, "you know, a family that knows about me, who care about what happens to me,"

Hal looks at him with worry tinting his senses, the lantern ring sensing the brief spike of fear that shoots through him.

Barry continues, "I just wish I could have my dad with me," he whispers, "and Darryl, but I don't know if that'll ever happen,"

Hal winced, ever since Darryl had found out about the two of them, he'd been a little more distant than usual. Not cold, per say, or cruel, but a little more removed from their lives than he'd previously been.

Barry kept crying softly, "I visit him a lot, but I want him here, I haven't hugged him in so long, I'm starting to forget what it feels like,"

Hal hugs him tighter, "You'll get him out, you're the best that the ME's office has got,"

"What if that's not enough? I mean, they've seen Thawne and everything, they know I wasn't going insane as a child, and yet they still refuse to take me seriously. I'm literally their boss now and they still won't acknowledge me," Barry broke out into full out sobs, "I just want my dad here," he manages to whisper.

Hal doesn't fully know what that's like, his relationship with his mother has been rocky ever since his father's death. He still understands the pain of being separated violently from someone he loved at a young age, being forced apart from the only other pillar of stability in your life.

"I'll help you, in whatever way I can," Hal forced him to look back at him, "Look at me, I want you to remember that you have people here who will look out for you, you don't have to do it on your own,"

Barry manages to crack a shaky smile, "I know," he curls into Hal's embrace, "I know,"