Perhaps the only fic I'll ever write acknowledging certain events.
Title: Mourning Becomes
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: Booster/?, Beetle (mention)
Prompt: "Choices."
Word Count: 1811
Rating: NC-17
Author's Notes: I actually wrote this the last time I was out of town, but then wasn't sure it was good enough to post and forgot about it and blah blah blah. So anyway... HaHA, DC! You can't just introduce a character once without any follow-up and not expect me to fill in the blanks.
(This is actually an AU where instead of "going home," Booster sticks around and talks with Bea about funeral arrangements for Ted.)
Mourning Becomes
It was like looking at a ghost.
An auburn-haired ghost in a dark suit. His glasses kept tinting every time the sun peeked out from behind thick clouds.
He looked like Ted Kord at a funeral. Only this was Ted Kord's funeral.
He was Edward Kord.
He was Ted Kord's brother.
"Ted had a brother?" Bea asked in disbelief.
Booster shrugged. "They weren't close, Ted didn't talk about him much. I just...he is the only family Ted's got. Someone should tell him."
It had taken some doing to find the man. Any contact information Ted might have kept at home had been burnt beyond recognition, and he didn't have the information anywhere else. Booster wasn't even sure about the man's name and had finally had to enlist Oracle's help finding the man.
Oracle, brilliant as always, came through. Edward T. Kord, younger brother to one Theodore J. Kord, soon got a call from a Michael Carter regretfully informing him that his brother was dead.
And now at the funeral that had taken far too long to be taken care of, Booster finally got his first look at the man. He had seen a few pictures, not many, of Edward in photographs of Ted's youth. But they were all of the Kord brothers as boys.
Booster hadn't realized that Edward as a man would be the spitting image of Ted.
And apparently he wasn't the only one. People who had known what Ted looked like under the goggles kept staring at Edward.
Booster hung back when the funeral ended and the crowd dispersed, watching Ted's brother as the man slowly walked closer to the headstone. Nearby were other, more weather-worn headstones marking the final resting places of other Kords. Ted had told him once that his uncle's grave was empty because they hadn't been able to find the body.
Ted's grave was empty too.
Edward squatted in front of Ted's headstone and pressed his fingers to his brother's name, running them over it lightly before letting them drop to his date of death. "So long, Teddy," he murmured quietly. "I wish...." He trailed off, bowing his head and reaching up with his other hand to brush at his eyes.
"Edward Kord?" Booster asked, hesitant to intrude.
The man stood and glanced over his shoulder at him. "Call me Ed," he replied.
He even sounded like Ted. Booster swallowed and held out a hand. "I'm...."
"Michael?" Ed guessed, grasping his hand firmly and shaking it. "I...want to thank you for...for letting me know. I...."
"Ted didn't talk about you much but...I don't think he would've wanted you to find out from the news," Booster said, shrugging uncomfortably.
Ed smiled wryly. "Maybe, maybe not."
Booster didn't know how to respond to that so he blurted, "You want to go get a drink?"
Looking him over thoughtfully, Ed finally nodded. "Sure. I'd like that."
---------------
"So then, heh, so then he starts going on about how unhealthy it is until I lose my appetite."
Ed burst out laughing at Booster's story. They had found a booth in the nearly empty bar and as soon as they had their beers Ed had touched his arm and asked him, with raw earnestness, to tell him about his brother. So Booster was.
"Oh god, poor Ted," Ed chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes. "He always did have trouble with his weight."
Booster snickered and shook his head, then sobered as he caught sight of the wistful expression on the man's face. "So...I don't get it," he said slowly. "What...happened between you two." When Ed looked at him in confusion, Booster shrugged. "I would've thought you two would get along great. Why...why didn't you?"
Looking down at his hands as he picked at the label on his beer bottle, Ed took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I...I guess we did," he murmured. "Sometimes. I was a bratty younger brother a lot of the time, but...we got along okay. Watched the Stooges together." His quick smile faded as a troubled look crossed his face.
Booster reached out and curled a hand around the man's wrist. When he looked up again, Booster asked, "So what happened?"
Sliding his hand out of Booster's loose grip, Ed leaned back in the booth and took off his glasses as he stared up at the ceiling. "I...Ted was already in college and working for Dad when...." He swallowed and licked his lips, returning his gaze down to his hands as he fiddled with his glasses. When he spoke again his voice was a shaky whisper. "Dad kicked me out when he found out I had a boyfriend."
Booster stared at him for a moment, then frowned and muttered, "That...actually explains a few things."
Ed looked up in surprise. "What?"
Leaning an elbow on the table and propping his chin on his hand, Booster blew out a deep breath. "Ted and I were...close," he started.
Ed's eyes widened. "You don't mean...."
"No! No." Booster dropped his arm to the table and shook his head. "No, we were never...never that close. And...Ted never took it well when anyone suggested otherwise."
Putting his glasses back on, Ed crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward, examining his face. "You loved him," he finally said, just a hint of question in his voice.
"I...yeah," Booster finally admitted. It was the first time he had said as much out loud, to anyone, and...he wasn't sure how it made him feel, actually.
"I'm sorry."
Booster looked up in surprise and Ed met his eyes steadily as he said, "I'm sorry my brother was a stubborn idiot.
"He wasn't--I never told him," Booster protested.
Ed tilted his head to look at him over his glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Mike, I figured it out and I barely know you," he said wryly. "Maybe Ted's people skills weren't the greatest but if you were as close as you say...I'd bet he knew."
Booster opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it and stared down at the table. "He never said anything."
"Like I said," Ed replied, shrugging and raising his bottle to his lips. "Stubborn idiot."
They were quiet for a few minutes, drinking their beer in relative silence. It wasn't quiet awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either.
Finally Ed spoke, staring into his empty bottle. "I think I need something stronger."
Booster thought that was a great idea.
---------------
When the taxi came to pick them up, Booster couldn't give the driver an address so they both went to the hotel Ed was staying at while he was in town.
Once in his room, they continued sharing stories about Ted. Stories of his youth from Ed and stories of the man he became from Booster. Slowly they pieced together a fuller picture of who Ted Kord had been and eventually lapsed into silence.
It was when Ed removed his glasses to tiredly rub the bridge of his nose that the resemblance struck Booster extra hard and he blurted, "You look so much like him."
Ed put his glasses back on to look at him, then smiled wryly. "Is that why everyone was staring at the funeral?"
"I...probably."
"I'd wondered." Taking his glasses off again, Ed turned them around to stare at his faint reflection in them. Setting them aside, he tilted his head to peer at Booster through his eyelashes as he quietly asked, "Is that why you keep staring?"
Mouth going dry, Booster could only nod.
"Would-would you like to do more than stare?"
Booster was up and moving to stand in front of Ed, seated on the edge of the bed, before he realized it. Reaching out, he gently brushed the man's cheek with one hand, eyes darting over the familiar but just slightly different features. "You barely know me," he whispered.
Ed smiled sadly and leaned into his touch. "You loved my brother," he said quietly. "That's enough."
Closing his eyes, Booster took a deep breath, then knelt, one knee on the bed beside Ed, and slowly lowered his lips to the other man's. Dark lashes fluttered closed over blue eyes, and this close Booster could see the tiny differences in appearance that marked the man as unique from his brother.
Booster couldn't bring himself to care.
Booster leaned forward and Ed leaned back, arms coming around each other, until Booster was straddling him while they kissed. There was a brief moment of confusion when Ed pushed him away with a muttered "wait, wait," but it turned out he just wanted to move his glasses off the bed.
Scooting up to the headboard, Ed set his glasses on the bedside table then motioned for Booster to join him, smiling shyly. Smiling back, Booster crawled up the bed and kissed him.
Clothes were shed swiftly and bodies were explored. Booster kept taking note of where Ed was missing Ted's scars, touching the unmarred skin with an odd feeling of significance. Ed didn't seem to notice, or mind.
They started slowly, then let a sense of urgency build between them as they moved together. Clinging tightly to the brother of a man he loved, Booster cried out softly as he spilled over their stomachs. Panting against Ed's neck for a moment, Booster reached down and helped stroke the man to climax.
Afterward, Booster held Ed as the man's breath stuttered with the effort of holding back tears.
"I'm sorry," Ed muttered hoarsely. "I just--"
"I miss him too."
Watery blue eyes rose to look at him, then closed as he pressed his face to Booster's chest, tears quietly sliding down his face.
Illuminated by the soft light of the bedside lamp, they mourned the loss of a brother and best friend together.
---------------
Up close, Booster decided, the resemblance between the Kord brothers wasn't as striking. Though apparently they both snored.
Smiling with wistful fondness as he thought back on his friend, he didn't notice Ed wake up and observe him for a few moments.
"G'mer," he finally mumbled.
Startled, Booster blinked and focused on the man. "Morning," he replied.
They stared at each other.
"I...You're not Ted," Booster blurted.
Ed frowned a little.
"No one could be," Booster continued, looking away. "But...no one could be you either." He glanced at the man uncertainly, willing him to understand.
"I...." Ed slowly shook his head, confused.
Reaching out to touch his arm, Booster sighed. "I like you," he said. "Not because you look like Ted, or because you're his brother. I like you."
Smiling tentatively, Ed sat up. He leaned over and gently kissed Booster. "I like you too," he murmured.
Cupping the back of Ed's neck as he deepened the kiss, Booster pulled back for just a second to grin and say, "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Ed seemed to agree.
-----
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: Booster/?, Beetle (mention)
Prompt: "Choices."
Word Count: 1811
Rating: NC-17
Author's Notes: I actually wrote this the last time I was out of town, but then wasn't sure it was good enough to post and forgot about it and blah blah blah. So anyway... HaHA, DC! You can't just introduce a character once without any follow-up and not expect me to fill in the blanks.
(This is actually an AU where instead of "going home," Booster sticks around and talks with Bea about funeral arrangements for Ted.)
Mourning Becomes
It was like looking at a ghost.
An auburn-haired ghost in a dark suit. His glasses kept tinting every time the sun peeked out from behind thick clouds.
He looked like Ted Kord at a funeral. Only this was Ted Kord's funeral.
He was Edward Kord.
He was Ted Kord's brother.
"Ted had a brother?" Bea asked in disbelief.
Booster shrugged. "They weren't close, Ted didn't talk about him much. I just...he is the only family Ted's got. Someone should tell him."
It had taken some doing to find the man. Any contact information Ted might have kept at home had been burnt beyond recognition, and he didn't have the information anywhere else. Booster wasn't even sure about the man's name and had finally had to enlist Oracle's help finding the man.
Oracle, brilliant as always, came through. Edward T. Kord, younger brother to one Theodore J. Kord, soon got a call from a Michael Carter regretfully informing him that his brother was dead.
And now at the funeral that had taken far too long to be taken care of, Booster finally got his first look at the man. He had seen a few pictures, not many, of Edward in photographs of Ted's youth. But they were all of the Kord brothers as boys.
Booster hadn't realized that Edward as a man would be the spitting image of Ted.
And apparently he wasn't the only one. People who had known what Ted looked like under the goggles kept staring at Edward.
Booster hung back when the funeral ended and the crowd dispersed, watching Ted's brother as the man slowly walked closer to the headstone. Nearby were other, more weather-worn headstones marking the final resting places of other Kords. Ted had told him once that his uncle's grave was empty because they hadn't been able to find the body.
Ted's grave was empty too.
Edward squatted in front of Ted's headstone and pressed his fingers to his brother's name, running them over it lightly before letting them drop to his date of death. "So long, Teddy," he murmured quietly. "I wish...." He trailed off, bowing his head and reaching up with his other hand to brush at his eyes.
"Edward Kord?" Booster asked, hesitant to intrude.
The man stood and glanced over his shoulder at him. "Call me Ed," he replied.
He even sounded like Ted. Booster swallowed and held out a hand. "I'm...."
"Michael?" Ed guessed, grasping his hand firmly and shaking it. "I...want to thank you for...for letting me know. I...."
"Ted didn't talk about you much but...I don't think he would've wanted you to find out from the news," Booster said, shrugging uncomfortably.
Ed smiled wryly. "Maybe, maybe not."
Booster didn't know how to respond to that so he blurted, "You want to go get a drink?"
Looking him over thoughtfully, Ed finally nodded. "Sure. I'd like that."
---------------
"So then, heh, so then he starts going on about how unhealthy it is until I lose my appetite."
Ed burst out laughing at Booster's story. They had found a booth in the nearly empty bar and as soon as they had their beers Ed had touched his arm and asked him, with raw earnestness, to tell him about his brother. So Booster was.
"Oh god, poor Ted," Ed chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes. "He always did have trouble with his weight."
Booster snickered and shook his head, then sobered as he caught sight of the wistful expression on the man's face. "So...I don't get it," he said slowly. "What...happened between you two." When Ed looked at him in confusion, Booster shrugged. "I would've thought you two would get along great. Why...why didn't you?"
Looking down at his hands as he picked at the label on his beer bottle, Ed took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I...I guess we did," he murmured. "Sometimes. I was a bratty younger brother a lot of the time, but...we got along okay. Watched the Stooges together." His quick smile faded as a troubled look crossed his face.
Booster reached out and curled a hand around the man's wrist. When he looked up again, Booster asked, "So what happened?"
Sliding his hand out of Booster's loose grip, Ed leaned back in the booth and took off his glasses as he stared up at the ceiling. "I...Ted was already in college and working for Dad when...." He swallowed and licked his lips, returning his gaze down to his hands as he fiddled with his glasses. When he spoke again his voice was a shaky whisper. "Dad kicked me out when he found out I had a boyfriend."
Booster stared at him for a moment, then frowned and muttered, "That...actually explains a few things."
Ed looked up in surprise. "What?"
Leaning an elbow on the table and propping his chin on his hand, Booster blew out a deep breath. "Ted and I were...close," he started.
Ed's eyes widened. "You don't mean...."
"No! No." Booster dropped his arm to the table and shook his head. "No, we were never...never that close. And...Ted never took it well when anyone suggested otherwise."
Putting his glasses back on, Ed crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward, examining his face. "You loved him," he finally said, just a hint of question in his voice.
"I...yeah," Booster finally admitted. It was the first time he had said as much out loud, to anyone, and...he wasn't sure how it made him feel, actually.
"I'm sorry."
Booster looked up in surprise and Ed met his eyes steadily as he said, "I'm sorry my brother was a stubborn idiot.
"He wasn't--I never told him," Booster protested.
Ed tilted his head to look at him over his glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Mike, I figured it out and I barely know you," he said wryly. "Maybe Ted's people skills weren't the greatest but if you were as close as you say...I'd bet he knew."
Booster opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it and stared down at the table. "He never said anything."
"Like I said," Ed replied, shrugging and raising his bottle to his lips. "Stubborn idiot."
They were quiet for a few minutes, drinking their beer in relative silence. It wasn't quiet awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either.
Finally Ed spoke, staring into his empty bottle. "I think I need something stronger."
Booster thought that was a great idea.
---------------
When the taxi came to pick them up, Booster couldn't give the driver an address so they both went to the hotel Ed was staying at while he was in town.
Once in his room, they continued sharing stories about Ted. Stories of his youth from Ed and stories of the man he became from Booster. Slowly they pieced together a fuller picture of who Ted Kord had been and eventually lapsed into silence.
It was when Ed removed his glasses to tiredly rub the bridge of his nose that the resemblance struck Booster extra hard and he blurted, "You look so much like him."
Ed put his glasses back on to look at him, then smiled wryly. "Is that why everyone was staring at the funeral?"
"I...probably."
"I'd wondered." Taking his glasses off again, Ed turned them around to stare at his faint reflection in them. Setting them aside, he tilted his head to peer at Booster through his eyelashes as he quietly asked, "Is that why you keep staring?"
Mouth going dry, Booster could only nod.
"Would-would you like to do more than stare?"
Booster was up and moving to stand in front of Ed, seated on the edge of the bed, before he realized it. Reaching out, he gently brushed the man's cheek with one hand, eyes darting over the familiar but just slightly different features. "You barely know me," he whispered.
Ed smiled sadly and leaned into his touch. "You loved my brother," he said quietly. "That's enough."
Closing his eyes, Booster took a deep breath, then knelt, one knee on the bed beside Ed, and slowly lowered his lips to the other man's. Dark lashes fluttered closed over blue eyes, and this close Booster could see the tiny differences in appearance that marked the man as unique from his brother.
Booster couldn't bring himself to care.
Booster leaned forward and Ed leaned back, arms coming around each other, until Booster was straddling him while they kissed. There was a brief moment of confusion when Ed pushed him away with a muttered "wait, wait," but it turned out he just wanted to move his glasses off the bed.
Scooting up to the headboard, Ed set his glasses on the bedside table then motioned for Booster to join him, smiling shyly. Smiling back, Booster crawled up the bed and kissed him.
Clothes were shed swiftly and bodies were explored. Booster kept taking note of where Ed was missing Ted's scars, touching the unmarred skin with an odd feeling of significance. Ed didn't seem to notice, or mind.
They started slowly, then let a sense of urgency build between them as they moved together. Clinging tightly to the brother of a man he loved, Booster cried out softly as he spilled over their stomachs. Panting against Ed's neck for a moment, Booster reached down and helped stroke the man to climax.
Afterward, Booster held Ed as the man's breath stuttered with the effort of holding back tears.
"I'm sorry," Ed muttered hoarsely. "I just--"
"I miss him too."
Watery blue eyes rose to look at him, then closed as he pressed his face to Booster's chest, tears quietly sliding down his face.
Illuminated by the soft light of the bedside lamp, they mourned the loss of a brother and best friend together.
---------------
Up close, Booster decided, the resemblance between the Kord brothers wasn't as striking. Though apparently they both snored.
Smiling with wistful fondness as he thought back on his friend, he didn't notice Ed wake up and observe him for a few moments.
"G'mer," he finally mumbled.
Startled, Booster blinked and focused on the man. "Morning," he replied.
They stared at each other.
"I...You're not Ted," Booster blurted.
Ed frowned a little.
"No one could be," Booster continued, looking away. "But...no one could be you either." He glanced at the man uncertainly, willing him to understand.
"I...." Ed slowly shook his head, confused.
Reaching out to touch his arm, Booster sighed. "I like you," he said. "Not because you look like Ted, or because you're his brother. I like you."
Smiling tentatively, Ed sat up. He leaned over and gently kissed Booster. "I like you too," he murmured.
Cupping the back of Ed's neck as he deepened the kiss, Booster pulled back for just a second to grin and say, "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Ed seemed to agree.
-----