This story contains SLASH. If that bothers you, go read something else.
This was written for the AU ABC Challenge on Livejournal, for the prompt "N - Normal". My other Hal/Kyle fics (some too Mature for FFNet) are available at my DC Fanfiction LJ: sector-2814 DOT livejournal DOT com .
I. Impulsive
Hal considered flying the ultimate turn-on, but he had never expected this to happen.
He'd taken Kyle for another flight. With everything that had happened recently—losing his mother, being possessed by Parallax, the war with Sinestro—Hal determined that Kyle needed something to take his mind off things. And spinning above the Earth in a jet seemed to have worked.
Kyle's green eyes were bright with excitement when he jumped down from the plane. He was pumped with adrenaline, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, breathing hard. Hal smiled, glad to see Kyle genuinely happy again.
And that's when it happened.
Their gazes locked and the next thing Hal knew, he had stepped forward and pressed Kyle up against the plane, kissing him hard. Kyle gasped and Hal pulled away, shocked by his impulse and what it meant. "Shit. Kyle, I … I'm sorry. I don't …"
Kyle was gaping at him, eyes wide. Hal cringed. Why the hell did he do that? Sure, flying a plane always got him worked up and Carol had always told him the sex was best after a flight. But this was Kyle!
"Sorry." He turned away, needing to escape, to think, but Kyle caught his arm.
"Don't start what you can't finish, Hal."
Hal stopped, his heart pounding. Did he just say …? Images flickered through his mind, of half-remembered dreams, of furtive glances and lingering touches and feelings he'd worked to ignore, and oh shit this hadn't come out of nowhere, had it?
Kyle's hand still gripped his elbow. "Hal?"
Hal sighed. It wouldn't be easy, there were many who wouldn't understand, but if the war—losing so many fellow Lanterns— had taught him one thing, it was that life was too goddamned short.
He turned around. Kyle was watching him, but his eyes were no longer surprised. They were definitely saying "fuck me" now. Hal's cock throbbed. Oh, hell …
Hal smiled nervously. "We should probably get out of here." The plane was shielding them from the cameras, but they didn't need to be doing anything that would get caught on the base security video. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
"Yeah," Kyle agreed.
They didn't speak again, not while they changed out of the flight suits (Hal realized his hands were shaking), not while they walked through the gate (Would the guard notice they were flushed and nervous?), not while they flew back to Hal's apartment (Oh, Hell, what am I doing?). It wasn't until they were standing in silence in Hal's living room that Kyle finally spoke. "I know this is awkward. If you don't want to …" He looked away and shrugged.
Hal hesitated. There were lots of reasons they shouldn't do this. What would his fellow pilots say if they found out? What would Carol and Jill say? But … He closed his eyes and sighed. He'd be a coward to deny that he felt something. And he'd known for a while that he and Kyle had a special connection, a deeper friendship than he had with John or Guy. Something more…
"It's okay, Hal. I'm going to go."
"No!" Hal's eyes snapped open. "It's just … kind of … " He shrugged helplessly. "I've never had feelings like this for a man before."
Kyle laughed nervously and ran his hand through his already messy hair. "Yeah. I know what you mean."
Hal screwed up his courage and stepped closer. "I don't even know how to explain it, but … I don't think I'm going to worry about it right now."
Kyle grinned. Hal grinned back, then took Kyle by the arm to pull him into the bedroom.
II. Friends
"You two are awfully quiet tonight," Alan said as he dealt out the next hand of cards.
Hal shrugged and risked a glance at Kyle. They'd been 'together' less than a week and the monthly Green Lantern poker night was their first time out in public together. And they had no idea how to break the news to Alan, John and Guy. Especially Guy.
"Don't know about Jordan, but Kyle's always moping about something," Guy said. He looked up at the others and snickered. "He's our little 'emo Lantern'."
"Lay off him, Guy," Hal said, with more venom than was probably needed. Even Kyle raised his eyebrows. Guy always picked on Kyle. They were partners on Oa, after all, and they all knew it was Guy's unique, obnoxious way of showing he cared about his friend. So why was he feeling so overprotective all of a sudden?
"Sorry," Guy said, rolling his eyes as he picked up his cards. "I didn't mean to pick on your boyfriend."
Kyle looked up at Guy, wide-eyed. Hal stiffened. They hadn't been obvious, had they? He glanced towards Kyle again. Kyle looked back at him, worry on his face.
"What?" Guy said, looking from one to the other. "I was just …" Guy's jaw dropped open and the cards fell from his hand. "Holy shit, Jordan! Are you and the kid fucking?"
Hal picked up his cards. "I wouldn't put it quite that way, but …" He took a deep breath. He was The Man Without Fear, right? And these men were their closest friends. "Yes."
They all looked surprised, of course. But he expected that Alan and John would be understanding. Alan's son, Todd, was gay, and John knew all too well about being a victim of bigotry. Guy, though... Guy had a way of being blunt about things, and not especially given to 'political correctness'. Hal expected a plethora of snide comments directed their way.
What he hadn't expected was for Guy to whoop in triumph and hold out his hand to John. "Pay up, Stewart!"
John scowled at Guy.
"Pay up?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah," Guy said, laughing. "John said it was just a man-crush, but I said you two would be nailing each other within a year. Took you long enough, though," he grumbled. "Almost missed the deadline."
Hal frowned. A year? The bet had been going on for a year? "How did you know?" He and Kyle hadn't even known until this weekend!
"Are you kidding?" Guy shook his head and picked up his scattered cards. "You two have been mooning over each other ever since you came back."
"We have not," Hal complained. Had they?
Guy snorted. "Tell yourself whatever you want, Jordan," he said. "Kyle's always gushing about how wonderful you are, and you're liable to rip the head off anyone who looks at him wrong." He snickered and picked up his beer glass. "I suppose we don't have to ask who tops."
"Guy," Alan scolded.
"It's okay, Alan," Kyle said. He studied the fan of cards in his hand. "We take turns, actually."
Guy choked on his beer. "Oh hell, Rayner! I did not need to know that!"
"You brought it up," Kyle said casually.
Hal grinned and leaned over to nudge Kyle with his elbow, about as much intimacy he was comfortable giving in public — even in front of their closest friends — at the moment. He'd make it up to him later.
"He's right," John said, chuckling. "You asked for it, Guy."
"Brain bleach," Guy muttered, hiding his eyes behind his cards. "I need brain bleach."
III. Lovers
"Aw, hell," Hal said, when he saw the glowing violet forms floating in the sky over his apartment. Green light flowed from his ring, covering him in his uniform, and he rose to meet the Star Sapphires.
"I thought I was rid of you," he shouted as he got closer to the group. There was at least a dozen of them and he hoped his partners got the signal sent from his ring in time.
"We have regrouped, Hal Jordan," a thin, grey-skinned woman said. "And we will have what we desire."
She turned and gestured to her sisters and two came forward, each holding a captive in a violet bubble. Hal swore under his breath: they had Carol and Jill.
"Choose the one you love," the grey-skinned woman—their leader, apparently—said. "Or they both die."
Hal's mind raced. How could he save them both? How could he pick one of them? What if they realized—?
"His heart beats for another," a tentacled, nearly transparent woman said sagely. She held a dimly glowing violet crystal in her hands. "He does not desire either of them."
"What?" Carol and Jill exclaimed in unison.
Hal could only shrug and smile apologetically. This really wasn't the way he wanted them to find out…
Points of green appeared in the sky, steadily growing larger.
"Need some help, Jordan?" Guy asked as he came to hover next to Hal. Kyle and John stopped on the other side of him.
The sapphire flared. "His love is nearby," the tentacled woman said. She released the crystal.
The crystal flew directly to Kyle. It hovered there in front of his face, bobbing and spinning as if confused.
"But it is male," the leader said incredulously.
Hal risked a glance at Carol and Jill. They were staring at him, mouths hanging open. Beside him, Guy started to snicker.
"Is that true, Hal?" Carol whispered. She sounded hurt.
This was a less than ideal situation to tell them, but he couldn't lie. Hal looked at Kyle. His face was lit up by the violet crystal. He gave the crooked smile that Hal loved so much. Hal smiled back at him and then looked at the women. "Yes, it's true. Kyle and I are lovers."
Carol buried her face in her hands. Jill just gaped at him.
The leader spoke. "The Sapphire cannot spawn using Jordan's new mate. We will have to find another." The crystal left Kyle and flew back to it's keeper.
"That's it?" Hal asked. That's all that had to be done to get rid of them? He shook his head. Too bad Kyle hadn't been around years ago.
"Release them," their leader said again. The violet balls disappeared around Carol and Jill, dropping them to the beach.
"No!"
Four beams of green energy shot out at once, catching the women before they hit the ground.
The Sapphires disappeared through the clouds. "We'll have to keep an eye out for them," Hal said. He felt sorry for the next poor bastard who attracted their attention, though he was relieved they were apparently through with him.
The Lanterns landed on the beach next to the two women. Jill raised her brows at Hal. "I guess that explains the break up." She gave Kyle an appraising look. "He sure is cute, though, High Ball." She shrugged and gave him a half smile. At least Jill seemed to be taking it okay. Carol, on the other hand …
The slap stung across Hal's cheek. Yeah, this wasn't going to be good.
"I guess I have some explaining to do."
IV. Revelations
"We're going to get caught."
"No we're not."
Hal sighed as Kyle's mouth moved over the sensitive spot beneath his jaw. "But … what about the security cameras?"
Kyle sighed against his neck, then lifted his head to look at him. "They're not connected to the monitor womb, Hal. The Kitchen video only gets looked at if something goes wrong." Kyle slid his hand over Hal's stomach. "And I don't expect anything to go wrong."
Hal moaned in the back of his throat when Kyle went back to work sucking on his neck. Kyle was far more comfortable with their relationship — he kept insisting they just tell the rest of the JLA — but Hal still needed more time.
They'd come to JLA headquarters for a meeting. Kyle had just arrived from Oa, on leave for a few days, and he'd tagged along with Hal and John to the meeting. Which was probably a mistake, since Hal was distracted during Batman's presentation on … some criminal … by Kyle sitting in the chair behind him. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks. Living on different planets was a bitch. He seriously considered switching jobs with Guy, though he didn't think the Justice League — especially Bats — would be too happy with that. And how would he explain the need for the switch? I need to be on Oa so I can fuck Kyle into the mattress every night? Though the look on Superman's face would be pretty priceless.
And of course Hal would have monitor duty scheduled for today, and John had things to do and wasn't able to cover for him, so they only had an hour between the end of the meeting and then eight fucking hours of sitting in the monitor womb, unable to touch Kyle or kiss Kyle or do any number of other interesting things to Kyle. But Kyle, brilliant and creative man that he was, decided that he and Hal needed a one-on-one workout in The Kitchen, the JLAs room for combat practice, before he went on duty.
Kyle pushed him back on the mat, still working at his neck. "Don't leave a mark," Hal said with a laugh. He twisted his body around and flipped Kyle over onto his back, moving to straddle him. He grabbed Kyle's wrists and held them down. "I seem to have the advantage. Now what should I do with you?"
Kyle smiled wickedly and replied by bucking his erection up against Hal's.
Hal laughed and bent down to whisper in Kyle's ear. "Yeah. That's what I was thinking."
Now it was his turn to nibble along Kyle's jaw, to run his tongue over soft skin. It had taken him a while to get used to kissing stubble, but now he considered it a turn-on — Kyle was always on the verge of scruffy.
"You're sure about the cameras?" he asked once more as his fingers worked on the buttons of Kyle's shirt.
"Positive," Kyle said. He ran his hands down Hal's sides. "I know for a fact that we're not the only ones who like to 'cook in the kitchen'." He snorted at the euphemism.
Hal frowned. "If there aren't any cameras, then how do you know that?"
"Wally caught Roy and Kendra coming out of here once and it was pretty obvious what kind of 'workout' they'd had." He grinned and touched a spot on Hal's neck. "Apparently Roy had a mark much like this."
"Dammit!" Hal touched the tender spot on his neck, then glared at Kyle. "I'm going to make you pay for that."
Kyle's eyes shone. "Promise?"
Hal growled and attacked him. Kyle didn't put up much of a fight.
The door slid open. "Holy Hell!"
Hal stopped, keeping his face hidden in the crook of Kyle's neck. "That's Roy, isn't it?"
"Um…"
"You forgot to lock the door?"
"I…"
"What the … Fuck!" a new voice exclaimed.
Hal squeezed his eyes shut. This was just getting better and better. "Wally?"
"Yeah," Kyle whimpered.
Hal sighed. No more worrying about revealing their relationship. If Roy and Wally knew, then everyone would know. Probably within the hour.
"What's all the yelling about?" a deep voice asked from the hallway. "There's no reason to be shouting profanities—Shit!"
Hal could just imagine Superman's face, wide blue eyes bugging out at the scene before him. They were in their civilian clothes and Kyle's shirt was half off. No question what was going on.
Hal took a deep breath and pushed himself off Kyle. He looked up at the three men who stood there gaping at them in shock.
Then Roy shook himself and held out his hand to Wally. "I told you! Pay up, West!" he shouted triumphantly. "You, too, Supes!"
Hal groaned and hid his face in his hands.