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English
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Published:
2023-07-17
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1/1
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Summary:

“You can’t bring an eight-year-old on a space station and expect him not to touch anything.”

Clark sighed. “There isn’t anything else I can do. I can’t leave him unsupervised. Unless you’re offering to watch him.”

Hal considered it. “It can’t be that hard,” he decided.

Notes:

I’ve been extremely inactive on here lately, life is busy and stressful, but I wrote this short piece last year for the Superboy Superzine and now that the zine is out, I can post it here! Hope it tides you over until my life calms down.

Comments are encouraged.

Bluesky: @rotashaaa
Spotify: rotasha

Work Text:

Hal spun around in his chair, hearing footsteps approach from down the hall. Superman, he assumed, come to relieve Hal of monitor duty. Finally.

The doors to the monitor room slid open, and sure enough, Superman entered the room, a friendly smile on his face and his cape fluttering behind him. But he wasn’t alone. A little four-foot mini-Superman – Superboy? – with spiked-up hair and ripped-up jeans trailed after him.

“Hey, Green Lantern,” said Clark, taking Hal’s seat when Hal offered it up.

“Hey, Green Lantern,” said Kon, echoing his older counterpart.

Hal had met Clark’s clone kid a few times before, but only in passing. Clark had never brought Kon on the Watchtower. “What is this, Take Your Kid to Work Day?” Hal asked, amused. Kon was looking up at the monitors with a super serious expression on his face, like he had any idea what any of the information displayed on them meant. Hal barely knew what it meant.

“I couldn’t get a sitter,” Clark explained. “Usually Lois, Bruce, or my parents watch him, but Lois is on a work trip, Bruce is hosting a charity fundraiser, and it’s my parents’ anniversary. By the time I realized I had no one to watch him, it was too last-minute for me to ask anyone else to cover my shift.”

Hal could have offered to work a double shift of monitor duty, but ah, rats, Justice League policy stated that heroes could only work two back-to-back shifts during an ongoing emergency, in order to prevent sleep deprivation. What a shame.

“Congratulations to your parents,” Hal said instead, focusing on the first part of Clark’s explanation. “How many years?”

“Forty-five.”

Hal raised his eyebrows. That was legitimately impressive, especially to a guy like Hal who could barely last forty-five days in a relationship without going stir-crazy. “Good for them. Can’t relate, but good for them.”

“Bruce is coming to pick him up after the fundraiser, but until then, Kon gets to hang out with me.” Clark put a hand on Kon’s shoulder, stopping Kon from reaching out and touching one of the monitor screens. “Kon, please don’t touch anything.”

Kon stuck his tongue out at Clark.

“You can’t bring an eight-year-old on a space station and expect him not to touch anything,” Hal reasoned. He shook his head. “Man, Bruce would kill you if he knew you let your kid run around in here.”

“Bruce doesn’t kill,” Kon piped up, taking Hal’s statement literally.

“Bruce would metaphorically kill you,” Hal corrected himself.

“Bruce brings his kid on the Watchtower,” Clark pointed out.

“Batman brings Robin on the Watchtower,” Hal said. “Big difference.”

Clark sighed. “There isn’t anything else I can do. I can’t leave him unsupervised.”

“Yes you can,” Kon claimed. “I’m eight. I can take care of myself.”

Clark ignored Kon’s argument, continuing to address Hal. “Unless you’re offering to watch him.”

Hal considered it. He’d babysat his brother Jim’s kids before. “It can’t be that hard,” he decided. “If Bruce can do it…”

“Is that a yes?” Clark prompted.

“Sure. I’ll watch your kid. When is Bruce supposed to get here?”

“His fundraiser ends in three hours.”

“Three hours. I can do three hours.” Hal sized up Kon. On the outside, he looked like an ordinary eight-year-old boy, but Hal knew looks could be deceiving. “Hey, uh, just out of curiosity, he has all the same powers as you, right?”

“His powers haven’t fully developed,” Clark said. “He is basically indestructible, though. That comes in handy.”

“Good to know.”

Clark looked momentarily concerned. “Please don’t test that,” he warned.

Hal held his arms out at his sides. “Come on. You don’t trust me?”

Clark didn’t answer, but the look he gave Hal said it all.

“I won’t test it,” Hal promised.

“Thank you.”

Kon kept pace with Hal walking down the halls of the Watchtower. They had three hours to kill. Where to begin?

“So, kid, what do you do for fun?”

“Dad won’t let me play sports, because I have a ‘unfair advantage,’” Kon said. “I play video games. And I play with our dog, Krypto. And I practice my telekinesis. Wanna see?”

“Sure,” Hal agreed.

Kon adopted a look of intense concentration and began hovering a few inches off the ground. He looked up at Hal like he was awaiting approval and awe.

Hal wasn’t sure what to say. “That’s flight, buddy. Not telekinesis.”

Kon dropped to the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m using my telekinesis on myself to fly,” he explained, sounding exasperated. “That’s how it works. It also makes me super fast and super strong.”

“Whatever you say, kid.”

“One day I’m gonna be Superboy,” Kon continued matter-of-factly. “I already know what my suit is gonna look like. It’ll be way cooler than Clark’s. And it’ll have a leather jacket.”

Hal raised an eyebrow, amused. “A leather jacket, huh? Sounds pretty badass.” No sooner had the word come out did Hal realize his mistake. Right, fuck. Children. He fumbled through a recovery. “I mean, uh, sounds pretty… cool.”

His mistake did not go unnoticed. “What’s ‘badass’?” Kon asked curiously.

Hal ignored the question, and deflected back to the topic at hand. “You know, I have a leather jacket,” he said, hoping to distract Kon from his slip-up. “Belonged to my dad. I wear it everywhere I go.”

Kon seemed sufficiently distracted. Mission accomplished. “You’re not wearing it now.”

“Aren’t I?”

Hal made his Green Lantern uniform disappear, revealing his civilian clothes underneath. True to his word, he was wearing his dad’s old flight jacket.

“Badass!” Kon exclaimed.

Goddamn it. “You really shouldn’t say that,” Hal warned.

Kon ignored him. “Can I try it on?” he asked.

“Sure.”

Hal shrugged off the jacket and handed it to Kon, who put it on and then held his arms out, grinning. The jacket was much too big on him, and it was kind of adorable. Alright, it was extremely adorable.

“Do I look badass?”

The smile fell off Hal’s face. He was gonna be in so much trouble later if he couldn’t get Kon to stop saying that. “I shouldn’t have used that word around you. You can’t keep saying it.”

“Why?” Kon demanded. “Is it a swear?”

“Yes,” Hal answered honestly, knowing there was a fifty-fifty shot this would only make Kon want to say it more. But what else could he do?

“Cool!” Kon exclaimed.

“Not cool,” Hal said, trying to sound stern. “Your dad definitely doesn’t want me teaching you swear words.”

Kon was apparently already bored of this conversation. He was admiring Hal’s leather jacket again. “Do you have sunglasses?” he asked.

Hal was slightly taken aback by the non sequitur. “What?”

“To go with the jacket,” Kon said, like this was obvious.

“There might be some in one of the pockets.”

Kon dug through the pockets of Hal’s jacket, found a pair of aviator sunglasses, and put them on. He looked, if possible, even more adorable.

“I gotta take a picture of this,” Hal said. “Is my phone in the other pocket?”

Kon handed Hal his phone, and then Hal had him pose – Kon grinned and flashed two peace signs – while he took a picture.

“Lookin’ good,” Hal told him. “Hey, are you hungry? I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

Kon perked up. “Do you have snacks?”

“We have a whole kitchen.”

In the Watchtower kitchen, Hal made himself a sandwich while Kon sat at the counter eating fruit snacks.

“Clark told me you’re a pilot,” Kon said, once again apropos of nothing.

“Clark’s right,” Hal confirmed.

“But can’t you fly with your Green Lantern ring?”

Hal sat across from Kon with his sandwich. “I can. But I was a pilot before I became a Green Lantern. And I’ve stayed a pilot because it’s what I like doing and I’m good at it. Plus, my dad was a pilot.”

Kon nodded. “Clark is a journalist.”

“Do you want to be a journalist?” Hal asked him.

Kon made a face. “No.”

“What do you wanna be? Have you decided?”

“I wanna be rich and famous,” Kon proclaimed.

Hal snorted. “Don’t we all,” he muttered, mostly to himself.

“What else does your Green Lantern ring do?” Kon asked.

“It can do just about anything you can imagine.” Was Hal bragging? Possibly. He couldn’t help it. It was his default.

“Whoa.” Kon looked intrigued. “So you have even more powers than Clark?”

Hal had never thought of it that way. But… yeah. Sort of. “I guess you could say that.” Really it was all just one power that manifested itself in as many ways as Hal could will it to – which was a lot – but Hal saw no reason to get into those details.

“Can you show me?”

Hal gestured with his half-eaten sandwich. “Let me finish eating first.”

“Fine.” Kon drummed his fingers on the counter impatiently. He lasted about four seconds before asking, “Do you have any more fruit snacks?”

Hal chuckled and got Kon another packet of fruit snacks.

Hal and Kon spent the next few hours in the Watchtower gym, Hal showing off some kid-friendly constructs while Kon grilled him on what it was like being a Green Lantern.

“The ring chose me because I have the ability to overcome fear,” Hal explained. “You have to be brave to be a Green Lantern.”

“I’m brave,” Kon claimed.

“I bet you are.”

“Could I be a Green Lantern?”

The kid sounded so hopeful, Hal couldn’t let him down. Besides, anything was possible. “Maybe.”

Hal continued showing off, taking requests from Kon as to what his next construct should be. Time passed easily like this. See? Hal wanted to say to Clark. I’m a pro at babysitting. I only taught your kid one curse word.

It must’ve been three hours since Hal had started watching Kon, because the doors to the gym slid open and Bruce was standing there in his full Batman getup, because apparently he still had to be extra even though he was just here to pick up his friend’s kid.

“I thought I might find you in here,” Bruce said. For fuck’s sake, he was even using the Batman voice. Kon didn’t look fazed by it, though. He must’ve been used to Bruce’s antics by now.

“Kon,” Bruce added, “It’s time to go.”

“Aw,” Kon whined, slumping forward, disappointed. “Do I have to?”

“I’m sure Hal has places to be.”

Kon turned to Hal, like Hal was going to offer to watch him for another nine hours while Clark finished his shift. Hal had to shake his head. “Sorry, bud. Batman’s right. I do have work in the morning.”

Kon seemed to accept this. Hal held out a hand. “And I’m gonna need my jacket back.”

Kon reluctantly handed Hal’s flight jacket back to him. Hal put it on over his Green Lantern uniform. “Maybe you can ask your dad if he’ll get you a leather jacket for your birthday or something,” Hal suggested, not wanting to leave the kid on a low note.

“Dad says it’s too expensive and I might ruin it,” Kon informed him.

Hal smirked. “Oh, geez, too expensive?” he said sarcastically, flashing a meaningful look in Bruce’s direction. “If only there was a billionaire in your life who was like an uncle to you.”

Hal could feel Bruce’s glare through the cowl. He always could. But if Hal knew one thing about Batman, it was that, underneath the tough, brooding exterior, he had a soft heart, and he couldn’t say no to a kid in need. Even if that need was… a leather jacket.

Bruce heaved a sigh. “Do you want one that looks like Hal’s?” he asked Kon.

Kon perked up immediately. “I want a black one!” he exclaimed.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Kon grinned at Hal. “Thanks, Hal! You’re the coolest!”

“Yeah, I am,” Hal agreed. “See ya around, kid.”

Kon followed Bruce out of the gym and down the hall. Hal watched them go, listening to their conversation as they walked away.

“Are you friends with Hal?” Kon asked Bruce.

“No,” Bruce said shortly.

“Is Clark friends with Hal?”

“You’d have to ask him.”

It was very clear that Bruce was not interested in talking about Hal, but Kon didn’t seem to pick up on this, or if he did, he didn’t care. “Did you know Hal has even more powers than my dad does?” he asked, floating a little as he walked to keep up with Bruce’s long strides.

“That depends on how you define what constitutes a ‘power,’” Bruce replied.

Kon didn’t care about that. He moved on to a different topic, one he was obviously far more invested in. “Are you really gonna buy me a leather jacket?”

“Sure.”

Kon pumped his fist in the air. “Badass!”

Hal winced. Bruce stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned on a dime, cape swishing. Hal could once again feel his glare.

“It was an accident!” Hal called out in his own defense.

Bruce gave a minute shake of his head, probably a roll of his eyes, turned back around, and led Kon down the hall out of sight.