[fic][DCU, Ted, Booster, PG-13] Be With You Awhile

[ajremix]

So this may (did) come out angstier than I had intended, but I think it ends on the hopeful note that I was going for. So it's a win-win, I guess?

As always, thanks to dinahqueen for looking it over for me^^

Title: Be With You Awhile
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2602
Characters: Ted, Booster
In response to: boostle’s blue/gold song challenge
Summary: Inspired by Alice Cooper’s Be With You Awhile. Covers early JLI, Doomsday, Identity Crisis, OMAC and after. Throughout all the years they’ve known each other, Ted and Booster had only ever wanted one thing.




I wish I could tell you something you didn't know
I wish I could give you something you didn't own
I wish I could tell you a joke to make you smile
And I could be with you awhile

He was like a lost, overgrown puppy or something. He was young for a superhero out on his own and it was obvious he’d never done the group thing before in the way he basically followed everyone else around, hoping they’d give him something to do.

Ted thought it was endearing in an Oliver Twist kind of way. Scott looked back at him with a raised eyebrow (well, maybe a raised eyebrow- it was kind of hard to tell with that mask) and asked if it was really a good idea for someone like Ted to take in impressionable young strays with high-tech gear.

“Would you rather Gardner get a hold of him?”

“When he’s in creepy ‘Leave it to Beaver’ mode or when he’s his usual jerk self?”

“Is one better than the other?”

Scott made a face (that one was obvious through the mask) and hoped Ted did indeed take in the impressionable young stray with high-tech gear. So when everyone was busy getting the embassy together (and apparently destroying it in the process) Ted nominated Booster to help him and Black Canary get things in order at the Paris branch. Booster looked surprised that someone had voluntarily picked him to help and was eager to be of use (mainly doing the heavy lifting, thank you high-tech gear).

Between dragging equipment on the Bug and flirting with Black Canary (which was returned with pointed quips or threats of violence) Ted, being the personable guy he was, chatted Booster up and found, despite seemingly starved for attention and hesitant in doing the wrong thing, he was a pretty sharp and personable guy in his own right. It was nice having someone to volley stupid comments back and forth with. It was also surprising how easy it was to get comfortable with Booster so when Canary was getting piled on with stack after stack of paperwork and Booster asked if Ted wanted to sneak out for a bit, he didn’t hesitate for a moment when making his decision.

It was why, when Ted was on his way out for dinner with the Frees and he saw Booster alone and bored on the couch, he invited him along.

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yeah, c’mon. Change into civvies and let’s go.”

Booster didn’t look convinced, “I don’t want to impose on them. I mean, coming in unannounced-“

“I’ll call them if it bothers you that much,” Ted gave Booster’s shoulder a light shove and that touch, somehow, seemed to change his entire demeanor.

“Well, I’m sure Scott would like some class visiting his home...”

“If you find any, be sure to bring it along, huh?”

Booster grinned and Ted grinned right back. “Hang on, gimme a minute to change.”

Yeah, Ted thought to himself, this could definitely work out.

I just want to take you somewhere you haven't been
Find an old time movie where we don't know the end
Lost in the radio drive another mile
So I could be with you awhile

They were inseparable which just made it all the more heartbreaking. It was hard enough reconciling the idea that someone as effervescent and vociferous as Ted was comatose but to see Booster so sullen and disconsolate at his bedside...

Everyday Booster was there after having exhausted the day’s ideas to fix his suit, after his daily workouts to keep in fighting shape, after pretending to everyone that things were okay, that he was okay, he sat at Ted’s bedside and talked or just held his hand. The attending physician understood and so long as Booster didn’t get in the way, let him stay for as long as he wanted. More than once had Booster fallen asleep there, the line from his forehead to nose pressed along the side of Ted’s arm and still the physician did nothing but point out the extra cot on the other end of the room that Booster ended up never using.

He just sat by Ted’s side and told him stories and jokes, “-seen the look on Maxima’s face when Wally went through that wall, like she didn’t know if she should’ve been disappointed or relieved he didn’t go splat. So instead she got mad and told him to stop playing around. Ralph and Sue said they’d stop by to check on you soon. Said they found a big stuffed bug that reminded them of you. You better hope Guy doesn’t get to it or he’ll stuff it until it’s all fat and misshapen.”

He rubbed a hand over Ted’s arm, feeling the sharp knobs at his wrist and where the hard line of his forearm was no longer muscle, just bone. “Not like he can say that anymore,” Booster said with a too-wide grin. “You’re the trimmest I’ve ever seen you. Guess this coma isn’t all bad, huh?”

Out of the corner of his eye Booster saw the physician leave. A heartbeat later and Booster’s expression was empty of everything but pain and begging. “Come back, Ted. Please come back. I miss you. Things just aren’t fun without you around.” He gripped on of Ted’s hands in both of his own, the slow, rhythmic beep-beep-beep of the machines making Booster’s throat tighten. “Come back to me, Ted. Please. I need to hear you laugh again. Please don’t leave me alone.”

The physician reentered the room and paused briefly at the door, watching the way Booster continued to prattle at his immobile friend, “Scott and Barda are trying to do that normal suburban couple thing again. You’d think they’d learn by now...”

Tired of serious conversation
Tangled up in situation
I feel so free cause you want nothing from me

His cowl and gloves hit the edge of the table, then slid to the floor but Ted didn’t care enough to pick them up. He was just too damn exhausted, too heartsick to do anything more than flop on the couch and let the world spin around him. He reached out to where Booster was curled into his knees and tugged the man against his side. Booster buried himself under Ted’s arm and kept silently crying, the only sounds he made were quiet sniffles and little shaky breathes. To think, Ted mused idly, a month ago he and Booster weren’t talking (again, the post-honeymoon cycle of their relationship as Bea liked to call it) and all of the sudden it was so easy and natural to have him there again. Ted found himself constantly turning to Booster- from clutching his hand at Sue’s funeral so tightly he could feel bones creaking to instinctively partnering up to find her murderer to just spending every moment possible, talking about anything that popped into mind as if whatever it was they stopped talking over never happened (it was Ted not telling Booster about his coming out of semi-retirement and Booster’s retaliatory relationship with Firehawk, he recalled, it made Ted want to smack himself but Booster had laced their fingers together and he was warm and comforting against Ted’s side).

They must have dozed at some point because Ted opened his eyes and suddenly found the both of them lying across the couch with Booster wedged between him and the back, tucked under Ted’s chin and still playing idly with his fingers. At least he had stopped crying. Ted angled his head, trying to get a better look at Booster’s expression but just ended up with his cheek resting against soft blonde hair.

“Y’know,” Booster’s voice was low and soft and rough on the edges, “I think you had the right idea.”

Ted nodded, “The bug-theme is indeed timeless.”

That got him a puff of laughter across his collarbone. “I’m gonna hang up the suit.”

Ted turned his hand around so he could grab Booster’s fingertips and just hold them. “You sure?”

“Yeah. After Sue and what Jean did I just... I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

He squeezed Booster’s fingers, nuzzled against his hair. Everyone thought Booster didn’t have a secret identity but he did. For all that Booster Gold was shallow and a goof and opportunistic, Booster himself was thoughtful and uncertain and the depths of his emotions, of just how much he cared never failed to humble Ted. Because he was one of the rare few that got to see Booster for what he really was, to know just how much compassion Booster had.

So Ted wrapped his arms around Booster best he could and said, “You know you can always come to me for anything, right?”

Booster craned his head back and the confused crease between his eyes was right under Ted’s lips, “Obviously- you gave me a spare key. What brought this on?”

“Just sayin’.” His lips moved against Booster’s skin. Ted gave into the urge and pressed a deliberate kiss to Booster’s forehead. “Been kinda boring without my best bud around. Especially when I didn’t have the excitement of the costume threatening to make my heart explode.”

“Allegedly,” Booster pushed himself upward so he could reach Ted’s mouth with his own. It was so easy fitting back into their routine again, to palm the length of Booster’s back and feel the slick slide of his costume.

He missed this- they both did and they said it in the heat of their mouths, in the quiet murmurs they whispered to each other, in the way they remembered how they fit together. Stay, said the way Ted suckled Booster’s neck. Yes, said Booster’s hands, insistent against Ted’s hips. And both forgot that they had ever stopped being together in the first place.

I just want to be that someone you weren't lookin for
Some nameless fascination the showed up at your door
And when you're sad and blue my jokes still make you smile
And I could be with you awhile

Ted sat in the Bug and wondered what he should do. He had a lead. More than that, if his suspicions were confirmed, he had a pretty good idea about what was going on. Now, hovering high over the hospital that was taking care of Booster, he didn’t know what to do.

He had to finish this- there was no doubt about that. He needed to stop the funneling of money from his company before it went belly up and all of his employees were out of a job. He needed to stop whatever was going on before it got too big and dangerous. Not to mention he was just really sick of the bastards systematically breaking all the things in his life that mattered.

Booster was going to be pissed, he knew, because Ted didn’t have the luxury of waiting until he was well enough to come along. It made Ted’s stomach churn knowing that Booster had put on the suit again for Ted and that he was in the hospital because he wanted to help. The analytical part of Ted couldn’t help admitting it was a good thing that Booster had taken the blast instead. His micro-weave suit shielded him from the worst of it. If it had been Ted, it likely would’ve killed him.

He’ll probably get scars, Ted thought idly. Booster, whose suit protected him from almost all bladed and piercing weapons and absorbed most impacts, was virtually unmarked from the hazards of superheroing. Very much unlike Ted who sported gashes, bullet holes, burns and surgery marks on most parts of his body. Well, he supposed, Booster wasn’t nearly as invulnerable as most would think, he was still susceptible to internal injuries- concussions, bruising, he’d once gone a couple hours before anyone realized he had internal bleeding after a bad fall. Personally, Ted would rather take a bullet wound than worry about things like that.

Ted hoped that Booster was hopped up on painkillers. When he actually got hurt, he could be such a baby about it.

He braced his head against his hands, trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to see Booster- he needed to see Booster, if not just to confirm his fears about Skeets but to check up on him and to... well, ‘say goodbye’ was probably being a little too dramatic, but considering Ted’s current streak of luck, probably not too far off, either. He needed Booster awake to speak to him but he wanted Booster to be asleep because he didn’t know what to say. He was afraid that if they spoke, Booster would say or do something that would make Ted’s resolve crumble and he’d stay instead of doing what needed to be done.

Booster had to know how he felt, Ted reasoned. There was no possible way, considering how long they’ve been together as friends and as... whatever other label people wanted to call them, considering how often he’d said it in the past, Booster had to know. He had to already know that Ted loved him, that Booster was one of the best things to ever happen to him and Ted couldn’t imagine a better possible life without his best friend around. He had to know that there was nothing more in the world that Ted wanted than to just be with Booster. He had to know all this but Ted doubted Booster would understand that all those things were why Ted had to do this and had to do it now.

He wanted to stay and see Booster smile like he used to. He wanted the both of them to lounge in some coffee house booth, watching the world go by as they talked about nothing. He wanted to wake up in the mornings amazed at the fact that he had someone so beautiful there next to him, someone that he loved as deeply as he was loved back. He wanted Booster to be alive and healthy and happy and if it meant going to his potential death to make sure Booster wouldn’t be targeted because of Ted again, then he’d do so.

Ted only hoped Booster would one day understand.

I just want to be that someone you weren't looking for
Some hopeless vagabond asleep there on your floor
And when you're old and grey my jokes still make you smile
And I could be with you awhile

At some point his heart must have stopped pounding in his ears because Booster could hear laughter. Beautiful, wonderful laughter that he never thought he’d get to hear again. He looked over and there, like he was always meant to be, was Ted. A little battered, a little out of breath but gloriously alive. Booster couldn’t think of a greater sight in the world than Ted’s eyes glittering with life and mischief; no more amazing sound than his gasping, helpless laugh. Booster could do nothing more than stare at him, just drinking in every instant that Ted was there. And Ted just grinned back, wild and broad and just as enthralled to be there with Booster.

This time there would be no take backs. This time Ted wasn’t going to leave him behind, leave him alone. This time there would be no splitting them apart.

Booster grabbed Ted’s hand. Ted held it just as tightly. Neither was going to let go again.

I just want to be with you awhile
I just want to be with you awhile
I just want to be with you...

Comments

[genderblender.livejournal.com]

Awww god, I'm all choked up inside from reading this. It's so lovely. really. ;3;

[idiosyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you^^

[tawg.livejournal.com]

This is such a lovely fic. The banter between Scott and Ted, and Ted and Booster was great, and the evolution of their relationship through the scenes in the fic was so smooth. I was reading the couch scene, and yes, it made perfect sense for Booster to want to hang up the suit, for Ted to comfort Booster. The ending was hopeful indeed - I hope to see a scene like that in the comics sometime :)

[idiosyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you^^ I would love to just have Ted back for good. Even if I'm old and gray and senile, I'll still be waiting for Ted to come back. But I certainly hope it won't take that long <.<;