boldandthebrave | a new post? in 2024? incredible

[When Hal wakes up he feels immediately...strange. He can't really place what it is but something just feels off. The room around him is familiar, the bed too, but at the same time there's just something. A little nagging worry in the back of his mind that he tries to ignore. Everything is normal, right? Why wouldn't it be? There's no reason to suspect that anything is out of the ordinary.

So with that in mind, Hal heads down the stairs. When he finds Carol there, in the kitchen, he gets the distinct feeling that this is normal and that he should be happy to see her. He is, in a way. But looking at her standing there, being painfully domestic just intensifies the feeling that something is off here.

He tries to shake it off.]

Morning...Carol. [Why does even saying good morning to her feel strange?]

Breakfast is almost ready. I hope you're hungry. [Carol says cheerfully, taking the bacon off the stove, and dividing it up between two plates. (Even this is weird - was Carol ever much of a cook, with her busy schedule?) As she brings cups of coffee to the table, she tilts up to kiss Hal's cheek before setting the mugs down at the two place settings on the table.]

I thought we could take a day off work today. [She sets the table with the plates, bacon and eggs and toast, all perfectly normal, and takes a seat, clearly assuming Hal will join her. Acting like they do this every morning.] What do you think?

Sure. Yeah. Breakfast.

[Watching Carol, it seems she's not in the same boat as Hal is when it comes to feeling off. For her, this seems to be a totally normal morning. She even made breakfast, which is...normal. Suddenly, Hal finds himself trying to remember the last time Carol made him breakfast. He comes up pretty empty. But that can't be right, right? Surely this is something they do every day. Why wouldn't it be?]

Take the day off? [Something about that small detail really sets him off. He doesn't know why. There's just something about Carol wanting to take a day off that doesn't make sense in his head. He also feels like he's expected to join her at the table but he doesn't move for now. The kiss to his cheek sets him more on edge than it probably should. What is happening today?]

You sure that's a good idea? You're the President of the company. Don't they need you there?

I'm the President, that means I can take a day off if I want to, right? [She laughs, and even that is mildly- off. Too casual, too amiable. Not that she's normally a hostile person, but she's not usually so... flippant about things.]

Come sit down and eat your breakfast before your eggs get cold. What are you still standing there for? [Her tone is still gently chiding, like she thinks he's being silly right now. With a bite of eggs on her fork, she gestures at him, the corners of her lips turning up in a coquettish little smile (and that doesn't seem right either, it's an expression more out of romantic TV than real life-)] At least have some coffee if you don't want to eat. Though I thought you'd be starving after last night.

Sure. I guess that's...a fair point. [Is it, though? Nothing about this is making any sense. Including the fact that he doesn't think any of it makes sense. It should, right? This should all be normal. The fact that he's trying to think of anything that happened before this morning and can't is also really starting to bother him. But it's fine, isn't it? It has to be.

Then Carol just has to go and say that and Hal just...no]

Last night, huh? Guess I should be. [That doesn't feel right at all. The Carol he knows would never make a comment like that. He decides to try something, then. Just to test things out]

Actually, in that case, I might head out for the day. You're okay with that, right? [He doesn't know quite why he expects her to be annoyed at the idea of him blowing off breakfast and taking off but he does. He feels like that would be right]

That's right, you should be. [Carol laughs, like he's told some funny joke, motioning again to the empty seat and the full plate.] So come eat. Maybe I can wear you out again today.

[Except then Hal says he's going to head out for the day. Carol's upbeat expression doesn't change much, she just leans her chin in her hand and looks at him with a little smile, the fingers of her other hand curled around her cup of coffee.]

If you want to, go ahead. You'll be back in time for dinner tonight, right?

[Not the reaction he expected to get at all. Suddenly, Hal is getting this sinking feeling, like there's something very wrong here. His head is starting to hurt]

Sure. We have dinner together every night, don't we? [That's not right, either. Nothing about this is right. He gets the feeling that there's something he's forgetting but he can't place it]

Hey, Carol. Humor me for a second. How long have we been together?

Yes, sweetheart. That's generally what couples do. [Carol says, amused, laughing and just watching Hal like he's being ridiculous.] Did you hit your head or something?

[Not that she seems too terribly concerned about it. It's all just a game to her, or something - it's hard to guess at the thoughts in her head, when her smiles don't quite reach her eyes. On the surface, she's entertained, but underneath... there isn't much else going on.]

Hmm? Have you forgotten how many years it's been?

[She calls him "sweetheart" and he has to resist the urge to cringe. That's not right. He hates pet names and she should know that]

I'm starting to think I did.

[The more he thinks about it, the more he focuses and actually looks, there's so many things wrong here]

Years. Carol and I could never hold it together for more than a few months at a time. Years? [This isn't...there's something wrong. Something missing. Something...

The pain in his head grows worse and he remembers, suddenly. Something he couldn't quite reach before, buried in his mind. He's Green Lantern. He's Green Lantern and this is not his house. Outside the window looks like California, which should be right. But he doesn't live in California anymore, does he? He...

...Ring. His ring. He looks down at his hand with growing horror to see that there's nothing there. It should be there. And it isn't]

This isn't real. What the hell's going on? How'd I even get here?

[There's a little frown on her face. A bit of a vapid one, honestly, like she doesn't comprehend, but also isn't terribly smart to begin with.] It's been five years, Hal. What do you mean? [And that's definitely wrong. They never really did last for more than a few months here, a couple months there, off and on until they figured out they were better off... off.

Carol - or the simulation pretending to be Carol - stands up from the table, frowning with something that's supposed to be concern, reaching out as if to lay a hand on his forehead and check for fever.]

What do you mean, Hal? Of course this is real. Are you feeling alright?

[And that right there? Impossible. There's simply no way. They couldn't even last one year, let alone five. He remembers that now. And the vast majority of the time when they broke up, it was his fault. He remembers that too. And while part of him wants to feel guilty about that all over again, especially standing here faced with Carol, he knows now that they moved past that a while ago.

Besides, this isn't actually Carol.

She touches him and he backs away. He's trying to remember what he was doing before this, trying to break through the mental fog. The harder he pushes, the more it feels like his brain is going to explode until finally...it stops and the pieces seem to fall into place. He remembers going after a new villain and...

Barry]

This isn't real. I need to find Barry. [Barry and his ring, hopefully. But Barry definitely takes priority]

It would be so much easier if you just stayed here, Hal. [The fake Carol says, reaching out for him again. The outline of her almost seems to waver slightly, if he looks close, as the illusion starts to fall apart. The scenery remains, for the most part, though some of the attempts at personal touches glitch out of existence.]

Isn't this what you want? We can be happy, Hal. At peace. You can have a life.

[Evidently they couldn't find much on Hal to supplement whatever small bits they were able to pull out of his memories.]

[He notices the wavering the second time it happens. That's just plain freaky. Then the scenery starts disappearing. Yeah, he needs to get out of here]

Man, whoever's doing this? You really need to check your information better. Me, at peace? Never gonna happen. And even if it was, Carol wouldn't be the one to do it. [They figured that much out a while ago. They could never meet in the middle about anything] I'm out of here.

[Does the door actually work as an exit? He's gonna find out. He needs to get out of here and find Barry. The last thing he actually remembers is the two of them going after a new villain together]

You're going to regret this, Hal. You could have been happy. [The fake Carol says, grasping at him, but with the illusion broken, she's dissipating into thin air from the limbs inward. Like that's not creepy at all.]

[The door does work. The world outside isn't exactly fully formed, but it's enough that he can navigate away from the California house. All of the people in it, as well, are fully faceless, and wander around like npcs. Luckily for Hal, distance works weird in this place; he doesn't have to try and trek all the way from California to Missouri without his ring, though it will be a bit of a trip on foot.

Eventually, he can find the familiar neighborhood in Central City. A familiar house. And just leaving it, Iris West, with Barry standing on the porch, sending her off with a kiss on her cheek, like he probably did so many mornings years ago when he was still married.]

See you tonight, Iris.

Don't be late for dinner again, Barry. [She's saying, laughing, patting his cheek.]

[Yeah, that's disturbing. What the fuck. The world outside is...strange. There's some details that were clearly meant to be Coast City and some details that are just...generic California. The people are entirely lifeless. Clearly, whoever did all this was hoping he would never leave that house. Sucks to be them. Apparently, they didn't count on Hal being the single most stubborn man on Earth.

It's a bit of a trip but he manages to make it to scenery that looks familiar. Central City. He's spent so much time in this city that it's easy to navigate to where he wants to go. Some of the details are a little weird but, overall, this copy of Central is way better than the attempt at copying Coast was.

He gets just up the street from the house (the one he's been sharing with Barry for a while now) and just...stops. The last thing he expected to see was Iris. He knows it's fake, just like Carol had been, but it's still...jarring. Especially since Barry seems to have not figured out it's fake yet. Of course not.

What's he supposed to do now? Just approach? This is so annoying. He at least waits for Iris to be gone (because that's a level of awkward even he doesn't feel like dealing with) before he does just that. Right up onto the porch. Fuck it]

Barry. We have to go. [He's not counting on Barry actually, like, remembering him. It was easy enough for Hal to realize that he was being fucked with but Barry? Little more likely to believe this is all really happening. Especially if they pulled out a fake Iris. So he already figures he's gonna have to drag him kicking and screaming out of this delusion]

[Barry hasn't ventured out of the house today. It's his day off, as far as he's aware, and he doesn't have to go in to the lab. He's planning on doing some chores around the house while Iris is at work conducting an important interview. When he woke up, it was so much like all those years ago, that with his memories blocked, he just... fell into old habits. He can't remember that Iris is long dead, he can't remember that he lives in this house with someone else. He can't even remember that his nephew is grown with a family of his own, thinking Wally is still a young teenager.

He doesn't remember being the Flash.

Iris was easier to fake than Carol, thanks to her public persona. There was more to go on. She seems far less off than the Carol imitation had, as she gets into her car and leaves Barry to his coffee and house chores. He's about to go back inside when Hal comes storming up onto the porch.

He blinks, obviously confused.] I'm sorry, we have to go where?

[Yup, doesn't remember him at all. Figures. And while that maybe stings just the tiniest bit, Hal isn't anywhere near fragile enough to dwell on it. It's the mind control. Or...whatever this is. Although, even with no memories, his weirdness tolerance still seems to be pretty high. Small favors]

We don't have time for this, Barry. [They need to figure out what's going on and get out of here] This is all fake. The house, the neighborhood, everything you remember. [Iris. But he isn't sure he wants to touch on that one just yet] You need to hurry up and wake up.

[Barry mostly looks confused as he looks at Hal. There is a sort of... faraway quality to his gaze, indicating that whoever did this probably has a stronger grip on his mind and memories than they had on Hal's, and if he's stuck back in memories before he was the Flash, then of course, he doesn't recognize his best friend Hal.

Though... after a moment, there is maybe a faint spark of recognition.] Have we... met before? [He sounds incredibly unsure about that... but also not in a hurry to go anywhere.]

Listen, it's not often I get a day off from the lab, and I need to get some things done around the house before my wife comes home, so... can I help you...?

[Hal's patience with this has officially run out. Not that he ever had that much to begin with. Honestly, he's not even that surprised that Barry seems to be buying so much into this. Someone needs to add "very susceptible to mind control" to his file. He rolls his eyes, moving closer to Barry]

Fastest man alive but slow as fuck on the uptake. [And then he's basically pushing Barry back against the front door, kissing him hard and caging him in. If anything is going to work, this will. Barry's used to actions from him more than words]

Hey now- [He starts to protest at the insult, but then suddenly, he's being pushed up against the door, coffee mug tumbling from his hand into the bushes next to the porch. The kiss, rough and hard, steals his breath, and blue eyes widen for a moment in surprise, before he- he melts into it, honestly, there is no other way to describe it.

It's like a switch flips. Barry brings his hands up to Hal's shoulders, resting there instead of pushing him away, and after that initial surprise, he parts his lips and kisses him back, unable to deny the familiarity of it. Hal's gesture just sort of bulldozes past the block on Barry's memories, exactly as he'd planned, and when they finally part, Barry's looking more clear - less like he's wandering in a daze, or a dream.

His hands stay on Hal's shoulders, squeezing.] Hal. What in the world is going on...?

[For the briefest of seconds, Hal is almost worried this won't work the way he thinks it will. But then he feels Barry basically melt into him and he knows it's going to be fine. When they part from the kiss, Hal stays close, unwilling to get out of Barry's personal space just yet. The clarity and recognition returning to Barry's eyes gets a smile out of Hal and he leans in for a brief, much gentler kiss]

'Bout time. Welcome back, Bar.

[At least now they're in this together. They can tackle just about anything together]

Some kind of mind control or memory block. This whole world is fake. They had me in a fake Coast City. Not a very good one, either.

[Hal is probably pretty lucky it did work, considering how deep in the delusion Barry was. But his reaction to Hal is unmistakable, and immediate, and strong, being pressed up against the door by Hal's solid figure. Barry's fingers curl in the fabric of his shirt, and he doesn't try to escape Hal's personal space either. That smile is too compelling, and he exhales quietly into that gentler kiss, returning it, if briefly.]

Was this really your first instinct to break mind control or memory block? [Kissing him senseless up against his (fake) front door, that is. But then it seems to hit him what Hal is saying, about a fake Coast City, about this Central City being fake.

He looks over Hal's shoulder, in the direction Iris's (fake) car went, expression falling a bit as it starts to sink in. Not that he says it out loud. Instead, trailing one hand down Hal's arm to feel his hand,] I don't have my speed. Your ring is gone too.

We were chasing a new meta before this, weren't we...?

Only for you. Anyone else and I would have had to come up with an actual plan.

[Barry doesn't say anything but Hal notices regardless. He doesn't say anything either. It's gotta be hard for Barry, being thrown into a reality where Iris never died and then being pulled back out to realize it was all fake and she's still dead. Hal tries to never bring up anything related to Iris because he knows it's a hard subject for Barry. So, really, this is just mean. All the more reason to find whoever did this]

Nope. No ring. And I was already counting on the no speed thing.

That's the last thing I remember. Whoever that meta is, he's probably the one responsible. Only problem is figuring out where he is and how we get out of here.

Lucky it was me then, I guess. [Ha, imagine if it were Supes or Bats.

Barry still feels a little off, as they stand there, still pressed together against the door and keeping their voices low. If they're being observed, it's probably not the worst thing. Thinking that he's been trapped in this... false world, with a specter of his dead wife to keep him placid, it's not a good feeling, and he's busy internally working through anger and grief and so much more. Whoever did this is getting an ass-kicking.]

Hm. This... illusion or simulation, whichever it is, has to be based at least partially on our memories, right? [There were some details in the house, now that he thinks about it, that were accurate to his memories of his home when he was still married.]

I wonder if we could get our powers back if we went through the memories of how we got them originally.

[This is a strange situation, so Barry can't really be blamed for still feeling off. What a weird day]

Seems to be. Especially in your case. [In Hal's case, they don't seem to have dug very deep. They definitely didn't manage to dig out anything actually accurate about Carol]

Yeah? So how do we do that? I don't see any crashed spaceships around here.

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