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ajremixThis is essentially the end of the series, just fyi. I had wanted this to go on longer- explaining Rip's origin, how Ted and Booster handle parenthood and possibly adding Rani to the cast, but inability to properly plan kinda nixed all that. But this is a natural enough spot to end this, so here it is.
Title: The Inventor 15
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3169
Characters: Ted, Booster, Michelle, Barbara, Dinah
Summary: Eras don't end, they merely change. The start of something wonderful for all.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Gotham. Booster's least favorite city solely for the bad memories of a time that had yet to exist. It seemed innocuous enough with the sunlight bouncing off glass buildings and the sound of traffic softened by the brick and floral half-wall that hemmed in the outdoor seats of the cafe. But Booster knew- he knew about the cruel things that lurked there from twilight to twilight. While he was grateful none of those terrors existed when he grew up, that didn't make the every day problems any less terrible. Even with an artisan bagel and coffee in front of him and the oblivious people around him and the fact that the city looked nothing like how he knew it, the sheer Gotham-ness of the place crept into him.
He was braced, any moment, for football-sized rats to start crawling over his feet, baring their sharp teeth at him as they invaded his home whenever the streets flooded. He waited to hear the wino next door shouting slurs and curses at him, his sister, their mother whenever they passed. Or the strained threats from the landlord, power company, anyone and everyone demanding their money even when there was barely enough to keep the kids fed. Gotham made Booster feel less than dirt, less than worthless. It and everyone in it treated him with contempt and he could have sworn he felt judgmental eyes burning into his back.
And he was going to leave his sister here. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Booster jerked his head up in surprise and met Dinah's amused look. "Um, sorry. Little distracted."
"I could tell," she teased. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Pull the other one- it does a musical number."
A reflexive grin pulled at Booster's lips. "Alright, alright. I'm... a little worried."
With her eyes darkening sympathetically, Dinah reached over to pat Booster's hand. "It's not a date, you know."
He blinked at her. "What?"
"It's not a date. Just lunch with a friend."
"You mean us?"
It was her turn to blink. "Babs and Ted."
His brow furrowed. "They're on a date?"
Slowly Dinah lowered her head to the table and laughed. When she came back up, she was still chuckling to herself. "Let's try this again- what are you worried about?"
"Michelle," Booster eyed her warily, still feeling a little lost. "I thought I lost her twice already. I don't want to see if third time's the charm. What about Barbara and Ted?"
"They're not dating and they're not interested in being more than friends. Just thought you should know."
"Surprisingly, Barbara isn't my type."
"But Ted is."
The coffee hovered a half inch from Booster's lips. "What makes you say that?" He asked very evenly.
"The fact that you've always been terribly jealous whenever he spends time with someone other than you? Even in the very beginning you didn't like anything taking Ted's attention away."
"No offense, Dinah, but you weren't with the team all that long. I don't think a couple months' observation can dictate my supposed feelings for my best friend."
An arched eyebrow raised and Booster could practically hear her throw down the proverbial gauntlet. "The community isn't that big, you know. Word gets around and I still talked with some of the others back then. J'onn used to contact me every once in a while because the two of you especially confused him."
"Pfft. That's nothing new. If we didn't confuse him, we aggravated him."
"Heh- not this kind of confused. You were his first exposure to homosexual attraction on Earth, you know. He couldn't figure out why the two of you never went for it."
Booster jerked upright in his seat. "What?" He didn't know what shocked him the most- that J'onn had known, that he had to ask someone (though that explained how the rumors got started so quickly), that he was confused or that they apparently had his blessing. "Wait- you said 'on Earth'..."
"From what he told me, it wasn't surprising to see spouses of the same gender on Mars. Apparently they could have natural families, too, being shapeshifters and all. If they want a little Martian of their own, one shifts their anatomy around and boom- same gender procreation." When Booster seemed stunned silent, Dinah continued, "He didn't understand why it was a problem here and, honestly, explaining to him why it was made me realize how incredibly stupid and hypocritical homophobia is. Is it really still around in the future?"
Booster felt kind of... he didn't know- exposed, maybe? He'd always played his attraction to Ted for laughs because it was the closest he could ever get to actually having him. Now he was being told... what? That some knew he was actually in love with Ted? That they saw his ploy as the sad, desperate attempt for affection that it was? He slid back in his seat, hands twisting together in his lap, "It's not. We don't even have those labels- gay, straight, bi, whatever. When I got here, my agent harangued me on some of my habits, said they could be taken as homosexual and I had no idea what he meant. I did a little research on it and I was... horrified by what people did to those who were different, or perceived as different."
"So you hid your attraction because you were afraid people would start hating you?"
He shrugged vaguely. "At first, kind of. Mainly I was afraid that Ted would hate me."
Dinah reached out a hand to Booster's side of the table. "It really hurt losing him, didn't it?"
Booster looked into her face, into her eyes, and knew she knew what it was like having her heart ripped out of her and leaving her gasping and lost, but he didn't think she lost to the same extent Booster had. He didn't doubt the depths of her feelings for Ollie, but Dinah wasn't nearly as dependent on him as Booster was- is -with Ted. He didn't doubt she knew what it was like to wonder what the point of getting out of bed was, or even drawing in another breath. But he didn't think she knew what it was like to self destruct because the only person that mattered wasn't there anymore, because the world was so unfair it took the one good thing in Booster's life so he stopped caring about everything.
"I can't lose him again," his voice was barely a whisper, "but I'm so scared that I will."
"Oh, Booster," Dinah moved her chair to the other side of the table and pulled him into a hug.
He let out a humorless little laugh against her hair, "I get Ted back and I'm letting Shel go. I know it's stupid and she's not gone and that I have no right to think I need to protect her by hiding her from the world but I can't help the little part of me that thinks that."
She squeezed his shoulder. "It's hard letting people go, even if it's for the best. At the same time, being selfish isn't always a bad thing. It's part of what motivates us, right?"
Booster looked at Dinah, a little uncertain as to where she was going with this, "I guess."
"Letting Michelle go like this is a very mature thing to do," Dinah grinned a little at him, "but that doesn't mean you can't stop by every once in a while when you miss her. Who knows- she might actually miss you, too."
He couldn't help actually laughing then. "Thanks, Dinah. I'm glad I have your permission to bug my sister."
"On one condition, though."
"What?"
"I will kick your ass if you come back here before you tell Ted you love him. And I won't hold back."
Booster's grin fell. "Dinah-"
"Booster. You can't tell me, for the last two years, you never once regretted not saying it or that you never wished for a chance to see Ted again, even if it was just long enough to tell him." The silence said all Dinah needed to hear. "He loves you. I know he does."
"How?"
"Because he never gave you up. No matter how badly you two were fighting."
Ted flashed in Booster's memory. The way he lit up whenever Booster saw him. How Ted sat on Booster's bed, unable to not touch him as they talked quietly after Dr. Fate unraveled Queen Bee's hypnosis. How strangely energetic Ted was in reconnecting with Booster after he left the JLI. The way he constantly touched Booster, as if he was afraid the life support in his armor would suddenly fail or as if Booster's suddenly whole body might vanish. Booster remembered all the little things- the talking, the smiles, the touches; just being there because they had no where else to be and because Booster hoped Ted, like himself, didn't want to be anywhere else.
He wanted to believe Dinah was right so badly- that Michelle was right and Ted really did feel the same. He wanted to so badly that he closed his eyes and said, "Alright. I'll tell him."
~*~*~*~
Three days passed in a blur- all of Booster's time was taken up with someone dragging him to one place or another. Evenings were spent with Dick and occasionally Damian before heading back to Wayne Manor for the night- and if there was one thing Booster didn't need any persuasion to not do, it was patrolling Gotham. In the mornings he and Michelle went back to the Clocktower where Zindah would take them and Ted to breakfast. In the afternoon Stephanie would take Michelle on a tour of another part of the city and Booster would spend lunch and early evening with Dinah and Ted if the latter wasn't spending that time with Barbara or Tim.
It was actually rather nice. Except for the times Dinah would give Booster those subtle (and not so subtle) looks before trying to nudge him (and in one case, literally shoving him) at Ted. Which Ted never seemed to notice which made Booster feel less and less convinced of the entire 'reciprocated feelings' thing which made Dinah do it more...
To be completely honest, Booster probably would've resigned himself to a life of unrequited love if it weren't for the fact, not an hour before he and Ted were set to leave the Clocktower, Barbara rolled up to him.
"Don't you dare hurt him," she threatened and Booster was momentarily taken by surprised at how fearsome she could be. "You really have no idea what I could do to you, but I guarantee that if you break his heart I will hunt you down wherever you are and make every second of the rest of your life miserable."
Briefly Booster toyed with the scenario of time jumping a hundred or so years into the future. He was suddenly struck with the thought that Barbara would program robots or something to track him even after her death and the fact he didn't find the idea overly surprising scared the crap out of him.
Deciding to play it safe, Booster said, "So is everyone in the 'Ted and Booster should totally hook up' camp and you're only telling me now?"
"To be honest, I had some misgivings about you," she said plainly, "I had an idea about how much Ted cared for you, but I wasn't certain you were good enough for him."
Ouch.
"But talking with your sister changed my mind. I think you need Ted as much as he needs you and I want my friend to be happy. Which goes back to the 'hurt him equals endless misery' thing."
For the first time, Booster felt a budding real hope in his chest. "You really think he... cares?"
That got him a flat look. "I wouldn't be threatening you otherwise." Then, surprisingly, something like sympathy softened her expression. "You mean the world to him. You always have. He came back for you after all." When it looked like Booster was about to protest, Barbara cut in with, "I can say that because I asked him why, after everything that led up to his disappearance, he came back. He told me 'I couldn't leave Booster alone'."
Booster's throat tightened and his heart clenched. Barbara reached out and touched his hand lightly. "Take care of each other."
He could only nod wordlessly.
~*~*~*~
Michelle went with them back to the airfield to say goodbye. She hugged Ted who told her if she or the Birds needed his technical expertise, he was always available to them. Then she hugged her brother who told her, "If you think you need to or if it gets too much to keep to yourself, you can tell Barbara about what we do."
Michelle's eyes went wide and Ted's eyebrows shot up. "Wait- are you sure?" She asked.
"Leave out Rip's name and the location of the bunker. I trust your judgment, Shel. And Barbara is a lot more trustworthy with secrets then, well, then me. So if you think you need to, I don't have a problem with you telling her."
A bright, relieved smile crossed his sister's face and she wrapped him in an even tighter hug. "Thank you, Mikey. Just knowing that makes me feel better."
He put a tender kiss to her hair. "I'll miss you."
"Miss you, too."
Then Michelle stepped back and gave the two men a last wave as they vanished inside Ted's jet.
~*~*~*~
Despite the underlying tension of knowing what he'd eventually say to Ted, the trip back to the timelab was rather nice. The two joked and talked and ribbed on each other as they always did and sitting in the co-pilot's seat as Ted flew was a familiar comfort even if it was a completely different aircraft.
They landed at a small airfield and set up a storage account under Daniel Carter's name and address ("Great-some-odd-grandparent," Booster told him, "you should meet him sometime. You'd be appalled at how young he is.") and, once out of sight, Booster timeshifted them to the bunker.
The sudden change from bright, natural light to the less glaring overheads left them blinking into the dimness temporarily. Once his eyes adjusted, Ted picked up his bags and headed toward the spare room that was now his, humming idly to himself.
Panic forced Booster's mouth open, “T-Ted...”
“What’s up?” When Booster stammered wordlessly, Ted raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you called me back just so you could be sick on my shoes.”
“No, I...” Booster could feel his shoulders rounding, trying to shrink back from Ted and into himself and Booster couldn’t remember the last time he felt this... this terrified of anything. “Never mind, it’s nothing-“
When he tried to turn away, Ted grabbed his wrist. “No, it’s not nothing. Tell me.”
Tell him. Because it’s just so easy, Booster thought sardonically. Because it wasn’t something that could make Ted hate him forever, that would make him lose Ted again and Booster couldn't take that one more time. His fingers twitched, wanting to pull Ted into a hug until he felt better but even that felt too frightening in conjunction to what he was trying to say.
Ted’s hand slipped into his palm and squeezed tightly.
Booster closed his eyes, took a deep breath and mumbled, “I-I love you.”
When he opened his eyes there was an upward quirk to Ted’s lips. “Really?”
That hurt. A lot. Booster jerked his hands free. “Don’t you dare laugh! Dammit, Ted-“ to Booster’s horror he could feel tears stinging at his eyes.
“Nononono,” Ted’s hands grabbed onto either side of Booster’s head, keeping him from leaving. “I didn’t- it wasn’t, I mean...” The upward quirk turned into a soft little smile and there was a tentative joy there that made a little bead of hope form in Booster’s chest. “You really love me?”
“Yeah...”
“I,” Ted looked down, but to Booster’s growing wonderment and relief, a giddy smile grew on Ted’s blushing face, “I kinda love you, too.”
It was Booster’s turn to feel a giddy flush. “Only kinda?”
“Well, kind of a lot.”
They looked up at each other with the same hopeful expressions and the same silly grins and Booster couldn’t stop himself from pulling Ted into a tight hug. Ted’s body was tense until Booster’s arms came around him and he fairly melted against Booster’s body, arms wrapped around the blonde’s back. Then his shoulders started shaking in quiet chuckles.
“What?” Booster asked, far too happy to be even slightly indignant.
“Just thinking,” Ted replied lightly, tilting his chin up so it rested on Booster’s shoulder, “that so far this isn’t too much different from what we’ve done before.”
“I do believe I hear a challenge,” and, though his hands shook against Ted’s back, Booster ducked his head enough to place a soft kiss to the corner of Ted’s mouth.
Ted pulled back enough to look up at him, eyes dark. “Oh, I think we can do better than that,” he pushed himself up on his toes and pressed his lips against Booster’s.
Booster gave an embarrassing little whimper, but he flattened his hands against Ted’s back and pressed him closer. He tentatively licked at Ted’s lips until they opened up and Ted groaned at the feel of Booster against his tongue, clutching tightly at broad shoulders.
They traded long, slow kisses, making little noises and whispers of encouragements, hands running over shoulders and down arms, across backs and sides and the kisses grew a little bolder, a little deeper.
“Excuse me, sirs,” the two whipped their heads around at the sound of Skeets’s voice, “but might I suggest you take this to a place with slightly more privacy than the hall?”
“Er, right.”
“We were just...”
“Going, um...”
“So, yeah.”
“Later, Skeets.”
They pushed and dragged each other down the hall until they reached Booster’s room where they promptly broke into silly giggles.
“Okay, wow. That didn’t exactly go the way I imagined it,” Booster snickered against Ted’s hair.
“Didn’t have little floating toaster ovens interrupting us in your fantasies, did you?”
“I should’ve known. His timing has always left something to be desired.”
“So are we picking up where we left off?” There was a note of hesitation in Ted’s voice, in the way his thumb stroked over Booster’s hand. He saw Ted’s eyes dart toward Booster’s bed. Not in anticipation, but something a little closer to worry. Now that he had Ted, Booster found it was very different from wanting to have him and the bed felt like too large a step too quickly.
He squeezed Ted’s hand and said, “Whatever we’re both comfortable with. We have time, I’ll make sure of it.”
Ted’s smile was beautiful and adoring and he pulled Booster back in for another kiss and they did indeed pick up where they left off.
Title: The Inventor 15
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3169
Characters: Ted, Booster, Michelle, Barbara, Dinah
Summary: Eras don't end, they merely change. The start of something wonderful for all.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Gotham. Booster's least favorite city solely for the bad memories of a time that had yet to exist. It seemed innocuous enough with the sunlight bouncing off glass buildings and the sound of traffic softened by the brick and floral half-wall that hemmed in the outdoor seats of the cafe. But Booster knew- he knew about the cruel things that lurked there from twilight to twilight. While he was grateful none of those terrors existed when he grew up, that didn't make the every day problems any less terrible. Even with an artisan bagel and coffee in front of him and the oblivious people around him and the fact that the city looked nothing like how he knew it, the sheer Gotham-ness of the place crept into him.
He was braced, any moment, for football-sized rats to start crawling over his feet, baring their sharp teeth at him as they invaded his home whenever the streets flooded. He waited to hear the wino next door shouting slurs and curses at him, his sister, their mother whenever they passed. Or the strained threats from the landlord, power company, anyone and everyone demanding their money even when there was barely enough to keep the kids fed. Gotham made Booster feel less than dirt, less than worthless. It and everyone in it treated him with contempt and he could have sworn he felt judgmental eyes burning into his back.
And he was going to leave his sister here. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Booster jerked his head up in surprise and met Dinah's amused look. "Um, sorry. Little distracted."
"I could tell," she teased. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Pull the other one- it does a musical number."
A reflexive grin pulled at Booster's lips. "Alright, alright. I'm... a little worried."
With her eyes darkening sympathetically, Dinah reached over to pat Booster's hand. "It's not a date, you know."
He blinked at her. "What?"
"It's not a date. Just lunch with a friend."
"You mean us?"
It was her turn to blink. "Babs and Ted."
His brow furrowed. "They're on a date?"
Slowly Dinah lowered her head to the table and laughed. When she came back up, she was still chuckling to herself. "Let's try this again- what are you worried about?"
"Michelle," Booster eyed her warily, still feeling a little lost. "I thought I lost her twice already. I don't want to see if third time's the charm. What about Barbara and Ted?"
"They're not dating and they're not interested in being more than friends. Just thought you should know."
"Surprisingly, Barbara isn't my type."
"But Ted is."
The coffee hovered a half inch from Booster's lips. "What makes you say that?" He asked very evenly.
"The fact that you've always been terribly jealous whenever he spends time with someone other than you? Even in the very beginning you didn't like anything taking Ted's attention away."
"No offense, Dinah, but you weren't with the team all that long. I don't think a couple months' observation can dictate my supposed feelings for my best friend."
An arched eyebrow raised and Booster could practically hear her throw down the proverbial gauntlet. "The community isn't that big, you know. Word gets around and I still talked with some of the others back then. J'onn used to contact me every once in a while because the two of you especially confused him."
"Pfft. That's nothing new. If we didn't confuse him, we aggravated him."
"Heh- not this kind of confused. You were his first exposure to homosexual attraction on Earth, you know. He couldn't figure out why the two of you never went for it."
Booster jerked upright in his seat. "What?" He didn't know what shocked him the most- that J'onn had known, that he had to ask someone (though that explained how the rumors got started so quickly), that he was confused or that they apparently had his blessing. "Wait- you said 'on Earth'..."
"From what he told me, it wasn't surprising to see spouses of the same gender on Mars. Apparently they could have natural families, too, being shapeshifters and all. If they want a little Martian of their own, one shifts their anatomy around and boom- same gender procreation." When Booster seemed stunned silent, Dinah continued, "He didn't understand why it was a problem here and, honestly, explaining to him why it was made me realize how incredibly stupid and hypocritical homophobia is. Is it really still around in the future?"
Booster felt kind of... he didn't know- exposed, maybe? He'd always played his attraction to Ted for laughs because it was the closest he could ever get to actually having him. Now he was being told... what? That some knew he was actually in love with Ted? That they saw his ploy as the sad, desperate attempt for affection that it was? He slid back in his seat, hands twisting together in his lap, "It's not. We don't even have those labels- gay, straight, bi, whatever. When I got here, my agent harangued me on some of my habits, said they could be taken as homosexual and I had no idea what he meant. I did a little research on it and I was... horrified by what people did to those who were different, or perceived as different."
"So you hid your attraction because you were afraid people would start hating you?"
He shrugged vaguely. "At first, kind of. Mainly I was afraid that Ted would hate me."
Dinah reached out a hand to Booster's side of the table. "It really hurt losing him, didn't it?"
Booster looked into her face, into her eyes, and knew she knew what it was like having her heart ripped out of her and leaving her gasping and lost, but he didn't think she lost to the same extent Booster had. He didn't doubt the depths of her feelings for Ollie, but Dinah wasn't nearly as dependent on him as Booster was- is -with Ted. He didn't doubt she knew what it was like to wonder what the point of getting out of bed was, or even drawing in another breath. But he didn't think she knew what it was like to self destruct because the only person that mattered wasn't there anymore, because the world was so unfair it took the one good thing in Booster's life so he stopped caring about everything.
"I can't lose him again," his voice was barely a whisper, "but I'm so scared that I will."
"Oh, Booster," Dinah moved her chair to the other side of the table and pulled him into a hug.
He let out a humorless little laugh against her hair, "I get Ted back and I'm letting Shel go. I know it's stupid and she's not gone and that I have no right to think I need to protect her by hiding her from the world but I can't help the little part of me that thinks that."
She squeezed his shoulder. "It's hard letting people go, even if it's for the best. At the same time, being selfish isn't always a bad thing. It's part of what motivates us, right?"
Booster looked at Dinah, a little uncertain as to where she was going with this, "I guess."
"Letting Michelle go like this is a very mature thing to do," Dinah grinned a little at him, "but that doesn't mean you can't stop by every once in a while when you miss her. Who knows- she might actually miss you, too."
He couldn't help actually laughing then. "Thanks, Dinah. I'm glad I have your permission to bug my sister."
"On one condition, though."
"What?"
"I will kick your ass if you come back here before you tell Ted you love him. And I won't hold back."
Booster's grin fell. "Dinah-"
"Booster. You can't tell me, for the last two years, you never once regretted not saying it or that you never wished for a chance to see Ted again, even if it was just long enough to tell him." The silence said all Dinah needed to hear. "He loves you. I know he does."
"How?"
"Because he never gave you up. No matter how badly you two were fighting."
Ted flashed in Booster's memory. The way he lit up whenever Booster saw him. How Ted sat on Booster's bed, unable to not touch him as they talked quietly after Dr. Fate unraveled Queen Bee's hypnosis. How strangely energetic Ted was in reconnecting with Booster after he left the JLI. The way he constantly touched Booster, as if he was afraid the life support in his armor would suddenly fail or as if Booster's suddenly whole body might vanish. Booster remembered all the little things- the talking, the smiles, the touches; just being there because they had no where else to be and because Booster hoped Ted, like himself, didn't want to be anywhere else.
He wanted to believe Dinah was right so badly- that Michelle was right and Ted really did feel the same. He wanted to so badly that he closed his eyes and said, "Alright. I'll tell him."
~*~*~*~
Three days passed in a blur- all of Booster's time was taken up with someone dragging him to one place or another. Evenings were spent with Dick and occasionally Damian before heading back to Wayne Manor for the night- and if there was one thing Booster didn't need any persuasion to not do, it was patrolling Gotham. In the mornings he and Michelle went back to the Clocktower where Zindah would take them and Ted to breakfast. In the afternoon Stephanie would take Michelle on a tour of another part of the city and Booster would spend lunch and early evening with Dinah and Ted if the latter wasn't spending that time with Barbara or Tim.
It was actually rather nice. Except for the times Dinah would give Booster those subtle (and not so subtle) looks before trying to nudge him (and in one case, literally shoving him) at Ted. Which Ted never seemed to notice which made Booster feel less and less convinced of the entire 'reciprocated feelings' thing which made Dinah do it more...
To be completely honest, Booster probably would've resigned himself to a life of unrequited love if it weren't for the fact, not an hour before he and Ted were set to leave the Clocktower, Barbara rolled up to him.
"Don't you dare hurt him," she threatened and Booster was momentarily taken by surprised at how fearsome she could be. "You really have no idea what I could do to you, but I guarantee that if you break his heart I will hunt you down wherever you are and make every second of the rest of your life miserable."
Briefly Booster toyed with the scenario of time jumping a hundred or so years into the future. He was suddenly struck with the thought that Barbara would program robots or something to track him even after her death and the fact he didn't find the idea overly surprising scared the crap out of him.
Deciding to play it safe, Booster said, "So is everyone in the 'Ted and Booster should totally hook up' camp and you're only telling me now?"
"To be honest, I had some misgivings about you," she said plainly, "I had an idea about how much Ted cared for you, but I wasn't certain you were good enough for him."
Ouch.
"But talking with your sister changed my mind. I think you need Ted as much as he needs you and I want my friend to be happy. Which goes back to the 'hurt him equals endless misery' thing."
For the first time, Booster felt a budding real hope in his chest. "You really think he... cares?"
That got him a flat look. "I wouldn't be threatening you otherwise." Then, surprisingly, something like sympathy softened her expression. "You mean the world to him. You always have. He came back for you after all." When it looked like Booster was about to protest, Barbara cut in with, "I can say that because I asked him why, after everything that led up to his disappearance, he came back. He told me 'I couldn't leave Booster alone'."
Booster's throat tightened and his heart clenched. Barbara reached out and touched his hand lightly. "Take care of each other."
He could only nod wordlessly.
~*~*~*~
Michelle went with them back to the airfield to say goodbye. She hugged Ted who told her if she or the Birds needed his technical expertise, he was always available to them. Then she hugged her brother who told her, "If you think you need to or if it gets too much to keep to yourself, you can tell Barbara about what we do."
Michelle's eyes went wide and Ted's eyebrows shot up. "Wait- are you sure?" She asked.
"Leave out Rip's name and the location of the bunker. I trust your judgment, Shel. And Barbara is a lot more trustworthy with secrets then, well, then me. So if you think you need to, I don't have a problem with you telling her."
A bright, relieved smile crossed his sister's face and she wrapped him in an even tighter hug. "Thank you, Mikey. Just knowing that makes me feel better."
He put a tender kiss to her hair. "I'll miss you."
"Miss you, too."
Then Michelle stepped back and gave the two men a last wave as they vanished inside Ted's jet.
~*~*~*~
Despite the underlying tension of knowing what he'd eventually say to Ted, the trip back to the timelab was rather nice. The two joked and talked and ribbed on each other as they always did and sitting in the co-pilot's seat as Ted flew was a familiar comfort even if it was a completely different aircraft.
They landed at a small airfield and set up a storage account under Daniel Carter's name and address ("Great-some-odd-grandparent," Booster told him, "you should meet him sometime. You'd be appalled at how young he is.") and, once out of sight, Booster timeshifted them to the bunker.
The sudden change from bright, natural light to the less glaring overheads left them blinking into the dimness temporarily. Once his eyes adjusted, Ted picked up his bags and headed toward the spare room that was now his, humming idly to himself.
Panic forced Booster's mouth open, “T-Ted...”
“What’s up?” When Booster stammered wordlessly, Ted raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you called me back just so you could be sick on my shoes.”
“No, I...” Booster could feel his shoulders rounding, trying to shrink back from Ted and into himself and Booster couldn’t remember the last time he felt this... this terrified of anything. “Never mind, it’s nothing-“
When he tried to turn away, Ted grabbed his wrist. “No, it’s not nothing. Tell me.”
Tell him. Because it’s just so easy, Booster thought sardonically. Because it wasn’t something that could make Ted hate him forever, that would make him lose Ted again and Booster couldn't take that one more time. His fingers twitched, wanting to pull Ted into a hug until he felt better but even that felt too frightening in conjunction to what he was trying to say.
Ted’s hand slipped into his palm and squeezed tightly.
Booster closed his eyes, took a deep breath and mumbled, “I-I love you.”
When he opened his eyes there was an upward quirk to Ted’s lips. “Really?”
That hurt. A lot. Booster jerked his hands free. “Don’t you dare laugh! Dammit, Ted-“ to Booster’s horror he could feel tears stinging at his eyes.
“Nononono,” Ted’s hands grabbed onto either side of Booster’s head, keeping him from leaving. “I didn’t- it wasn’t, I mean...” The upward quirk turned into a soft little smile and there was a tentative joy there that made a little bead of hope form in Booster’s chest. “You really love me?”
“Yeah...”
“I,” Ted looked down, but to Booster’s growing wonderment and relief, a giddy smile grew on Ted’s blushing face, “I kinda love you, too.”
It was Booster’s turn to feel a giddy flush. “Only kinda?”
“Well, kind of a lot.”
They looked up at each other with the same hopeful expressions and the same silly grins and Booster couldn’t stop himself from pulling Ted into a tight hug. Ted’s body was tense until Booster’s arms came around him and he fairly melted against Booster’s body, arms wrapped around the blonde’s back. Then his shoulders started shaking in quiet chuckles.
“What?” Booster asked, far too happy to be even slightly indignant.
“Just thinking,” Ted replied lightly, tilting his chin up so it rested on Booster’s shoulder, “that so far this isn’t too much different from what we’ve done before.”
“I do believe I hear a challenge,” and, though his hands shook against Ted’s back, Booster ducked his head enough to place a soft kiss to the corner of Ted’s mouth.
Ted pulled back enough to look up at him, eyes dark. “Oh, I think we can do better than that,” he pushed himself up on his toes and pressed his lips against Booster’s.
Booster gave an embarrassing little whimper, but he flattened his hands against Ted’s back and pressed him closer. He tentatively licked at Ted’s lips until they opened up and Ted groaned at the feel of Booster against his tongue, clutching tightly at broad shoulders.
They traded long, slow kisses, making little noises and whispers of encouragements, hands running over shoulders and down arms, across backs and sides and the kisses grew a little bolder, a little deeper.
“Excuse me, sirs,” the two whipped their heads around at the sound of Skeets’s voice, “but might I suggest you take this to a place with slightly more privacy than the hall?”
“Er, right.”
“We were just...”
“Going, um...”
“So, yeah.”
“Later, Skeets.”
They pushed and dragged each other down the hall until they reached Booster’s room where they promptly broke into silly giggles.
“Okay, wow. That didn’t exactly go the way I imagined it,” Booster snickered against Ted’s hair.
“Didn’t have little floating toaster ovens interrupting us in your fantasies, did you?”
“I should’ve known. His timing has always left something to be desired.”
“So are we picking up where we left off?” There was a note of hesitation in Ted’s voice, in the way his thumb stroked over Booster’s hand. He saw Ted’s eyes dart toward Booster’s bed. Not in anticipation, but something a little closer to worry. Now that he had Ted, Booster found it was very different from wanting to have him and the bed felt like too large a step too quickly.
He squeezed Ted’s hand and said, “Whatever we’re both comfortable with. We have time, I’ll make sure of it.”
Ted’s smile was beautiful and adoring and he pulled Booster back in for another kiss and they did indeed pick up where they left off.
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Date: 2011-12-25 10:42 pm (UTC)I loved Dinah reassuring Booster followed by Babs threatening him. I'm glad their not going to rush straight into bed but do whats comfortable for them.
I loved this entire series and I'm sad to see it end but this does feel like a good place to do so. Thank you so much for writing it.