this is the end

in the deepest heart of all of us there is a corner in which the ultimate mystery of things works sadly.

[thirdwcy]

starsqvad:

@thirdwcy | starter.

    he doesn’t hear the news for a few sectors. inevitably, the closer he gets to earth, the more whispers there are, rumors of something going down. he doesn’t think anything of it, really. earth is in a sector that houses what ?? four green lanterns now ?? more ?? and kyle, of course. hassan has zero doubt things are alright. it doesn’t make him any less eager to get back, granted. if anything, he may speed up a little bit, tired as he is after playing diplomats with his partner.

   and then he gets to earth. 

   and he sees the leveled ash that was once metropolis. he hears the news, about the clown from gotham city and a missing woman named lois lane and everything else that can be provided by word of mouth. his first instinct is to help, to do what he can these people that have faced such a terrible, terrible tragedy. hassan has no idea where to start though. this isn’t his sector and it’s far from his home. that brings him to his immediate second thought: kyle. kyle, who hassan hadn’t reached out to since leaving because of time. kyle, who could have been in the midst of that explosion and he wouldn’t even know.

   it’s how he’s ended up here now, a quiet dread in his stomach as he finally comes face to face with kyle. he’s alive and – not well. but alive. unscathed physically. hassan is quick to wrap a gentle hand around kyle’s wrist, pull him into a soft embrace as he release a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in.

  “ i’m sorry. ” this was kyle’s home. those were his allies. what a terrible thing to face. one hand rests on the small of kyle’s back and hassan is silent as he gathers his thoughts. “ what can i do to help ?? ”

kyle’s breath leaves him all in one go when hassan hugs him, clings to the other like his life depends on it for a second.  there’s nothing half so soft in kyle’s hold; he just holds in for a long few seconds.  there’s something in the gentle wash of hassan’s rosey light that makes kyle’s breath come a little easier. 

the last few days have been -- unbearable, a waking nightmare.  and kyle hadn’t had time to so much as...even think of calling hassan, but his presence is so immediately soothing that kyle wishes he had.  

it’s a quick thing, when kyle kisses hassan this time.  none of the budding excitement and discovery as the first.  just a quick thing, a thank you that kyle can’t find the words for quite yet.  “ don’t be sorry, i -- thank you for coming.  right now i’m trying to help people who were just outside the worst of it.  there’s  lot of injuries, they’re displaced.  just extra hands right now would help. ” 

[thirdwcy]

gothamsrxdhood:

“I’m really glad you’re alive Kyle,” He says hoarsely, splays his hand in between Kyle’s shoulder blades, the white of his uniform. “That I don’t have to know what being without you is like.” Kyle will always be one of the first people that he thinks about, that he worries about when this insane world backs them into a corner. He loves him, in a thousand different ways, none of them expected. 

“What about you, are you hurt? They’ve got makeshift triage set up–” He’s shaking, thinking about the injured and the already dead–so many people dead. Why is he the one who gets to keep standing? 

kyle sags against jason a little, lets out a deep breath and tries to just relax for a few seconds.  “ i’m hard to kill, trust me.  you won’t have to find out anything like that, ” kyle assures him.  he pulls away finally, gives a final squeeze to jason’s hand.  

“ no, i’m not hurt; i’m perfectly fine. ”  well, he’s not fine, but he’s not hurt.  and it’d be selfish to ask for more.  he closes his eyes for a moment, refocuses the energy he has to feed to the ring, and let’s it light him up, pull him off his toes and just off the ground again.  “ show me the triage; i can help. ”

[thirdwcy]

greenlcntern:

it’s not often that hal resents the responsibility of the role he has as leader when it comes to the lanterns, and perhaps even more so of being a founding member of the justice league, but it’s times like these that he does—times when they’ve failed, times when there’s the kind of catastrophic, devastating loss that no words and certainly no amount of bravado can brush off. “ no clue, ” he says, honestly, because he’s not in a position to lie to kyle of all people about pretending to have answers that he so clearly doesn’t. “ superman’s— ” what does he even say? bats might’ve been the brains of the operation, but clark was the face and the heart, and that heart got crushed in ways hal can’t even begin to fathom. he’d tried. tried imagining what it would be like in his place, to be tricked into killing barry with his own two hands, to let that murder trigger the bomb that destroyed eleven million lives you were sworn to protect. “ …he’s grieving, ” hal finishes. “ we all are. ”

kyle has to take a deep breath to keep from letting the gravity of this make him shudder.  the handful of times he’s worked beside superman have left kyle with nothing but respect and a healthy dose of admiration.  isn’t that what everyone feels when they look at clark ??  “ of course, ” kyle concedes, still just -- staring at hal like he’s waiting for something.  it’s odd that kyle still feels...not subordinate, per se, but something like it.  he doesn’t even belong to the corps that rests on hal’s shoulders, but kyle thinks he’ll always have to look to hal for guidance and answers.  “ i -- i’m ready to do whatever we need. ” 

[thirdwcy]

gothamsrxdhood:

He buries his face in Kyle’s neck, because he can barely hold himself up at this point and because it’s the safest place in the known universe, and because it’s the only place he feels like he can do this–cry. He lets the burning at the back of his eyes just release, and it doesn’t feel any better but at least it’s something–at least it’s not numbness. 

“Not really,” He manages to answer, scrubs at his face with the backs of his hands. He takes a shaky breath, bites down hard on his bottom lip. “Dying–it doesn’t actually hurt so much. Not when it actually happens. It feels like–you can finally take a real breath, after all the hurt, and then it’s just–over.” It’s the only thought that’s somewhat holding him together, even if it’s the end of a loop that features a crow bar coming down on him, over and over and over. 

“It’s not about me–not in any way, but I–I can’t believe I watched him murder someone else.” 

kyle settles a hand on jason’s hair and just runs his fingers through it as soothingly as he can manage.  it’s a weak gesture, but he has nothing else to offer.  he just holds on tight and lets jason work through it and tries his best not to cry himself.  kyle doesn’t know what it’s like to die, but it always sends a shudder through him when jason describes it.  kyle’s never known what it’s like to die, only what it’s like to wait for death.

he hopes beyond all hope that jason is right, that the people who are gone didn’t suffer.  it’s the closest thing to a nice thought that kyle’s had since it started.  “ i know, jay.  s’not your fault. ”  it’s no one’s fault.  certainly not jason’s.  “ it’s over; you’re okay. ” 

[thirdwcy]

titantroia:

SEEING kyle has her moving to cling to him, to wrap her arms around him tightly and cry against his chest. god, she can barely breathe. she worries for clark, feels for the whole league. she’s known clark since she was twelve years old, if she could do something she would. but all she can do is cling against kyle – and cry. “how? how can it be?” she whispers out, before brushing her tears away. “god – we help people, but the most consistent thing we do is – is –” she can’t get the words out, tears start to fall again, “is lose people.” 

god, he can’t remember the last time he saw donna like this.  he just holds her as tight as he can and ducks his head into the top of her head.  maybe he hasn’t cried himself out.  he can’t stand to see donna hurting like this, it makes him feel furious and helpless all at once.  “ it’s -- i know.  there’s nothing that’s okay about this. ”

[thirdwcy]

@greenlcntern

dread weighs on him so heavy that kyle feels like he’s being crushed by it.  he’s on the ground because his ring is faltering -- as hope withers in his chest, kyle finds the ring impossibly hard to control.  he looks at hal pleadingly, searching for some sort of answer or reassurance.  “ what’s -- what’s going on ??  this is... ” unprecedented comes to mind, but he doesn’t know what to say anyway.  “ what’s going on with the league ??  what’s the plan ?? ”  there, that’s a safe question.  right ??

[thirdwcy]

@lantcrnlight

   reasonably, kyle would know if she was dead, but it’s a relief to see jessica anyway.  he doesn’t know her well, but gls gotta stick together.  he gives her arm a cautious sort of pat, unclear what kinda contact she was comfortable with.  “ you and simon alright ??  have you seen superman ?? ”  the big elephant in the room, huh ??

[thirdwcy]

@titantroia

   kyle pulls donna in close, holds onto her like his life depends on it.  maybe it does.  maybe they both need a moment.  kyle, for one, needs at least a dozen moments.  he closes his eyes, knows at least he doesn’t have to worry about crying.  he cried himself out an hour ago.  “ it’s -- it’s going to be okay, ” he promises, though he can’t possibly see how.  “ we’re going to be okay. ”

[thirdwcy]

@gothamsrxdhood

  kyle’s never described himself as, like, eloquent.  he speaks in gestures better than words, nine times out of ten.  so when words fail while he looks at jason’s face, he just sighs and wraps his arms around him in a tight hug.  it’s a tragedy the likes of which kyle has rarely seen, and he hopes the likes of which jason has never seen before.  and he knows, for all of jason’s bravado, he’s got a bigger heart than near anyone kyle’s had the honor of knowing.  

he has to be hurting -- because he’s human, and kyle knows jason too well to think otherwise.  “ are you okay ?? ” he asks softly.  

[deactivated-blog]

Chay Suede

[thirdwcy]

@thisgardner

   “ guy -- guy, what do we do here ?? ” kyle asks, voice wavering just a little.  it’s been a long time since he felt like guy’s rookie partner, but more than ever he does right now.  more than their sector, this is their planet.  and there’s nothing to defend because the wreckage is still smoldering.  kyle feels useless in this moment, finds himself wondering if there’s a ring that lets you turn back time.  “ help me, man.  i’m drawing a blank. ”  how do they get to business as usual ??  how are they ever going to feel right leaving earth again ??

[thirdwcy]

   starter call !!

[thirdwcy]

starsqvad:

     he has a ridiculous grin on his face. hassan knows he does, can feel it growing steadily with every word that leaves kyle’s mouth. it’s justified though; how couldn’t it be when hassan has this wonderful boy seeing him off ??  

    “ i would be very happy to. ” he rests his hands on kyle’s hips, reveling quietly in the way kyle’s hands feel on his jaw. “ it will be like i never left. just don’t get tired of me too quickly. ” it goes unsaid, for now, but, for the moment, kyle’s certainly become the best incentive hassan has to come back to earth. 

   “ can’t get tired of you if you’re away.  is that the master plan ?? ” kyle teases, trying his damndest to ignore the warm, bubbling feeling in his stomach like champagne.  well, maybe not ignore it, but at least tamp down on it a little.  “ and, you know...if you need back-up, i don’t mind heading to a different sector, and i’ve been told i’m pretty good in a fight, ” he says, holding up and wiggling the fingers of his ring hand.  

he’s stalling now, knows he needs to say goodbye.  “ i’ll see you soon, beautiful.  be careful. ”  he leans forward to give a quick kiss, then drops one to the pretty sapphire ring on hasan’s hand, too.

[thirdwcy]

greenlcntern:

“ excuse me, i am the fisherman in this relationship. ” not, like, strictly true. but it needs to be said, heteronormativity be damned. kyle’s not allowed to have misinformation and then go passing it around. “ you’re going to ssme— god. my successor is such a fucking nerd. i don’t care how much you love couch sex, you’re not having it on my couch where i also love couch sex. ” 

  oh, that tears it.  kyle’s waiting for hal && barry date night, and he’s going to absolutely destroy the couch.  just out of spite.  and general horniness.  “ you know what ??  you’re totally right.  i won’t disrespect you in your own home like that. ”

[thirdwcy]

titantroia:

SHE finds kyle to be endearing when he rushes her into a hug, she slings her arms around his neck and floats above the ground briefly in her excitement. “kyle!!” donna loves him. not in the way she once had but – she loves him as one of her very best friends and seeing him always makes her feel safe. “i’ve missed you too!” she kisses his cheek back before they separate, then her hands are moving to cup his face. “let me get a good look at you,” she moves his face all around before finally letting go of it too, “you look handsome as ever,” 

kyle grins, turning his head around a little so he can give donna a better look.  he lets them both down to the ground easy and gives her a peck on the forehead before stepping back.  “ and you look radiant as always.  it’s so, so, so good to see you. ”

[thirdwcy]

gothamsrxdhood:

“Have I ever told you that I’m really damn grateful that the universe messed up and brought us together?” He grins and slings an arm around Kyle’s shoulders, presses a kiss to the top of his head. “And don’t give me that.” He smirks before it turns into a wolfish grin. “I’ll bet you are well connected, well connected at the mouth.” 

“C’monnnn, tell me! Does Carol know you’re hot for one of her own?” 

    “ you been reading my diary or something, asshole ?? ” kyle demands, rolling his eyes.  he doesn’t complain about the casual affection, far from it, just huffs and shrugs his shoulders.  “ first of all, i’ve never been hot for anyone ever, so stop slandering my good name.  second of all, if you breathe a word to carol i’ll give you a purple nurple the likes of which this world has never known.  capiche ?? ”

[thirdwcy]

@titantroia​

kyle flies at donna, all glowing white light and smile near-splitting his face.  “ donna !! ” he exclaims, all the composure of a puppy that’s been left alone at home all day.  honestly, it might be endearing if it wasn’t so deeply idiotic.  but kyle scoops donna up in a tight hug nevertheless.  “ i’ve missed you. ”  up next is an over-enthusiastic smooch to donna’s cheek, and with that he does finally let her go.