"Clark's always been good at that. Way better than most of us." It was really no wonder that Superman had inspired the kid so much, Hal thought. Superman had a way of doing that for everybody. "Some people can't see things the way they are, but I wouldn't say that's always the problem. Sometimes they can see it...they just don't want to."
There were certainly people whose problem with him was the former, he was sure. He'd earned himself a reputation among the Corps, and not a good one - one that had spread and become known to people he'd never met, to rookies who hadn't been around in the old days.
People who had never seen Hal at his best, and had only heard stories of him at his worst.
Those weren't the ones that bothered him. There was nothing for it but to go out there, do things right, and give them actions instead of words to judge him by, and he'd seen some of them come around.
And then there were the ones like Bruce.
His reaction was absolutely expected, of course, but maybe that was what had made it one of the most frustrating. Because Batman was all about suspicion and contingency plans and being prepared for anything, but despite all that Hal still liked to think that someone who'd known him and worked with him for that long ought to be able to put a little more faith in him than that.
He didn't think Bruce couldn't see he was trying. But when he'd been newly returned and trying to sort all the pieces of his life back into one he could actually live again, he'd been pretty sure that Bruce had just been afraid to believe in him.
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There were certainly people whose problem with him was the former, he was sure. He'd earned himself a reputation among the Corps, and not a good one - one that had spread and become known to people he'd never met, to rookies who hadn't been around in the old days.
People who had never seen Hal at his best, and had only heard stories of him at his worst.
Those weren't the ones that bothered him. There was nothing for it but to go out there, do things right, and give them actions instead of words to judge him by, and he'd seen some of them come around.
And then there were the ones like Bruce.
His reaction was absolutely expected, of course, but maybe that was what had made it one of the most frustrating. Because Batman was all about suspicion and contingency plans and being prepared for anything, but despite all that Hal still liked to think that someone who'd known him and worked with him for that long ought to be able to put a little more faith in him than that.
He didn't think Bruce couldn't see he was trying. But when he'd been newly returned and trying to sort all the pieces of his life back into one he could actually live again, he'd been pretty sure that Bruce had just been afraid to believe in him.