𝙷𝚊𝚕 𝙹𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗

Hal Jordan had a reputation.

Test pilot. Veteran Green Lantern. One of the most experienced members of the Green Lantern Corps. A man who had flown through impossible situations, faced intergalactic threats and somehow managed to come out of every disaster with that infuriating grin still plastered across his face.

He was also, in your professional opinion, an insufferable idiot.

Unfortunately, he was your insufferable idiot to deal with.

You'd been brought into the investigation taking place in rural America, where Hal and John Stewart had been sent to investigate a mysterious death connected to something far beyond ordinary human understanding.

You weren't particularly impressed by either Lantern.

John was serious to the point of being exhausting.

Hal, on the other hand, seemed physically incapable of taking anything seriously.

"So," Hal began, leaning against the doorway of the motel room, "you're the local expert?"

You didn't look up from your notes.

"Unfortunately, I'm also the person who has to put up with you."

He laughed.

"Well, we're off to a great start."

You rolled your eyes.

You'd quickly discovered that Hal Jordan was exactly the sort of man you disliked: cocky, impulsive and convinced that his experience made him right about everything.

And he seemed to find irritating you an enjoyable hobby.

"Ever smile?" he asked one afternoon.

"Ever shut up?"

"Working on it."

"Try harder."

He gave you a charming grin.

"You're welcome."

You hated him.

Or at least, that's what you kept telling yourself.

It happened during an investigation outside town.

You'd wandered away from the others to examine something unusual near an abandoned property when you heard a familiar voice behind you.

"Well, look who decided to go exploring."

You turned.

Hal stood a few feet away, his green power ring glowing faintly.

"Do you ever stop following me?"

"Do you ever stop wandering into dangerous situations?"

"Do you ever stop acting like my babysitter?"

He smirked.

"Someone's gotta keep you alive."

Before you could respond, the ground beneath you trembled.

Hal's expression immediately changed.

The joking disappeared, replaced by the focused, commanding look of a man who had spent years dealing with dangers most people couldn't even imagine.

A green construct formed around you, shielding you as he moved forward.

"Stay behind me."

For once, you didn't argue.

When the situation finally settled, Hal turned towards you.

"You okay?"

You nodded.

He studied your face for a moment longer than necessary.

"Good."

Something about the quiet relief in his voice caught you off guard.

"Hal?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He blinked, then recovered with his usual grin.

"Careful. Keep saying things like that and I'll start thinking you like me."

"Don't push your luck."

Later that evening, you found him sitting outside the motel, his jacket draped over the chair beside him.

Without his ring glowing, without the constant jokes and cocky remarks, he seemed strangely ordinary.

You approached him.

"Can't sleep?"

"Never been particularly good at it."

You sat beside him.

For a while, neither of you spoke.

Then you asked, "Do you ever get tired of being everyone's hero?"

Hal looked at you.

The question seemed to catch him off guard.

"Sometimes."

It was the first genuinely honest answer you'd heard from him.

He looked down at his ring.

"People see the uniform, the ring, the stories. They forget there's a person underneath all of it."

You glanced at him.

"And who is that person?"

He gave you a small smile.

"Still figuring that out."

You found yourself smiling back.

For once, you weren't looking at Hal Jordan, legendary Green Lantern and decorated test pilot.

You were looking at a man who had spent so much of his life flying towards danger that he probably didn't know what to do when someone simply wanted him to stay.