The Redemption of Booster Gold. Chapter 1
Title: The Redemption of Booster Gold -- Chapter One: Benediction
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: Booster, Beetle, Batman (mention), Superman (mention)
Prompt: "How."
Word Count: 2064
Rating: PG-13?
Author's Notes: The how of Booster going from shooting Batman to bringing Ted back from the dead. A prequel of sorts, going over the things the first Mullet-verse Prologue skipped over. Exploring the details and day-to-day of the progression of obsession and mourning, as well as the origins of Junior and Zombie Max.
CHAPTERS: { Prologue: Absolution }{ Chapter One: Benediction }{ Chapter Two: Consecration }{ Chapter Three: Delegation }{ Chapter Four: Education }{ Chapter Five: Flagellation }{ Epilogue: Glorification }
<-{ previous story: Mullet-verse handbook/guide } { next story: Hairy Situations and Situational Hair }->
Beta by lakidaa.
~1st Chapter: Benediction
Benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually after a church worship service.
-----
"You're an idiot, do you know that?"
"Unh-uh. I'm too stupid to figure it out."
Beetle sighed. "I really hate to admit this--"
"What?"
"--but there's a part of me -- a very small part, but I can't deny its existence--" He shook his head, stopping before they reached the Bug's exit hatch. "No, no -- I won't say it! I won't say it!"
"You missed me -- didn't you?" Booster accused, leaning closer to his old friend and grinning as he poked Beetle's chest with a finger.
Beetle stared down at the finger, still on his chest, for a quiet moment. Then he looked up at Booster with an expression that gave the man pause. "Yeah," he said softly. "I did miss you."
If he had been expecting anything, it wasn't that. The quiet admission and sincere expression on Beetle's face. Booster wasn't sure how to react, and then Beetle confused him further by reaching up to wrap a hand around Booster's, left forgotten in front of the bug-themed hero's chest.
Using the hand to tug Booster closer, Beetle hesitantly curled his other hand around the back of the man's neck and pulled him closer. Then Beetle kissed him.
It was...he had hoped, dreamed maybe, wanted...but he never seriously thought it would ever happen. And now it was Beetle, Ted, his best friend in any time period, who had taken the initiative.
Booster whimpered into Beetle's mouth and clutched at the man's arm, stepping closer. "...Ay yii yii yii yiiii," he breathed.
"Down, Desi--" Beetle chuckled, releasing Booster's still-captured hand to slide his own up Booster's arm. Wrapping his arms around Booster's neck, Beetle pressed himself against the man and smiled. "If you're looking for forgiveness, Booster, there's only one man who can give it...and you're looking at him."
It took a moment for his words to register, and when they did they confused Booster. He was about to ask what he meant by it, but he had his arms full of his best friend and seconds later his mouth full of his best friend's tongue. And it was....
It was a dream come true.
Time passed, unnoticed, and suddenly Beetle broke the kiss to look him in the eye. "It's not your fault," he said seriously. "I never had a better friend than you."
Booster stared at him, bewildered. "Wha--?"
Leaning up, Beetle whispered in his ear, "I need your help on this. You gonna help me, or you gonna wallow in nostalgia?"
"Ted?"
"Blue Beetle's dead."
"NO!"
Booster gasped, disoriented, and stared around himself in confusion as he caught his breath.
Then everything came crashing back to him and he squeezed his eyes shut as his throat clogged and his chest tightened. Destroyed goggles, destroyed house, destroyed life.
Dropping his face to his hands as he brought his knees to his chest, Booster whispered a curse from his own time. It was comforting and familiar, invoking memories of his childhood, hearing forbidden words spoken by adults and older kids, feeling naughty and exhilarated tasting them on his tongue for the first time, as only children can.
He was in Ted's basement. He had found it last night, surprisingly untouched by the destruction above it, and decided to explore it further when a cold breeze blew through the burnt-out shell of Ted's home. Then he had found the cot and decided to sleep, amid both protests from his still-healing body and praises that he was finally allowing it to rest.
And he had dreamed.
Sighing, Booster ran a hand through his hair and flopped back down on the cot. His feet stuck over the edge so he curled his legs up a little. Staring up at the ceiling, he thought back to the dream.
It was a disgusting mix of memory and fantasy.
He had thought he was over his crush on Ted. Or at least...able to put it out of his mind.
When he had first come to this time, he had quickly learned that a surprising amount of importance was placed on one's sexual preference. And hadn't that been a revelation.
Booster's sexual preference was that he preferred sex. In the future, no one would have blinked twice at such an attitude, but in the past it could make or break your image. And Booster Gold was all about image.
So he had dated women exclusively. It wasn't a hardship, women were nice. There was still the occasional discreet, clandestine encounter in the bathroom of some hole-in-the-wall bar or club with blacked-out windows and no real name. He had gone in disguise, and he had been careful (he'd had all his vaccinations, but it was better to be on the safe side). Men were nice too.
But except for those once in a blue moon instances, Booster stuck with women and was just fine with it.
Then he had met Blue Beetle.
They worked well together. Beetle was funny, smart, creative, and could pull off a pastel bodysuit. (Except for the times when he let his weight get away from him, but even then the man was good with a girdle.)
Before he knew it, Booster found himself thinking inappropriate thoughts about the man. If they hadn't become such fast friends, Booster thought he probably would have tried to make a move on Beetle. But as it was, he just couldn't bear to risk their friendship like that. It was already enough of a rollercoaster, with highs and lows and pitfalls and estrangements, he didn't want to add sexual tension to the mix.
Or maybe that was part of the trouble in the first place.
Whatever the source of he and Ted's problems, they had stayed friends for years. And though Booster jokingly flirted with him sometimes (and he swore Ted flirted back), he put aside any thoughts of anything more than a platonic relationship with Ted.
...And now he was gone.
Booster gritted his teeth and pounded the cot with his fist, squeezing his eyes shut again when they prickled suspiciously. All that wasted time, all those years, and he had never even...and now he never would.
And that son of a bitch Batman was to blame! If he had said something, anything, warned Ted, tried to get him to wait....
Anything.
"A fella gets treated like this, he can snap, y'know--! Go completely crazy and become a super-villain!"
Sitting up, Booster swung his legs over the side of the cot and got to his feet. He needed to think, plan, something.
There was a radio on Ted's workbench and Booster remembered the number for an oldies station in the area, so he flipped it on. The end of "Hey Jude" filled the quiet basement and Booster started pacing, alternating between a strong desire to shoot Batman while Superman wasn't around, trying not to poke at the emotional wound of losing his best friend, and wondering where to go from here.
"That was 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles, chickadees!" announced the DJ on the radio, and Booster winced. "Now for a little local news. The Art Institute -- that big building with all the pretty pictures? -- has a new exhibit, here in Chicago for this month only. And get this, there's a piece in the collection rumored to hold the secrets of resurrection. Hey, maybe they could try it on the Sox, huh? Whatta ya think, Chi-chi?"
Booster abruptly stopped pacing as what sounded like a kazoo buzzed from the radio along with the DJ's laughter. "It can't be that easy," he murmured, even as a slow smirk settled on his face.
"Y'know, I'm a firm believer that people don't ever really change. They are what they are and I--"
"The authorities. They caught up with me. Dragged me away like a common criminal..."
"Boy, if I ever was gonna turn super-villain, this is the kinda gear I'd need!"
"You gonna help me, or you gonna wallow in nostalgia?"
"Bwa. Ha. Ha." Booster muttered.
---------------
Overall, museums were basically the same no matter what century you were in. Sure there were architectural differences, and of course differences in the level of technology available for security, but they were all big buildings dedicated to showing off lots of important objects to lots of human traffic.
And they all had weaknesses.
Which was exactly what Booster was scouting for that afternoon. He had thrown on a hat and some of Ted's clothes that were, for whatever reason, being stored in the basement (wondering as he did so what had possessed his friend to willingly pay money for some of them), and flown to the Art Institute. Apparently it was Tuesday, not that Booster knew of what week, because admission was free.
It was while he was pretending to look at a portrait from the museum's regular collection, in actuality trying to decide if the ventilation system was a viable option, that he felt eyes on him. Booster casually glanced over his shoulder and found that it was a child, rather than security.
The kid was young -- toddler maybe? The age where they were old enough to talk but not to have anything worth saying. And he was staring at Booster, with disturbing, zombie-like focus. As Booster watched in disbelief, the boy reached up and inserted a finger into his nose, absently wiggling it around. Like picking his nose was an afterthought. Then, leaving a slimy trail down his upper lip, the child slid his finger into his mouth.
Booster made a face at him. Kids. Were. Disgusting.
He hoped he never had any that went through a snot-eating phase. Not that he planned to have children any time soon, but maybe some day.
Shaking his head, Booster moved on, leaving the boy to his snack.
---------------
The next night, Booster returned. After hours.
He had decided to wear his costume, just because he was so used to it and his abilities while wearing it, but had found some dark jeans and a hooded sweatshirt to wear over it, hiding the distinctive (and shiny) gold. Even with the hoodie, his face was still fairly recognizable, so he had gotten some hair dye while he was out the previous day.
Ted's bedroom had been relatively untouched by the damage to the rest of the house, as was the bathroom attached to it. So Booster had showered and applied the dye in Ted's bathroom, feeling a little odd as he did so. And now he had a full head of dull black hair that felt a little weird to the touch.
It would do for now, but maybe he should do something about the lower half of his face. His goggles covered his eyes...maybe a goatee or something.
"Maybe I should become a crazed super-villain...just to show them. That's right! I'll take over the world!"
"Boy, if I ever was gonna turn super-villain, this is the kinda gear I'd need!"
"A fella gets treated like this, he can snap, y'know--! Go completely crazy and become a super-villain!"
"Mock the nefarious Booster Gold, will you? Toy with the merciless master of the mystic magoombos? For daring to show such disrespect...I hereby consign the Super Buddies--to the deepest...darkest...PITS OF HELL!"
The whole "dark" theme suited his new supervillain persona. And maybe if he did get a goatee, and he got caught, he would be mistaken for an evil duplicate of Booster Gold from an alternate universe. He had been around long enough to know how these things worked.
Maybe an eyepatch?
Maybe later.
Maybe he could call himself "Black Gold." It sounded...familiar for some reason.
He would work on his new look as he went. For now, he had some crime to commit.
"Look out there, man. For every light in New York, there's someone whose life you've saved...either as Booster Gold or as a Justice Leaguer. You took a road that changed everyone's life for the better. And whatever your past sins...that more than makes up for them."
"Y'know, I'm a firm believer that people don't ever really change. They are what they are and I--"
"The authorities. They caught up with me. Dragged me away like a common criminal..."
"If you're looking for forgiveness, Booster, there's only one man who can give it...and you're looking at him."
And a best friend to get back.
-----
Various quotes taken from: Countdown to Infinite Crisis, OMAC Project #2, Formerly Known As The Justice League, I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League, and Justice League America Quarterly #10.
[ETA of chapter the second: ...unknown.]
Mullet-verse handbook/guide. (AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")
PIMP: The first chapter to the crazy!Junior story, Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide, has been posted in my journal. New updates to it will be pimped with new updates to this fic. Enjoy.
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: Booster, Beetle, Batman (mention), Superman (mention)
Prompt: "How."
Word Count: 2064
Rating: PG-13?
Author's Notes: The how of Booster going from shooting Batman to bringing Ted back from the dead. A prequel of sorts, going over the things the first Mullet-verse Prologue skipped over. Exploring the details and day-to-day of the progression of obsession and mourning, as well as the origins of Junior and Zombie Max.
CHAPTERS: { Prologue: Absolution }{ Chapter One: Benediction }{ Chapter Two: Consecration }{ Chapter Three: Delegation }{ Chapter Four: Education }{ Chapter Five: Flagellation }{ Epilogue: Glorification }
<-{ previous story: Mullet-verse handbook/guide } { next story: Hairy Situations and Situational Hair }->
Beta by lakidaa.
~1st Chapter: Benediction
Benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually after a church worship service.
-----
"You're an idiot, do you know that?"
"Unh-uh. I'm too stupid to figure it out."
Beetle sighed. "I really hate to admit this--"
"What?"
"--but there's a part of me -- a very small part, but I can't deny its existence--" He shook his head, stopping before they reached the Bug's exit hatch. "No, no -- I won't say it! I won't say it!"
"You missed me -- didn't you?" Booster accused, leaning closer to his old friend and grinning as he poked Beetle's chest with a finger.
Beetle stared down at the finger, still on his chest, for a quiet moment. Then he looked up at Booster with an expression that gave the man pause. "Yeah," he said softly. "I did miss you."
If he had been expecting anything, it wasn't that. The quiet admission and sincere expression on Beetle's face. Booster wasn't sure how to react, and then Beetle confused him further by reaching up to wrap a hand around Booster's, left forgotten in front of the bug-themed hero's chest.
Using the hand to tug Booster closer, Beetle hesitantly curled his other hand around the back of the man's neck and pulled him closer. Then Beetle kissed him.
It was...he had hoped, dreamed maybe, wanted...but he never seriously thought it would ever happen. And now it was Beetle, Ted, his best friend in any time period, who had taken the initiative.
Booster whimpered into Beetle's mouth and clutched at the man's arm, stepping closer. "...Ay yii yii yii yiiii," he breathed.
"Down, Desi--" Beetle chuckled, releasing Booster's still-captured hand to slide his own up Booster's arm. Wrapping his arms around Booster's neck, Beetle pressed himself against the man and smiled. "If you're looking for forgiveness, Booster, there's only one man who can give it...and you're looking at him."
It took a moment for his words to register, and when they did they confused Booster. He was about to ask what he meant by it, but he had his arms full of his best friend and seconds later his mouth full of his best friend's tongue. And it was....
It was a dream come true.
Time passed, unnoticed, and suddenly Beetle broke the kiss to look him in the eye. "It's not your fault," he said seriously. "I never had a better friend than you."
Booster stared at him, bewildered. "Wha--?"
Leaning up, Beetle whispered in his ear, "I need your help on this. You gonna help me, or you gonna wallow in nostalgia?"
"Ted?"
"Blue Beetle's dead."
"NO!"
Booster gasped, disoriented, and stared around himself in confusion as he caught his breath.
Then everything came crashing back to him and he squeezed his eyes shut as his throat clogged and his chest tightened. Destroyed goggles, destroyed house, destroyed life.
Dropping his face to his hands as he brought his knees to his chest, Booster whispered a curse from his own time. It was comforting and familiar, invoking memories of his childhood, hearing forbidden words spoken by adults and older kids, feeling naughty and exhilarated tasting them on his tongue for the first time, as only children can.
He was in Ted's basement. He had found it last night, surprisingly untouched by the destruction above it, and decided to explore it further when a cold breeze blew through the burnt-out shell of Ted's home. Then he had found the cot and decided to sleep, amid both protests from his still-healing body and praises that he was finally allowing it to rest.
And he had dreamed.
Sighing, Booster ran a hand through his hair and flopped back down on the cot. His feet stuck over the edge so he curled his legs up a little. Staring up at the ceiling, he thought back to the dream.
It was a disgusting mix of memory and fantasy.
He had thought he was over his crush on Ted. Or at least...able to put it out of his mind.
When he had first come to this time, he had quickly learned that a surprising amount of importance was placed on one's sexual preference. And hadn't that been a revelation.
Booster's sexual preference was that he preferred sex. In the future, no one would have blinked twice at such an attitude, but in the past it could make or break your image. And Booster Gold was all about image.
So he had dated women exclusively. It wasn't a hardship, women were nice. There was still the occasional discreet, clandestine encounter in the bathroom of some hole-in-the-wall bar or club with blacked-out windows and no real name. He had gone in disguise, and he had been careful (he'd had all his vaccinations, but it was better to be on the safe side). Men were nice too.
But except for those once in a blue moon instances, Booster stuck with women and was just fine with it.
Then he had met Blue Beetle.
They worked well together. Beetle was funny, smart, creative, and could pull off a pastel bodysuit. (Except for the times when he let his weight get away from him, but even then the man was good with a girdle.)
Before he knew it, Booster found himself thinking inappropriate thoughts about the man. If they hadn't become such fast friends, Booster thought he probably would have tried to make a move on Beetle. But as it was, he just couldn't bear to risk their friendship like that. It was already enough of a rollercoaster, with highs and lows and pitfalls and estrangements, he didn't want to add sexual tension to the mix.
Or maybe that was part of the trouble in the first place.
Whatever the source of he and Ted's problems, they had stayed friends for years. And though Booster jokingly flirted with him sometimes (and he swore Ted flirted back), he put aside any thoughts of anything more than a platonic relationship with Ted.
...And now he was gone.
Booster gritted his teeth and pounded the cot with his fist, squeezing his eyes shut again when they prickled suspiciously. All that wasted time, all those years, and he had never even...and now he never would.
And that son of a bitch Batman was to blame! If he had said something, anything, warned Ted, tried to get him to wait....
Anything.
"A fella gets treated like this, he can snap, y'know--! Go completely crazy and become a super-villain!"
Sitting up, Booster swung his legs over the side of the cot and got to his feet. He needed to think, plan, something.
There was a radio on Ted's workbench and Booster remembered the number for an oldies station in the area, so he flipped it on. The end of "Hey Jude" filled the quiet basement and Booster started pacing, alternating between a strong desire to shoot Batman while Superman wasn't around, trying not to poke at the emotional wound of losing his best friend, and wondering where to go from here.
"That was 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles, chickadees!" announced the DJ on the radio, and Booster winced. "Now for a little local news. The Art Institute -- that big building with all the pretty pictures? -- has a new exhibit, here in Chicago for this month only. And get this, there's a piece in the collection rumored to hold the secrets of resurrection. Hey, maybe they could try it on the Sox, huh? Whatta ya think, Chi-chi?"
Booster abruptly stopped pacing as what sounded like a kazoo buzzed from the radio along with the DJ's laughter. "It can't be that easy," he murmured, even as a slow smirk settled on his face.
"Y'know, I'm a firm believer that people don't ever really change. They are what they are and I--"
"The authorities. They caught up with me. Dragged me away like a common criminal..."
"Boy, if I ever was gonna turn super-villain, this is the kinda gear I'd need!"
"You gonna help me, or you gonna wallow in nostalgia?"
"Bwa. Ha. Ha." Booster muttered.
---------------
Overall, museums were basically the same no matter what century you were in. Sure there were architectural differences, and of course differences in the level of technology available for security, but they were all big buildings dedicated to showing off lots of important objects to lots of human traffic.
And they all had weaknesses.
Which was exactly what Booster was scouting for that afternoon. He had thrown on a hat and some of Ted's clothes that were, for whatever reason, being stored in the basement (wondering as he did so what had possessed his friend to willingly pay money for some of them), and flown to the Art Institute. Apparently it was Tuesday, not that Booster knew of what week, because admission was free.
It was while he was pretending to look at a portrait from the museum's regular collection, in actuality trying to decide if the ventilation system was a viable option, that he felt eyes on him. Booster casually glanced over his shoulder and found that it was a child, rather than security.
The kid was young -- toddler maybe? The age where they were old enough to talk but not to have anything worth saying. And he was staring at Booster, with disturbing, zombie-like focus. As Booster watched in disbelief, the boy reached up and inserted a finger into his nose, absently wiggling it around. Like picking his nose was an afterthought. Then, leaving a slimy trail down his upper lip, the child slid his finger into his mouth.
Booster made a face at him. Kids. Were. Disgusting.
He hoped he never had any that went through a snot-eating phase. Not that he planned to have children any time soon, but maybe some day.
Shaking his head, Booster moved on, leaving the boy to his snack.
---------------
The next night, Booster returned. After hours.
He had decided to wear his costume, just because he was so used to it and his abilities while wearing it, but had found some dark jeans and a hooded sweatshirt to wear over it, hiding the distinctive (and shiny) gold. Even with the hoodie, his face was still fairly recognizable, so he had gotten some hair dye while he was out the previous day.
Ted's bedroom had been relatively untouched by the damage to the rest of the house, as was the bathroom attached to it. So Booster had showered and applied the dye in Ted's bathroom, feeling a little odd as he did so. And now he had a full head of dull black hair that felt a little weird to the touch.
It would do for now, but maybe he should do something about the lower half of his face. His goggles covered his eyes...maybe a goatee or something.
"Maybe I should become a crazed super-villain...just to show them. That's right! I'll take over the world!"
"Boy, if I ever was gonna turn super-villain, this is the kinda gear I'd need!"
"A fella gets treated like this, he can snap, y'know--! Go completely crazy and become a super-villain!"
"Mock the nefarious Booster Gold, will you? Toy with the merciless master of the mystic magoombos? For daring to show such disrespect...I hereby consign the Super Buddies--to the deepest...darkest...PITS OF HELL!"
The whole "dark" theme suited his new supervillain persona. And maybe if he did get a goatee, and he got caught, he would be mistaken for an evil duplicate of Booster Gold from an alternate universe. He had been around long enough to know how these things worked.
Maybe an eyepatch?
Maybe later.
Maybe he could call himself "Black Gold." It sounded...familiar for some reason.
He would work on his new look as he went. For now, he had some crime to commit.
"Look out there, man. For every light in New York, there's someone whose life you've saved...either as Booster Gold or as a Justice Leaguer. You took a road that changed everyone's life for the better. And whatever your past sins...that more than makes up for them."
"Y'know, I'm a firm believer that people don't ever really change. They are what they are and I--"
"The authorities. They caught up with me. Dragged me away like a common criminal..."
"If you're looking for forgiveness, Booster, there's only one man who can give it...and you're looking at him."
And a best friend to get back.
-----
Various quotes taken from: Countdown to Infinite Crisis, OMAC Project #2, Formerly Known As The Justice League, I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League, and Justice League America Quarterly #10.
[ETA of chapter the second: ...unknown.]
Mullet-verse handbook/guide. (AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")
PIMP: The first chapter to the crazy!Junior story, Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide, has been posted in my journal. New updates to it will be pimped with new updates to this fic. Enjoy.