Fic: Adventures in Fatherhood(Hal/Kyle)
Title: Adventures in Fatherhood
By: milleniumrex
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner, Tim Drake/Cissie King-Jones, Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne
Words: 1177
Summary: Hal's wild past with Ollie brings a surprise revelation. Kyle takes it in stride.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Written for the prompt of "Yes, that is our kid!" for coldfiredragon's The Summer of Cliches Fic-a-thon!.
"Bonnie King? Man, I haven't heard that name in years. Which one was she?"
Ollie smirked at Hal. "There weren't that many, man. Okay, maybe there were. She was the 'Miss Arrowette' girl. Blonde, kind of ditzy, followed us around for a while. It was fun while it lasted, then I met Dinah, and she met general craziness."
"So why'd she call you after all this time?"
Ollie shook his head. "That's where this gets kind of rough, Hal. She's been diagnosed with lung cancer. Two pack a day habit for the last twenty years...it catches up with you. She's in treatment, but the doctors don't think it looks good. She's got a daughter, sixteen. You might have heard of her? Took up her mother's mantle for a while. And, well...she asked me for a DNA sample. She married this poor sap and the daughter thought he was her father, but now that she might not have long, she wants to find the real deal, make sure Cissie's got someone to look after her once she's gone."
Hal nodded, but couldn't resist a quick dig. "So, exactly how many do you have running around now?"
"Yeah, that's the thing, flyboy. She didn't just ask for my DNA. Got something you never shared with your old pal? Some reason she'd think that you could be the father?"
Hal felt his face go red under the mask. "Come on, Ollie. We were young, we were both a bit...reckless in those days."
"Ah, whatever. I know I slept with a few of your girls too. But you just lost the right to poke fun at my old habits. Pony up the hair, Hal. This time, we're in this together."
Four months later:
Kyle kneaded his hands into the muscles of Hal's back. He could swear he could feel all the tension of the last four months built up in there. He had been as floored as anyone when Hal told him that he had a daughter, but once he found out that said daughter was sixteen, it made a lot more sense. Hal had done the best he could with the situation, and Cissie seemed like a sweet girl, but the situation wasn't exactly ideal. And when Bonnie had passed away last month, and Cissie moved in with Hal, things seemed to take a turn for the worse.
"Okay, lay it on me, Hal. What's today's story?"
Hal groaned. "I picked her up from school. I thought I was doing a nice thing, keeping her from having to take the bus. But apparently, having your dad pick you up is some sort of cardinal sin in the high school order. I'm lucky she didn't make me transfer her to a different school."
"That's crazy. You've probably got the best car of any of the fathers. Not to mention the best bod."
"Flattery can only fix so much, Rayner. But thanks. I don't know what I'm going to do. It feels like I'm floundering here. I try to do the right thing, but I rarely know what that is. Life was so much easier when my problems could all be solved by creating a construct and hitting something in the head with it."
Kyle moved his hands up to Hal's shoulders, working to relieve the tension there. "It's not all you, you know. She's got to be having a hard time with losing her mother, especially considering the complex relationship they had. She's got a lot of frustration, and you're an easy target. The fact that you didn't hesitate to step up when she needed you shows you're already on the right track. Just give it time. She'll come around, and then she'll be glad you were there for her."
Hal sat up on the massage table. "Why are you always right, Kyle? How do you manage to do it every single time?"
"It's a gift." Kyle looked into Hal's eyes. "And don't think I'm scared off by this. I know we were talking about moving in together before all this happened, and the second you give me the word, I'm there. Whenever you're ready."
"I'd love that. I don't want to overwhelm Cissie, but when I think the time's right...I'll take you up on that."
As Kyle leaned in to kiss Hal, Hal's phone rang. He silently cursed the bad timing of the cosmos.
"Hello?"
A dark, instantly recognizable voice came from the other end. "Hello, Hal."
"Bruce? Why are you calling my personal number? We have the League line."
"Yes. Well, this isn't a League matter. I thought you would like to know that I just found your daughter in my son's room. I wasn't even aware she was in my house, and I assume you feel the same way as I do about them being alone behind closed doors."
There was a click on the line as another voice entered the conversation. "Um, hi, Mr. Jordan. This is Tim Drake, and I thought you should hear the rest of the story. See, Cissie and I were - "
"Cissie told me she'd be studying tonight!"
Hal heard the phone get wrestled away from Tim. "Uh, dad? We were studying! Just...over at Tim's. And there may have been some...incentives for correct answers....but he's got a really tough test coming up, so it just seemed like a good - "
"Home. NOW!"
"Fine! Fine! It's not like we were actually doing anything!"
As Cissie hung up the phone, and Hal tried to calm himself, he heard Bruce chuckle. "I'm almost impressed, Jordan. That sounded halfway parental."
"Oh, stuff it, Bruce."
As Hal hung up the phone, Kyle eyed him with concern. "So let me guess...the tension I massaged out of you, it's all back now, right?"
"And it brought friends."
"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to brew us some coffee, you're going to try to calm down, and then you're going to go home and talk to your daughter."
Hal shook his head. "She lied to me. I'm not looking forward to this."
"I know. But here's what you've got to keep in mind." Kyle smiled. "At this moment, Bruce Wayne is having the exact same conversation with his son that you'll be having with Cissie in a little. So think long and hard about what he would do."
"And then do the opposite?"
"See? You're getting the hang of this parenting thing already."
As Kyle went off to boil the coffee, Hal looked at his phone and wondered if he should call Cissie and try to smooth things over. No, he thought, better to wait until he was home. They had a lot to talk about, not all of it related to tonight's incident. It wasn't going to be easy, but Cissie was a sweet girl who deserved a father who was willing to work through the hard parts. She had one, even if he was still learning the ropes. And someday soon, Hal hoped, she'd have two.
By: milleniumrex
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner, Tim Drake/Cissie King-Jones, Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne
Words: 1177
Summary: Hal's wild past with Ollie brings a surprise revelation. Kyle takes it in stride.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Written for the prompt of "Yes, that is our kid!" for coldfiredragon's The Summer of Cliches Fic-a-thon!.
"Bonnie King? Man, I haven't heard that name in years. Which one was she?"
Ollie smirked at Hal. "There weren't that many, man. Okay, maybe there were. She was the 'Miss Arrowette' girl. Blonde, kind of ditzy, followed us around for a while. It was fun while it lasted, then I met Dinah, and she met general craziness."
"So why'd she call you after all this time?"
Ollie shook his head. "That's where this gets kind of rough, Hal. She's been diagnosed with lung cancer. Two pack a day habit for the last twenty years...it catches up with you. She's in treatment, but the doctors don't think it looks good. She's got a daughter, sixteen. You might have heard of her? Took up her mother's mantle for a while. And, well...she asked me for a DNA sample. She married this poor sap and the daughter thought he was her father, but now that she might not have long, she wants to find the real deal, make sure Cissie's got someone to look after her once she's gone."
Hal nodded, but couldn't resist a quick dig. "So, exactly how many do you have running around now?"
"Yeah, that's the thing, flyboy. She didn't just ask for my DNA. Got something you never shared with your old pal? Some reason she'd think that you could be the father?"
Hal felt his face go red under the mask. "Come on, Ollie. We were young, we were both a bit...reckless in those days."
"Ah, whatever. I know I slept with a few of your girls too. But you just lost the right to poke fun at my old habits. Pony up the hair, Hal. This time, we're in this together."
Four months later:
Kyle kneaded his hands into the muscles of Hal's back. He could swear he could feel all the tension of the last four months built up in there. He had been as floored as anyone when Hal told him that he had a daughter, but once he found out that said daughter was sixteen, it made a lot more sense. Hal had done the best he could with the situation, and Cissie seemed like a sweet girl, but the situation wasn't exactly ideal. And when Bonnie had passed away last month, and Cissie moved in with Hal, things seemed to take a turn for the worse.
"Okay, lay it on me, Hal. What's today's story?"
Hal groaned. "I picked her up from school. I thought I was doing a nice thing, keeping her from having to take the bus. But apparently, having your dad pick you up is some sort of cardinal sin in the high school order. I'm lucky she didn't make me transfer her to a different school."
"That's crazy. You've probably got the best car of any of the fathers. Not to mention the best bod."
"Flattery can only fix so much, Rayner. But thanks. I don't know what I'm going to do. It feels like I'm floundering here. I try to do the right thing, but I rarely know what that is. Life was so much easier when my problems could all be solved by creating a construct and hitting something in the head with it."
Kyle moved his hands up to Hal's shoulders, working to relieve the tension there. "It's not all you, you know. She's got to be having a hard time with losing her mother, especially considering the complex relationship they had. She's got a lot of frustration, and you're an easy target. The fact that you didn't hesitate to step up when she needed you shows you're already on the right track. Just give it time. She'll come around, and then she'll be glad you were there for her."
Hal sat up on the massage table. "Why are you always right, Kyle? How do you manage to do it every single time?"
"It's a gift." Kyle looked into Hal's eyes. "And don't think I'm scared off by this. I know we were talking about moving in together before all this happened, and the second you give me the word, I'm there. Whenever you're ready."
"I'd love that. I don't want to overwhelm Cissie, but when I think the time's right...I'll take you up on that."
As Kyle leaned in to kiss Hal, Hal's phone rang. He silently cursed the bad timing of the cosmos.
"Hello?"
A dark, instantly recognizable voice came from the other end. "Hello, Hal."
"Bruce? Why are you calling my personal number? We have the League line."
"Yes. Well, this isn't a League matter. I thought you would like to know that I just found your daughter in my son's room. I wasn't even aware she was in my house, and I assume you feel the same way as I do about them being alone behind closed doors."
There was a click on the line as another voice entered the conversation. "Um, hi, Mr. Jordan. This is Tim Drake, and I thought you should hear the rest of the story. See, Cissie and I were - "
"Cissie told me she'd be studying tonight!"
Hal heard the phone get wrestled away from Tim. "Uh, dad? We were studying! Just...over at Tim's. And there may have been some...incentives for correct answers....but he's got a really tough test coming up, so it just seemed like a good - "
"Home. NOW!"
"Fine! Fine! It's not like we were actually doing anything!"
As Cissie hung up the phone, and Hal tried to calm himself, he heard Bruce chuckle. "I'm almost impressed, Jordan. That sounded halfway parental."
"Oh, stuff it, Bruce."
As Hal hung up the phone, Kyle eyed him with concern. "So let me guess...the tension I massaged out of you, it's all back now, right?"
"And it brought friends."
"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to brew us some coffee, you're going to try to calm down, and then you're going to go home and talk to your daughter."
Hal shook his head. "She lied to me. I'm not looking forward to this."
"I know. But here's what you've got to keep in mind." Kyle smiled. "At this moment, Bruce Wayne is having the exact same conversation with his son that you'll be having with Cissie in a little. So think long and hard about what he would do."
"And then do the opposite?"
"See? You're getting the hang of this parenting thing already."
As Kyle went off to boil the coffee, Hal looked at his phone and wondered if he should call Cissie and try to smooth things over. No, he thought, better to wait until he was home. They had a lot to talk about, not all of it related to tonight's incident. It wasn't going to be easy, but Cissie was a sweet girl who deserved a father who was willing to work through the hard parts. She had one, even if he was still learning the ropes. And someday soon, Hal hoped, she'd have two.