Fic: Y'see, in the future...
Title: Y'see in the future...
Fandom: DC
Characters: Booster Gold, Ted Kord, Bart Allen
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 915
Author's Notes: Bribery fic for
shananagin because I want Ted Kord to join Torchwood. Also, my knowledge of DC continuity is very lacking, so if I have something wrong, I apologise. Meh, I am not happy with this but I want it done so I can go to bed. Very dialogue heavy.
Booster Gold had been spinning himself around on a chair in the Bug, as Blue Beetle worked on some wiring under the console, when wind whipped through the airship and a young boy materialised in front of him.
"Hi, you're Booster Gold right?" The boy asked quickly.
Ted bumped his head at the sudden noise and looked out at the boy.
"Impulse, right? What are you doing here?" Ted asked with a raised eyebrow, he hadn't had his mask on.
"Yeah. Um, well I was talking to Max and I asked him about something and he got really awkward and told me to talk to someone else so I went to ask Wa- The Flash but he also got kind of awkward and then told me I should come find someone called Booster Gold because he said you would understand." Impulse spoke at a speed barely audible to them.
Michael and Ted looked at each other and shrugged.
"Why did he send you to Booster?" Ted pressed, trying to work out what the speedster was going on about.
"Um. It's a future thing," Ted could have sworn the boy blushed, "I'm from the future too."
That made more sense to Michael.
"Oh right, so what did you want to ask me?" He smiled warmly.
"I was at school and apparently I was looking sad so my friend, um, shedoesn'thaveasecretID, Carol, asked what was wrong and I told her that I liked someone but I didn't think they liked me and she asked who and when I said it was one of, um, theguysinYoungJustice, she said that she didn't know I was gay and when I asked her she just laughed and told me to stop joking around and then well you know what happened," Impulse explained quickly before looking down at his feet, "Flash said you would know what I was talking about."
Booster stared at the boy before looking guiltily at Ted, who still had an eyebrow raised.
"Well, y'see, in the future..." Michael paused, Ted was smirking at him and poor Impulse was vibrating so fast he was just a blur in front of them, he sighed.
"What your friend meant by the term gay, Impulse, is that you like someone of the same sex, the politically correct term is a homosexual," Ted explained, noticing Booster's discomfort.
"You have a word for that?" Impulse asked incredulously, "but, isn't it just... don't you... what?"
"It's different in the future isn't it Impulse?" Michael swallowed his nerves, "it was pretty liberal in my time so I can only guess it's gotten more open a couple of centuries in my future, and I had studied this century, so I knew what I was coming to and I acted accordingly. Guys don't like other guys in this century Impulse, well, some do, and it's gotten better than it was but it's still not very accepted."
Ted was looking at Michael curiously, and Impulse just stared.
"So, what, I'm only allowed to like girls or?" Impulse tried to understand.
"I would advise it, especially with civilians, and it's not going to be easy because you've got to pretend that feelings you have aren't there even though you know they are, and you'll feel like it's not fair because you know there's nothing wrong with it but everyone else thinks there is," Michael stood up and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you're going to have to learn to be 'just friends' with whoever it is that you like, unless, maybe, just maybe, they happen to feel the same way about you. But don't get your hopes up, or you'll spend years waiting."
Impulse frowned and looked up at Booster.
"Oh, so I just have to ignore the fact that I like another guy in my team?" he asked sadly.
"Yeah," Michael replied.
"Well, thanks for explaining that to me, I should go," Impulse turned to leave
"If you need someone to talk to, come find me,and Impulse?" Impulse turned to face him, "I'm sorry."
The boy disappeared in a heart beat, leaving Booster standing in the Bug, staring at the floor.
"Booster?" Ted sounded unsure.
Michael had almost forgotten he was there and swore inwardly for saying so much in front of him. Hopefully he could make a joke out of it.
"Well, in the future..." Booster started before Ted cut him off.
"You were speaking from experience weren't you?" Ted asked gently.
"I... uh," he paused and sighed heavily, briefly pressing his face into his hands, "yeah, I was."
"Oh."
Ted stood up and walked over to Michael, standing infront of him. Michael turned his head away. Ted softly grabbed Michael's chin and forced him to look at him. Michael stared at him in confusion as Ted gazed at him intently.
"You should have said something," Ted's lip quirked in a small smile, "did you think I would hate you?"
"Yes, Ted, I read about some of the things people have done to 'gays'" Booster spat out the term with distaste, "I know you aren't some close-minded asshole but I didn't know how far I could push it."
"Silly Booster, you could've just asked," Ted's smile grew wider.
When Ted kissed him, Michael realised he definitely needed to work out a way to thank that Impulse kid, but it could wait until tomorrow. After he was done getting Ted out of costume and into bed, and well, he'd plan the rest when he got there.