Chapter Text
“Hey, beautiful,” Hal casually greets Carol as he enters her office. He heads straight toward the file cabinet, a specific jet schematic on his mind. The usual sound of her sipping her morning coffee echoes in the room before she clears her throat in warning, something he quickly dismisses. “Say, you still have my old drafts and files from three years ago? I’m thinking of making a prototype similar to that jet for the project, but I want to make some tweaks to the airfoil design and adjust the thrust vectoring nozzles to allow for better maneuverability at low speeds. I also need to revisit the avionics suite and upgrade the flight control system—those older processors can't handle the data load I’m envisioning for this one.”
“ Jordan ,” is her only reply, her tone clipped and colored with embarrassment and warning.
Carol calls him that when there’s something serious to discuss, or she’s giving him the cold shoulder, and he knows he hasn’t done anything purposefully to tick her off today. She’s usually okay with him snooping through her office, too.
When he looks up from where he’s buried his hands in the filing cabinet, he notices the silent presence of the other man in the room. Hal frowns.
“Mr. Jordan,” Bruce Wayne gives him a businesslike smile, but his faux-laid-back demeanor and mirthful eyes express his entertainment at Hal’s growing annoyance.
“ Bruce, ” Hal greets back with a sneer. “You know, you can call me Hal, like I’ve asked.”
“That’s alright, Mr. Jordan.” Bruce’s smile becomes an infuriatingly handsome, and to Hal, a shit-eating grin (even though it’s just a little quirk upwards of his lips) behind Carol’s back. “It’s just that ‘Mr. Jordan’ sounds so… professional, don’t you think? Keeps things formal. Wouldn’t want to be unprofessional in front of Miss Ferris here.”
“Oh, Bruce,” Carol charmingly giggles. “I’ve told you before that just Carol is fine.”
“Or perhaps Lady Ferris?” Bruce offers.
“Oh, no- no, only Tower calls me that if I’m flying.” She laughs, and it’s that one she does when she’s flustered and pleased.
He’s buttering her up. Fucking asshole.
Hal feels anger stir up in his gut, and it’s way too early in the morning to get on Carol’s shit list for the day, so he bites his tongue and turns back around toward the files. He has a scowl on his face, and his movements are jerky and agitated as he sifts through old schematics for the project.
Hal remembers the first time he saw Bruce at his workplace unannounced.
It had been a good day, a great day, even. Carol agreed to go out to dinner and dance with him later that night, he was chosen to test out this new prototype (and boy, was she a beaut’), and the weather was perfect, with clear skies and just the right amount of wind for some fun maneuvers.
All in all, he couldn’t ask the universe for more, but he really should have. He didn’t know he had to specify keeping Bruce Wayne out of his personal life, but alas, there the man stood laughing it up with Carol, a hand on her desk as he leaned against it, talking about some fancy schmoozy thing that Hal didn’t hear or care to understand.
“Bruce?” Hal dubiously asked as if questioning whether his sight betrayed him. He remembers the pep in his step immediately faltering.
“Oh, you two know each other?” Carol asked, distancing herself from the handsome billionaire.
“No, I’m afraid we don’t.” Bruce turned to Hal, and his words were a pointed warning. “After all, what would a billionaire and a test pilot have in common before now, hm?”
“Right, right. No, uh, I just mean… Bruce Wayne. Crazy to see a billionaire here.” Hal came closer to the pair, leaning closer to the man as he managed to grit out, “ Why are you here?”
“Well, Mr. Jordan–”
“Hal is fine.”
“I was hoping to fund a new project for Ferris Air, and I’ve selected you as my test pilot.”
He accepted it because it was Bruce– a guy who, underneath the shittery, is supposed to be good; it’s just that it’s so easy for him to get on Hal’s nerves, but the week since has been god-awful.
Carol ditched their original drinks and dancing plans to discuss business with Bruce (something Hal is not privy to, nor would he want to be in such a boring meeting). He got taken off the project with that absolutely gorgeous jet model and placed on Bruce’s team instead, and he can’t even be informal with Carol or Bruce under the guise of civilian-life professionalism.
Calling Bruce by his actual name instead of “Spooky” or “Bats” is the hard part. With Carol and everyone around, he can’t even call the guy an asshole without worried or affronted glares being sent in his direction.
Everyone loves Bruce, even Tom, who was supposed to be on Hal’s side. That traitor.
Hal is so messing up Tom’s coffee the next time they go out for it.
“It’ll get better with time, Hal,” Carol tries to reassure him later that afternoon.
“Will it?” Hal sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t even flirt with you in peace!”
“You shouldn’t be flirting with me in the workplace, to begin with, hot shot.”
The pilot just gives her a cocky, flirtatious grin.
“Nope, nada, no,” Carol just smiles back, but her teasing tone carries a hint of sincerity and seriousness. “I gave you over eleven chances. No more.”
“But baby.”
“Nope– no ‘baby,’ no ‘babe,’ no ‘honey,’ or ‘sweetcheeks,’ or whatever else you may have to say.”
“Love of my life?”
Carol scoffs. “That’s not me, Hal. We’ve tried that again and again. Besides, maybe it’s time we try to find someone new– without so much complicated history.”
At that moment, Bruce walks in again, ruining Hal's chance to continue this conversation with Carol. Now the woman’s attention is all on Bruce, and she’s looking at him like… oh fuck no.
Hal will do everything in his power to ruin any chance Bruce has at romance.
