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Clark entered the conference room with a few minutes to spare before the meeting started. He’d just barely finished his day at work when he’d been notified of the emergency meeting by Batman. It hadn’t been the easiest day at The Planet - he was working on a story with Lois regarding the Metropolis mayor and his ties to an convicted human trafficker. Needless to say, the subject matter wasn’t for the faint of heart. As much as he wanted to take the information Lois had found and confront the man with it, that wasn’t how things worked in this country. He’d have to follow the legal pathways to justice in this case - He just wished he could be more confident that they’d work.
He’d been the second person to walk in the room - Diana had already been there, seemingly going through some files or something of the sort. Katar had walked in shortly after, and seeing as those two didn’t have jobs to to go to, they could always be expected to be on time. Barry, Hal, and Oliver were another story - they would likely have to find a way to dip out of work early. A meeting at 5pm was fine if you were on the east coast, but on the west coast they were right in the middle of the work day. Oliver would have some flexibility since he owned the company and Hal may or may not even have a flight today. Did he even have a job right now? Who knew.
Barry would likely have the hardest time getting out of work, seeing as he ran the forensics department of the biggest police department in the midwest. He may even be in court today, in which case he may not even make it. Just as he was wondering what this meeting could possibly be about, Oliver and Dinah walked in the door. Hal wasn’t more than a minute or two behind them. He’d been on a stint in space the month prior, and hadn’t made it to their last regular meeting as a result. There next wasn’t scheduled for another week, but for some reason Bruce had requested they convene today. Clark desperately hoped it wasn’t a humanity-in-danger level event, because he wasn’t sure he had the mental capacity to deal with that right now. I mean, he would, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.
Oliver had already clapped a hand on the lantern’s shoulder and pulled him in for a hug, welcoming him back. In truth, he’d returned ago, but this was the first chance they’d had to see each other.
A few minutes passed, before there was a gust of wind followed by the appearance of the their speedster. The disturbance gathered the attention of most the heroes in the room.
“Running early? We weren’t expecting you for at least another 15 minutes!” Oliver joked, earning a glare from Hal and a crushed big toe courtesy of Dinah. Hal’s look didn’t have much behind it, and he found himself being drawn toward the newest body in the room. His smile was softer than Clark had seen on the man before, and his eyes lit up as the speedster reached up and tugged his cowl down, exposing his bright blue eyes and blond hair. Barry, being the midwesterner he was, kept his hand behind his neck to rub at it sheepishly, and it almost looked like he was starting to blush. If that response was triggered by Ollie’s comment or something else, he couldn’t tell. The reporter in Clark couldn’t help but notice the small details, such as Hal’s white gloved hand moving to rest on the speedster’s back. With the way they were angled, it wasn’t obvious, but there was no denying it. He’d known they were close, but this seemed….new.
“Sorry, guys. Double homicide downtown, I got out as soon as I could.” He apologized. In reality, it was only a few minutes after five, which could barely even be classified as late, especially by Barry’s standards. As if on cue, a tall, dark figure filled the doorway, clearing his throat.
“Hey Spooky, about time you got here.” Hal joked, with Oliver adding “Yeah, even Flash beat you here!” which earned him another crushed toe. Bruce didn’t react to the snub, simply moving toward the head of the table.
“Take a seat, let’s begin.” He ordered, and the rest of the leaguers shared curious looks, wondering what this could possibly be about.
“Bruce, is everything alright?” Diana asked, already in her seat. The others were taking their seats as well. A few tense moments passed before Bruce threw down a stack of papers on the conference table. More specifically, it was a newspaper. A small, local one, by the looks of it. More importantly was the photo printed in full color on the front page.
“Care to explain?” Bruce grumbled sternly. He was looking between Flash and Green Lantern. Clark peaked at the paper and his eyes widened in surprise, also looking toward the two in question. Hal had the decency to look surprised and a bit unhappy, but Barry’s face was surprisingly blank. Clark spared a quick glance around the table, and it seemed like the only two who didn’t seem at all surprised were Dinah and Ollie, but the rest of the leaguers looked pretty caught off guard by what they were seeing in print.
There, on the front page, was a photo of Flash and Green Lantern. In full uniform. Kissing.
Hal picked up the paper, growing defensive. He held it up to his face, trying to find any flaw in the photo, looking for a way for him to deny that it was them, but there was no use.
“So, what?” He said, trying to sound nonchalant, but it was clear it was not his intention for this to happen. His ego wasn’t going to let him admit he was embarrassed or in the wrong about the situation.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Bruce growled. “You’re actions have brought unwanted attention to the League and-“
“Bruce, clearly this wasn’t their intention.” Diana said calmly, knowing she had the best chance of neutralizing the situation before it led to yet another Lantern V Batman yelling match. Bruce looked at her sternly for a few moments, the rest of the table watching with bated breath. Finally, the Dark Knight seemed to stand down.
With a sigh, he addressed the group: “We’re going to need to put out a statement.”
Without missing a beat, Hal countered with “We don’t need to put out shit! This is no one’s business.” And with that, the imaginary bell signaled the start of the boxing match. While Clark knew this obviously wasn’t a good thing, he was more concerned about his friend’s private business people published for the world to see rather than the league’s image on the matter. It was never a secret that the league was supportive of people of all genders, ethnicities, races, and sexualities, so if the fact that it was two men kissing on the cover that Bruce was worried about, he really didn’t know what the big deal was. There would be backlash, they’d probably find the Westborough Baptist Church protesting outside the Hall of Justice at some point this week, but at the end of the month it would blow over and things would to back to normal. This isn’t the first scandal to hit the Justice League and he doubted it would be the last - maybe just the most unexpected. But then again, Oliver and Dinah seemed to be in the know about this, so maybe he shouldn’t be as surprised as he is.
Clark watched as Diana and Oliver tried to break up the argument going on the between Bruce and Hal. He’d been contemplating stepping in, perhaps pulling Bruce away for a bit to cool down, when he noticed something in the room was…off. Turning his focus from the argument, he locked in, trying to pinpoint the anomoly. It was a heartbeat - rapid, beyond fast and growing faster, almost sounding uneven. His eyes and ears moved to Barry, who hadn’t moved a muscle in the few minutes since the paper had been dropped in front of him. He couldn’t help but notice that his breathing had picked up as well, his breaths quiet, but too quick and too shallow, like he wasn’t getting enough oxygen in each intake of air. He looked like he’d seen a ghost - his face paler than Clark could ever remember seeing it before.
It wasn’t glaringly obvious, a quick glance told him that only he and Dinah had noticed the subtle changes in the speedster. Clark exchanged a look with Dinah, who was already out of her seat and moving behind the commotion to get to him.
“Barry, honey, it’s okay.” Dinah said, pulling Hal’s unoccupied chair over to sit face to face with the speedster. She pulled gently on his arm to swirl the chair to face her before carefully prying his hands from where they were gripping impossibly tight to the armrests. Clark held his gaze on the speedster, but was pulled out of it when he saw Hal’s ring flare up, his anger clearly rising. Before he could say anything, Oliver put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He whispered something to the Lantern, an unsure look on his features while he watched his wife. Clark saw Hal follow his friend’s gaze until it locked on Barry, and instantly all traces of anger were replaced with concern.
“Barry, you need to breathe, okay?” Hal heard her say as he approached, dropping to his knees next to the pair. Barry’s eyes expression was hard to read, and Hal noticed that his outline was just starting to go fuzzy.
“I-“ Barry swallowed, trying to speak but finding it hard to do as much as breathe. He didn’t have words to explain or an excuse. He’d been careless, reckless, had thought they were far enough from the city and it was dark enough that no one would see. He’d thought they were alone, safe. It’d been dark, but clearly the light of the Lantern uniform and ring would draw attention to them. How could he be so stupid?! He’s heard conversation, maybe even arguing around him, but he hadn’t been able to make out any of the words. Barry had felt his chest constrict, a tell tale sign that his anxiety was taking over.
“Bar, listen to me: it’s fine. Everything is going to be fine, I promise,” Hal said, rubbing Barry’s forearm, trying to get his attention. This wasn’t the first time he’d found the smartest, most well rounded person he knew becoming a victim to his own mind, but that didn’t make it any easier to see. Barry’s eyes squeezed shut as he tried to focus on his friend’s words, but he could feel the panic taking over. Dinah gasped as her hands sunk into his - his vibrations picking up enough speed to frazzle his molecules, as least in his hands. That was where the Lantern drew the line - he turned the speedster to face him, laying a white-clad palm on the blond’s face and letting the familiar glow of his ring encompass them both. Barry’s eyes shot open, gasping for breath. The familiar warmth fought against the uneasy feeling in his body, in his mind. This feeling meant Hal was here, they were safe. All would be well. Hal’s other hand had joined the other, cupping his neck, thumbs rubbing his pale cheeks. He sighed in relief, cracking a smile.
“There you are.” He said, swallowing down his guilt and shooting Dinah a look. Luckily, she seemed to understand and began ushering the other’s from the room, closing the door behind them. He should’ve known Barry wouldn’t take this well. Not only did their relationship get outed, but Barry just got outed. Well, technically, The Flash did, but Barry as well to all of his friends and family who are in the know about his double life. Hal cursed himself - he should’ve anticipated this. He never should’ve been arguing with Batman when Barry needed him.
“This is a nightmare.” Barry managed to squeak out, his normally smooth voice now unsteady and strained.
“Maybe it’s time for us to wake up,” Hal said immediately, releasing the speedster’s neck and grabbing his right hand, bringing it up to his lips as he stood from his kneeled position. His other hand ran through the speedster’s hair before he occupied the chair Dinah had stolen from him. He sighed, unable to hold back a small smile as he looked up through his tousled hair to meet the speedster’s gaze.
“We’ve been hiding long enough, don’t you think?”